If you had asked me anything about a show called Link Click before 2022, I wouldn't have had the faintest idea what it was. Link Click was a Chinese show that got dubbed into English and posted on FUNimation's website for streaming, and it became a surprise darling among those who actually watched it. I jumped on the bandwagon myself after seeing one of the English VAs tweet about it and praise it, which wound up being a good decision. Link Click started off as an episodic mystery series that gradually evolved into an action thriller, ending on one hell of a cliffhanger, so when a season two was announced, and getting an English dub not long after, I was all in. But...the thing about giving some shows a second season is that often times they either keep things the same without changing much or taking any real risks, or they get too ambitious for their own good and lose their footing. As much as I hate to say it, Link Click season two is the latter.

Now, to be fair, it doesn't start off that way. Season two immediately follows up on the cliffhanger from season one, jumping right into the central conflict. In all honesty, the beginning of the season is where it shines, explaining the fates of some characters while still delivering on developing side characters and the heartwrenching moments involving them that follow. I don't want this to be a wholly negative review, so I'm going to get the positives out of the way first. The animation and music are still as good as they were in season one, with plenty of new songs that are absolute bangers. The artwork is consistent, and the action scenes retain their fluid choreography, and actually feel like they have weight and momentum to them rather than just cutting away and using whoosh lines. I also really love that Qiao Ling became more involved in the story. Most series that have the token girl character among the cast usually relegate them to just the worried moral support and don't bother to really give them any agency. They're often just there to take up space, not much else. Not only does Link Click actually allow Qiao Ling to be more active in the central conflict, she actually helps Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang out on multiple occasions, succeeding even, and several aspects of the plot wouldn't have happened if not for her. Hats off to you on that front, Li Haoliang.

Speaking of the characters, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang, while they don't really change much in the season proper, still managed to carry the series fairly well, and the finale even drops a pretty big reveal about Lu Guang that's due to be elaborated on in a possibly upcoming third season based on some of series director Li Haoliang's tweets. However, the side characters and the antagonists are where this season starts to falter. While this season does reveal who was behind the murders in season one, the antagonists in question actually wind up raising a lot more questions than answers, especially in regards to how exactly they got their abilities, how their actions affected the previous season's timeline, and how their motives just seem to flip-flop throughout the season. One character in particular doesn't do anything except cry and be a damsel in distress throughout the season's entire tenure.

The antagonists' wishy-washiness might also be a result of this season dragging itself out. Compared to season one's more episodic but more structured, tight narrative, season two didn't really seem to know what to do with itself. After a certain point, season two keeps rehashing and recapping previous episodes, dragging things out longer than is necessary, presumably to keep the mystery going, but it just makes the show feel both thin and bloated at the same time. Season two could have nixed the recaps and just tried to solve everything within half its episode tenure. Somebody did translate an interview that Li Haoliang did, where he discussed changes made to season two's story, why the season's structure turned out the way it did, and how he plans to address fans' feedback in the upcoming third season. I appreciate his willingness to engage with the show's fans and take their feedback into account while opening up about his thought processes behind the show's production and his own feelings on how he wants Link Click to turn out. Plus, he did admit that he's better at doing episodic stories than more overarching narratives, so at least he's aware of his weaknesses.

I do feel kind of bad that I found this season to be meh compared to season one. It certainly tried to deliver on the plot points that season one set up, and while it didn't succeed, I was still invested all the way through, so you can't say it didn't keep you on your toes. Here's hoping Link Click season three manages to elaborate on the massive cliffhanger of this season. To put it simply, Link Click season two had the potential to bake a delicious cake, but instead just came with a fried egg. It's a good fried egg, sure, but it could have been so much better.