Originally Posted by LightDragonman
Might as well just say a few things I hope to tackle once I eventually get around to writing it.
First off, I felt that the massacre of Module 77, while worth keeping in, was way too contrived in the show. Yes, the President of ARUS was aligned with the Council of 101, but the ARUS footsoldiers should've known better one Youhei was shot and not regenerating that something was off. Plus, just having them shoot a bunch of kids with no remorse, regardless of orders, just felt really off.
So instead, I'm going to make it so that the commander of the ARUS forces doesn't carry out the order to kill em all, instead posing the question of why they aren't regenerating to the President, and instead wants to take some of them hostage and to ARUS to test them directly, which the President reluctantly agrees to.
However, the President had secretly been informed that this might happen by the Council, who thus send their own militia, who carry out the massacre anyways, and this time, they even kill the ARUS soldiers who hesitated to kill the students, as their reason is "why are you defending this lifeforms if you yourself aren't one as well." Think of this group of soldiers as sort of being like Shadow Company from MW2, only I plan to make them basically be the group that is fought by Saki still in the 200 year timeskip. Call them, say "Taurus Company."
When it comes to Shouko's betrayal, yeah I'm not gonna have her sell out Haruto and the pilots to ARUS. That was an extremely stupid moment that honestly ruined her character for me, especially since she has more things to worry about than getting upset over a forgotten childhood promise. So instead, she will learn the truth about Haruto after he saves her from getting shot, but she will still feel extremely hurt and betrayed by him, because he kept the truth from her, implying that he didn't trust her enough to tell her his secret.
Then there's the issue of Saki's captivity. Honestly, this was a huge sticking point for me in the series, not just because of the way no one but Haruto seemed to care that she was still behind enemy lines when they returned, but also the wasted opportunity for plotlines and character development. So I plan to expand on this a bit more.
If you look at it from Saki's perspective (especially if you read about what exactly she went through in the manga), she had essentially been forced to relive her worst memories, that being, a plaything abused and exploited by adults for their gain, and having to face it all alone with no-one to turn to. The fact that the show didn't seem to realize exactly how this could've affected her feels rather tasteless, but at the same time, the fact that she remained true to her friends and didn't sell them out also makes me realize how strong her resolve really is.
Given everything that Haruto shared with her, what with him saying he wouldn't let her be alone anymore and the like, you'd think he'd be much more eager to save her as well, especially given how much he feels like he has to shoulder the burden of the Kamitsuki, and now here's someone he has a close connection to essentially being the one who has to bear the brunt of the punishment that he feels he should have instead. The only thing he tried to do was get L-Elf to come up with some sort of plan, which obviously proved ineffective, and also really said to me that his overreliance on exclusively L-Elf to share his burden with and rely on was a mistake on his part.
So instead, I plan to make it so that Haruto, after the evacuation of the Module, is initially torn between wanting to follow the rest of the group to the rendezvous point so he can settle things with Shouko and ask L-Elf for help, while at the same time, also wanting to go and save Saki from enduring any more torture at the hands of the enemy. In the end, realizing that he can't wait or rely on L-Elf any longer, he chooses the latter.
A problem I had with the show was that Haruto never really developed into a strong leader character, despite him being the lead pilot and and the main protagonist. Even towards the end, when he decided to do what he wanted to do, it still felt like too little too late, and he was still relying on L-Elf to come up with everything, just that now their goals were aligned. Doesn't really make for a very interesting or even likable lead, especially with his self-loathing martyr complex.
So by making him decide to go off and rescue Saki on his own accord, this is sort of my way of trying to give him more independence, as well as making him less overly-reliant on others' plans.
These are just a few things I want to tackle. I'll probably mention more later.
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