86 Part 2 Review

This season was pretty solid like the show has been thus far and I feel like this season might actually get a review out of me since I find it really fascinating. I'll start with the good, the character of Shinei and his crew and the relationship they is pretty well done, I like how this season starts off with them choosing to have a normal life after all they went through in the past season but then they realized that isn't what they want and they would rather fight along side other people in the war which is I think is great writing since it gives the characters some great introspection. Shinei in general is a protagonist I really do enjoy and him trying to find his purpose as to why he goes on fighting and realizing that his friends and the character of Vladilena Milize are the reasons why does a great job at tying the first season into the 2nd. The penultimate episode with the first season's ED playing in the background really was impactful. Shinei's whole arc of finding something to fight for was executed very well and I have a soft spot for stories like that.

So after all this praise, why do I give it a 7? Honestly, I feel like 86 Season 2 is a good season that could be great but is held back by one major issue and that is the character of Vladilena Milize. She was a decent enough character in the first season where she was the naive optimist that gave the 86 crew a reason to live and not throw their lives away but at the same time, even then her writing started to go downhill the moment she out of nowhere become a schemer that tricked Annette into helping her after the latter casting away their friendship. That transition felt really unnatural and her writing from then on hasn't really gotten better. After that she forms a new bond with a new crew of 86, is a decorated military commander of sorts earning the nickname "Bloody Regina", is much more confident, survives the Republic from getting anhhilated and conviently helps Shinei during his final battle as somewhat of a deus ex machina of sorts, patches up her relationship with Annette, was able to hold off the Legion for a while and her Uncle dies. What is all of this have in common? All of this was never properly shown on screen with much development, all of it felt rushed and really unnatural due to the lack of seeing this on screen. It felt like 86 Season 2, would've greatly benefitted from having a couple of episodes from her perspective and that would greatly fix everything. Some other issues include Fredierica being an annoying child character that felt like the producers mandated there should be a child character in the show and she feels out of place with how war torn and high stakes the setting feels and the season also has another underwhelming villain who this time around just screams, "I'll kill you a lot". There is some flashbacks with him, I guess and his relationship with Frederica and his connection to Shinei but I found it all underwhelming due his only character only showing any kind of character through excess shouting and that's it.

Overall, it may sound like I am ragging on this season a lot, I did enjoy it but it was held back by some rather strange flaws that could've been avoided if it just had more episodes to flesh out certain aspects. I still feel like the Legend of the Galactic Heroes remake is the best modern anime going today, but I am willing to watch more of this series, which is high praise coming from me.