jeanne

Don't listen to the reviews from Gundam fans whining about the LGBT themes or the show being "woke". People who think like that are not worth listening to. I think the school setting is a good choice for a newer Gundam entry, and it's a you problem if you think schools, corporations, and war are mutually exclusive. Far from it. It was interesting to follow the characters' motivations through the duels, which were superbly animated. Hand-drawn, no lazy CGI. The two main characters were endearing and their relationship took a lot of turns which made it exciting to follow the show weekly. They're also interesting characters individually. Unfortunately, I didn't like Season 2 as much and it made my overall opinion of the show worse. There were some parts that I liked, but other parts felt extremely rushed and just convoluted. Guel's arc is more of a nuisance than compelling, some characters felt more like plot devices than characters at some points, and Suletta and Miorine spent significantly less time which I think is a detriment to the story considering how a lot of the shows' themes are connected to them and their families. By the end, I wasn't sure what the show overall wanted to say. It HAS themes but the overarching message, I'm not even sure it fulfilled to convey. The adults, who are mostly war-profiteering corporate heads, also show poor or barely any accountability, which is concerning from a Japanese media. Some of my other issues not specific to S2: the plot around the GUND format is a little odd. It is apparently needed to survive in space, but people were surviving fine without it? I think it makes complete sense for corporate heads to shun it for their capitalist interests or to suppress Earthians, but the main show just... forgot about it/didn't pursue those themes. Speaking of the Prologue, Delling, who was a prominent character there and whose decision molded Prospera into who she is in the main show, was just a vegetable in Season 2. He did nothing, nothing about his character changed in any meaningful way. I think this show's writers constantly forget a lot things about their show. Overall, the show had interesting themes which were poorly executed. Which is a shame because the show was looking to be my favorite anime, but it just fell short. Suletta and Miorine do remain to be some of my favorite anime characters and relationship.