English Dub Season Review: T・P BON Season Two

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Now an official Time Patrol agent, Bon (Griffin Burns) continues his extraordinary rescue missions through space-time while mentoring his new assistant, Yumiko (Tara Sands).

Our Take:

Who knew that an anime about time travel would be that educational but repetitive?  Time Patrol Bon was not without its moments regarding the animation and historical concept, but the episodic structure started to get monotonous by the second half.  A couple of episodes attempted to shake things up in its stakes and characters, such as the season one finale, but that’s about it.  The only exciting part of its first season was the ending of its finale.  The show’s protagonist, Bon, is officially a Time Patrol agent, but it comes with the price of losing his original partner, Ream Stream (Erica Lindbeck).  The second season now has Bon partnering with a new Time Patrol rookie, Yumiko Yasukawa, as he continues to protect the space-time continuum in different parts of history.  But does a new partner equate to more interest in its season structure?  Not really.

Like the first season, season two of Time Patrol Bon consists of Bon partnering with Yumiko to travel to different eras in time to save specific targets from their unintended demises.  That includes saving a survivor of the Heike clan in 1185 Japan in the third episode, “The Heike Fugitive”, and protecting the man, Isaac, from the plague in 14th Century France in “The Grim Reaper’s Horde”.  It’s another “what you see is what you get” scenario that reflects multiple series with episodic plots, especially ones in the anime department.  On the one hand, it retains the merits that elevated the first season.  The animation was still decent in its simplistic art style, reminiscing other shows like Doraemon, and a combination of 2D and 3D animation.  It’s also pretty educational in its historical timelines, combining historical events from Japan with other countries, including America from the episode “The First American”.  It’s designed as a children’s academic program but with adult elements that warrant its TV-MA rating, mainly its violence.  

On the other hand, Time Patrol Bon also shares similar flaws that made the first season a bit of a chore, including its episodic plots.  Pairing Bon with Yumiko offers a change of pace regarding the usual chemistry seen in season one, even though we’ve seen this mentor/student dynamic before.  In season two, Bon takes on Ream’s role as a mentor as he faces new responsibilities as a certified Time Patrol agent. However, at times, he’s still as clumsy, timid, and periodically self-centered as he was in season one.  As for Yumiko, she takes on Bon’s role from season one as a rookie experiencing this world-building for the first time, especially when she sees history’s most tragic events firsthand.  It wasn’t until the eighth episode, “The Day Troy Fell, “that Yumiko was promoted to certified agent.  The dynamic isn’t without its cartoonish charm, but when it comes to the character depth, it’s far from a historic landmark in anime storytelling.

Its time-traveling adventures undoubtedly have their share of enjoyment and lively moments amid its educational context.  Unfortunately, the narratives in most of the episodes were repetitive enough to be fillers.  That includes its first episode, “The Random Murders,” which is a retread of Bon’s first encounter with Ream, with a notable difference being the addition of a neighborhood serial killer.  However, the remaining episodes helped elevate the stakes of its world-building a bit to transcend its repetition, especially near the end of the season.  

One of them is the sixth episode, “The T P Agent’s Crime,” where Bon and Yumiko travel to 1667 England to prevent the rogue Time Patrol agent, John Dafoe, from murdering a sailor.  They eventually learn that John’s actual goal was to save the white whales from extinction.  It emphasizes the Time Patrol’s duty and laws of protecting specific targets that would alter the course of history and the consequences of defying it, even if it’s for one’s personal goal.  Of course, the season’s plot doesn’t kick into high gear until the end of episode 10.  Afterward, the final two episodes involve Bon and Yumiko attempting to save the space-time continuum from the Dimension Ball, a mysterious mechanism responsible for the random appearances of the space-time tears and Ream’s disappearance.  These episodes were slightly improved over the season one finale due to the stakes involving the fate of the space-time continuum and Ream’s life. Additionally, it has Bon learning that ordinary people are worth saving, just as important people are.

The phrase “second verse, same as the first“ has been thrown around a lot, mainly when referring to multiple seasons of a specific show.  So, it’s unsurprising that the second season of Time Patrol Bon fits that description, for better or worse.  It has the same issues as the previous seasons, such as its repetitive fillers and hit-and-miss character depth.  However, its merits kept history from repeating itself, including the animation, voice performances, and the final two episodes.  Regarding the overall series, it’s a tolerable adaptation of Time Patrol Bon that isn’t groundbreaking in its execution but makes a slight impact on anime history with its charm and educational elements.