Silver Spoon! It was a great little series that aired last summer about a city guy entering an agricultural high school for ~reasons~ and all the crap (figurative or otherwise) that he has to deal with while there. It was funny, insightful, full of character and thoroughly enjoyable, and definitely deserved – nay, needed – this second season!
Being a very direct continuation of the first season (as in, it starts almost exactly where the first one left off) this won’t be a particularly long review – it’s definitely one of those cases where everything I said about the first series still applies, minus the few differences I’ll elaborate on – but it’s still worth discussing in at least some detail. After all, I came away from the first season thinking that it was great but lacking… something. It was close, VERY close, to being a legitimately amazing show, but didn’t quite have the edge to take it there. Would a direct continuation be able to bring in what was missing?
Silver Spoon 2nd Season (or Gin no Saji 2nd Season) is basically more of the same, with two key changes: first, there are fewer pure comedy episodes, as most have at least some seriousness mixed in (still hilarious though; and second, the focus is more on Hachiken’s development and growth as a person, as an individual, as opposed to his getting used to a completely new way of life. And really, these two things go hand-in-hand.
What I do mean by it being more serious? Essentially, there’s a greater emphasis placed on conflict and the harsh realities of farming life. Hachiken’s resentment of his father, the difficulties people face when pursuing their dreams and how hard it can be when those involve others, the prospect of crippling debt, and how much one should rely on others to help you are all key themes and plot points that the second season explores and discusses, and it’s not always with a happy ending. A lot of the time, the second season has an almost bittersweet tone to it, quite unlike the almost happy-go-lucky nature of the first one.
It is still funny though! Without a doubt, it’s still a fantastic comedy and frequently hilarious, showcasing the sharp sense of humour that made the first season so beloved in the first place. The endless one-upmanship the show has with itself in regards to shitting on Hachiken, the almost absurdist nature of farming, and the sheer variety of clever and original character humour the show thrives in, it’s all here and as great as ever, just not as frequent. And on top of the levity that brings, there’s even some solid progression with Hachiken and Mikage’s friendship/almost mutual attraction! And that becomes the source of a great deal of comedy as well.
Speaking of Hachiken, I also mentioned earlier that there’s a bigger focus on his development as an individual. Now that he’s largely acclimatised to the school/agricultural environment he’s in, we get to see him thrive and work in a more intentional way this time around. He becomes more outspoken, more capable, more eager, but above all he learns how to be more open and trusting with the friends around him.
And he’s not the only; Mikage and Komaba in particular get a lot of development and growth, with the net effect of their personalities getting a lot more depth. By the end they feel a lot more balanced and fleshed out, with more insecurities and issues than they initially appeared. And considering that the cast was already great, this is nothing short of excellent.
So in the end, it’s more Silver Spoon, except with a more engaging narrative that trades off some amount of humour for some powerful drama (which it never gets carried away with, either) and a great deal of meaningful, rewarding character development. It builds off of what made the first season great and adds a lot to the franchise as a whole. Does it have what was ‘missing’ from the first season? Hell yes it does.
Season 3 fucking when?
9/10
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