First Impressions / Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei shiteshimatta… / Series Introduction

「破滅フラグを回避したので文化祭で浮かれてしまった…」 (Hametsu Furagu o Kaihi Shita no de Bunkasai de Ukarete Shimatta…)
“I Avoided My Doom Flags, So I Got Carried Away at the Cultural Festival…”

Ahh summer, it’s finally here at last, and what better way to kick things off than with a second season of Hamefura? This was honestly a sequel I never expected to see following the one-and-done nature of Hamefura’s first go-around, but I am not about to turn my nose up at more adorkable shenanigans and have been eagerly awaiting it since this sequel’s announcement. And I dare say my patience was rewarded.

Given Hamefura X is a sequel there should be no real need to delve into the premise too much: you want filling in, give that first season a spin. Or if you need some light refreshment, well, let Katarina’s various mental minions help fill in the blanks. In short the dork remains a lovably adorable just want to pet and feed 24/7 dork, the boys are still firmly cookie cutter in all the best ways, and the sooner I can get Mary and Sophia battling it out for the fair maiden’s heart (read: further honing that killer female intuition) all the better. Although if things simply devolve into various people giving into Bakarina eyes and time-honoured tummy rumbles I won’t be complaining in the slightest. I’m not sure what I needed from this season, but watching Katarina’s classmates immediately diagnose hunger as her problem definitely just became it.

As for plot nitty gritty, I imagine we won’t have to wait long to see who (or what) the big bad is this time. Considering Katarina’s doom flags have been all dealt with previously this will be the main sticking point for a bit; will things remain largely episodic and centered around lighthearted harem comedy or can we anticipate more serious and longer lasting drama to (finally) appear? While I love this series for the unabashed humour, there’s something to be said for mellowing about a bit and indulging in more structured scenarios – especially when the harem merry-go-round eventually runs out of new and interesting ways to stay funny. Will Katarina finally be forced into choosing a specific path in life (as already foreshadowed in part) or could something else like her – spoiler alert – friend’s reincarnation yield some other additional game aspect for additional hungry hippo fun and games? Quite a few options on the table, which alongside the presence of new (and just as ridiculous) characters points towards this season staying just as entertaining as the last.

I’m not sure exactly what’s in store for the Bakarina this time, but I’m definitely looking forward to finding out.

OP Sequence

OP: 「アンダンテに恋をして！」 (Andante ni Koi wo Shite!) by angela

14 Comments

  1. I’ve heard comments from some source readers that Hamefura’s content from this point is not as good as the 1st 2 volumes (which the 1st anime season adapted).

    Hamefura’s original webnovel was written as a conclusive short series, which fit nicely into 2 published light novels. Then due to popular demand, the author continued writing Hamefura as light-novel exclusives from Vol 3 onward.

    Some have criticized the later volumes as a rehashing of the original content’s story beats, with less character development then they were expecting.

    zztop
    Reply

    1. For this particular arc (school festival), it will feel very similar to the previous arc, but starting from next arc, the author did change things up to hash out the other characters more.

      Flappy
      Reply

    2. I’ve heard similar things to be honest that’s my main concern as well. The first season had a good finish with no real opening for something further, at least game mechanics wise. It can certainly carry on as a wholly fantasy comedy from that point, but greater imagination is needed; we’ll just have to see if enough is present to make this season just as fun as the first.

      Pancakes
      Reply

    3. I share a similar concern.

      They barely had time to flesh out the existing characters as is. And now it seems like they’re intent on doubling the amount of characters, as opposed to developing existing ones? While the variety of new characters and personalities are definitely fun, I do not believe it’s a good idea.

      I would have kept the part where they bring back Sieg/Raphael alongside that Department of Magic storyline. Make it so that all the original characters from S1 catch wind of Katarina’s ambitions and have all of them work hard to try and also be eligible for positions in the Department of Magic – with complications like opposition from Geord who realises the ulterior motive, mysterious machinations from within the Department itself (like Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix) or perhaps a twist like everyone passing with the exception of Katarina only for some deus ex machina to rescue the situation.

      That would really develop existing characters and it would leave an S3 open to the cards – about office life featuring all our beloved characters at the Department of Magic.

      Zaiden
      Reply

  5. male MC were thought to be ultimate dense material in the universe, Densitium
    until Bakarinium was discovered
    loved how people were openly fighting for her in front of her and she misunderstood them EVERY time

    ewok40k
    Reply

  8. I didn’t realized how much I missed this series. I started this episode just to kill some time, but ended glued to the screen and laughing all the way until the credits rolled.
    Frankly, I don’t care much about the grand plot and deep character development. As long as I get more shenanigans and Bakarina unintentionally evil faces it’ll be good enough season for me.

    puppygod
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *