Amagami SS+ - Review

"And they lived happily ever after..."

Often times, many people wonder what happens afterwards. What exactly is "happily ever after"? Amagami SS+, the sequel to the school romance anime, Amagami SS, gives viewers a glimpse of the lives of the six heroines after the conclusion of the first season. Not much has changed in between seasons - artwork, characters, seiyūs and staff all remained more or less the same - so fans of the series will undoubtedly enjoy this continuation. With that being said, although Plus is a sequel, knowledge of the first season is not necessarily mandatory as the basic premise of the story can be grasped quickly.

Art (8/10)
Simplicity is almost always a good thing. Having clean art with a good amount of detail is generally well-accepted, especially when it comes to a series like Amagami SS in which the art is not focused on too much. I found the character designs to be very normal and plain, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The style is something I see very often but that is what makes it easy for my eyes to digest. Backgrounds that are not too fancy which don't detract my attention from what's happening is very much positive. AIC did a great job with the animation once again.

Characters (7/10)
Let's be honest here, the girls of Amagami SS are far from realistic. Now I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure there are barely any girls in the world who would want someone like Junichi as their boyfriend. The guy, in many ways, is the reincarnation of a human male's inner desires; he doesn't know the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Not only that, but he's also a blatant pervert and idiotic protagonist. Despite all this, he ends up getting the girl at the end, which is a big reason why I think the characters are unrealistic. Nonetheless, the girls do develop during their own arcs. You can easily see that, after they started dating Junichi, their personalities have changed. While I would've preferred Junichi to not have been such an irritable character, I believe his current personality was used on purpose, in order to enable viewers of similar traits to be able to relate to him and to gain hope (i.e. "if someone like Junichi can get a beautiful girlfriend, then so can I!").

Sound (8/10)
azusa returns for a second season with two more new songs - an OP and an ED - both of which I liked. They also fit their respective positions very well; the OP was high-energy, readying the viewer for the episode to come while the mellow ED wrapped out the episode nicely. BGM was the same as in the first season. Nothing in particular was memorable but it was there and did its job of enhancing scenes without being too obtrusive. No changes in voice acting since all the characters are still the same. Notable seiyūs include Itō Shizuka (Morishima Haruka, Katsura Hinagiku [Hayate no Gotoku!]), Yukana (Nanasaki Ai, C.C. [Code Geass]), and Satō Rina (Tanamachi Kaoru, Misaka Mikoto [To Aru Kagaku no Railgun]). Unfortunately, there were no insert songs unlike in season one.

Story (8/10)
The omnibus format follows from the first season into the second. Each girl gets their own two-episode arc that introduces a problem before solving it. The purpose of these problems is to strengthen each of the girls' relationship with Junichi. It's realistic in a sense because real life relationships always contain ups and downs, even if the couple has just started dating. The different stories evoke a wide variety of emotions and appeal to viewers of diverse preferences. Personally, I thought some of the arcs were too rushed as there were only two episodes available for the problem to be introduced and solved.

Overall (8/10)
As a fan of Amagami SS, I definitely enjoyed Plus. Seeing my favorite Amagami girls in action again was a real treat. I would've liked for it to be 24 episodes but, alas, you can't have everything go your way. At this point, I think it's safe to say that this is going to be the last of Amagami SS, in terms of TV series. It's been a good 38 episodes and I'm satisfied with how things went. I would recommend this show to those who want to watch a nice, relaxing shōnen romantic comedy. You won't be disappointed!