Having exposition doesn't mean it's free from being criticized. The overarching plot is dumb and here's why:
We are to believe Amira is able to steal the god key in heaven because she's a halfling. She doesn't explain why she did it and so we are left in the dark. We are led to believe she is either acting oblivious or she's a puppet of someone behind the scenes. The latter is more plausible, so why should we care about her if her wish to see her mother is a ruse? They should have done it like in Samurai Champloo and have the goal be the vehicle for the group to stick together. Instead there's all this overarching nonsense distracting us and getting in the way of our characters interacting and doing interesting things.
LOL nice strawman to open up your post with
Anyway, nothing is stopping the cast from interacting and doing interesting things. They've been doing that literally every episode which is why most of us are enjoying this show. We have gotten insight and character development for every character - more into their pasts, motivations and how their lives are connected not only to the greater world at large but also this larger looming threat. They also have an interesting dynamic and play off each other well. The end goal (finding the sunflower samurai vs. preventing Bahamut's resurrection) are different and the later obviously has more agency and has had a stronger influence on the direction of the narrative but it has in no way precluded any of the things you say you want to see.
I'm not sure what about the structure of the series makes Amira's goals so less interesting than Fuu's goals to you. Regardless of how Amira is being manipulated, from her perspective they are equally genuine.
After she gets knocked out from her attempt to flee, protective magic saves her from pursuit; she falls through the clouds and the chase is stopped. It doesn't really explain why the angels stopped the chase. Later on, angels are seen descending from heaven to relay a message and demons using giant tentacles to interfere. There's no barrier or supreme god who forbids them from meddling with humans. So why the passivity? You'd think armageddon would concern gods and humans alike.
Because is clear the angels are neither omnipotent nor omniscient and Micheal lost track of her when she fell through the clouds? What is hard or nonsensical about that? They are the ones who directed the Knights of New Orleans to search for her in the first place so even if they aren't directly tearing up the landscape, they have been invested in her capture since Day 1. They do have eyes and ears on the ground and that's why they were able to find her in the first place.The demons only found Amira et al. after they had been tailing them all episode and periodically lost track of them as well. Aside from like razing the Earth, a last resort type of maneuver if I ever saw one, what could they reasonably done to be more aggressive? There is still also the matter that they have no idea who put Amira up to this and they are actively trying to find that out as well (hence the "bait plan" of this most recent episode).
In a later point in time, Azazel tries to capture Amira (possibly for his own nefarious reasons), succeeds, casts her in a dungeon with little security. At this point, Amira is turned into a damsel in distress. For some reason, she's become helpless; not the ass-kicking demon we saw earlier. Her protective guardian saves her yet again from being recaptured by Azazel. He trots away and she is left... captured again. At the end of episode six, Azazel tries to chase after her with an army of dragons.
For some reason? She was "sucker punched" by
lightning and then while knocked out she was tortured and beaten by high ranking demons. Most people in most narratives wold have been straight up dead already. I'm having a hard time seeing the misogyny. It's never been established she could beat demons of that high a level one on one before and in this circumstance she again was "sucker punched" and it was three on one. They've actually been remarkably consistent in how they've portrayed how powerful she is respective to other characters in the show. I was legit afraid she'd have the be "nerfed" like many powerful female characters are over the course of many narratives but she's never had issues with lower level demons, zombies or the ilk from beginning to end. She has never been threatened by any normal human when she's healthy and that hasn't changed through the course of the show. She's always been a brute force kind of fighter and that has never changed.
As for the rest of your paragraph, you are basically regurgitating the plot back to me. The group narrowly evades the clutches of one faction that wants them only to fall into the clutches of another faction that want them. Ok?
Are you getting my drift? This is getting overbearing to the point of indifference. It's so predictable. The outcome is clear. Bahamut shall awaken, there will be drama and someone will be the chosen one and put an end to it. Can we go back to hunting bounties and wild horse chases, please?
Yeah it's not breaking some new narrative ground here but that's descriptive of the vast majority of fiction, including stuff I know you like, and has little inherent bearing on its actual quality. All I see is " I don't like it therefore its dumb" as opposed to "its dumb therefore I don't like it." You're absolutely entitled to the former opinion but that doesn't make the writing or the narrative or any other aspect of the show objectively flawed. You've failed to demonstrate the later and as such when you complain about things that make no sense when they actually make complete sense you're going to get called out on it.
