Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense. - Season 2

Slightly weaker than the first season, but still a pretty cool and enjoyable show. There seemed to be less humor and fewer of those absurd, over-the-top, and hilarious moments about how insanely powerful Maple was, by which she was ruining the whole game. I only laughed once or twice per episode (one of which was usually at the end during the "community chat"), which seems pretty little for Bofuri. It's as if the author realized at the end of the first season that this joke won’t do, and a change of approach was in order. The main character needed to be put in situations where the reader/viewer would worry about her, to set the stage for another story. There is only one moment in this season where Maple gets a crazy new upgrade while everyone around her tries to catch up with her. Half the season is like Pokémon again, which I don't really mind since I'm used to "pets" and "mounts" from playing MMORPGs. However, there is a noticeable change in the finale. It is a celebration of teamwork, instead of Maple single-handedly kicking the final boss's ass with everyone around her merely standing by in disbelief. So instead of a "super übercute heroine", it’s a show about "we can do it as a team", and I'm not sure if I'm happy about it. Maybe I liked to watch the absurdly strong Maple... Anyway, I did enjoy this season quite a bit, I liked the many different locations that were introduced. The show convinced me that the game world of this VRMMORPG was incredibly rich and made me want to experience it as a player. I also had no problem following all the characters’ stories. Bofuri is the kind of series where I love the main character, I like 2-3 other characters, and the rest are just OK. What this means in practice is that there is no one I didn’t like, including all the "pets". It’s quite an achievement for an anime with so many characters! I was also intrigued by the ending which showed even more new characters and clearly set the direction in which the story would go next. I'll be happy to watch another season, however, I doubt that I'll enjoy any sequel as much as I liked the first season (even if it was mainly about that one joke) 7/10. (19/04/2023)