>>23306504
A lot of stuff in the first half doesn't seem that important. It's mostly because the episodes are self-contained, so things that should be a bigger deal, like Nyaan making her first kill or Shiiko dying, don't get built upon or referenced in the following episodes. I'm waiting to see if the Federation/Titans pop back up by the end, but if they don't, we can add that to another thread left dangling.

>>23307490
If they had more runtime, it would be its own episode. The GQX psycho was the coolest mech in the anime so far, and it made me sad to see it get taken down so easily.

>>23306464
Sadamoto was the one who really liked Rei. He even made her the main girl of the official manga.