Originally Posted by
Altima of the Gates
I think this assertion is unfounded, because the first part laid very important foundations, but they don't have the time. You gotta just, well, pay attention a little more now.
Explaining details we didn't know about the war and introducing more about characters we knew and why they had certain motivations or reactions in the first
Things like Ilya explaining what the Third is are important, as well as her demonstration of her transfer abilities, plus explaining how magi can themselves "immortal" through using their familiar and the drawbacks harkens back and provides context to Zouken.
I think Sudou will at least include that given we see the bench talk for movie 2.
I think this first movie was the setup of the human relations inside the clusterfuck to come, and I expect Sudou will have the first part of the second movie to tie it in and strap people in for the "what lies beneath" parts that the first movie implies.
It was smart to not use the conversation where Zouken is trying to troll Sakura to fight from his perspective since Sudou can tie that in together when Kirei has Sakura on the operating table and she dreams about that. It both makes the reveal about Sakura in the school more impactful and saves time at the same time.
Context is really important in this route, so it's critical to include a lot of things.
Oh, but maybe cut down Kirei's long trolling sermons, you'll get a lot of time from doing that. When Nakata was saying he had an hour of dialogue my heart sank a little lol.