Story: 8
The anime follows a city boy's school life as he tries to assimilate into an environment completely new to him, exploring themes such as realisation of the things people take for granted, lack of direction in life and personal morals. Though it sounds very cliched and somewhat disheartening/depressing, this anime in contrast is very mellow and light-hearted and is filled with heart warming moments and humour.
Even though I gave the story a 9 it does not mean it is particularly unique, however the execution and pacing is superb. The flow throughout the series very consistent and you'll unlikely find periods where you lose focus. The anime keeps it's direction and rarely sidetracks or forces cliched or stereotypical scenes and/or interactions between characters to occur.
Characters: 9
The strongest point regarding this anime (in my opinion) and is what carries the relatively straightforward plot to awesomeness. Characters here are well rounded and have many facets to their personality, usually behaving how you'd expect them to (though this does not by any means mean that they are predictable). Comedic and over the top reactions as you would expect in any comedy/slice of life anime can be found here too though the anime will not overuse this to the point it becomes stale.
The cast size is reasonable and there is plenty of interactions and conversations between them to create a feeling that the anime actually takes place within a somewhat populated area (of course it has to, it's a school!). By this I do not mean the main characters give a passing comment frequently, but the side characters are well involved with the story and have a fair share in screen time.
Art: 7
The art here is not one of the best out there or so brilliant that it's dazzling but in conjunction with other aspects of this anime it is very well done. It to a certain degree is realistic (no i don't mean it like like real life). Characters are mostly drawn such that they reflect their personality but is not done over the top such as the thickheaded class clown guy looking like a crazy nut who was dropped on their head as a baby. This being said, there are eccentric looking characters scattered here and their but they mainly serve as comedy relief or support for the main character and don't get as much focus or screen time.
Scenery and colours used here reflect the mood well, usually bright and warm to add the the relaxing mood but when necessary it will adapt to more serious scenes.
Sound: 7
The voice acting and music throughout the anime was close to seamless. Dialogue flowed smoothly and consistently (much thanks goes to realism in character personality and interaction) and background music added significantly to the mellow atmosphere.
I don't particularly like to make mention of the opening or ending songs as I don't believe they should impact on the quality of the anime itself and how enjoyable it was.
Enjoyment: 9
I'll admit i didn't expect a whole lot when i first started watching this anime. I thought it would be a typical episodic anime without any direction or character dept or development but boy was I wrong. Following the main character's train of thought really makes you think about yourself as it's easy to be immersed in his way of thinking and the things that troubles him can easily be related to by just about anyone.
I strongly urge (and hope) that you consider watching this or at least give 2 episodes a shot.
