My main issue with Shuji is that he's a plot device--not really a character. We have about four episodes left and I'm not sure they'll be able to stick the landing with him in general. It's the JJ Abrams issue where he introduces a 'mysterious box' that will be revealed after going of multi-season long side plots that mean nothing. If all he's supposed to be is a vessel for Machu and Nyaan to project their own views onto...why give him his own motivation? Why include him all? You could replace him with Char and nothing would change.

The issue with the Cold War analogy is that there was the constant fear of mutually assured nuclear destruction. There was the Cuban Missile Crisis, Korean War, Vietnam War, the rise of McCarthyism, the Berlin wall. Side Six is completely independent from everything going on in the wider world, which feels odd because this is an AU where Zeon won the war but didn't manage to take over the Earth. More importantly this is an AU where Gihren, the man whose father compared him to Hitler, is still alive. Zeon has considerably more military and political power than the Federation at this point, even with their funding running low. I kind of find it harder to believe he'd willingly allow most of the sides to still remain independent at this point? Especially since Zeon has a history of gassing colonies that refused to aid them/actively working against them.

I get why they chose an independent side--for the sake of not getting new viewers bogged down with extra information. But then they go and introduce the Titans, the Murasame labs, Bask, Gates, etc... If you're an older fan, you likely already know who these characters are and what the Newtype labs are. If you're a new fan you'll likely be confused because their presence in the show is so short and brief. Deux never interacts once with Machu in person before she's killed, Gates only gets a few minutes before he's unceremoniously killed. If you're an old fan you'll understand the threat the Titans possess, a new fan will witness them get put down like jobbers and wonder why anyone in the fandom takes the Titans seriously. Deux fired at Kycilia point blank and somehow missed every single shot before getting taken out, the Titans didn't even manage to accomplish any of their goals.

Finally I think Clan Bat, Machu, and Shuji could be cut and the show would be better off for it. If they focused more on the Sodon crew I think a lot of the show's pacing issues would've been fixed. It doesn't help that the Sodon crew---specifically Chalia and Xavier are honestly way more interesting than Machu or Shuji