The ultimate payoff for watching through the first season of Queen's Blade is that you're rewarded with this. The animation is even better, the fights begin to matter and have real stakes, the story and characters stand to become legitimately gripping at times. It is in every way an improvement from the previous season. Queen's Blade truly starts at this point. From here on to the end, it is all about the tournament arc. You get to see all manner of exciting fights in so many cool and different arenas which can either elevate the tension or express awe-inspiring artistry. Each character in the arena bringssomething new and fresh to increase the stakes and show off some impressive technique or power. The moments outside of the fights serve well to meaningfully develop the characters and even pair them together in surprising ways that play into their strengths. Just about every member of the cast gets their moment to shine and do something important for the story.

Queen's Blade manages to stick the landing, and I feel pretty satisfied coming off this show knowing that it tied up everything so nicely.