It is impossible to enjoy the Vandread series without watching Vandread: The Second Stage. I believe that between the 2 series, the second one is superior. Obviously, the second season is a continuation of the story that began in the first season. What I noticed about the second season is that all characters went through huge developments; if not, revelations. I don’t want to give out too many spoilers, but in the second season Hibiki is moving closer to his goal of proving his existence, his relationship with Dita is improving even more, and we learn more about characters such as Meia, Jura, Magno and B.C. Thereare also new characters that will be introduced. In fact, there’s so many of them but only 1 or 2 will take up more screen time than the other new characters. Here’s a clue for one of them: If you remember Ezra from the first season, then you’d probably have an idea of what kind of person the first new character will be.

Most of the voice actors from the first season have been retained from the first one, and thank goodness for that because I would have pouted to death if the had removed Tomokazu Seki from the billing. He is one talented guy, and he always does a great job with each character he portrays (for this one, Tomokazu Seki plays Bart Garsus). Of course, like I said in my review of the first season, the other seiyuus were also able to bring out the personalities of their individual characters.

The second season’s visuals were more or less similar to the first season, except I did find it to be more consistent. The “morphing faces” or anything like were kept to a minimum. I also realized that the used repeated scenes more often for the second season. That’s just laziness, but it wasn’t that bad. Most of the repeated scenes used are the ones wherein Dita’s dread and Hibiki’s van-types were combining.

I like the opening song of the second season better. The song “Justice” by Aki Kudou was almost a synopsis of what the characters of Vandread are trying to accomplish. They are trying to fight for their justice, for a great future and they want to keep it that way. As for the ending song, it’s OK. “Yes Together”, also by Aki Kudou, was too slow and mellow for my taste. Like the first season, the BGM was also well done this time around.

Vandread: The Second Stage is definitely a good way to end the Vandread series. Unlike the first season, the second season actually offers a more solid conclusion that will leave you with a clearer picture of what might happen next.