Probably the most ridiculously shonen ever to appear in the anime world (referring to the cliches of the genre) released its second season on Netflix recently, continuing the absurd, misinformed premises of the first in the most unashamed fashion.
The tournament that will decide the fate of mankind continues full on, after Thor's win against Lu Bu, Zeu's win against Adam, and Kojiro Sasaki's win over Poseidon, which has brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Gods. The second season starts with another duel in the same fashion, as Jack the Ripper, who wears a pair of gloves granted by the valkyrie Hlökk, whose special ability allows him to turn anything his gloves touch into a divine weapon, is fighting Hercules. The first half of the season deals with the actual battle, where the half-God's (who is also referred to with another name that has nothing to do with the actual myth) power and honor stand against the deadly tricks of Jack. Apart from the fight, the series also deals with the back stories of the two, in a rather annoying effort to add some drama to all the fighting, which, once more, moves into absurd paths.
Check the review of the first season
The second part of the season deals with a fight between four-handed Shiva and Raiden Tameemon, the highest-rated Japanese sumo wrestler from the 19th century, who looks, however, more like a pro-wrestler than a sumo fighter. Again, the backstories of the two are included for drama, as much as the reactions of the people who support each from the stands in the stadium the fights take place in.
I will not pretend to know everything about the characters facing off each other here, but the disregard of anything even remotely historical is so evident (having a sumo wrestler with no fat in his body whatsoever for example) that cannot go unnoticed even by the complete ignorant, with the back stories actually adding even more to that aspect. At the same time, the battles follow all the negative aspects of the tournaments in shonen anime, with the contestants bouncing back from intense injuries only to reveal another hidden power of theirs and vice versa, until the creator finally decides that someone has to win.
The absurdness inevitably extends to the technical aspect, with Masaki Sato's character design being excessive and with undetailed lines for the most part, even if the various individuals are different enough not to be confused with one another. The whole design of Aphrodite (she is placed between two statues whose hands actually hold each one of her huge breasts), which is also the main source of fanservice here, highlights the fact in the most obvious fashion. The animation by Graphinica and Yumeta Company is expectedly preposterous, with absolutely no regard for any kind of naturalness (or physics for that matter), with the movements of the character being as ludicrous as their design.
That being said, Masao Okubo's direction and the series as a whole do include some redeeming values. For starters, and particularly after the humans start winning, there is no way for the viewer to know the outcome of each battle, since, in the way the script is going, it would be no surprise if humanity lost in the end and its kind was completely eradicated. Secondly, the gore and brutality of the battles is quite intense, adding much to the entertainment the franchise offers, while inducing an appealing sense of “blasphemy” since these individuals are very rarely depicted as being hurt, maimed, or even dying in their respective folklore. Thirdly, even though the pairings are ridiculous in their conception, they do induce the series with a sense of longing regarding the next pairing, since no one ever knows who will fight whom, particularly since the introduction of new characters is almost constant.
Evidently, the negatives here are many more than the positive, but “Record of Ragnarok” definitely lingers towards becoming a title of the ‘so bad it's good' variety that will also deem it a cult title in the future. Let us see.
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