The plot of 86 Part 2 picks off right after the first cour, continuing with the surviving members of spearhead as they find the Republic of Giad and hang around for a bit trying to lead normal lives before they eventually decide to head back into battle and embark on another dangerous mission. I'm not the biggest fan of the overall plot, the minute-to-minute scenes and dialogue is pretty good, but the story as a whole leaves something to be desired. In my opinion I think the ending of the 1st cour was plenty sufficient. It was a clear stopping point to me that left me satisfied, albeit a little depressed. This continuation just felt the tiniest bit forced to me based on how the previous cour ended. Secondly, the stakes kind of suck in this cour. Part 1 kept the stakes high, with death and bloodshed always present. It kept the stakes high and really showed the horrors of war and all the tragedy it brings. 86 Part 2 doesn't really have that, people do die, but its nothing like the first cour, and it ends up giving the feeling of the main cast having a bit too much plot armor. The story itself was also really similar to the first season, with yet another plotline about Shinei having to kill somebody's immortalized brother. The stakes were less and the story was worse, overall it was not that amazing.
The characters were pretty on par with the first season, there was really only one new major character, that being Frederica, who I mostly liked. But my main problem was how little we saw of Milize, who shows up like twice and gets barely any screen time. Despite the more tropey aspects of her character she was honestly one of, if not my favorite character in Part 1, and she kind of gets ignored for most of Part 2.
The art is on par with and surpasses that of the original, with some of the best CGI in anime and some all around great shots and art. A-1 did a great job in this department just like they did last spring. The music is also of a similar quality, although I personally preferred the better OP and amazing ED of the first cour.
I really just felt a bit disappointed with 86 Part 2, the first cour did so much right, but in the second half it just kind of devolved into a pretty looking generic millitary/mecha anime. This cour looses much of the emotional weight of its precursor, and its edginess goes from a more general badass edginess to "we are coldhearted kids who only know the battlefield and can't survive anywhere else." It wasn't what I wanted, but it certainly wasn't a bad show. I have no idea what their plans are as far as continuations go, or how much is unadapted from the manga, but if something else ends up getting released in the future I'll probably give it a watch, if not for anything else than to give me my Milize fix.
