Story -- While the basic story is ultimately interesting, eventually bringing together all of the elements that overthrew the old world order, its execution was too often atrocious. For example, the main Dorssian characters start to become more complicated than they originally seemed, but their motives are never revealed in a truly satisfying way. The true nature of the magius is also shown, but the ending leaves the problem of their existence unresolved in a major way that left me wanting more to this story.
Art/Sound -- Both are excellent. The music and voice acting captures the emotional aspects of the show, from the two sorrowful ending themes, "Soba ni Iruyo" and "Akai Memories wo Anata ni" to the feelings of desperation and vulnerability given to Shoko Sashinami by voice actress Masami Seto and the despair of L-Elf after losing his raison d'etre captured by voice actor Ryohei Kimura. Once again the character and machine designs are beautiful, with good quality animation.
Characters -- Some of the characters, such as Shoko, L-Elf -- and surprisingly, Marie -- get decent development, but there are some like Liselotte, Q-Vier and Yamada who remain something of a mystery to the very end. And then there are those like Haruto's father, who is maddeningly absurd in his complete disregard for social conventions -- a recurring problem with this series, when the characters are simply ... off, with nothing in particular behind it.
Overall, Valvrave was quite enjoyable, though the ending seemed sudden and rushed, and left many questions unanswered, much like the first season of Code Geass. However, this series nevertheless was definitely an exciting and emotional watch, and I think it shines through despite its shortcomings.
