The Winter 2024 Anime Preview Guide

High Card Season 2

The Kingdom of Fourland is ruled by the royal family who holds a secret deck of 52 "X-playing cards," which can grant people specific supernatural abilities. About one month ago, the cards were nearly stolen and scattered across the land, meaning it's up to a special group called High Card to travel and collect these cards before they fall into the wrong hands. New to High Card is Finn Oldman, an orphan with a mysterious past. But it turns out that the secret to his family's death and the playing cards might be more linked than he originally thought.

High Card Season 2 is a sequel to an original anime project by TMS. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Mondays.

When I finished the first season of High Card, I thought it was a show that had trouble finding its identity. While the premise is straightforward, it felt as if the creators weren't sure what kind of show they wanted to make. The idea of a secret organization hunting down mysterious playing cards that grant people supernatural abilities can be fun. Still, it also needs to have focus, or it runs the risk of being a mishmash of a dozen ideas with none of them sticking. I enjoyed my time with the first season of High Card, but I wasn't sure where its priorities were by the end, especially since the last couple of episodes of season one took a bizarre shift in focus.

Season two does an excellent job of grounding us back to the more consistently interesting elements of the show. There's a lot of mystery and intrigue in the background as the Klondike mafia family starts making their moves. Actions have consequences and end up leading to the stories' inciting incidents. The attacks on the royal family have the country on high alert to get all the cards as soon as possible before the subsequent coronation. Fortunately, this means the story promises not to waste any time as we speed toward the conclusion. However, when the story tried to recap some of its own lore, the glaring contradictions became all more apparent.

So, from what I can tell, the series starts roughly one month after the cards were scattered throughout the land. I don't remember if the show explicitly said that some cards were sealed and others weren't. The show implies all the cards were sealed, but that is impossible because Finn has had his card since he was a little boy, so how did he get it? Plus, we're starting to get into the mystery of the Dark Knight, which seems linked to his parents' deaths. This creature seems to be some dark entity that seeks to destroy and consume the cards. I wonder if the cards are destroyed permanently after the armor consumes them or if it's just assimulating them. Maybe there's a connection between the Dark Knight and the royal family?

It's all interesting, and I am deeply invested in this, especially since there are also subtle hints of foreshadowing to more tragic events like Chris's health potentially being in danger after the stunt he pulled in season one. Regardless of what direction High Card falls into, I know I'm in for a good time. High Card is one of those original anime that definitely leans a bit more into the style over substance category, but those can be fun occasionally. I forgot how much I loved the art direction and designs of the show. It's not a perfect start to season two, but it's a strong one, and I'm looking forward to seeing where we end up going from here!