I've been sitting here for ages racking my brain for the correct adjective with which to describe this series. “Mediocre” is too negative, as is “middling,” as both would suggest I didn't enjoy my time with it. I guess I'll stick with this one: it's “fine”. I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level Season 2 is perfectly “fine” at what it sets out to do, which is to provide twenty-four minutes per episode of middle-of-the-road, pleasantly bland, gently humorous entertainment with little in the way of lasting effect. I remember enjoying the first, unremarkable season, though its details escape me in much the same way as I'm sure is destined to happen with the second season. Despite only recently finishing watching the show, I had to go back and look at episode descriptions to remind myself what happened earlier this season.

Azusa remains a fun and expressive protagonist who tends more towards the reactive rather than proactive, rarely driving what amounts to “plot” in this fairly freeform and shapeless show. Most episodes revolve around the new random character of the week, and how their bizarre situations affect Azusa, or obliging her to reluctantly take some kind of action. She's still that same witch desperate to lead a quiet life out of the spotlight, who can't help but find herself obliged to defuse conflicts/rescue plant people hunted by other herb-harvesting witches/placate troublesome gods.

Most of Azusa's extended family remain little but ciphers, walking character tropes with nothing in the way of development or personality, who often appear once or twice per episode to say a line or two before retreating to hover in the background (literally so, in the case of ghost girl Rosalie). Multiple characters are often little more than members of a persistent Greek Chorus. What, exactly, did elf apothecary Halkara achieve this season? Almost nothing. Similarly, apart from a brief visit to the ice dragon homeland, dragon girls Flatorte and Laika's roles this season are to merely provide window dressing.

New childlike mandrake plant girl Sandra is probably the most prominent addition to the central cast, with a cute design reminiscent of Higurashi's Rika Furude (but without the existential despair and visceral horror). She's slightly tsundere and has a funny hatred of elves that she often unleashes on poor, hapless Halkara. Her mother-daughter-like interactions with Azusa are quite heartwarming. Even Azusa finds herself adopted by a motherly water spirit, though this does lead to an oddly off-color joke when Azusa hugs her moist new “mother,” making it look like she's wet herself.

At least the show's demonic contingent is always entertaining, with persistently intense “little sister” demon king Pecora stealing most of the limelight from the more adult-looking Beelzebub. Pecora's plot to turn Azusa into a fox-tailed woman, thereby trapping her in the demon realm out of shame, is bizarre. Her “big sister” infatuation sometimes skirts the line between uncomfortable comedy and creepy yuri fetishization. Despite the entirely female cast, while there are occasional yuri vibes, they're played entirely for laughs. There are no romantic relationships in this show.

One episode even lampshades this, in possibly the worst possible way, when Misjantie, a pine spirit, asks Azusa for help. Her temple can only survive if she can regularly officiate weddings there, so she asks Azusa to get married. The idea of marriage horrifies not only Azusa but every other adult female in the cast, so it falls to little slime kid characters Falfa and Shalsha, who are twin sisters, to “marry” each other. I know this is meant to be a daft comedy, but the idea of “marrying” two little kid sisters together, with apparently proper, binding vows, is creepy; the episode itself is utterly braindead and one of the worst single anime episodes I've watched all season. As the weekly reviewer of Your Forma, that's saying something.

Despite changing studios and creative teams since its first season, I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level Season 2 maintains a fairly uniform aesthetic. It remains colorful yet flat and very limited in terms of animation. It doesn't look bad exactly, but every possible shortcut is used to keep the animation as simple and uninspiring as possible. Thankfully, the character designs are cute and charming, which counts for a lot in this case.

The lackluster visuals compound a fairly bland script and episodic story structure, meaning this is far from an essential watch. However, there's something about the show I find oddly comforting. Sometimes I want to switch my brain off and let the low-stakes adventures of some silly people make me smile. While it's never laugh-out-loud funny, I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level is a pleasantly humorous way to while away some spare moments after a hard day's work.