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Ooh Arcana Famiglia. I really wanted to enjoy this series...and to begin with, I actually did.

The setup was sublime. A mafia-esque vigilante organisation, known as The Family, is dedicated to protecting the port town of Regalo. Many members of the Family have made deals with the "Arcana", granting them abilities based on different tarot cards. Okay, interesting...

The head of the family announces he wishes to retire from his role and choose an heir by means of a grand tournament, in which all Family members with Arcana powers must duel until only the victor remains, who will become the new "Papa" of the family...and have his ... daughter Felicite's hand in marriage. Felicite violently objects to this sudden announcement, but has no way out of it unless she either wins the tournament herself, or the new Head of the Family grants her freedom.

Felicite's two close friends, the rebellious Liberta and the moody Nova, both agree to grant Felicte's freedom if either of them win the tournament...even though both of them appear to share feelings for the girl, and constantly compete for her approval.

It was a great setup, with a solid concept and characters that weren't wholly original, but mostly likeable. The style is crisp with a pleasant colour scheme that gives is a classy but lively atmosphere.

Unfortunately, in time it became clear that the series suffers from two CRIPPLING faults:

1) Felicite is NOT a protagonist. A protagonist is supposed to be a driving force the moves the plot forward and who's actions are most influential to the story. However, Felicite, whilst certainly the FOCUS, does not exert any kind of force on the plot. She stands around, looks cutely puzzled or asks questions, and doesn't actually do anything unless promted to do so by another character. And it does beg the question: Why does she consider independence so valuable when she seems incapable of making independent decisions? Why is she so bothered about losing her freedom when she seems quite happy to just do what everyone tells her to do anyway? Now, this COULD have been an incredibly original and fascinating approach to a tired concept, and raised questions about the value of freedom for freedom's sake, or if there's any shame in admitting when you can't live the independent life you desire. Unfortunately it eventually became apparent that Felicite was just a poorly written protagonist with all the impact of a wet flannel, and hinging dangerously on looking like a fan-made Mary Sue.

2) And by far worse: The series seems to be under the delusion that just MENTIONING a good idea is enough to constitute entertainment. It's...honestly a very unusual habit. It will bring up a fascinating concept or a promising plot point and then...forget about it. Case in point: The Family is referred to as a kind of vigilante organisation, and yet we barely see ANY vigilante activity throughout the whole series, they just become a bunch of characters in suits for no reason. Similarly, many of the arcana powers are mentioned, but go entirely unused. Even the tournament, which is set up as the main concept, is forgotten about until the end of the whole series!! But perhaps the most shocking example of this is when one character reveals an experiment he's been working on...I'll keep spoilers out of it, but suffice to say it is a pretty major project with staggering ethical ramifications and with massive potential effects on the whole Arcana concept. What happens to this experiment? Never mentioned or alluded to again. Ever. In any form. Like I said, the series believes that it just needs to mention a good idea to get an audience's attention, and then either forgets to follow through with it or doesn't believe it needs to. Some backstories never come to fruition, ideas are never explored, and a mass of potential is painfully squandered.

So, combine a weak protagonist with some extremely clumsy "idea-only" storytelling, and an entire tournament that feels like it was forgotten about and then slapped togehter at the last minute...and you can imagine that the ending of this show didn't leave me with a good taste in my mouth.

This show had so much potential, soo muuuch!! The setup was golden, the concept presented lots of possibilities, and most of the characters (Felicite aside) were actually very likeable and interesting, especially Debito, Pace and Luca. Even the humour, which is often a weak aspect in most anime, was pretty solid, either focusing on amusing character interactions or some well-timed slapstick. I also loved the picturesque, European design of Regalo, which created a very distinct setting.

But ultimately, all that was good about Arcana Famiglia was quickly buried by the efforts of overly-excited writers throwing in plot points and ideas without bothering to think how they'd tie into the story and how they'd resolve.

A promising start that came to a bitter, frustrating end, and is only enjoyable on its most shallow level.