Story - 5 - Now the story, if you read about it already, it looks pretty genuine. It would've helped if the protagonist's father's name was NOT Satan, and could've been Ifrit (Which, mind you, also has a demonic background and sounds way more badass), because that's what struck me a lot. OH LORD, our hero is the spawn of SATAN. Let's throw in a bat so we can shoe-horn in an Ace Ventura joke.
BEGONE! WINGED SPAWN OF SATAN!!!! - Never gets old. :-))
Okay, let's give it the benefit of the doubt that, Satan is not OUR Satan, but that does not change how generic and predictable the plot is. No, SERIOUSLY, IF I gave you the spoilers, you won't be surprised. TRUST ME! I mean the series was SO forgettable, that I only remember the important plot lines and forgot the fillers. OH YES, there's fillers, but it's only for one episode yet it serves no purpose to further the plot.
Art - 7 - Now I have to admit, the artwork is pretty good. The school looks breath-taking and the character designs, while some awkward, is pretty good. Heck! Why don't I enroll into True Cross Academy and learn how to summon Ifrit, OR #@$*!&% BAHAMUT! I mean, the classroom looks pretty well drawn. And never has a Principal's office looked so good. And good lord, THE BLUE FLAMES, they looked so gorgeous, yet so dangerous, That I want one of these for my screensavers. PERIOD!
Sound - 7 - The openings are #@$*!&% awesome. Not kidding, it has to be one of the most awesome OPs I've ever heard. If only the series stayed true to that. As for the OST, well, the series was so forgettable that even the OST is forgotten!!
As for the Anime Voices, I watched it in dub, and I have to give the crew some credit, they did it pretty well, especially with Johny Yong Bosch voice acting as Rin's brother, Yukio. And Rin's voice actor did a pretty good jod of capturing the spirit of a young, confident, hard-headed (is that even a word?) protagonist, that you can't help but love the guy. Everyone else, especially Bon's voice actor, did a pretty good job. Can't judge the subs, but I can tell that the subbed works for some scenes in the anime than the dubs, especially in the summoning sequences.
Character - 6 - Now let's get to, what may be the first time I have seen good characters get bogged down by a weak story. Rin makes for a pretty badass protagonist, who looked is down upon society. Yukio..........umm, he's a good brother, so there's that. And everyone else is genuinely, hmm how do I say this, basically riddled in anime tropes, except for Bon, even HE is not safe. The story and the characters are so cliched, that you can play 'Anime Trope Bingo'!
(1st Prize - A body pillow of your favourite Waifu/Husbando / An illegal copy of that one episode of your favourite anime that isn't released yet!
Last Prize - THIS ANIME >:-(()
The character lacks substance, hence they are less memorable. Even with their own character arc, NOTHING can save them.
Enjoyment - 4 - Guys, It's basically a poor man's Soul Eater. You can tell by just looking at it. And like I said, FORGETTABLE.
Overall - 6 - The anime had great potential, but tripped harder than a school girl falling on a guy, with no pants on! (Who would forget THAT?!?!). In my opinion, GO WATCH SOUL EATER!!!! It's considered one of the best Shounen anime to hit the screen and has excellent art direction and OST, and the opening is helluva lot better, since the tone match so well with the show. This...is a sluggish train wreck. You sit down and the ride looks pretty pleasant, but by the time you realize it, BOOM! You are now suffering a slow and painful death, and you're begging someone would clobber you with an Asuka body pillow and then smother you to death, and what are your chances of encountering THAT. It's a bad way to go.
But at least the OP is badass!
