>>58369584
>The first half isn't even that good. It has good moments but a lot of it is spent fucking around in school doing nothing and filling out the connection orb.
I think the first half is hampered by the fact that it's clearly written as an introductory arc, so a lot of time is spent being low stakes establishing the cast and getting to know them and their little mini-arcs. Befriending the other classmates reminded me a bit of how Gates takes a long time to get the ball rolling since it was also busy introducing its own cast. Which would be fine, but the real issue is that the second half throws away all everything set up in the first half in favor of >>58369621 so you're stuck with what amounts to filler.