TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 2 follows on from first season — but better
Just like its first season, the ongoing action adventure isekai anime TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 2 is based on the light novels 月が導く異世界道中, Hepburn: Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Dōchū, (translation. “Journey in an Alternate World Guided by the Moon”) written by Kei Azumi and illustrated by Mitsuaki Matsumoto.
And just like the first season, in Season 2 we are still following protagonist Makoto Misumi, a high school student who was isekai-ed into an alternate world — the same world his parents left before he was born to move to Earth.
In Season 1, Makoto was cursed by the goddess who summoned him to be a hero, and then changed her mind because of how he looks.
But, given extraordinary powers by another god, he makes friends with a slew of demi-humans including a terrifyingly powerful dragon (now named Tomoe) and an equally horrifying “Spider of Destruction” (now named Mio).
The trio then establish an alternate realm (a demi-plane) within Makoto’s new world, and start to trade the goods they grow and make there, while also building a new civilization where every demi-human species (orcs, lizards, dwarves, gorgons, you name it…) is treated the same, and where all live peacefully together.
Now TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 2 is currently on-going, and not only is the second season an interesting and fun follow-on from Season 1, it’s actually even better.
Here are some of the reasons why.
Why is TSUKIMICHI: Moonlit Fantasy Season 2 even better than the first?
Makoto is now established in Elysion, with a hometown within the demi-plane, hordes of demi-human friends, a new business, strong business relationships, plus ever-increasing magical powers he is now able to control.
Well. Most of the time.
The second season’s plot follows directly on from where we ended in Season 1, with Makoto and his Lich servant Shiki on their way to Rotsgard Academy, as Makoto wants to open a new store.
Just a few minutes into Episode 1 of the second season, however, and it starts to become obvious that the new season is even more captivating than the first.
The consistency of Season 2
Just like the first season, TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 2 maintains the solid consistency of tone it kept through all 12 episodes of Season 2, as it continues to combine humor, superb action scenes, and some really nice character-driven moments that are quite touching.
Yes, Season 2 is darker than the first, but even that is done consistently without going too far and destroying the original feel of the anime.
And yes, the new season is still poking fun at the isekai genre, but it does so in subtle way that doesn’t go overboard by trying too hard.
Its pacing is excellent too, with every 23 minute episode leaving you wanting more right from the beginning whereas, in Season 1, it was really from Episode 4 onwards where the anime really got its pacing right and, from then on, knew what it was meant to do.
That Season 2 consistency also includes the main characters who, while they are definitely experiencing development with each new episode, the way they behave is still in keeping with their original personalities.
Character development
Light novel author Kei Azumi and screenwriter Kenta Ihara have done a good job showcasing the development of several characters, but most notably with Tomoe and Mio.
Tomoe is learning to handle Mio much better than in Season 1, where they were always at each other’s throats, while Mio is also growing as she has been willing to head off on travels on her own so she can learn how to cook better for Makoto.
Both are also able to spend more time away from Makoto, and still be productive and useful without unnecessarily killing people or causing problems.
For me, this has made watching Season 2 even more enjoyable, as it has been fun to see what Tomoe and Mio are able to accomplish when they’re not obsessing over Makoto, and trying to one-up each other all the time.
Meanwhile, Makoto’s character is developing as he has now gained a dark side we didn’t anticipate at the beginning of Season 1.
Considering the second season is more than double the length of the first (25 episodes), there is also much more time to see the development of these characters even further.
TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 2’s new characters
While there are plenty of minor characters appearing in every new episode of the second season, the main additions are two more heroes from Earth — Hibiki Otonashi and Tomoki Iwahashi — who are both properly introduced in Episode 2.
An episode that seems a bit like a “filler”, until you realize these two are also a big part of the coming plot.
What’s interesting about them is neither are what you would expect in a hero as Hibiki has already lost her nerve, due to her friend being killed early in Season 2, while Tomoki is just an arrogant, obnoxious, self-centered brat who causes more harm than does good.
Sure, a lot of that comes from being bullied back on Earth, but that still doesn’t excuse his cowardice, his temper tantrums, or his obsession with everything being done his way.
Both characters, though, make for an interesting Season 2.
Especially as both are making contact with various demi-humans near Makoto, but haven’t actually met Makoto yet. (I’ve just finished watching Episode 8, so I can’t speak to past that).
And also when you realize it’s highly likely Makoto and Hibiki will become allies, while he will probably kick Tomoki’s well-deserving ass.
I have a feeling we will see massive character growth of both Hibiki and Tomoki before the season ends.
Other new characters are Makoto’s Rotsgard Academy students, which also includes the Rembrandt sisters (the duo he saved from the cursed illness in Season 1).
They add an interesting plot featuring the human population, which is a first in the anime, while they have also been infiltrated with someone who isn’t all they (he? she?) seem.
Some of TSUKIMICHI Season 2’s truly funny comedic moments also take place around the classroom scenes, as Makoto tricks them again and again. (He’s only trying to help them improve their fighting skills, right?)
The expanded world-building in TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 2
While Season 1 did a great job in explaining the lore of this new fantasy world, in Season 2 we learn even more about the world as we are introduced to both the Gritonia Empire and the Limia Kingdom due to Hibiki and Tomoki being heroes in those realms.
Season 2 though looks at the ongoing war between the demons and the humans, gives us more in-depth knowledge about the world’s magic system now Makoto is teaching at Rotsgard Academy, and shows the connections between the various realms.
We also meet new species early on in the new season — the Wingkin, the Gorgons and the Al-Elemera — and get a closer look at the demi-plane and some of the problems it faces.
Including its climate, as Makoto constantly opening mist gates is now creating havoc with the weather.
And all this world-building is explained at the right time in the story because, yep, this is a damned well-written isekai anime.
Interesting side plots
Season 2 also features more side plots than Season 1, which might be annoying to some until you realize most of them are there for a reason.
The cooking side plot with Mio actually learning how to cook seaweed from hero Hibiki is fun, and the classes Makoto is teaching and the experience of the students in them is fascinating, as it gives us a look at the minimal power of much of the world’s “elite”.
Meanwhile, Makoto kicking the asses of the bandit group Moon Over the Ruined Castle reminded us he is so powerful he can annihilate a whole group of humans and barely break a sweat.
Then Mio destroying a strange monster that had consumed a wind spirit and getting her kimono damaged in the process leads us back to Shiki, who confesses he might just have created that strange being himself before he met Makoto and was “experimenting”.
All in all, while TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 2 doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it does take the strengths of Season 1 and polish them until they really shine.
RELATED: TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy, Season 3 is now confirmed along with a very cute visual
Sure, it is still an isekai anime, but it takes the best things about series like KONOSUBA, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime and The Rising of the Shield Hero, and gives them a little twist before serving them up in a unique and refreshing way.
Seasons 1 and 2 of are now streaming on Crunchyroll, where the isekai anime series is being rated a crazy high average of 4.9 out of 5 from over 83,500 viewers.
Yep, it is that good.
