When we first see Fushi in this new season, he’s been living on a deserted island for forty years in an effort to save himself from future heartbreak. He also hopes that the Nokkers, eldritch monsters that leave horrific destruction in their wake and seem to follow him around, will leave everyone else alone if he isolates himself. It’s clear that Fushi is much more cynical now, which is a sad thing to see for someone so curious and kind, and he struggles throughout this season with how much he should harden his heart. The voice acting gets this across beautifully, feeling like the same character with a noticeable change in how he carries himself – an extra impressive feat since his shapeshifter nature necessitates several different voice actors (sometimes even performing different ages of the same form).

His friends’ deaths weigh heavily upon him, especially since his only way to exist in the world is to wear their bodies as his own. Still, when he hears that the Nokkers are attacking human settlements even in his absence, he steels himself and returns to society.

Fushi has now been around long enough that an odd mythology has developed around him. There are groups devoted to protecting him, worshipping him, condemning him as a devil, and those who don’t believe he really exists. We have the Yanome Guardians, run by Hayase’s descendants (who are ostensibly here to protect Fushi, but they’re also yanderes who can’t be fully trusted); Tonari and Sandel, former residents of Jananda who spread word of Fushi’s existence in an effort to secure him more allies; Prince Bonchien of Uralis, an image-obsessed royal who wants to capture Fushi for his father’s approval; and many more.

While Season 1 was about Fushi learning what it means to be human, his new adventures focus more on how his actions affect others. What if someone falls in love with Fushi? How can his enemies eliminate him if he can’t be killed? What happens to the souls of his deceased friends? Pretty much everyone in-universe and out knows that anyone who Fushi becomes close to will eventually die and become one of his forms, so instead of repeating that story in the same way, introducing these new questions keeps the narrative interesting. There’s a lot of exciting and introspective stuff coming up in the manga, and with how great the adaptation has been so far, we have no doubt that Studio Drive will knock it out of the park.