REVIEW: ‘LINK CLICK,’ Season 2 Is Full Of Epic Twists And Turns

Full of cliffhangers and brutally intense moments, LINK CLICK Season 2 delivers on the promise of Season 1 by upping the ante in several ways. The emotional stakes are much higher in this hit donghua (Chinese animation) series from Studio LAN and BilliBilli and the action is taken up a notch in a truly epic season that constantly delivers.

Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi have the ability to work together to dive back in time into pictures in order to help others. Season 1 is spent with them primarily solving a “case of the week” until a larger narrative lurking in the background starts to unravel. Now, in LINK CLICK Season 2, those threads take center stage as new characters are introduced, and a bigger plot threatens Lu Guang and Xiaoshi.

Beneath everything going on is the villain Qian Jin. Qian Jin is a former police officer who went off the deep end after the death of his wife Lisa. He had relationships with several characters from Season 1, like Xiao Li and Chen Bin, before leaving the force to do his own mysterious thing. He serves as an excellent foil to Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi by always thinking three steps ahead as well as using others to help bring his plans to fruition. Others may assist him, but Qian Jin is the true villain and an excellent one at that.

Alongside Qian Jin is the brother and sister duo of Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi. These siblings share abilities similar to Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi and are an obnoxious thorn in their side. While Qian Jin is a true villain, this sibling duo has gone through so much that their motivations aren’t always as clear. The abuse they went through at the hands of their father is shown in such a harrowing way that drives home how horrific their lives have been.

The family dynamic with Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi is by far the best part of LINK CLICK Season 2. Seeing the physical and emotional trauma they endured makes them sympathetic almost from the start, and their villainous actions begin to make sense as things unfold. There are some really dark and grounded examples of domestic abuse shown that shine a light on how horrific that experience is and how it affects victims in ways they can never fully recover from.

The way LINK CLICK Season 2 handles such a brutal topic as domestic abuse has to be commended. It can be hard to find a balance between showing such dark topics in a way that shines a light on them versus one that makes light of the horrors victims endure. Li Tianchen and Li Tianxi’s father is a horrifying abuser, and so is Qian Jin, albeit in a different way, and they are never shown in any sort of a redeeming light.

They are awful villains from the start who commit inexcusable acts and LINK CLICK Season 2 makes it clear how terrible they are. The effect abuse has on victims is also shown in several different ways, making it feel even more authentic as not everyone responds the same way to the same events.

Some of the most interesting moments in LINK CLICK Season 2 happen with side characters or in moments that feel unimportant at first. As the season progresses, even the smallest moments from earlier episodes turn out to contain vital details that get brought back up later on. Utilizing such small details to tell such a unique story is incredibly impressive and LINK CLICK Season 2 excels when it lives in the smaller moments. The big highlight reel events are important and well-done, but to make the backgrounds and the side characters feel just as vital is a testament to how well-written this season is.

Visually, Studio LAN does a stunning job of bringing the world of LINK CLICK to life. The intimate character moments have more weight when animated as well as they are, and the emotional high and low notes hit so much harder because of how they are brought to life. The darkest moments of LINK CLICK Season 2 feel incredibly real not just because of excellent writing and tense music, but because of the visual direction used to tell these stories. There are also moments where some unique visual approaches are taken like the retelling of events in the form of a children’s cartoon that shows an inventive approach to storytelling.

LINK CLICK Season 2 expands on an interesting premise and never lets its foot off the gas. There are countless breathtaking moments in a season where the intensity and the emotion never let up. Cliffhanger after cliffhanger keep viewers coming back for more and things are set up perfectly for a third season that promises to deliver just as well as the first two.

LINK CLICK Season 2 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.