I'm actually a little surprised in myself for actually making this review, but I just recently finished it and I thought it at least deserved a mention of some kind. This was not a groundbreaking anime, nor was it an absolutely horrid one.
Story: One thing I liked about the story was its setting. Sometimes I'm a sucker for fantasy, which I did not know would be involved in this. So seeing the 'Shouseki Monsters' appear, and the group stepping up to the plate to kick some Crystallized demon butt was actually pretty cool. It starts off with the re-awakening of a young automaton girl named Minette. The concept of an automatan is basically that of a robotic human which is related to the 'Eru' that flows in the city. That being said, they really did not elaborate on the purposes of automatan. Minette seemed to act like a normal young girl, so she didn't perform anything particularly special (even up until the very end.) There also was only maybe 2 or 3 automatans in the entire series: I mean you'd think these things would be important, but I guess not. *shrugs* Alongside this, the real problem did not present itself until the 7th episode, which annoyed me as its about halfway. The last 4 episodes were the most enjoyable of the series for me, so it wasn't entirely fast-paced either. 5 overall.
Art: I'll admit, it was the art that first drew me into watching this show. I looked at the promotional picture and thought, "This looks like a really cute and enjoyable anime." I didn't think it looked like anything amazing, but something to just kick back and relax to. This vibe was executed well with the art, and though the designs weren't the most original of things, I enjoyed it. They also made a good decision when they put in different animations for the ending in the last 4 - 5 episodes. 7!
Sound: The songs used in this grow on you very quickly. For a majority of the episodes they stick with using one opening (which is fairly catchy.) In one episode they switch openings, and I liked the new one a lot! Weirdly enough it was only for one episode, so that was disappointing. I might want to have these songs on my iPod to listen to occassionally, but its nothing that could get stuck in your head for months on end. In total, I rank it 7!
Character: Campanella certainly presents forth a lot of interesting characters for the audience to meet. You have a small cheerful automatan girl, a male love interest with almost no flaws, a young sorceress, a shy swordswoman who has no sense of direction, twin sisters (named after salsa and chips), very energetic adults and two people with a goal that proves to be the problem by episode 7. While I didn't love all of these characters, I did enjoy a great number of them. Chelsea's bits about getting lost were entertaining, Ritos and Salsa were decent comic relief at times (and their Golem was an all-around great machine), Minette was too adorable and even Carina was a cool character to see on screen, what with her awesome magical abilities and complete jerk of a magical broomstick (er... broom paddle?) That being said, though they were each unique in their own way, they didn't leave a huge impression on me. Lets just say that of I had to choose a favorite character, it would be Golem. Yes, Golem; a walking wall of a machine with little dialogue over all of those other characters. (But he was still awesome in his own way.) Thus, I give this another 7.
Enjoyment: I was originally watching this series as each episode aired weekly, but I kept it on hold after awhile and got back to other shows. In short, its pace was very slow. I was mentally snoozing by my desk at 2 pm when I hit episode 5. However, all things considered, I did enjoy this anime. It ended up how I thought it was going to be: short and sweet. Something to watch and relax, you know? The ending also had a big impact on me; even for me to up my final score of the anime by one point. For Enjoyment, 6!
Overall: Overall, I'd say this is a 6. Decent: not amazing nor absolutely horrid. Its got good music, interesting enough characters and nice (while not completely original) artwork. Watching this reminded me of watching Chobits back in the day, as the plots and atmospheres are slightly similar. I'd say I liked Chobits more than Campanella for the better-executed story, but they're very similar.
If you're looking for something that has all of the previous things mentioned above along with a bit of fanservice (its not horded onto you, thank goodness) and won't make your brain melt from being confused, I recommend this. =]
