Review of The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2

I loved the first season because it felt magical. However, I felt this second season part 1 was a totally different story with "visiting" characters. I haven't finish reading the manga, so maybe there is a point to the change from a fantasy/romance story to a gakuen/fantasy story. However, the shift was not positive or to my liking. I'm still going to give a try to season 2 part 2, but I have no high hopes based on this one. It is not hat the story is bad, it is just a complete 180 from the original series, like 2 completely separate stories. The firstseason feels more mature audience while this one feels YA. In addition, what's up with the bunch of new characters? A bit overwhelming and all of these side stories take you away from the main one. If this was a book, I would complain about the editing, because it feels all over the place!