The first season of Uzaki-Chan wants to hang out was a fun, if kind of standard, sitcom RomCom anime which played into the whole concept of “male character being lightly bullied by a younger female character” which also showed up in “Teasing Master Takagi-San” and in “Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro!” – only this time moving the concept up to college. Unsurprisingly, the anime adaptation got a second season – officially titled “Uzaki-Chan Wants To Hang Out W” (but using the lower-case Greek omega, because it looks like an anime character’s mouth getting mischievous). There will be some spoilers.

So, the core question coming into this season is – does the show stick with the status quo, of Hana Uzaki and Shinichi Sakurai still in their situation where both have feelings for the other, with neither admitting it to themselves, and neither aware of the other’s feelings? The answer is “sort of”. The series ends with both characters having come to those realizations, but not quite being ready to take the next steps based on that information as yet. On the one hand, this can be kind of frustrating – the only thing more willing to spin their wheels for years at a time than western Rom-Com sitcoms is anime Rom-Com sitcoms. On the other hand, this means that when/if we get a third season, we’re going into it in a different position, as far as the status quo is concerned.

The series also makes up for this by expanding the cast through introducing more of Uzaki & Sakurai’s families. Last season we’d met Uzaki’s mom, but this season we also get to meet her siblings (a sister and brother), and her father. In addition, we also get some time with Sakurai’s mother and father as well, and get a sense of their dynamics, even if Uzaki doesn’t get to meet them as well.

Again, this season is not without its flaws – there isn’t much momentum in terms of the character relationships. So, if you are down to see these characters bounce off of each other, and nod sagely and eat rice (or popcorn) while they do (like Ami and Akihiko Akai do), then this will work for you – if you want some serious character movement, then this might not be your cup of tea. As far as I was concerned, well… (opens rice cooker, scoops out some rice).

Uzaki Chan Wants To Hang Out Season 2 is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

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