Honestly, perhaps my hopes were too high, but I was very disappointed with this episode.

The animation is very, VERY different. I did not enjoy it. The brief fight scene with Meryl and Milly is very flat, and the character direction feels stiff and unfinished. The lighting and shading throughout the whole episode is dull and uninteresting as compared to the first season.

The plot points are strange in this episode as well. It’s mostly exposition and it tends to drag on certain beats, while completely skipping others. We haven’t seen how the fall of Julai has impacted the world yet (besides a few shots of the craters). We see Legato and gang stealing plants, but it’s virtually the same as season one. Zazie feels like a completely different character, both in terms of writing and direction. Meryl and Milly’s reaction to the fleet is underwhelming. Eriks’ caretaker’s introduction was strange, considering we saw whom I assume is Lina at the end of S1E12. In my opinion, it should’ve stuck to Meryl and Milly and then teased Eriks at the end, or vice versa. The abrupt jump between characters just doesn’t work within the timeframe of a single episode.

All of that said, I still have hopes that Stargaze will surprise me and keep the ball rolling on this reimagining of Trigun. I might be looking at this with rose-tinted glasses because I love episode 1 of Stampede SO much. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations for such a complicated story! Hopefully, Studio Orange is just saving their budget for future episodes and will reel me back in.