I feel like people are innately separated into two groups, like those who can immediately attach themselves to characters and can imagine their lives and motivations without needing to be shown, and those who can't/need to be shown tons of development to relate to a character.

It would explain why shows like Akame ga Kill, which I personally rate highly, are so polarizing - you either think it's the best thing ever or the worst show of all time. Shows like Maquia might only apply to a subset of people who are able to develop a connection to characters without needing a ton of their development. I also feel like this ability is inversely related to the number of anime you watch, as you slowly get desensitized to the humanity and uniqueness of the characters in a show. There really are only so many personalities, so when you see a new character, you just call them "x from older show i watched with a different voice/wig".

Imo, it's pretty sad that people can't enjoy sad shows without tons of character development and explanation.