5 Reasons You Should Watch Record of Ragnarok Season 2

Record of Ragnarok is back for a second season of mortal vs. god action. The first half of the season is out now, with a second set of episodes coming later this year. In this anime, the gods have decided to end humanity after seven million years of evil. However, the Valkyries step in on behalf of humanity and suggest giving them a chance to prove themselves. This begins the Tournament of Ragnarok.

In season one, Thor defeated Lu Bu, Zeus defeated Adam, and Kojiro Sasaki defeated Poseidon to give the gods a two-to-one advantage over humanity. Season 2 is already looking set to be just as intense, if not more intense, with Jack the Ripper vs Hercules opening Season 2. If that’s not enough, here are five more reasons you should check out Record of Ragnarok Season 2.

The battles are absolutely wild

Sure, you may have seen some incredible battles in anime over the years, like Saitama vs. Boros, Gohan vs. Cell, or Naruto vs. Sasuke in Shippuden. Still, it’s hard to imagine something like Adam vs. Zeus happening in another anime. Everyone knows that Zeus is one of the most powerful gods in all of Greek mythology, but nobody expects Adam to be able to move at nearly the speed of light to dodge attacks and deliver blows that almost kill the king of gods.

Record of Ragnarok admittedly doesn’t have all the setup that the other shows mentioned do to add an incredibly emotional side to the fights. At the same time, the show doesn’t really need to build backstories for these characters as they are all based on real historical figures and myths. Instead, Record of Ragnarok essentially consists of action-packed and absolutely mind-blowing battles.

There’s definitely a story to chew on, like the Valkyries helping humanity in their fight for survival against the gods. Just don’t expect to get an incredibly in-depth lesson from Record of Ragnarok. The show simply exists to pit some of history’s biggest names against each other in huge and eye-catching battles that push the boundaries of their animation teams.

It’s on Netflix

Just as you wouldn’t expect Nikola Tesla to don Iron Man armor, it might come as a bit of a surprise that this is one of the reasons to check out Record of Ragnarok. Still, it makes sense when you think about it. Netflix is ​​the largest streaming service in the world in terms of subscriptions (Disney+ is gaining ground) and has a much wider global reach than many of its competitors.

That means most people reading this or interested in Record of Ragnarok have a way of watching the show. Whether it’s through an account they pay for or through someone else they know, access to the show is simply the first step. There is no need to subscribe to Crunchyroll, HBO Max, or Hulu just to watch this anime.

If you don’t have a Netflix subscription, it’s understandable why someone wouldn’t subscribe to just this show. Subscribing to a service for just one show is usually not a sound financial decision. However, given the spread of Netflix, it’s likely that someone you know could give you a little help and temporarily share their account. Just make sure you do that before Netflix cracks down on account sharing in a month or two.

It is the ultimate tournament anime

Most of the time, these tournament anime arcs have great and engaging fights that pay off months of story building. The only catch is that most of the time they’re just there to see who’s the strongest. The stakes aren’t usually as high as some of the other episodes, but the fights are always fantastic to watch. From time to time, a side story with a villain interrupting a tournament or moving through the bracket will up the ante, but that’s about it.

In Record of Ragnarok, every battle is part of the tournament, and the stakes are as high as possible, with the fate of humanity at stake. Not only that, each fight is essentially the ultimate underdog story of a human taking on a god in what always seems like an impossible fight.

In the end, the Valkyries can help even things out a bit by turning into weapons that humans can use against the gods. Despite this little divine intervention, the human combatant always seems to be the outsider.

That’s also part of what makes the tournament aspect so fun. The ultimate underdog pulling an absolutely wild move makes for an unforgettable moment as Sasaki’s Thousand Blades combo humiliates and defeats the pompous god Poseidon.

The animation is top notch

Ultimately, despite the serious stakes in Record of Ragnarok, it’s kind of a silly show simply because the premise is so incredibly ridiculous. Adam can deliver a punch with the power of a god faster than the speed of light. Lu Bu has an attack that can split the sky in half. Jack the Ripper has a cloak that can cut buildings in half. This is exactly what the humans in Record of Ragnarok are capable of.

Along with these larger than life abilities comes ridiculously fantastic animation. How do you even animate a punch that takes less than 0.000000000000000000001 seconds from windup to landing? Apparently you slow down time. Even then it’s a sight to behold.

Lu Bu’s seemingly endless strength is clearly evident in his musculature, but the weight of his attacks and their impact against the equally powerful Thor give any viewer a clear idea of ​​just how strong both characters are.

That’s what great animation does in a good fight. The effort put into each punch and the way the characters react when an attack lands enhances the overall experience for the audience. It’s not just about looking cool, but also telling a story, like the absolutely amazed look on Poseidon’s face when he was defeated by a mortal. In no time you can learn everything about the character without any background knowledge.

Many well-known characters

This has to be one of the top reasons to jump into Record of Ragnarok as soon as possible. The biggest barrier to entry in anime and any show is keeping track of all the characters. Remembering names, where they come from, and who they are associated with can be a chore when starting a new anime for the first time. In this show, each character is either a globally recognizable historical or mythical figure.

On the human side, there are well-known names like Buddha, Nikola Tesla, Michel Nostradamus, Grigori Rasputin, and Jack the Ripper. The gods also have well-known names such as Zeus, Posideon, Thor, Anubis and Shiva. Deities like these have well-established abilities that were literally set in stone thousands of years ago, but characters like Tesla, Buddha, and Nostradamus aren’t known for being warriors.

This makes it all the more entertaining as you can sort of formulate what their powers might be based on what they’re known for, but every fight offers a surprise that comes out of nowhere. Nostradamus will likely have an ability to predict enemy attacks, and Tesla will likely use electricity as a weapon. Still, it’s the surprise of the “how” rather than the exact guessing of the “what” that makes Record of Ragnarok so worth watching.