Allison and Lillia (Season 2) Anime Review

Quick Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2009-05-10 (updated 2011-05-07)
• 3 stars out of 5 (?)

Season 2 of Allison and Lillia takes up 19 years after the adventures in season one left off, following Allison's 15-year-old daughter Lillia and her friend Treze through a trio of four-episode story arcs. It's got almost as much adventure, more satisfying multi-layered plots flavored with a shot of international politics, and a pair of teenaged protagonists who are almost as much fun as Allison and Wil, plus said troublemakers and their friends back as adults. The visuals seem smoother and more comfortable as well, and the voice cast is just as lively and fun. The positive adjustments compensate for the less-fun changes, so the second season would be almost as much fun as the first were it not for a completely pointless bit of murky morality early on that undermines the character empathy and a final episode that runs itself off a cliff at the very end for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

It hamstrings itself early on and ends on a maddeningly frustrating note, but season two of Allison and Lillia is otherwise another solid, fun chunk of adventure.

Read the full-length review...

Full Review

• Reviewer: Marc
• Review Date: 2009-05-10 (updated 2011-05-07)
• 3 stars out of 5 (?)

Allison and Lillia is technically two seasons of one series, but for all practical purposes it's more like "Allison and Wil" followed by this sequel, "Lillia and Treze"--that's how the novels it's based on are set up--so for the sake of not blowing too much of the first season's plot I'm going to review them separately.

Season 2 of Allison and Lillia takes up nineteen years after the adventures in season one left off, following Allison's 15-year-old daughter Lillia and her friend Treze through their own series of adventures. The original cast is still around as well, occasionally joining in the chaos during this trio of four-episode story arcs. This review is going to be one gigantic spoiler as far as the end of the first season goes, so if you're at all sensitive to such things just plain don't read it.

I'll start right out and say that this season has one of the most spectacularly bungled finales I have ever seen--the plot literally drives off a cliff (and yes, I do mean literally). There's a last-minute twist that is so desperately screaming for an explanation it had me jumping up and yelling "What the hell just happened?!" at the TV. Given that the entire series is centered around relatively involved plots wherein all the bits and pieces eventually fit together to reveal the whole, skipping the final "and that's how it happened" moment is an insult to the series and about as frustrating as endings get. It also manages to abandon one major sub-plot entirely and gloss over a couple more.

The disastrous end just results in a bitter aftertaste; the series also forces in some unnecessarily murky morality early on that colors the whole experience. For the spoiler-averse, it's enough to say that there's a reveal that adds nothing to the narrative and severely hurt my empathy for the characters, and by extension my enjoyment of the whole thing. Honestly, it's so bad it nearly ruined the show for me.¹

In essence, the two weaknesses of season one--a weak end and pointlessly murky morals--are repeated and magnified. Fortunately, most of the strengths are still present as well.

Lillia and Treze are a switch-up on the dynamic of Allison and Wil. Despite having the same voice actress as the young Allison, Lillia isn't a clone of her mother. Rather, she seems to have inherited the worst traits of both parents--Allison's craziness and brains (or lack thereof) and Wil's tendency to panic. Treze, in contrast, is competent, smart, and relatively confident.

This essentially sets up Lillia as the emotional and slightly nutty backup pushing Treze to get things done. She's not quite the glorious madwoman that Allison was, but she's still quite likable, particularly when she exposes some of the humorous scars that bad parenting has wrought. Of course, when you add in that nearly every other character in the series knows more about her background than she does--for no good reason I can discern--you end up feeling a little sorry for her while you're laughing. Seriously, Allison and Wil are awful parents.

Treze isn't nearly as much fun, since he's basically cool and competent in all areas, though Lillia is nutty enough to frazzle him on occasion for some good cheer. The romantic subtext is much more up front (and a little less fun) this time, but their dynamic is still one of a team, a definite appeal.

The one area this season matches its predecessor is the adventure department. From train hijacking to a royal hostage situation, there's no shortage of elaborate plots, clever escapes, and high-speed excitement. Neither of the two main characters have as much piloting prowess as Allison, but they still manage to work in a decent variety of vehicular shenanigans.

Some positive adjustments are that the politics behind the various schemes aren't quite as confusingly complex, and some of the villains are relatively sympathetic characters themselves. These two factors work together to make the larger-scale drama more directly engaging, which makes up for the somewhat lower volume of shooting and flying going on.

The other notable strength of the stories are the numerous tie-ins with the past. More or less everyone from the first season makes an appearance, including some more subtle connections that give a nice sense of continuity. It's worth the price of admission to see a far more competent adult Allison and Travas (nee Wil) back in action, as well as the still-passionate Benedict and Fi standing together through thick and thin.

The visuals aren't much different from the first season, though it does seem more comfortable and consistent, with fewer of the occasional awkward bits that marred the otherwise solid animation. The character animation is still only of average quality and the action comes in short bursts between relatively static scenes, but the attractive background art and expressive faces compensate well.

The acting is nearly identical--literally in the case of Nana Mizuki, who voiced the young Allison, as Lillia. Hiroyuki Yoshino as Treze is also likable. The new actors taking up the adult Allison and Travas (Houko Kuwashima and Toshiyuki Morikawa) are also standouts--definitely older, but still entirely recognizable. The same can be said of the music--the same lilting opening theme, and a variety of cheerful orchestral fare throughout.

So, wrapping up, we have almost as much adventure as season one, more satisfying multi-layered plots flavored with a shot of international politics, and a pair of teenaged protagonists who are almost as much fun as Allison and Wil, plus said troublemakers and their friends back as adults. The second season would be almost as much fun as the first were it not for a needlessly murky bit of morality undermining the character empathy and a bafflingly bungled climax. Still, though it hamstrings itself early on and ends on a maddeningly frustrating note, season two of Allison and Lillia is a solid, fun chunk of adventure.

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