What Clamp does really well: re-use their characters. That's what they did here as well: they took the characters of MKR and changed the relationships and stories of them to create a darker story.
The animation and the character design looked really beautiful. Some of the characters which you only knew in child-like form are looking adult-like - even the Mashin looked cooler. The music is good as usual. They really can create a good atmospheric background with the music.
The story was kind of... hmm.. well.. Maybe you know some really beautiful almost perfect-looking people and.. there's (almost) nothing behind that fassade? The story is kinda just like that. Instead of thought-provoking it's blabla. They tell a story without giving much background. They show and tell you about emotion (love/friendship) but you don't see or feel it.
If you want to watch something with beautiful optics and some good Mecha fights, you might enjoy this - but not for the story.
Explanation by SAKUMAKOKU on Monday, 06.01.2020 11:11
Both were directed by Hirano Toshiki and both present a very similar narrative construct.