The truth is, I do kind of understand it.

It does have it's issues, for example I feel like the Live2D costume quality has decreased - not the costume design itself, just the way it's drawn.

But with ten of the girls graduating high school, I understand the decision to make a change. The original art style is very bright and fun but maybe they deemed it too youthful for such a big portion of the cast being adults now.

The dulling of the colours probably serves this same purpose, though I do think it took away more than it added ultimately.

When the new style is executed right though, it is absolutely gorgeous. The best card art in the new style is far superior to the very best of cards in the old. Of course some card art is lacking in its composition or execution, but that isn't the style's limitation - it's more probably figuring out how to apply it properly as it is so recent.

I suppose they wanted to bring in more melancholic themes for the story, for which this style is definitely more suitable. It's perfect for gorgeous, intricate pieces of illustration. While of course also keeping the possibility of some brighter content too.

I do agree that it does not translate into the Live 2D - or that they didn't execute it right. On that end it really is a downgrade. But at the end of the day it's not all bad, and it serves a purpose.