I said in my review of season one that I was hoping for some, even a single dunk out of SS, and I'm sorry of this counts as a spoiler but in this I was very disappointed. No dunks at all, not even from Subaru in his showdown with his aggressively blonde rival. I was, however, greeted with a variety of no-look passes, floaters, jab steps, and all sorts of other advanced techniques. The team really stepped up their game in this one, and so too did the show creators, riding on the success of season 1 to create a show with just as much heartand much tighter animation and writing to boot.

If you liked season one, SS delivers. It's a different beast, for sure, focusing more on plot and introducing a hoard of new characters on top of our established cast. I liked most of the new characters a lot, but with the growing cast some of the older characters are sidelined into supporting roles that make them feel even flatter than before. Not that there's necessarily a problem with that, but it's a matter of flavor - S1 was distinctly a harem show, S2 is more of a drama with some of the more goofy ecchi aspects of the first season ironed out or collected into a few episodes rather than throughout. I liked this better, in a way, although the stress upon adding more characters for more conflicts instead of exploring the existing cast felt a little thin.

The animation's also been stepped up, I assume through the success of the first season. There are still some rough points, of course, but overall it's a much better-looking show.

If you enjoy the subject matter, r-k-b! is a simple but satisfying show that's pretty good at what it does. I came to it with very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised to find a show that was both cute and endearing. I'd be surprised to find another show with such an odd mix of elements that works as well as this one, and I'm happy I followed through with the second season.