Title: Trick 2
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Director: Tsutsumi Yukihiko
Format: 12 episodes
Dates: 11 Jan 2002 - 22 Mar 2002

Synopsis: Yamada Naoko and Ueda are back, solving more mysteries of the spiritualist variety. Yamada Naoko is (still) an out-of-work magician struggling to make ends meet. Ueda is now a professor of physics who has recently released a book about paranormal phenomena, feeding his very healthy ego just that much more. But things are the same as always when they team up again to figure out the tricks behind the frauds who use magic to con others.

The Highlights
Comedy: Full of cultural references, but still hilarious to a Western audience.
Mysteries: Intriguing and always refreshingly original.
Characters: Memorable and wacky.

This second season of the magician mystery takes all the good points of the first season and exponentially increases the enjoyability factor. The second season has more of those intriguing and unique cases, more Yabe and Ishihara slapstick comedy, and more Yamada and Ueda interaction. The greatest improvement that the second season makes is in the comedy department. While still heavily cultural, which will leave some viewers in the dark, it also has a lot more comedy that Western viewers will easily appreciate. Almost every scene has some kind of hilarious little element going on in the background, and the comedic side characters get more airtime, from the bumbling detective duo to Yamada’s insanely funny landlady and Bangladeshi fellow apartment dweller.

Even the production sees improvement. Production values are clearly higher for this season. The first season sometimes felt as though it were directed by a film student rather than a professional. The second season retains the unique angles and cinematography effects, but the visuals feel more polished and confident. Music is still mostly unnoticeable, the only exceptions being the classic (and extremely brief) opening and the downright gorgeous closing theme (”Ryuuseigun,” performed by Onitsuka Chihiro).

Like the first season, the second season is episodic, with each mystery spanning at least two episodes. Only a handful of storylines are solved throughout the course of the season, but there is no wasted time and every episode is very enjoyable. Another new addition to this season is that each episode is preceded by a monologue by either Yamada or Ueda, one of whom highlights the events of the last episode or of the series in general. These introductions are hilariously in-character and include numerous funny comments about their counterpart.

The characters are still the same old loveably quirky characters we came to know from the first season. The same actors reprise their roles; they clearly have become comfortable with the roles, which can be seen throughout the season in their sympathetic portrayals of each character. Abe Hiroshi (Ueda) and Nakama Yukie (Yamada) have more of a chemistry underlying their Odd Couple relationship, although Trick 2 is far from a romance. Of particular enjoyment were the performances by Namase Katsuhisa (Yabe) and Maehara Kazuki (Ishihara), who have many more moments to shine in their own special way. Even Nogiwa Yoko, who too briefly appeared as Yamada’s mother Yamada Satomi in a handful of first season episodes, has more of an expanded role this time around.

Overall, this season makes many improvements over the first, the best of which is that the comedy is doubled. While it isn’t necessary to watch the first season to understand everything that’s going on in Trick 2, I do recommend watching it first, simply to fully appreciate the actors growing into their roles in the second season. Trick 2 is a very intelligent comedy with an intriguing take on mysteries and the tricks of magicians. I highly recommend it.

The Rating: 8

Reviewed by: dheu