>>23335549
I did mean to compare Machu and Nyaan to Mangetsu and Shingetsu, but thinking about it more Nyaan doesn't really fit that. Mangetsu and Machu both are people who just don't really feel like the belong anywhere and don't take much of anything seriously until the plot starts. I definitely agree that Granbelm used its time a lot better than GQuuuuuuX for the kind of arc they're going through.
>These Newtype protagonists were just chasing a high and overprioritizing teenage hormones, missing the truth and substance of being a Newtype so hard that Shuuji didn't even have to ever actively hide his true self and goal.
It is shallow compared to the way these Newtype connections are usually shown now that you mention it. Newtypes truly understand each other on a fundamental level when these connections happen, but in their case it seems like none of them understood Shuji at all. Which is odd considering that pic related seemed to get him when connected during that fight, and she was behaving just as irrationally as Machu and Nyaan have been.