I didn't mind showing the aspect of falling in with the wrong crew, but found that those first 3 episodes were kinda sloppy. What I really cared about was the two main girls and the main boy. I really enjoyed their rivalries. The addition of Akira's sister (was she even in the first season?) was at times a bit much with the main boy's mom. I don't mind having a few goofball moments. Just seemed to be a bit much compared to season 1. Though I appreciate the older sister as the season goes on and how she assists the main boy.
Can't help but feel bad for the blonde girl. She's obviously the odd one out in the love triangle but oooooh

. Main boy just never had a thing for her. The pain of unreciprocated love

. I dug the battle between the two main girls, just a shame that we don't see the blonde again until the very end. And she does the right thing which kinda makes me feel sad for her again. *sigh*. Poor thing.
Akira beating the main boy in the semi-finals was neat. Just the way it was meant to be. I like the small touch of Akira then losing in the finals as it didn't really mean anything to her. It was all about finishing up this rivalry before she had to leave for LA. The coincidence here and how it ties up to my life is pretty crazy too. I have a friend who is moving pretty far away in a few weeks and I kinda feel like the main boy character. Not that there is love connected in my case. Just the idea of "man I'm gonna miss this person so much, but dammit this is not the end. I will fly out to see you and this relationship will not end just because of the loss of proximity."
Ahhhh... yeah I didn't like this season as much as season 1, but it was still pretty good and had its heartfelt moments (I live for that). Somehow I'm at peace with how things turned out for our crew. Even the blonde girl seems to have found her peace too.
By the way. I couldn't tell from the fan subs. did she beat Akira when they were dueling in episode 3 (or was it 4)? I wasn't sure if she implies in the last episode that she "won the battle, but lost the war" meaning that she actually took that 3rd round. Not that it matters in the end cause she recognized from that fight how much Akira cared for our main boy character.