Gokukoku no Brynhildr (A.k.a Brynhildr In The Dark) is an anime which, depending on whether you've read the manga or not, is either a fairly average, enjoyable show or a rushed, patchy one which tries to stuff 100+ chapters into the space of 13 episodes.
I've never read the manga myself, so when I review this anime I review it as a stand-alone title which is my first introduction to the series (which I feel will be useful for those who watch the anime before reading the manga).
The basic story follows Ryouta Murakami, a high-school boy who is the sole member of the astronomy club. Murakami is haunted by the memory of a girl who he called 'Kuroneko' (as he did not know her real name), who died when she fell, trying to save Murakami who slipped. Years have passed and one night, Murakami meets a mysterious girl who looks exactly like Kuroneko and happens to be called Kuroha Neko. Murakami, assuming Kuroha's identity, is overcome with joy but soon he finds out the Kuroha is much more than an ordinary transfer student.
The story in itself is rather basic, with amnesia being a main roadblock with most conflicts with the plot. The story would be a box-standard harem, and still slightly is, but for the background plot. The background plot, which comes more to the foreground in later episodes, gives the show it's dark tone. The threat of death is always hanging in the air and many characters do die over the course of the anime, some who care about, others not.
This moves us onto characters. Murakami has the traits of most male protagonists in the harem genre. He's oblivious to people's affection and always seems to find himself in situations that involve either seeing the female cast's assets or otherwise embarrassing/sexual situation. He by no means is the most powerful member of the crew but his reasoning is sound, if not out of the box and that tends to get them out of trouble more often than not, combined with the abilities of the rest of his team.
The rest of the cast follow suit. The amnesiac, the tsundere, the lolita etc. And while they are standard the dialogue between characters is entertaining and heart-wrenching at times and the relationships between characters does develop in a meaningful way so that you do feel sad when something bad happens to them or someone they know.
The villain does his job well, though he really only becomes a character in the final few episodes of the show, leaving a bad taste in your mouth purely because of his lack of concern for human life.
Art and sound is okay. The animation is decent enough, with some well-designed locations and enough of a color pallet to stop boredom. Both openings are noteworthy to me because of their lack of lyrics. The openings are dark electric with a tune that gets you ready for the conflict that will arise in the next episode. The ending is significantly lighter in terms of tone, which can be both a comfort when a conflict is resolved or slightly sinister when the episode ends with a conflict, much like hearing a soothing song at a funeral. The rest of the music is good, though there were few recognizable tracks which I could remember.
Overall, I enjoyed the anime quite a bit, though dark fantasy such as this and Elfien Lied has never been my favorite genre. I felt sad when sad things happened, but I never cried, which to me is a bit disappointing. The funniest ,and best, parts of the show were when the female cast, because of heir lack of knowledge of the outside world, completely own the other high-school kids and Murakami.
So, on calculation, Brynhildr in the dark gets a 6.4 out of ten. It's a fair anime from the perspective of someone who has not read the manga and I think it will be best for people to view if they have not read the manga or if they don't mind it being patchy in places.