As always, with the conclusion of the first season of “Nisekoi” (“False Love”), none of the original questions were answered, new characters entered and the plot was complicated by Ichiro’s faulty memory, so the real question was how long we would have to wait for the second season. With a couple of bridge OVAs to keep us interested and fill in some gaps, we now have our second season, but it is more of a conduit, as we further complicate matters with, uh, further complications.

We had best run down the now capacious cast.

Upper left photo (left to right): Chitoge Kirisaki and Marika Tachibana
Upper right: Fuu, Seishiro Tsugumi and Paula McCoy
Lower right: Haru Onodera (sister to Kosaki) and Raku Ichijo
Lower left: Ruri Miyamoto, Kosaki Onodera and Shu Maiko

The new characters are Marika Tachibana, who introduces herself as Raku’s fiancée and ALSO has a key; Paula McCoy, a rival to Tsugumi and who wants to prove who is the better assassin; and Haru Onodera, who transferred to the school and feels Raku is a pervert (he is getting slapped by her in that snap, as the breeze blew up her skirt to reveal her panties). The series continues along with the same farcical idea from the first season, but with, uh, further complications.

Now, since a key broke off in the locket, they are having a time getting it fixed to determine who the one Raku betrothed himself to and what might be contained within said lock or if any of these keys genuinely work. Now, Tsugumi is relentlessly dogged by Paula, who challenges her to settle the hash as to the top dog. Paula is good, but Tsugumi is better, so this is played out and out and out. Shu is still his perverted monkey self and gets clobbered a lot. Now, with the arrival of Marika, who knows something but isn’t telling anyone, she chases after Raku relentlessly as well. The problem is, nothing happens.

Yes, we have really muddied the waters on things, but are not doing anything with this ‘new’ information, preferring to let people bumble about, whereas if we sat down for a good 15 minutes, we could completely clear the air. But that is not how farce works. But we have to build it properly. Much like Jenga, you have to create a precarious situation that could all come tumbling down with the next misstep, but keep the interest in it high. I feel that this is more of a transport year, taking us to the third and potentially final season, where we get all the answers we need, so it just becomes complications, complications and even more complications.
On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 8 (All the girls are really cute)
Plot 7 (A bit of back-pedaling)
Pacing 7 (Starting to get tired)
Effectiveness 7 (Much ado about nothing)
Conclusion 5 (It reaches a ‘coupler’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service 3 (A similar show would be “Wedding Peach”)

Overall 7 (In a big hurry to go nowhere)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. I’m waiting for my prince.