There's only one real special feature on this disc (besides the commentaries), but it's so subtly hilarious and brilliant, I think it deserves mentioning. You might skip past it at first, if you didn’t know any better. It’s just a bunch of the crew of Adventure Time introducing themselves (in no particularly interesting fashion, at that), and it seems to be a pretty tame piece. It has a misleading title of "The Crew of Adventure Time, Interviewed by Pendleton Ward." Each member of the crew sits down in front of a computer. They then explain their job title on the show, and what they do. After the introductions are done, Pendleton tells each person to open a file on the desktop. The screen never faces the audience, so you never get to see what is being played, but you can hear the audio, which consists of screaming and farting sounds. You then get a montage of reactions to the mystery video. The entire thing is hilarious, mainly because, well, I can't explain why. I just find it funny that these poor folks working on the show probably deal with this kind of bizarre treatment every day. Seriously, I want to know what was on that video.
Again, as with the First Season’s Blu-ray, there’s a feature of the menu I feel is worth mentioning as well. Each individual episode has an option to turn commentary on or off, without making you back out through the menus and hunt for it. It’s a little touch, but it’s nice. And as always, the high definition picture on Blu-ray really makes this show shine just a bit more.
"It Came From the Nightosphere" is one of my favorite episodes in this season because of the character development with Marceline. Something about the smooth, business-like voice of her father is pretty funny, when contrasted with his terrifying demon nature. And Marceline showing a bit of vulnerability is an interesting bonus.
Some episodes seem like they’re going to lean a bit too heavy on one gag, like "The Chamber of Frozen Blades." At first, it seems like it’s only going to be about Jake and Finn saying ninja a lot, but it takes an even crazier turn like Adventure Time is wont to do. The Ice King steals a princess (actually a doctor who just happens to have the surname of Princess, but that works for Ice King), Gunter the evil penguin has the biggest surprise reason for feeling ill, and the ninja thing turns out to be pretty funny in the end (lots of references to Naruto as well). And the dorkiness of all this ninja fanaticism is even called out in a pretty funny way by one of the characters in the episode. "Power Animal" is another episode that feels like it’s just going to be a long string of instances of Jake getting distracted by dancing and partying before he goes to rescue Finn. You really wonder what could surprise you at this point in Adventure Time, but the Party God intervention ends up being yet another WTH moment in such a good way.
Overall, the Second Season has matured a bit in comparison to the First Season. Whereas the First Season was a bit difficult to take in large doses, this season seems to have found its rhythm in a very good way. The bizarre scenarios and sick humor are still there, and the episodes that seem as if they’re going to plod on predictably always seem to throw in something completely off the wall that’s still strangely hilarious.
Although the special features are pretty scant, it’s still a great Blu-ray package. And, of course, if you know me and my views on animated series being released in their original season form, you know I’m quite happy with this Blu-ray before I even unwrap the plastic. It’s so much better than any scattered sampling DVD release could ever be. If you’re any kind of fan of Adventure Time, then you’ll love this Blu-ray.
