Moyashimon Returns - Episode 11 (Completed)

Just as Moyashimon returned, so it departs again as we reach the conclusion of this second season to find that all is well in France - Haruka and Ryuuta are both in agreement to have their engagement and proposed wedding cancelled, while Marie has made piece with her family and has an opportunity to ensure that their vineyard thrives.

In fact, as the gang return to Japan and their normal lives, there is only one tragic footnote to this French adventure - nobody had remembered to pick up any cheese for Professor Itsuki during their visit, much to his overbearing disappointment.

While everyone is relieved, and indeed thrilled, to see Hasegawa return to their fold, for Haruka herself there is still one pressing question in her mind - is there any need for her to stay at the university now that her sole reason for being there (avoiding her father and the threat of an arranged marriage) has dissipated?  Of course, the response to Haruka's return is more than a sufficient answer to that, as she realises just how much she's been missed, while the other members of the group redouble their efforts now that their collective is complete once again.

After a bright start, I think it's fair to say that Moyashimon Returns never quite managed to live up to the standard of its predecessor - it's hard to put a finger on exactly what went wrong (and I use that term loosely, as the series was still plenty enjoyable enough), but perhaps the focus on more grandiose dramatic content lost some of the simple sense of fun and entertainment that came from the first season.  Still, no other show can really claim to mix inter-personal relationships with learning about science in quite the same way as Moyashimon, and I'd like to think that I at least learned a little while laughing along with the show's cast, which is surely the entire raison d'etre of this series.  It may be a further example to be used when arguing that sequels rarely live up to their originals, but that hasn't stopped Moyashimon Returns from being a decent viewing experience that has still managed to add some further fond memories to its franchise as a whole.