This season directly follows season 1, but there were some things missing so I had to read manga to catch up. Also it was obvious this season will be hated, but to carry the story forward I think it served the purpose, if you're willing to complete the story you should watch it, personally I liked it, apart from animations its perfect. After catching up with anime, I switched to manga it was smooth transition you must read the manga the quality is unparalleled, just so much Guts has suffered, I had to see what was about to come and wasn't disappointed.