English Dub Season Review: Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! Season Two

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After enjoying the summer together, life returns to normal for Uzaki and Sakurai. Flabbergasted friends and family wonder why these two stubborn friends aren’t dating. Begrudgingly, both of them would admit there’s now a warmth, even an attraction, between them—and it’s growing. Is it possible this cold war of a relationship is about to turn hot? That would mean one of them making the first move!

Our Take:

People say that life is better when you have a friend to hang out with. However, when you have a pal like Hana Uzaki, your life can lead you to unexpected and hilarious places. Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out, the anime adaptation of Take’s manga series, captivated audiences with its zany charm, lovable characters, and humor when it was released in 2020. It’s one of the shows that gave people a warm and heartfelt feeling while they were stuck in the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Fortunately, I became a part of that audience when I finally checked it out before season two premiered. However, I was concerned about the show when I was first introduced to the main characters, Shinichi Sakurai (Ricco Fajardo) and Hana Uzaki (Monica Rial). Shinichi is a loner with an intimidating appearance, loves video games, and gets easily annoyed, while Hana is an outgoing, loud, and obnoxious girl who helps Shinichi shake off her loner phase.  

The two personalities interacting with each other would’ve been the recipe for an aggravating disaster. However, when I watched a few more episodes, I grew to surprisingly like the show’s direction and the characters. It’s far from an anime masterpiece, but I had a heck of a time watching Hana comically humiliate Shinichi in different ways. So it’s unsurprising that I was looking forward to its sophomore season. It’s also no surprise that the second season is as fun and hilarious as the first.

The show’s second season, titled Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! ω, delivers pretty much the same elements that worked in season one. The second season, consisting of thirteen episodes, showcases more comical and embarrassing scenarios involving Hana and Shinichi after their summer vacation, including attending the college’s festival and hanging out during the holidays. Amid those scenarios, the season’s overall plot consists of the two growing more intimate toward each other, but outside forces keep them from moving to the next step of their relationship. The two college pals constantly find their friendship tested with humorous results, whether it’s due to their stubborn personalities or a few misunderstandings. During that time, Ami (Jad Saxton) and Sakaki (Nazeeh Tarsha) still attempt to help Hana and Shinichi progress in their relationship by getting Hana to confess her feelings to Shinichi.

Like season one, season two features the usual rom-com formula involving the “will they, won’t they” approach to the main characters’ relationship, which can be compelling if it’s done right. While it’s far from a game-changer to the genre, the second season still provides an amount of fun and charm to its episodes while delivering decent character development for Hana and Shinichi. It also uses its sitcom-like scenarios to progress the seasonal plot instead of making some unnecessary filler episodes. The fun is partly due to the humor, which, like the previous season, has plenty of well-executed moments relating to sexual innuendos and the characters’ personalities. One of the examples of this was Hana’s mother, Tsuki Uzaki (Terri Doty), who still misinterprets conversations involving Hana and Shinichi while teaching Shinichi how to cook. This running gag still lingers this season, but it continues to be a laugh riot through its comedy and Doty’s performance as Tsuki.

The second season succeeds in providing the same charm and hilarity to the characters regarding their formulaic personas and vocal performances, especially Hana and Shinichi. More importantly, it offers more insight into their friendship via flashbacks to their first encounter at high school, which helps me care more about their relationship. Monica Rial as Hana has been one of my favorite highlights of the series since the first episode. Unsurprisingly, Rial continues to dominate in the second season through her amusing vocal performance. Hana is someone whose zaniness and mischief make her a fun person to hang out with, but she can also be miffed when something or someone annoys her in some capacity, including her younger sister Yanagi (Brittany Lauda). She’s still the same Hana we know and love from season one, with the addition of her internal conflict in expressing her feelings to Shinichi, which is enough for me to call her another great addition to the list of enjoyable anime rom-com characters. Ricco Fajardo also continues to do a great job with his performance as the intimidating yet gullible Shinichi.

The season also showcases more of the Uzaki family, including Hana’s siblings, starting with its fifth episode, “The Whole Uzaki Clan Wants to Get Together”. That episode also introduces us to Fujio Uzaki (Matthew David Rudd), Shinichi’s gym trainer, who is also Hana’s overprotective father. Although, the two didn’t realize who they were until the penultimate episode, “I Want to Hang Out on Christmas Eve, Too”. Like the other characters, Fujio’s familiar tropes are elevated by the show’s direction and Rudd’s comically over-the-top performance, especially in its ninth episode, “Fujio Uzaki Wants Family Time”, where Fujio chases off the guys hitting on his family. It also introduces us to Shinichi’s parents, Haruko (Morgan Garrett) and Shiro (Cris George), and his baby sister Nodoka at the tail end of the season. They delivered enough moments regarding the humor to keep them from being pointless additions to the cast, with Shiro playing a role in Shinichi’s development regarding his feelings toward Hana.

Overall, Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! ω continues to elevate the rom-com series through its solidly-written humor and charmingly fun cast of characters. But, of course, the second season will depend on how much you enjoyed season one. If you didn’t have fun hanging out with Hana and the others in the first season, you probably wouldn’t get much out of their second outing aside from its character development. However, if you enjoyed season one for what it was, you’ll quickly have a good time with season two.  

Now, the big question is whether we’re getting a third season of Uzaki-chan, as season two concluded with Shinichi finding the right moment to express his feelings for Hana. As of now, there hasn’t been any news regarding season three, so I’m guessing it’ll depend on how many people watch season two of Uzaki-chan. It’ll be a shame that it doesn’t continue because the show is still a joyful and hilarious “friends to lovers” anime rom-com that’s worth hanging out with.