OK, I’ll be honest: I had ZERO intention of reviewing “Rosario + Vampire Capu 2”, as I did not feel it warranted a review. I still feel it doesn’t, but I have not seen a show go so overboard from one season to the next as badly as this one. But when your daughter nips at your heels like a demented Chihuahua, demanding to see it with you for some ‘bonding time’, you get trapped.

All I can tell you for certain is something happened over class break. By the time the whole gang gets back to school, Yokai Academy has changed its name to “Upskirt U”. If the dresses were any shorter, they might as well be a long shirt. It got so bad, I starting counting the number of panty shots. Even “Colorful” (the TV series, not the movie) wasn’t this bad and it was strictly about panty shots.

Is there a plot? Much like Lindsay Lohan’s career, it has completely evaporated. The cast of characters (and for those who don’t remember, we’ll run them down for you) are from left to right:

Yukari Sendo (witch)
Ruby Tojo (another witch)
Mizore Shirayuki (yuki-onna or ice queen)
Kurumu Kurono (succubus)
Moka Akashiya (vampire)
And the newest addition to the cast, Kokoa Shuzen, who is Moka’s half-sister (and we’ll ignore the fact that they are both named after drinks, OK? What is this, Starbuck’s School and Café?)

The twin plots are (a) how the girls all vie for the attention of Tsukune Aono, the only person at Yokai that ISN’T a monster, and how each lady is determined to make him their mate and (b) Kokoa’s plan to kill Moka (don’t worry; the plans are so convoluted, even Rube Goldberg couldn’t make it work right).

But we are not here for the plot, we are here for the panties and the boobs and the other feminine accoutrements that makes anime so much fun.

See! As Kurumu thrusts her pert pals at Tsukune.
Watch! As Mizore freezes Tsukune to preserve him for herself.
Look! As Yukari makes herself more of a woman for Tsukune.
Gasp! As Kokoa will kill them all with her Giant Hammer of Total Destruction.

And everyone’s favorite sight: panties, panties, panties! Prints and plaids and solid colors and designs. How many variations are out there?

There are a few good moments. When Mizore’s and Kurumu’s mothers come to Family Day on campus, we learn that they attended this school (as if there are monster academies all over Japan), are still great rivals and practically demand that they sleep with Tsukune (and Mizore’s mom demand they do it RIGHT HERE AND NOW!), it gets silly. When Kokoa rides her bike across Japan to kill Moka, her strawberry panties are flashing for all to see and causing accidents because of it. When we have the curry zombies invade the school, demanding more and more curry.

But it all comes off as very episodic. Whereas the first season was trying to keep Tsukune’s non-monster status a secret, now, it is more will he and Moka ever get together for an intimate, keep-your-pants-on moment without getting interrupted by someone’s juicy fruits. (Psst! Uh….no). But there is just a lack of real cohesion. It is, in actuality, a series of loosely stung-together events so we can see panties….as if we need a reason for that to happen! Still, it gets tiresome as plot has been sacrificed for too much pointless fan service (and I KNOW someone is going to complain that there is no such thing as too much fan service. Sorry, but you’re wrong.) Yeah, a story does eventually show up, but it’s just late-inning heroics that were predetermined before it even arrived.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 8 (Well, the ladies are cute)
Plot 2 (Har-de-har-har)
Pacing 7 (Goes fast and slow too much)
Effectiveness 7 (It works in its limited world)
Conclusion 6 (One can only hope)
Fan Service 5 (A similar show would be “Maburaho”)

Overall 6 (Undermined by undergarments)

And remember, it’s first run until you see it. Those skirts are way too short.