Story - 4
Simply put, Campione! has no central story. The show relies completely on episodic plots; the most you get is a arc that spans 2 episodes. Normally I'd be fine with that, but there needs to be some kind of over-arcing story behind what's going on here, and that's what Campione! fails to deliver. The closest thing to this you'll get is in the romance aspect of the show, but even so, it still feels loose and disjointed. It's all very unfortunate too since the premise of the show had so much promise for a truly epic tale.
Art - 8
I actually liked the art and animation a lot in the show. It's all very bright and crisp; very pleasing to watch. Particularly well done are the battle scenes. The many different attacks the characters use are flashy, but generally not too overbearing. Particularly spectacular are the various powers the main character GoDo uses...though the whole golden field of swords thing is a bit overused...I understand that it's an important part of GoDo's abilities, but it's a very baren, featureless place. Regardless, art is definitely one of the shows strongest parts.
Sound - 8
Sound here is also pretty well done, once again, shining brightest in the battles taking place. The sounds of the weapons and attacks are all fitting and do a good job of representing the power behind them. I don't do subtitles so I always watch dubbed versions, and in here it's good, but not really amazing...though I was impressed with Monica Rial, who does a really good job in making Erica sound like the Italian she's supposed to be. As far as music goes, nothing really stood out as being particularly impressive aside from the Opening song, BRAVE BLADE!, which is pretty cool.
Characters - 7
For the most part, characters here are pretty run-of-the-mill. The male lead is some hapless nobody who stumbles upon some kind of power that makes him special. There's the overbearing family member, the innocent girl, the bossy girl, the stuck-up girl, etc. There's nothing really new, and hardly any character development aside from Erica, who's assigned the role of GoDo's primary love interest, or at least that's the impression I got from a hilariously awkward fully clothed "sex" scene. The only reason I don't rate lower on this is due to the antagonists of the show who are all pretty cool, especially those introduced in the latter half of the show.
Enjoyment - 8
Again, given my dislike of the harem genre, I wasn't expecting much from this show. As it turns out, the show didn't really try to push that as its selling point. The biggest draw for this show is in the fights, for sure. Everything about them is just really fun. They're where the animation and sound are at their best, and the dialogue is surprisingly cool to. Throughout the most climactic parts of the fights GoDo will start relaying his foes backstories while preparing to finish them off in a pretty epic fashion. I know that sounds kind of gimmicky, but it's pulled off really well. There is ecchi in the show, but short of the first few episodes it's used pretty tastefully, only happening when it would be sensible given the situation.
In the end, I'd have to say Campione! was an unexpected pleasant surprise to me. I wouldn't call it great, but it's certainly worth your time.
