[badlander86]

Season 2 was basically because the more "hardcore" Gundam fans wanted to see the usual tropes. Titans-like villains= A-LAWS, Char-like Rival=Mr.Bushido, Newtype-like BS=Innovators.

People originally complained about the 1st season because as far as they were concerned, it was very unlike Gundam series in the past which was actually why it was a good thing. The 2nd Season was basically crafted with these old Gundam tropes to "homage" these things.

I still defend the movie though. Yes it was a radical change from usual Gundam analogy. But there was a message in it I felt a lot of people missed out on. Moreover I liked how they handled the ELS. See for the longest time Sci-Fi has always handled First Contact type stories to be between Humanity and an Alien species which were for the most part similar to humans (verbal communication, bipedal, technologically advanced...etc).

The ELS took the Alien concept to the extreme. A race of sentient metallic creatures who could only communicate through the use of a certain Quantum Brainwave pattern, which is why they were drawn to Innovators/Innovades/Super-Soldiers who emitted these Brainwaves.

Plus the movie had some more touching death scenes. Smirnov dying to uphold his parents legacy was a tear-jerker for me. And Graham Aker's famous "This is not death! This is a sacrifice for Humanity to live on!" last words were perhaps the greatest of any Gundam-Rival ever.

It pissed of a lot of Gundam fans expecting Robot-on-Robot epic action. But as a Sci-Fi movie, I think it did pretty OK, especially the scenes where you see a flashback to Aeolia talking about how if Humanity could not learn to communicate openly and cordially with one another, it would not be able to take its proper place in the stars.

Again, it wasn't for everyone. I liked the movie though it was a radical as hell change from the regular Gundam traditions. But I guess I felt it was in keeping with the tone of the series. I guess it felt like an old Trek movie with Gundams in it.