Good ending to a good series.
The ending was a bit cliché, but the execution was great. There was some nice action, Pinion got his harem, Chamber got his GAR moment and Ledo got his happy end.
I agree that the story was all about Ledo finding his own path in life. He started out as a mindless soldier, but he finally decided to think for himself after learning about the past and because of his interactions with the humans on earth. It was a nice touch that Chamber, a machine calibers made for war, gave Ledo his permission/blessing to do whatever he wants to do.
I have to say that the ending was really open-ended. It might be better to say that there are still many questions to be answered:
- There's still the war between the GA and the Hideauze. Is it still going on? Will earth, their home planet, be involved at some point? Did Ledo unintentionally travel to the past or future when he came to earth?
- Then there's the wormhole the GA and the Hideauze used. Is it still intact?
- Then there's Chamber. It seems like Chamber's machine caliber sunk to the bottom of the sea after the Striker exploded. It looks damaged, but not unfixable. The Hideauze seem to have made a nest out of him though. Ledo still has Chamber's 'key' with him too.
- Then there are the earth's Hideauze. There still seem to be some of their 'originals' around, like the one who was with Chamber's machine caliber in the end. What are they up to? Why are they attracted to the lost technology? Ledo hinted towards future communication with them, so the humans might find out in the future. Maybe they are searching for a way to reconnect the wormhole, so that the space Hideauze can return?
- Then there's the mystery of the people on earth surviving. Bebel's explanation was kind of short. How did they manage to 'revive' the sun? And why did the the land sink under the sea because of this? Did they use some kind of 'lost technology' to do it, which in turn destroyed the earth's climate or something?
There are still so many questions left to be answered, so I wonder if there'll be a season 2 at some point. I'm not expecting any of these questions to be answered in the upcoming OVA to be honest. There are certainly many possibilities to continue this story because of these unanswered questions. This ending works too though, since it gives off a feeling of hope.
Anyways, even though I liked the show, I'll give it a 7/10 because of some mediocre episodes in the middle, the many remaining questions and because there were some characters who just didn't get enough development in my opinion.