When I first watched Dog Days on my Macbook Pro while heading to Minnesota back in 2011, it was a fun show. However, the story was average and the injection of drama did not fit well with the lighthearted feeling of the show. A year later, we now have Dog Day’s Dash, which is the sequel where Shinku returns with his childhood friend, Rebecca to the fantasy world of Flonyard. Also, his older cousin, Nanami joins in the fun. With Seven Arc’s track record on second seasons being better than the first, I wonder if the same can be said for Dog Days. Let’s find out! (Image Source)
From the surface, second season is like the first season, but with more exciting moments besides the recreational war. Like the first season, the first few episodes focused on a war to welcome Shinku back. Shortly after, Nanami becomes the hero for Galette while the newcomer Pastillage joins in the war with Cou picking Rebecca as her kingdom’s hero. After the first war, it becomes a mostly slice of life show with various stuff happening to the characters. This can range from hunting demonic hares that steals clothes at a village, age-changing rats, mind-controlling deity causing trouble and the unfortunate body swapping, which are fun to look at.
As you would expect, the whole cast from the first season returns with the addition of new characters. Pastillage appeared interesting since it resembles architecture from Europe and apparently has more culture compared to the other two kingdoms. Because this kingdom wasn’t in the first season, there was a lot of character development with Cou trying to become a better princess while having a fear that Rebecca will forget about her. The funny thing about her is that she is a troublemaker sometimes as seen with her unleashing the Demon King Valério and inherently getting trapped in a underground maze with Ricotta and Noire to obtain a treasure for Rebecca. Thankfully, these troubles also bought various benefits such as Adelaide, Pastillage’s Legendary Heroine and the appearance of Rebecca’s older self.
On the other hand, some of the main characters from Biscotti also got some character development as well. Hina’s lost brother, Isuka finally appearing after being presumed missing. Yuuki’s childhood also got shown. She interacted with Millhi, Ricotta and Éclair while growing up. It was fascinating to see how a goddess arrived in Flonyard as a child and grows up quickly into a full grown adult in a matter of years. Lastly, Éclair gets some development as she kissed Shinku during a mind control and eventually resolves her feelings of uneasiness towards him to defeat Leonmitchelli in a duel. While it’s good that the introduction of Pastillage didn’t overshadow Biscotti, Galette unfortunately got the shaft. I felt this way because Nanami slowly got shoved into the foreground with Shinku and Rebecca taking the spotlight. Then again, Nanami doesn’t really have romantic feelings for her cousin and views him more as her rival, so it’s not a big lost.
It’s kind of sad that Dog Days 2 ended because believe it or not, it’s one of the most enjoyable shows in the Summer Season besides Tari Tari and Hyouka. Heck, I had more fun with this show compared to Kokoro Connect since it does age changing and body swapping a whole lot better. Still, given the hints shown in the last episode and the relative popularity of Dog Days, it’s clear that there will be a third season sometime in the future. If that happens, I wonder which girl Shinku will pick as his actual girlfriend. Then again, he likes his harem so much that he doesn’t want to disappoint any of them.
Overall Rating; 8.6/10, B, Very Good
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