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WARNING: Might contain some spoilers!

I’ve been on MAL for a few years and the only function I used to track my anime progression, until 86 came around. Because of this anime I visited the forums and started talking about this anime with the users. I didn’t write a review regarding part 1, but I’ve decided to sit down and tell you my thoughts regarding the second cour of 86.

While part 1 only covered the first volume of the LN, the second part covers the 2nd and 3rd volumes, which leads to vastly faster pace than we experienced in the first cour.

Story:
86 like to deal with ... heavy tropes, like racism, segregation and privilege. Now these are still part of part 2, but take a back seat and some new one arise like PTSD and war veterans’ reintegration to society.
The show picks up exactly where it left off with Shin and his friends. However, the country that takes place changes from San Magnolia to its former enemy Giad, the country who built the Legion and started its world conquest. Although we find out eventually that this country is not exactly the same as we were told by the Republic since after the war started some changes went through, but since the Eintagsfliege blocked all sort of long distance communication, the country had no information regarding it. The main focus of the story so far is how Shin and his co. can fit into this new country’s society and eventually military.

Characters:
While part 1 had a massive cast of characters, part 2 operates on a smaller scale. This leads more time and development for main and side-characters. Also this anime focuses more on Shin, rather than Lena this time.
We get to see the result for Lena’s character development in part 1, how she evolved from being a naïve girl into a woman who is ready to do what needs to do. She now walks the walk, not just talks.
Shin is the very same Shin as you met him, however after he finished his life goal to free his brother from the Legion he needs to find a new meaning in his life.
We also managed to get a new character, a little girl named Frederica. She is a bit obnoxious at first, but as the story goes om we realise she is much more mature.

Animation/Music
Well, I’m not going to lie here. They are pretty much the same as part 1. Sawano still behind the wheels, and aside from a few new songs they use the same tracks. So if you did not like it previously, you probably won’t enjoy it either. I can only speak from my experience that loved the soundtrack, even bought and imported the CD from Japan when it got released.
In my opinion they improved the animation. The anime still uses traditional animation and CGI. The latter got enhanced. Similarly with the Music, if you weren’t a fan, it won’t be enough to make you love it either.

In conclusion 86 part 2 is an excellent continuation and a LN adaptation. If you loathed the first part, I would not advise you to continue it, since the themes and characters remain the same. If you were in the middle, give it a chance, maybe the new country, themes and more focus on Shin might fit your taste better than cour 1 could! And lastly, if you loved every inch of the first part then you’ll definitely won’t get disappointed. Highly recommend. 10/10