So much of the tension of the One Year War story comes from the fact that Zeon's position is literally correct—the Federation is their oppressor. The spacenoids deserve freedom despite being organized by clear villains, the Zabi family who have betrayed everything Zeon the man stood for by being dynastic Nazis.
So you're doing a story about spacenoids fighting a war for independence on Earth (probably on-planet for the first time). Also, their leaders recently committed genocide by dropping a colony on Australia, killing billions of people including the people who lived in the colony—people like them.
What is your main character's position on this? They do not have one? NOBODY has one? How? Literally, HOW is that possible?
It's a story that could go in so many directions, and it has done so in the past. Truly, the ONLY unacceptable response is that the Zeon soldier is a noble warrior who merely goes where she is ordered.
Like, going all in on them being an unapologetic Nazi and trying to humanize them would be (awful but) better than this.
This is just people walking around and screaming about being soldiers. It has nothing to say about war or the human condition, and that's only driven home stronger by the introduction of the child solider theme at the 11th hour. Absolute waste.
