Arpeggio of Blue Steel : Episode 2

Current Episode Score: 6

I kinda want to read the manga, just to see if the source is as choppy and poorly paced as the anime. This was an enjoyable episode, got to see some silly events happening. Ships turning into massive cannons and the like. But I have no context for any of the events or people.

There was no set-up for the fight in this episode, nor the super typhoon they were fighting in. It wasn’t there last episode, it just shows up in this episode for the fight. There wasn’t even really any build-up for the fight, the episode just starts and they are in the fight. No travel time or downtime to learn anything about these characters while prepping for the fight.

I literally still don’t know any of the characters, or why they are on this ship. Outside of the captain and the ship itself, nobody else is a character thus far. Which is just insane to me, how do you start a show and not at least introduce your characters. And all I can think of is this has chopped the manga all up, and that a whole bunch of character chapters and world building has been destroyed to try and fit more pure story plot into the show.