Overall, the new updates certainly has more effort put into it. The creative risk-taking by Lieutenant Filia and his rather eccentric personality rather overshadowed Seishun's actual training in most cases, however, and as Filia is a mostly static character with little if any growth, it's rather disappointing for me that Seishun didn't get much attention or growth during this, especially personality-wise.
While the other recruits are out working together, Seishun is practically given special treatment. He has Filia, a skilled near-purple soul wielder that trains him personally for weeks on end. Lessons are few and far in-between, and Seishun through all these trainings, just happens to accelerate from his Yellow to Green-Blue skill in just one outing, despite the story establishing that Seishun has trouble exerting his power. As Filia already pointed out, Seishun has to call out his soul power first before he can train it, and the moment Filia triggers it, Seishun suddenly is able to control it well without any explanation or fatigue like the last time he conjured his soul magic
Not only that, but Filia even recommends to the General that Seishun takes the Soldier test right after that happens!
Currently, the story suffers from proper pacing, dragging itself along just to get to the next part without much meaningful connections put into it
Seishun suffers from a case of "Gary Sue" surrounded by flat, one-dimensional characters that serve more as a plot pusher than growth to the story.
Out of everything else with the updates however, one thing stands out as a diamond-in-the-rough, and that is the mysterious lady Major McRae. In just a span of a few sentences, she turns out to be a much more interesting and dynamic character than the rest of the cast combined
Skilled not just in her soul ability, but in her wits and demeanor, McRae changes from seductive and charming to deceptive and cunning during her discussion with Filia, which hints to me that she has ulterior motives in mind.
I'm waiting to see if the other characters will build the same interesting dynamic as her, but until then, I'll be patient for the next update.