Himitsu no AiPri: Ring-hen

Upsettingly worse than the first season. The first 12-ish episodes actually aren't so bad, the introduction of the new characters all have the same energy and writing of the first season, so they feel human and personal, but once they're introduced, they become part of the stage as other plots go on, or just there to fill time with an AiPri performance when needed, until their next focus episode arrives, but then even those focus episodes lack the depth of the better characters, or of S1. It is really palpable how they developed the concepts/intros, but not how these characters would be tied to the storygoing forward. But I see the greatest issue in how Princess Ring isn't interesting or intriguing enough to carry the "main plot" of the show. That plotline concludes like a baloon deflating instead of an explosion, because Wako and Ring aren't very present or interesting (Ring is arguably Tsumugi again, but worse, sadly), despite being hyped in-universe. If this was needed, I'd rather they showed more and convinced the audience of her talent, rather than telling us she is a legend that had 5 forms. The cast was too large for anyone to have as much depth as Quartet Star, Chii and Tsumugi back in season one. The actually interesting plotline got diluted with a bloated cast and the Ring plot, and suffered greatly for it. If this season was focused on the fact that Himari and Mitsuki will have to grow apart, and how the future separation affects them now, I feel it'd have been much more interesting, and the finale would actually be an emotional blow to the heart, rather than just a sour goodbye.