The setting was really foreign to me, as someone who was expecting something closer to E7, but that feeling quickly went away as I learned to accept this new setting.
That being said, this has tons of stuff I like. Mecha fights, a promise of intrigue and conflict of some sort, a protagonist who's willing to stand up for himself, a childhood friend, and cute girls
. I can't wait to see where they go with this.
I didn't realize it until I watched this episode, but this season is amazing.