Gokukoku no Brynhildr is just another anime that had the potential to be great but turned out to be mediocre.
Theres only one thing that has made me continue watching this, and thats the story. There are what could be called unnecessary, filler-ish episodes (though not many), and endless/pointless characters being introduced, but the actual idea of the story stands out.
What pulled me in at first was the idea of Kuroha being Kuroneko. I kept asking myself, 'how could that be?' 'when will we find out if Kuroha is Kuroneko?' 'if Kuroha is Kuroneko, how did that happen? I thought Kuroneko was dead!'
We're now 12/13 episodes in, and I'm still wondering about the Kuroha/Kuroneko story, especially since we're introduced to Valkryia, who looks uncannily like Kuroha and somehow knows her from the past.
We're also told that Kuroha hasn't unleashed her full power - something I'm looking forward to seeing. All in all, the plot keeps you wondering, and it's what has kept me watching this show. I don't know how they're going to tie it all up in one episode, though. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Now, the weak part of Gokukoku no Brynhildr is none other than its characters.
To me, characters make up a very important part in an anime, and it's hard to watch something that doesn't have at least a couple of decent characters.
That's what has bothered me in Gokukoku no Brynhildr. Although they try to build up the characters with short backstories, everyone still seems so one dimensional. The only people with real personalities would be some of the supporting characters, and Kazumi and Kana. Even though they do have 'personalities', they aren't very good ones. Kazumi oversexualizes everything and wants to lose her virginity. Its played off that shes a 'tryhard' whos cute when you get to know her, but in reality she just seems so annoying.
Kana, on the other hand, would be fun to watch if she wasn't plastered to her seat all day (although I understand WHY they did that, it's just kind of annoying that one of the interesting characters can't even move.)
Apart from their personalities, the other thing that bothers me is the half-assed melodrama. "Why would you give up your life to save me?" says Murakami, with a straight face. Two seconds later, he decides to have a normal conversation with one of his girls. There shouldn't be so much death if they can't even play off a proper, shocked reaction from the characters.
All in all, the characters are Gokukoku no Brynhildrs weak point. If they were done well, the anime would be close to perfect.
The sound and art are both decent. I liked the first opening song a lot, but other than that not much stood out.
The art is alright. The character designs are done well, and all in all the scenes give of a 'feel', but the art is very generic - not anything you cant see in other anime.
Story: 9
Art: 7
Sound: 7
Characters: 4
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 7.
