Nyaruko's preparing a report to send back to the office on the progress she's making on Earth - but between her own liberties taken with the truth, and Kuuko's post-production editing, the chances of it being even remotely reliable are remote. Meanwhile, word is that there's a new illegal alien on the planet - but Nyaruko's putting too much effort into getting Mahiro to make her pregnant to notice the alerts she's been getting from HQ... The first few minutes of this season opener go to great lengths to point out that nothing has really changed since we last saw Nyaruko and the gang - there’s even a little fake-out where they use the original season’s opening theme for a moment. All of this is good - it’s like slipping back into the company of an old friend. This doesn’t exactly please Nyaruko, mind you - in her mind, the gap between season should be filled by the heroine getting pregnant and having a kid, and Mahiro has completely failed to meet his obligations in that regard. If there’s a story to this episode - and it’s tenuous, at best - it’s the arrival on the scene of illegal alien Tsuruko. On the surface, she’s a clumsy, shy & cute girl who has a crush on Mahiro (thanks to the interstellar distribution of the BL manga based on his alleged exploits) but so far is failing to get close enough to him to express her feelings. She sure looks harmless, but the occasional warnings that make it to Nyaruko’s phone tell a different story. Away from that, though, we have the usual irreverent poking of fun at other people’s properties - I spotted multiple digs at Oreshura and AKB48, and I wasn’t even looking very hard. THE GOOD: The return of a familiar friend - there’s been very little tinkering done with the show’s formula, and while the OP hints that there are a few new character introductions to be worked through, it’s been done in fairly subtle fashion so far. THE BAD: Leaving the formula unchanged means the old hit-and-miss qualities are still here, waiting to drop little nuggets of disappointment along the way. But that’s nothing I can’t live with - while Nyarko-san misses the mark as often as it hits with its targets of fun, when it hits it usually damn good, and that makes the inconsistency just about worth it. Welcome back, Nyaruko-san... Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos W is streamed by Crunchyroll.
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