One of our favorite aspects of the first season was the underlying mystery of how and why the girls got revived in the first place. Kotaro seemed to be connected to Sakura in some way, and the bar owner/possible necromancer he occasionally visited felt indebted to Yuugiri, but we were left with more questions than answers in the end. This season dives much deeper into the lore of the Zombieland Saga universe, dropping hints about a curse that prevents Saga from reaching its full potential and even focusing two whole episodes on the Meiji-era conflict Yuugiri took part in. The Tae-centric episode even features parallels to the newly released Zombieland Saga Gaiden manga that explains what made her so legendary. And since the suspicious journalist from last season’s after-credits stinger is getting closer and closer to figuring out who these idols really are, this information is tied to a ticking clock that could spell Franchouchou’s doom if they’re not careful!

If there’s one thing about the first season that fans didn’t like so much, it was the subpar CG used during the band’s performances. This has now been entirely fixed – probably because the anime’s popularity earned it a bigger budget – and the variety of songs has also gotten better. We’ve got solo acts like Lily’s improvised scat version of “Life”, a rock-metal anthem in Junko’s “Gekkou SURVIVE” (which the death metal dudes are happy about), Yuugiri’s absolutely iconic jazz number “Saga Jihen”, the hype-tastic opening theme “Taiga yo Tomo ni Naitekure”, and many more. Even Kotaro gets his own insert song this time!

It’s just so clear how much detail and passion went into writing and performing these tunes – Lily’s complex scat section is a perfect tribute to the legendary Scatman John (who was surprisingly big in Japan back in the day), the multiple versions of “Do You Hate Windy Days?” and “Mezame RETURNER” each have their own unique flair, and the singers pour their characters’ personalities into every single note. If this trend continues, we can’t wait to see what season 3 has to offer!