Farming Life in Another World 2 Anime Series Review – Review

Farming Life in Another World started off being mindless, and now this second season is even more mindless. And random too? This scoop of twelve episodes delights itself in serving up premise after premise that doubles down so hard on mindlessness.

The good news is that you liked the laid-back hijinks of the last season; this new season is here to provide more of the same. Just like before, Hiraku is here to build a new village alongside his gaggle of anime girls who remain unshakingly committed to him. They farm, they build. They also throw tournaments, dig through tunnels, explore flying castles, and run into archfiends that turn into cute cats and little girls because…reasons. The girls are cute, the vibes are cozy, and to be honest, there are a few jokes that work—for example, I liked the bit involving the sword woman in the floating castle. And I will never not love it when Zabu the spider does that little dorky wave she always does. On the level of being as non-confrontational as possible, this anime is perfect. If cozy isekai were alcohol, Farming Life‘s second season would be 151 proof.

Really, I could end the review right there, if it weren’t for one glaring problem. While the hijinks are fun to watch, you don’t get the sense that anything is really developing here. Farming Life‘s first season didn’t have much substance either, but at least it had something going. You got to see Hiraku go from nothing to something. He settled into a new world, started an entire village, and became its mayor. The season even ended with the vampire girl Lu giving birth to his first child, Alfred, which, as random as that was…….sure, why not? It’s a heartwarming way to cap off your little cozy isekai. I’m not expecting much from a show featuring Kirito clone #401927. I’ll take whatever I can get. At least becoming a dad is a sign of growing up and maturity, right?

That’s this season’s biggest misfire: Hiraku was supposed to be a dad here. The show’s more focused on Hiraku performing all of his random mayoral duties than his fatherly ones. Alfred exists mostly as a prop, and it takes the anime forever before it actually has him and Hiraku do anything together. The one moment Alfred does anything is when he speaks his first words, which makes for an adorable comedy sequence, but a missed opportunity in the narrative experience. Hiraku, Lu, and another girl, Flora, huddle around Alfred, thinking he’ll say “Mama,” “Papa,” or even “Auntie.” Nope, it’s Anne! You know, that one ogre girl that’s just….there? And then it’s Zabu, look at her do that wave again! And then this prompts all of the villagers to have little Alfred say their name before the scene ends and moves on to other unrelated shenanigans.

The day a child speaks their first words is an important day for any new father, and this scene fails to relish in that. If this moment in Farming Life were given more focus, it could have shown what it’s like for Hiraku to reach that milestone. Maybe show how he handles his new responsibilities, and most importantly, how he learns to bond and take care of his son. This could have been an entire episode if the story wanted it bad enough. It only ends up being two minutes long. It’s a slap to the first season’s face when its final heartwarming reveal has all of its potential thrown away like that.

On another note, Lu doesn’t get treated with any dignity either, and I personally found her indistinguishable from all of the other girls. Lu’s character never quite lunged out at me, but now she really feels like a background character. In a few episodes prior, another one of Hiraku’s girls mentions that he’s a great leader because he doesn’t choose favorites. Clearly Hiraku does not. He would adore a centaur lady he’s known for maybe a few days just as much as his vampire wife that he’s known for practically his entire reincarnated lifespan. Shows you how little Hiraku cares about his own kin.

More proof: in one episode, Hiraku and his team have to create medicine to cure some priestess’s sick baby. Why this baby and not Hiraku’s own? I get that Hiraku is trying to be as utilitarian as a mayor as he can be, and an all-around good guy. But this could have easily been revised so the sick baby is Alfred instead.

Maybe instead of a priestess and her sick baby coming through the village, it’s a weird seasonal pollen that Alfred is allergic to. You can keep the apothecary and medicine subplot while keeping the focus on Alfred. The irony here is that for all the attempts to be as adorable as a piece of pink-frosted cake, this anime forgets that narratively, it can have its cake and eat it too.

If Farming Life‘s first season was about turning your brain off, then the second season is about numbing your brain to its core, which is not entirely bad. Still, you can feel the downgrade from the first season. Even the most mindless of fluff can have just a teeny bit more thought put into it, you know?