Newtype just has a ton of info. I translated the interview with Mizushima, the director. Probably not a perfect translation but I tried! I hope I got the main ideas down. :) Has some pretty good stuff.
To get to the point, what kind of story will Second Season be?
Mizushima: Along the lines of the story from First Season, "00" is a story about destruction and rebirth. So Second Season is a story of "rebirth".
During the last part of the First Season, the formation of the Earth Federation in year 2312 was drawn.
Mizushima: It's true that the era of the Three Powers' zero-sum game ended there, and like the basis of the name Earth Federation, the Earth became one. However, disputes and terrorism still continue. Especially in the Second Season, new anti-Federation forces will appear and will oppose the Earth Federation. The independent security preservation force "Arrows" thoroughly carries out oppression against that. It is in the middle of this conflict that the story will develop. Because the Second Season has a simpler conflict structure than the First Season, I think the Second Season during a new time-frame will be easy to take in even for newcomers to the series. (TN: I think he's talking about how it's between two organizations this time rather than UNION VS HRL VS AEU VS CB kind of structure)
Then, during that kind of conflict, how will the Gundam Meisters act?
Mizushima: They will once again mobilize and pilot the Gundams. The goal is still "the elimination of war through armed force". Just that the difference from the First Season is, because they were cut off from Veda during the last part of the First Season, they are acting by their own will as people who were entrusted with the Gundams by Aeolia Schenberg.
After Lockon's death, who becomes their leader?
Mizushima: Maybe this is a bit unexpected but it's Setsuna. Setsuna is wandering around the world. There, he realizes that the peace of the Earth Federation is actually twisted. That becomes Setsuna's motive.
A twisted peace?
Mizushima: The Earth Federation exercises complete information control so many people in the Federation don't know about Arrows' harsh oppression. There's only the knowledge that they're fighting to maintain peace. Before, the Three Powers contained each other so that kind of secret would leak from somewhere, but now that the Earth Federation is the only superpower, information control has instead been thorough and it has become a closed world. That's why if you only watch regular news, you will see that the world is peaceful. But is that good? To say "The world is peaceful" without knowing about the tragic wars that happen somewhere in the world, is that right? This will be the point (of the Second Season). This is an understandable part in reality, too. In addition, I think if I can approach the question of what is peace, then that would be good.
How will Setsuna act?
Mizushima: Setsuna is a man who can only fight. Although he's aware that "the elimination of war through armed force" is a contradiction, he thinks that there's no other way to stop the wars happening before him. That's why he's a bit annoyed/moody. He might seem more militant than before. He also has the sense that Marina, who chose the pacifist road, is the heroine. (TN: ?? unsure of the subject lol could be talking about the show in general even though topic is Setsuna; anyway point is Marina = heroine)
The thing I was surprised about from the new information is, this time Lockon's featured figure is...
Mizushima: Lockon died during the climax of the First Season. He won't come back to life. This is all I can say but it might be good for people who care to look at it again.
The 4 Gundams have the image that they each followed their predecessors.
Mizushima: The point is to reduce the lines and to be able to place power in the action more than in First Season. Then especially in the face, we added the "mustache" that is the Gundam's symbol (the two black lines on the face where a mouth would be). This time on top of the conventional Gundam design, we also created a new Gundam face. It's the challenge for the Second Season.
What about Saji and Louise?
Mizushima: The story of "00" is the overlapping of the three: the class of Aeolia's plans, the class of the Meisters, and the class of the normal people who get wrapped up in the war. Saji and Louise are the representatives of the normal people. Saji was unexpectedly caught up in Celestial Being's battles and it will gradually become clear why Louise was in that kind of place in the last part of the First Season. The basis of their relationship will not change (TN: thanks
cfirefly! :D)
How is the atmosphere of the Second Season?
Mizushima: Beyond First Season, Kuroda-san's (Kuroda Yousuke the screenplay writer) script is high power. There are many times where I'll read it over once and be surprised like "How should I turn this into pictures" (laugh). How do we apply to realistic images? I'm squeezing this wisdom out of my team. It's the image of plunging into the Second Season with the same tension as the climax of the First Season. (one more line that's not important)
Thoughts~
1. The emphasis on "own will" is pretty important, I think. It's been shown in the end of the First Season where Aeolia Shenberg urged the Meisters to do what they think is right by their own will. Before that, Setsuna acted on his own will a lot. Tieria toward the end also started doing things not due to orders but by following what he wanted to do. The new blurb for 2nd season!Tieria also mentions that he is part of CB and doing things not by directives from Veda but by his own will.
2. Second coming of the Preventers Y/N?
3. Arrows is an organization separate from the Federation Army. Maybe it's controlled by Ribbons? Or something.
4. CB ended up creating a world totalitarian regime. That sucks. DDD:
5. ...It's Lyle isn't it :|
6. Setsuna is a man who can only fight. <--lol Setsuna said this too XD;
Oh yeah just to let people know, August Animage isn't worth buying. :) It has the same picture of the Meisters in uniform as Animedia and Newtype but nothing new compared to other magazines. This month's "worth it!" magazines are definitely Newtype (for the info and new pictures) and Animedia (for the huuuuge poster of the Meisters at the beach :D).