To me Valkyria Chronicles has always been nothing more than an enjoyable anime. Nothing that would make me scream "wonderful" but still something that could hook me enough to give me some nice dose of entertainment.
I actually liked the development at the mid end portion of the anime and overall I liked Welkin's strategies. Isara's death was well done imho and managed to steal some tears from me.
The major flaw of this anime however was the ending. Absolutely preposterous clicheed and ridiculous.
Starting from the time Alicia was kidnapped, it went downhill. I mean it looks like there's a rule or something in the anime. No matter if you have enough destructive power to rival that of a nuclear bomb, if you are a girl you are deemed to be a damsel in distress.
Then it reached the bottom with the final fight. For some unknown unexplicable reasons, the enemy filled marmota became suddenly a desert place.
Maximilian made the number 1 mistake of every clicheed villain. Even though so far he relied on a vast army and powerful companions, in the end just for the end he decided to take on the enemies single handedly thus rising the heroes chance of victory from 0% to 50%. WHY?!