Tsugumomo2 is a direct follow-up to 2017's Tsugumomo, beginning only very shortly after last season ended and with no recap, so I do recommend reviewing the first season before beginning this one. In many senses this season offers more of the same (for better and worse), but unlike the first season, a major plot thread weaves through events right from the start, at least loosely linking most of the seemingly random events happening in the first half. The plot starts thickening dramatically beginning with episode 6, leading to an increasingly weighty progression of events that ends in a shocking conclusion, and it does so without forgetting its comedy elements. The overall result is a second season which may not win any qualitative awards but is still a minor improvement on the first.

The reason why this second season can dedicate itself more to plot is because the Kazuya/Kiriha relationship and trust levels are now fully-established. Kazuya still has a few tricks to learn, but for the most part Kazuya, when combining with Kiriha, is a force to be reckoned with. Forming this setting's Scooby Gang around the two makes sense for a number of practical and meta reasons: it provides a legitimate excuse for Kazuya's established schoolmates to remain involved, it helps with the leg work of tracking down amasogi cases, and it allows Kazuya to operate a bit more openly since he doesn't have to disguise what he's doing from those closest to him. Two other students also eventually get added to the mix, though the audience knows that they are affiliated with the opposition group.

Though the opposition group is secretly active from episode one, not until episode 6 does the truth about their identities come out. Their truth makes for a dramatic and interesting expansion of the world-building of the setting, and what most of them are up to and why makes sense; the exception is the black obi tsukumogami, whose true ultimate objectives, and why she does not want Kazuto hurt, remains a mystery even to her comrades until near the end. That truth leads to the surprising turn of events on who the ultimate foe is and the even more surprising way that the ultimate battle resolves. Neatly, this also brings into play crucial backstory elements that the series has been laying out since the first season.

While the writing does a good job of satisfyingly setting up the high-stakes confrontation, the handling of the two double agents is nearly as important. They are never shown as evil, but rather forced into their current situation by desperation, and that makes them more sympathetic and appreciable as characters. The bulk of one episode even deals with their backstory. That is not universally true about the opposition, however, but the rest do give Kazuya's team – especially Kukuri – chances to shine in combat.

Before the main plot takes over (and also a bit after), the series also engages in a number of individual amasogi cases. The most gimmicky one this time involves numerous major characters swapping genders, while one about underwear seems like a not-so-subtle rip-off of a somewhat similar case in Heaven's Lost Property. As with the first season, the quality of these stories is at its best when they take things most seriously and at its weakest when being most ridiculous; the court room scene in particular is a really, really tired gag.

The technical merits for this season equate to those for the first. The animation still delivers on some relatively ambitious key action sequences, and CG animation of the obis is still a grade above comparable series; some CG of a flying boat later on impresses in design but less so in its animation and integration with regular animation. Designs for new characters remain anime-standard, though how the opposite-gender versions of several characters shake out in the one episode can be quite interesting. The fan service level is perhaps a little lighter and less explicit than in the first season (the lolicon element, while still present, in particular is significantly reduced) but still a substantial component of the series. The series definitely hasn't forgotten is racy harem aspect, and this is one of the few which specifically has a “sex appeal animator” listed in the credits.

The musical score also continues to be both effective and the series' strongest and most reliable production aspect. It provides a good mix of classical instrumentation and more modern sounds, and invariably hits the right notes for both comedy, action, and more purely dramatic scenes. Peppy new opener “When the Wind Blows, It Reaches the End of the Moonlit Night” provides an energetic start to each episode and some neat first-person animation at its end, while more soulful closer “Play in Spring” properly finishes off each episode.

The climax of the second season, and its immediate follow-up, is such a stunner that a third season not eventually getting animated would be criminal; the defeatist tone at the end of The Empire Strikes Back would be a fair comparison. Seeing a greater expansion of the spiritual structure of the world and Kazuya personally getting stronger and more willful helps balance out how depressing the ending is. Overall, the series gets a strong recommendation for those who saw and liked the first season.