Chained Soldier Season 2

Episode 8

I'm sure this is an issue that is as much to blame on the source material as anything else, but the story pacing for this second season of Chained Soldier has felt completely all over the place. Back in season one, we at least had the through-line of Yuuki's inevitable reunion with his sister to give the battles against the Shuuki and the Thunder Gods a bit of vague but helpful direction. This season, though, has mostly felt like we've been stuck watching Yuuki and the gang screw around (heh) and kill time on random errands and side-quests. It's been entertaining enough, for the most part, and it's facilitated plenty of sleaze, but as I've mentioned before, Chained Soldier is at its best when it is putting at least a teensy bit of effort into its plot…when it isn't busy indulging in the rest of the “plot,” that is.

It's taken a while, but Chained Soldier finally seems to be setting up a conflict that will give this story some much-needed oomph. As we've seen in sporadic little asides over the last few episodes, there's a new monster in town that is wreaking her smutty, smutty havoc on the helpless women of the human world. This is a great development for several reasons. First of all, it is an excellent reminder that there is an actual human cost to be paid whenever the Shuuki and the Thunder Gods run rampant. It also gives the entire squad of girls an actual mission to focus on, which frees them from the eternal prison of “Waiting for Yuuki to get enough free time to sex them all up but good with his Slave powers.” Some anime forget that one of the appeals of a harem anime is that all of the protagonists' lady friends can get together and team up to solve problems and grow as a weird and problematically horny found family. And not all of those “problems” have to be sex-related, either!

Finally, like I pointed out when she first showed up a couple of weeks ago, Kuusetsu is just a fun addition to the cast of baddies. Her design is appealing, she's got that goofy split-personality thing going on, and she represents more of a threat than anything Yuuki and Co. have dealt with all season. Another good new face in the roster is Mira, who fills the “brash, tough biker-type who will wreck your shit if you look at her funny” archetype quite well. If nothing else, I'd rather the show pander to the audience by showing off her stacked “assets” over the endless mommy-kink stuff that we were getting from Fubuki. Plus, it's funny to see her totally lose her cool when she stumbles upon one of Yuuki and Kyouka's most shameless Rewards yet.

Overall, this is one of the strongest outings yet for Chained Soldier's second season. We've got action, some story development, fun new characters, boobs, a couple of good jokes, and even more boobs. What more could you ask for? Wait, what's that? You want an even more preposterous and thinly justified truckload of boobs? Don't worry, my friends. Chained Soldier has got you covered. You freak.

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Chained Soldier Season 2 is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.