Now, when “Chaika – The Coffin Princess” came to its conclusion, I knew a second season was in the offing, as the main plot wasn’t resolved. Well, the second season “Chaika – The Coffin Princess; Avenging Battle” does just that, but this is the third series I have encountered this year with a 10-episode second season. Oh, and a revelation uncovered from the first season is completely buried under for this run.

Well, our heroes (left to right) Toru Acura, Chaika Trabant and Akari Acura are still hunting for the remains of the Emperor Gaz, who ruled the land with an iron cudgel and people were glad he was turned into shish kabobs, as he was really, really evil, worse than an IRS auditor. Adding to their consternation, Red Chaika is ALSO hunting for body parts as well and can seemingly get to them faster than White Chaika is able to. Their goals are still the same: a decent burial for Daddy-san.

Plus, we still have the Kliemann Agency, the government-sponsored group, also in active pursuit of them, with the intent to capture and stop this foolishness. Remember, the body parts still carry strong and dangerous magical powers and if we bring them all together, it’s Armageddon, or at least Fresno in the fall. A new sojourn, added to the rather capacious list of Things To Do, is to find Gaz’s Fortune, which is on a mysterious island that no one knows about, as it is hidden and mysterious (although we can find it; it’s just takes two episodes to do that). The show heads to a conclusion that I had not predicted, as we were all unaware of the Black Chaika (and we learn the full history about that as well).

We also encounter Toru’s tutor or mentor or perhaps tormentor, Shin, who is really a flaming paper bag of poodle doo. I felt he was put in, just to be a jerk character, but he succeeds quite well. It’s just the last part of the series had the Dragon Ball Z Syndrome and any interesting story that was contained within was buried under the endless fighting and the Holy Cow revelation that blindsided me. The show reaches an acceptable conclusion, but no one leaves this place unscathed. I was concerned about the short season and the actual way it ended, as it seemed a bit unfair overall, but, well, it’s not my story to tell, only to look at. And I felt there were a lot of red herrings flung out there that ultimately went nowhere.

There is the smacking of a third season, but it would take the show in a completely different direction and, potentially, is not worth pursuing, so this could be the end of them all. But I could be wrong.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 7 (It’s the hair styles for me)
Plot 8 (Took an interesting turn)
Pacing 7 (The fights slow it all down)
Effectiveness 7 (Late-inning fizzle)
Conclusion 5 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but potentially hasn’t ended)
Fan Service 2 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)

Overall 7 (Too many last-minute histrionics)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Must find parts.