The first cour of 86 was phenomenal but this part was something beyond even that. The characters got expanded upon, the world got opened up, and the directing became godly. This cour starts off as a slow-burning slice of life but slowly and surely evolves into a profound emotional rollercoaster ride that makes for a truly unforgettable experience.
One of the most beautiful scenes in the anime is when Lena and Shin meet on the battlefield for the first time and Shin, believing he had nothing left to live for, finally finds something that can allow him to keep on living; He discovers Lena is still alive and she gives encouraging words and shows how she never stopped trying to catch up to him and the rest of spearhead squadron, the cinematic black bars on the screen slowly transition to transparent white in colour and then fade away as the music swelling up within the background reaches the chorus, shin starts crying tears of joy, finally having something worth living for.
Overall this anime is a near-masterpiece for me, it comes so close, but some things just didn't tick for me, but it has cemented itself in my top 5 anime series of all time, with just 1 season of hopefully many more to come alone!