Bloody Monday [Season 2] – Review

The second and final season of Bloody Monday is set two years after the events of the explosive first season finale in which J and Orihara Maya (my two favorite villains) escaped custody and fled the country while THIRD-I rounded up the remaining terrorists and captured all the deadly bloody x virus. The nine episode final season was very entertaining and while I don’t think it should have been the end it still works out very well. When Orihara Maya managed to escape in the first season she managed to get away with the terrorist’s secondary weapon which was revealed to be a nuclear weapon. Season 2 puts us back in Tokyo where we find out what all the surviving characters from season 1 are doing. Takagi has given up his falcon identity and hacking altogether and is working as a clerk at a store, Orihara Maya is shown killing a man while in hiding in Tokyo, Kanu was fired along with his field team, Takagi’s friend Otayo is studying Nuclear energy at a prestigious college, Takagi’s girlfriend is well.. Still hot, J was apparently captured in between seasons and is being held in prison.

After the chilling fast paced conclusion of season one I wasn’t sure the second season would live up to the first in terms of tension. I was wrong. The prime minister is shot, after receiving nuclear threats Kanu and his team are recruited, new villains named the marksmen are introduced along with their layered plan for “Japanese restoration”, Takagi’s girlfriend is abducted and killed, Orihara resurfaces only to be seemingly killed by the new terrorists, Takagi’s workplace is attacked by a gunman who leaves trail of dead bodies while looking for him, THIRD-I recruits the Falcon to track down the nuclear threat only to be beaten by a new master hacker whose working for the terrorists and a armed nuclear weapon is found on a plane that is transporting J. Did I mention that is only the first half of the very first episode? So needless to say, yes, season 2 matches and surpasses the first season in tension.

There is a much simpler structure to this season that I think works very well. Whereas in season one it was a slow buildup to Takagi actually working full time for THIRD-I, this time Takagis story thrusts him right back into the fray after the bloody attack on his work. This season also cuts down on the side stories considerably in favor of keeping the focus on just a few groups and that keeps the action going pretty much full time. These groups are very engaging and play off each other well and I found myself enjoying and rooting for everyone. The groups are the classic villains, THIRD-I, Falcon, and “the marksmen” along with the new master hacker “the Hornet”.

It was great to see the classic villains return because it showed them in a different mode then we had previously seen, J who had been in control of everyone in season one is slowly dying from exposure to radiation and in custody in control of nothing and Orihara who was always calm is absolutely infuriated with the marksmen and its clear she will stop at nothing to see them die. This angle they played with pretty well too I thought whereas in the first season it was pretty much the terrorist vs. THIRD-I season two it was everyone for themselves in an all out brawl for Japan. There wasn’t honestly anything to special about THIRD-I this time around besides Kanu who again steals the show. They don’t really do much but gawk at their computer screens and be horrified at the intentions and actions of the marksmen. Takagi is much more interesting this time around as he is dealing with the death of his girlfriend he decides to go on the war path to avenge her, and becomes very destructive to see it through. I don’t want to ruin too much but let’s just say I was very surprised by his actions as he becomes more and more extreme to get what he wants and it works very well for the drama.

The newest edition to the series The marksmen are the driving force behind not only the drama but I would give them credit for the vast improvement over season one, and I loved season one. The marksmen and the hacker hornet embody exactly how you “top yourself” when it comes to an action/drama, they take everything that worked in season one and they take it to the next level. From subtle things like outmaneuvering the classic villains to their cryptic plan of “Japanese restoration” the marksmen are terrifyingly one step ahead of everyone. In season one the terrorists plan was basically use the bloody x virus and a small nuke to create a new Japan, the marksmen’s plan for “Japanese restoration” on the other hand involves many steps and is carried out ruthlessly in escalating waves of deadly strikes. Hornet was a great new twist and provided a great rival for the falcon which was something that season one was defiantly lacking. I was never sure which of the two would come out on top in any of their clashes and that was very exciting.

I think they knew this season would be the last one, the threat is bigger the body count is higher the villains are smarter, they don’t shy away from killing off the main cast and the show is just better all around. There are so many plotlines and they all change and escalate so fast that it’s been hard to write this review without giving too much away which I think would be a disservice. Every single episode is great my favorite would be episode 4 but for shock endings the first and last episodes blew me away. I really recommend this season and this series as a whole.