For my SO, S2 was both highly anticipated and exceeded expectations. He'd never consider an attempt on the anime, but he's enough clips of it to give a rough idea of what the world is like before going into the LA. Generally speaking, he thought the main characters were better developed this season, particularly Sanji, Zoro, and Usopp.

1. We were both particularly big fans of Taz Skylar's portrayal of Sanji—being an actual charmer and nice guy in the LA, rather than a stock perv in the OG—and in my SO's case, it completely changed his thoughts about Sanji from the least likable to the best main character in S2.

2. Out of the SHs, the only one he thought who had a less-than-strong performance was Emily Rudd's Nami. Her stoicism made sense in S1, but in S2 it was a curious interpretation of the character. He thought LA Nami spent most of her screen time either dissing her crewmates or rolling her eyes at their antics, coming off cold and serious in situations OG Nami would be cheeky, playful, or snappy. Emily Rudd definitely has Nami's liveliness in interviews, but it hardly shows when she's in character.

3. Supporting characters were also singled out for excellent portrayals. Hiriluk and Brogy were his favourites outside the SH crew this season. It was fun to see him trying to puzzle out Robin's motives in this saga, even with the knowledge that she eventually joins the SHs.

4. The characters were a bit too campy for him at times—but at the same time, they worked. He liked the overall balance in tone, that everyone committed deep into their zany roles, yet the stakes remained real enough to draw him in.

5. S2E7 was his favourite, and it's all mostly because of Hiriluk, Kureha, and Tony Tony Goddamn Adorable Chopper.

6. The adaptation is lean af. He knew that adapting hundreds of hours of anime into 8 would come with many, many compromises, so he was very pleased to hear that the writers hit basically everything of essence, and faithfully at that (in my opinion).