Story- 4
Let me first say the pacing of this anime was awful. As a common rule enemies are supposed to get stronger as the show goes on, but halfway through it I realized that nothing was going to change- thus my video game analogy. Sure, there's plenty of action to go around if you're okay with transformation sequences longer than the actual battle. There were a few interesting battles scenes though the enemies were very, very generic.
Like I said humor plays a very big role. Expect to laugh even when Akira is slicing and dicing some Kokuchi. Unfortunately, the humor does nothing to further the plot of the anime, though it does make up for it. You would hardly guess that it was time for the finale to come around because of an utterly humorous go-lucky ending from the episode before it, which again is due to horrible pacing. Luckily, the story, when it finally did pick up, was pretty satisfying and DIDN'T have me thinking "I waited twenty-somethn' episodes for this?"
Art- 6
Nothing special. Kind of generic. There isn't a lot of blood and the effects are mostly an embellished digital. I found some of the transformations laughable, but for the most part the art is consistent and mostly simple. The character designs are okay, though you really have to decide for yourself if some characters are really that beautiful or if you're okay with Akira's mullet (IMO- I just wanted to chop it off!).
Sound- 6
Hits and misses. Some pieces seemed like they belonged in the 90s while others conveyed the scene very well through piano.
Characters- 7
A very enjoyable bunch of character, albeit, shallow. The basic characters are here: the bossy girl, the dumb blond, the ambiguous guy, the badass, the genius kid, the guy who can do everything, I could go on. If you're annoyed by ditzy horny and/or violent women with high pitched voices you shouldn't watch this- but then again you're an anime fan so it's like you practically signed up for that kind of stuff anyway. Still, the characters try their hardest with chibi scenes to put a smile on your face, so you can live with them.
The series is also very ambiguous with relationships. They had it all almost- shounen-ai, shoujo-ai and even shota. Though none of them were expounded upon a great deal most of them had something to do with the plot, which can't be said for many other anime with these types of relationships.
Enjoyment- 9
Chances are you'll either be bothered by the pace or the character's antics, but that's exactly what makes this show fun to watch. It's a fun little ride for fans of the actions genre (and doubly fun for those who squee at shounen-ai). I found myself fully enjoying it and in the end humor won over the weak story. That can't really be done for most action anime which take themselves too seriously, so consider this a rare treat- at least where enjoyment is concerned. Overall, it's a fair 6 for me.
