[Switchblade]

Finally had time to sit down and watch the first episode of season 2 and I was really surprised by what we're getting here. I largely avoided spoilers for this series; I knew Neo was going to be in this, but I didn't realize he was going to be the protagonist and that, so far at least, we're focusing largely on a whole new cast of characters instead of the returning characters from season 1. I like that; it feels like a new show while still being a continuation of the previous season.

If I'm being honest, I'm not really digging Chihiro as a main character so far, but I'm not concerned by that yet. It took me a few episodes to get into Haruka last year, and so far Chihiro reminds me a lot of early Haruka: kinda passive and emotionally withdrawn. I'm sure we'll see more dimension to his character as the show progresses.

Not sure about the Neo suit, though. I like the silver parts and how it looks more like a cyborg skin placed over the base Amazon design. I just wish the more organic bits blended into the silver better. Something about the blue and the stripes just isn't working for me. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I find it vaguely off-putting and the suit overall doesn't work for me nearly as well as Alpha or Omega. I like the concept behind the sword, but in execution it just looks awkward and I can't imagine how effective that would actually be to wield.

I forgot how idiosyncratic this show's cinematography can be. There are a lot of extreme close-ups and dutch angles in here. It largely works, but sometimes you get scenes like the one with the new hunting group - 4C, I guess? - hanging out and the whole thing feels really weirdly staged. I'm not sure if that works for me or not, but it certainly stands out.

Nice to see that church with the double stairs again. One of the cooler, less overused stock locations.

Really curious to see where this goes next and how they fit the returning characters into this new set-up.