The art is solid, and there are jumps in quality and different styles used periodically for the animation. This is one of those shows where the key animators get to go wild and show off their creativity; if you're familiar enough with specific animators, you could probably see their signatures all over numerous segments—and they've made the rounds on various "sakuga" videos. I'm sure this is a series many anime fans will criticize as having "bad art" or "bad animation" because it's inconsistent, and is sometimes quite rough... but these shifts often fit the emotions building in the scene so well, and it's rare to see animation so expressive and free in the commercial anime scene. The dynamic angles of the camera, the direction, and the editing accentuate the animation to an astonishing degree, and this kind of synergy is, I think, a big part of what has enamored so many people with anime—no matter how much they complain about anime cliches or the conformist tendencies of the industry. When done well, anime has a gripping and visceral style simply unlike anything else.
Season 1, despite having good qualities, wore two hats and juggled between the two frequently--often in an awkward at best, and tedious at worst, way—plus, at least one of those hats was a propeller hat worn by a drooling idiot. Season 2 has much tighter direction and writing, and it has a decent plot with very little fillerish moments.
In many ways, this story is about the characters trying to understand and find meaning out of a mysterious (for everyone other than a few mains) and seemingly meaningless devastation left in season 1 by the Ryunka. Tsutomu's friends from season 1 are part of a documentary team, and they film the ruined cities, the shelters with both broken and enduring people, and the marauding criminals. it's not far removed from coming to terms with being nuked at the end of WWII, and a few shots seem clearly drawn from photos at the time. The villains even slaughter a whole battalion of American soldiers and steal a nuke (which will be the second impact to the Ryunka's first), so it's not exactly subtle in that regard—but if I'm being honest this is one of the better attempts at reflecting on the early post-war period through an alternative lens. Moreover, the setup gives the mains something of interest to do, unlike in the original.
The terrorists who are responsible for the main crisis of season 1 are the main villains this time, forced to hideaway on earth. Birdy has to hunt them down, but there is also another character who is brutally murdering them to seek vengeance. I tend to not like characters whose main motivation is revenge, but not only is this character quite sympathetic, but the anger is so raw due to the excessive cruelty and overkill he visits upon his enemies, along with the idiosyncratic animation, and there's definitely a bit of an unstable Jekyll and Hyde thing going on here.
Much like the original, this new season gravitates heavily between two different plot lines: the other one involves Birdy's past on her home planet, which thankfully uses a plot device to include Tsutomu. The backstory is heavily interlinked with the main story, and there is a kind of time travel ability the "main villain" has... not unlike most shows, this aspect can become a little convoluted and confusing, but instead of focusing on the ability as merely a plot device, there's a strong emotional resonance to it that allows the story to wrap up nicely in the somewhat paradoxical ending. A definite high note after the intensely animated final fight scene.
Tsutomu is also not totally worthless like he was in the original, even though Birdy's past and new romantic interest is the main focus—he's matured a bit, even gets some time on his own where he has to take over for Birdy, and he negotiates often and even in a pivotal moment. He felt too much like a burdensome sack of crap in the prior installment.
Unlike the original, pretty much all of the scenes and characters feel like they were meant to be here this time. Though, admittedly, Capella, a secondary villain (of sorts) from season 1 was depicted in an oddly whimsical fashion, despite having such indifference about toying with super weapons and appearing quite malicious in prior installments; her part felt out of place, and it seems they had to place her scenes here in preparation for a planned 3rd season that never came, and who knows if it will, what with this being a series that's now over a decade old... this is definitely the biggest flaw, and it affects the flow of the series quite a bit.
Late in the series, one of the terrorists strikes a deal with Gomez and his boss from the first series, but this wasn't alluded to until the very end, and what this was about isn't too clear. This same character has very fuzzy motivations that aren't really explained, and it even appears she is "hiding her power level," as she goes from being an average fighter, relatively speaking, to a complete badass for seemingly no reason. Insanely rushed.
Most of these issues don't heavily detract from the proceedings, and the animation, art, and the fight scenes, all of which have far more emotion behind them than either the precursor series or most other anime, more than make up for any of the issues; the writing-related issues also don't prevent the story from being quite decent for what I expected would be nothing more than a shallow sakuga fest following in the footsteps of the last stinker.
