From it's start, Farewell is very much occupied with trying to recreate what worked in the original show. The additions to the cast are minor, Dessler is back from the dead once again to take a significant chunk of screentime away from the real antagonists, and there's even a new Iscandar- and a new Starsha. And it's perhaps most telling that only when a lot of these elements are dropped that Farewell actually starts working in it's third act.
And when it gets going, it gets going good. The original show was always a little too hesitant with using the Yamato as the military vessel it is, instead relying on a whole bunch of weird tricks and systems that are only used once. It's great to see the ship and it's crew truly bear their fangs without losing sight of the ingenuity and quick thinking that was emphasised before. Everything works because the first season gives the viewer insight into the characters, and gives every sacrifice and achievement worth.
The honest truth is that it doesn't save the movie. The build-up is simply weak, and some of the melodramatic twists just don't work because of how much they are forced onto the plot. It's worth watching for the finale, but other than that Farewell to Battleship Yamato doesn't live up to it's predecessor.
