During Anime Expo 2024, I had the opportunity to attend The Owl Part 2 is out and watch the first part two episodes of it. Since the first season is among my all-time favorite shows, I was definitely looking forward to this new storyline. Unfortunately, it was disappointing due to its awkward pacing, despite the gorgeous animation.
The Owl Season 2 picks up where the first season left off. Aqua Hoshino is looking to join a theater troupe to learn more about Ai. The first episode starts off strong, showing a glimpse of the stage play the troupe is putting on. The gorgeous introductions to each character in the piece really impressed me, thanks to the great animation and effects.
This beautiful introduction makes it feel like you’re actually watching a real stage play unfold. The whole sequence works really well because of that. But the strong opening eventually gives way to a flashback to see Aqua, Akane, and the rest of the cast in the lead-up to the big day. The transition seems to work, and I enjoyed meeting all the new characters in the cast.
As you might expect, there is a lot of drama between the main cast, the director, and even the writers. The combination of drama and the excellent voice acting from the Japanese cast kept me hooked throughout the first episode. While this plot certainly feels like a slight departure from the main plot of the series, it starts out as an entertaining story nonetheless.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the first episode, although it lacked the shock value and star power of the first episode of Season 1. The real problem I had with The Owl Part 2 is not available at this time. The problems I had with it started when the second episode started at the event. Instead of continuing from the slight cliffhanger at the end of the first episode, the second episode jumped back in time unnecessarily.
The second episode spent a lot of time focusing on Aqua and the others joining the troupe for the first time. Considering I saw them practicing and spending time together in the first episode, this felt a bit unnecessary. In fact, I’d argue that it almost felt like the second episode should have been the first because of this timeline change.
Watching these two episodes back to back completely killed the goodwill that the first episode of this stage play had established. I had no interest in going back in time and watching the mostly unnecessary introduction to the production. The only slight saving grace of the second episode came from focusing on the stage play’s main writer. His moments were surprisingly emotional and evoked some empathy.
However, I don’t need a full flashback episode to deliver those scenes. They can certainly work without the need to go back in time. Overall, I feel like the first and second episodes would have been better swapped. Maybe if you didn’t watch all of them, it would have been a little better. For now, though, I’m looking forward to the third episode and hopefully the pacing will be better, moving the story forward instead of back.
The Owl Season 2 is now streaming via HIDE THE SECRETYen Press is responsible for publishing manga outside of Japan.
