A solid sequel that falls a tad short in the main story but excels in side content unlike the first game. The tedious and excessive tailing missions have been reduced (though LJ introduces the equally dull platforming if you can even call it that) and the combat has been polished to a mirror sheen.
I wouldn't say I dislike the main story but it often feels like the characters are just running in circles (literally with how much I had to keep taking taxis between kamurocho and ijincho) and while the conflict between Yagami and Kuwana's viewpoints is an interesting one from an objective standpoint, the fact that Yagami just constantly cries about Sawa-sensei as his only argument makes his character feel a lot weaker this time around. This was especially an issue since the game failed completely to make me like Sawa-sensei or really feel sympathetic for her. I've gotten pretty tired of japanese stories focusing so heavily on bullying but at least in this one I get to beat them up so that gets an A+ from me.
The sidequests are much more enjoyable in LJ compared to the first game where it was practically an afterthought for me since you had to go around raising friendships with employees and stuff. The school clubs varied wildly in quality but I greatly enjoyed completing all of them and solving the professor mystery while racking up SP. I do really wish that they had removed the photography club entirely and added to the virtua fighter club instead because they both feel very insignificant despite VF easily being more fun than the other minigames.
The combat is the best it's ever been with additional styles, skills and super smooth animations. I really loved the boxer style even though it basically trivialized the game. Helps that it's tied to the best school story too.