Firstly, Beyond was rushed. Which is alarming considering it took 6 years since Exodus ended to finish part 4. We're thrown into the current situation without much explanation. Which is fine, but there was just a lot that was really never developed on and comes out of left field. Why is everyone okay with sacrificing Miwa? Who is Maris? Why do we care about him? Is there a better reason why Miwa, the massive pacifist, is in one of the strongest fafner they have other than she's safest in it? Soushi 2.0 hates Kazuki the entire time, why did we not get more time for that relationship to brew? Why did Soushi 2.0 change his tune so quickly and ally with Tatsumiyajima? The list goes on, but the series really would've benefited from 24 episodes.
I also wasn't a huge fan of how they handled Kazuki in this one. I understand they want to pass the torch, but he was practically a background character. He had probably the only scene that was hype in Beyond when he awoke his salvator model, but after that he did absolutely nothing. I really think they should've made Mk. Raison the end-game opponent for Kazuki and leave Altair/Malespero for Miwa/Soushi. It would've been a rematch of their fight in Exodus, and the fact Mk. Raison was just swatting Kazuki around was so disappointing.
The villain trio was really underwhelming for me as well. All they tended to do was job and leave, and they were the focus of the whole thing. I genuinely think if they didn't arbitrarily give Miwa Mk. Sein, Kazuki would've solved a lot of their issues in part 1 by easily dispatching all three. Good luck copying Mk. Sein, Legato. I went into this season expecting Altair to be the enemy, and to have more Kaiju fights with Festum worse than Azazel type, but we just got two mediocre fafner pilots and Crawler? AND WHY IN GODS NAME DID THEY LET MARIS LEAVE NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE? I understand the commander doesn't want to do something to him, but did Maya not shoot at Soushi twice and threaten to kill him for attacking them with Nicht? Maya who confidently told the NUN chairwoman she'd kill Soushi if they think he'll turn? Maris, the guy who killed plenty, who killed your mother, is right there on your island. Maya, hello?
And finally, while I liked Miwa as a character, she was insufferable in Mk. Sein. She didn't do anything. Why put a pacifist in your strongest unit when you're fighting a war? Is she even a better pilot than Kazuki? Can she draw out all of Mk. Sein's power or something? It's never really explained or even shown why she's a good fit for Mk. Sein. Very frustrating.
Now, I did really enjoy Mimika and Reo's growth and their relationship as mentors for Soushi. In fact, I liked all of the third generation. They were probably my favorite part. I really enjoyed Maya and Miwa SoL parts too. Also, they did not need to do that to me with Chocolat at the end.
I still give this a 6/10 because it still has everything I like about the series, but I feel it needed another cour.
