Overview

Season 1 (25 episodes): 8.5/10

Season 2 (25 episodes): 6.5/10

Rating: 7.5/10

Worth watching: Yes, I watched it on Netflix (USA).

Season 1

The anime has plenty of action and events that progress the story at a constant pace. It's good at ending with cliff hangers so make sure you don't have to get up early if you start watching in the evening. Good music and animation help selling the story and world.

It mainly follows two protagonist teens, Orga and Mika, and their friends with a dream to rise up from nothing to become powerful and carve out their place in the world. Mixed into all that are political situations, ethical questions, sacrifice, and individual values. Watching them navigate all of that with a healthy dose of mecha action is a fun ride.

Season 2

Definitely not as strong as the first season. It goes from a story line with a strong direction to one that isn't sure how or where it wants to end up, a little bit like the protagonists. Which isn't bad per se, it's just how life is sometimes. What weakens the story is the borderline plot holes or out of character decisions to shoehorn more action to fill the number of total episodes. The main drive to finish season 2 is to find out what happens to the characters you've grown fond of but impatiently waiting for it to happen already so you can move on.

Season 2 turns into a mafia/yakuza type anime which isn't terrible on its own, it just doesn't live up to season 1. It reminds me of Gun Grave, even though I don't really remember it. Maybe it's only the mafia trope they have in common.

The music and anime feel a bit rehashed and recycled at times taking away from the experience. It is still good, just not as good as the first.

Closing

Even if you're not into mecha, it's worth watching as they're mainly a vehicle for the story and could have been done without Gundams.

If you've seen it, what do you think?