If this is based off of a manga maybe that is why they are skimming over much of the background of the characters and the politics and so forth… I get the feeling that the world is much deeper than the story is allowing.
I looked it up, there was a manga. So there is a lot of material available. Maybe the producers decided to go with the premise that anime fans would already be familiar with the material and therefore not dip back into it.
Sucks for us Americans not familar with it. 
Series: July 16, 2008 – February 3, 2009
Manga: December 9, 2008 – July 26, 2009
The series was first, so it’s not like Bleach or Naruto or something.
So the manga may have been an attempt to fill in all the blanks left by the series? he he he