Watching 'Silver Spoon' Season 2

The second season of Silver Spoon picks up where the first season left off and carries on the story of Hachiken, Mikage, and their friends trying to live through their first year in the agricultural high school. The second season aired in the winter anime season of 2014. Much of the season one cast and crew returns for the second season, however the directing duties were taken over by Deai Kotomi—(episode director—Kimi ni Todoke, storyboard—Ergo Proxy), with Itou Tomohiko taking on the sole responsibility of being the sound director. The second season, as was the case with the first season, consists of eleven episodes.

While there was a greater comedic edge to the first season, this season has a far more serious and dramatic edge to it that makes one contemplate on the lives of the characters that are born into the farming industry, while compounding with the personal struggles that Hachiken is going through both in relation to school, his parents and his propensity to over work himself and the negative effects that would have on the body.

This season does not hold back on the punches as we see the conflict of how the desires of the students can sometimes be detrimental to what is best for the family as a whole, and the pressure of having to deal with such decisions at a young age is almost cruel, yet commonplace. Without a doubt, the humor in the show does help make the gravity of these events that much more palatable, and the aftermaths have a serene quality to them that is actually quite mournful. It is wonderfully executed storytelling that made me binge through the show all over again. While I knew what is to come, I was still riveted.

The characters, having been introduced and established in the first season, has the opportunity to really develop and progress to a greater degree. At this point they are not used as a vehicle towards humor as much as they were in season one, instead they are used as a means of communicating the feelings of those that are in their positions in real life. The behaviours and interactions of the characters are far more nuanced this season by putting them into situations that really make them take stock of the lives that they have been born into. Beyond that, the risks that would be involved by choosing to deviate from the life that you are born into, with the life that you want to live, not only for yourself, but for your family. At this point in the narrative, the show does not pull back any punches in their depiction of the characters and make them far too relatable in a real world sense to be comfortable with.

The visuals and the music are markedly improved from season one. Not by a great degree in terms of animation movement, rather in the polish in the presentation of the show. While there was only a six month gap between the two seasons, the animation does feel slightly crisper when compared to the first season, if only slightly.

The true triumph of this season truly is the characters and the narrative progression of events, as I have been talking with glowing praise up till this point in this article. Much of the praise that I had for the first season applies here in all respects, and the production staff has taken the strengths to amplify them that much more to make a second season that was incredibly engaging to watch.

This is a story of following the dreams that you set out for yourself, and not living a life of what if, learning from the lessons dealt to you by life, and forming connections with others. This is a show that I could not recommend enough. It is available to watch on Crunchyroll.