Despite the fact that the show generally has a mid-pacing (not too fast, not too slow), academy arc felt rushed. In 1st season it was ok, because we generally got 1 or 2 episodes (as far as I remember, at least) for each character, and those characters were mostly passer-bys with just a few exceptions like Ruth.
With academy arc most characters were introduced with intention to stay, so it would have made sense to have more time to explore them and share their background. Of course, Philomela should have had focus on her, but the other characters needed more love. In most cases their backstories were very disjointed. I would much rather prefer 1 full episode fully focused on each character.
Yes, most likely, their stories will be continued to be told in future episodes, but... Maybe they should not have been introduced in such large quantity? Or maybe they should not have all instantly become friends?
Philomela's story was good. Lucy was intriguing, but mostly because of the cute spiders, but otherwise - trying to do too much in too short a timespan.
