The second season trades season one's bite about otaku culture for something messier: a romance that actually makes you uncomfortable because it's asking if family bonds can survive wanting something more. Kyousuke stops being the straight man observing Kirino's absurdity and becomes someone actively choosing between versions of himself. The show knows exactly what it's doing by making you complicit in that choice, which is why it breaks people in half.

Kirino Kousaka, a devoted otaku, is back in Japan after track and field training in America, yet she still treats her older brother Kyousuke coldly. He worries that talking her into coming home damaged their relationship, and he keeps giving her life consultations anyway. He must also decipher a bold, cryptic message from Ruri "Kuroneko" Gokou, his junior at school and Kirino's friend. As bonds among the siblings and their friends grow, romance appears for both of them, and each helps the other understand their own feelings. Between the romantic comedy, Kirino still finds time to indulge her otaku hobbies with her brother at her side.