This is coming from someone who loves the first season of Kemono Friends.
I had heard there was some backlash from fans due to the firing of Tatsuki, the original director, but I had no idea that the change in directors would be this much of a tragedy.
First things first, the new main character design... awful! Is it a boy? Is it a girl? Does it even have emotions? I don't think I have ever seen more bland a character in both appearance and personality. Some of the new Friend designs are pretty bad too. They literally just slapped a hat shaped like a red panda head on Red Panda and called it good. I think this might be the first friend in the series to have two noses!
Then the animation style was changed up for some reason. Too me it looks like they went with a higher end studio or something but in an attempt to keep the low budget charm of the first season they deleted every other frame. The end result is a choppy mess that has none of the appeal.
And now for the plot... It's basically the same as the first season. That much is evident from the first ten minutes so no spoilers here. They might have been able to get away with this; just continue the plot from the first season and keep meeting new friends along the way, but the first season left us with a HUGE CLIFFHANGER that is not at all addressed in the second season aside from, "I sort of remember there was another human here." So much potential just flushed down the drain!
This anime is only on the second episode as of my writing this review. I barely made it through to the end. I have no intention of finishing this season. It is clear that it is a disaster.
The only reason I am giving this two stars instead of one is because very young children, who love repetition, might enjoy it. It's a very safe anime to plop your toddler down in front of.
