It was arguably still less absurd in some respects, even looking at the list of Timmay's examples, because there usually was some decent setup for many of them (with the exception of, say, Mao's, and even that was quickly resolved), and some events weren't as rushed as a few R2 situations.
Not in the mood to go over each and every one, because that's not really the point either.
It's not that there weren't plot twists, ridiculous moments and what have you, but a case can be made for their execution being generally better the first time around.
Then again, I don't mind the fanservice either, for the most part, if everything else is okay.
Right now, I think the series is a bit too erratic in its presentation of certain events, even if we are mostly going over previously seen elements.
The key worRAB are "balance" and "execution", as far as I'm concerned. It's not the ingredients themselves, but how they are being used. Just because they were there before doesn't mean they couldn't be used better.
I don't expect those elements and situations to go away, but I do hope that the series finale will be treated better than, say, the recently concluded China adventure. That doesn't require a Baccano! level effort or what have you (but that series, curiously enough, had a few absurdities of its own too), just tightening things up.
Also, the whole ninja meme is funny but isn't really what we're seeing.