Story: 4/10
Yes, it's a 4. I won't talk about how the anime wasn't faithful to the novels, manga or the animated PVs, because Jin, the creator of the series, already warned us ahead of time that the anime was going to be somewhat different plotwise, thus I wasn't too surprised at the changes. But those who had been faithful to the series, I wouldn't recommend watching it unless you don't mind this particular Route, which was very rushed.
Rushed. That is the main fault of the anime. 12 episodes, in truth should not have been able to cover the entirety of the main plot of the Kagerou Project, which revolved around the members of Mekakushi Dan's pasts and present events. Somehow this was managed, but in doing so, it had cut off several important pieces of information that would have been relevant to the story and made things much clearer. And then there was the unneeded focus on certain characters which ended up taking whole episodes, thus cutting short time that could have been used to expand on both stories and characters.
Art: 6/10
I would have to say that most of the art was interesting and different from what I was expecting. Then there were episodes where the art made me want to cringe. As expected of Shaft, there were numerous amounts of head tilts during the anime. Some were a little overdone though...
Then there was the backgrounds. While a little bland in some episodes (Especially the walls. They were all too white...), some of the backgrounds used really made the characters stand out. For example, episode 1 grayed out every character and changed the colors red to emphasize on the state of the current situation they were in.
Character art was nicely done, staying true to the creator's character designs. Only exception was opening of episode 9. Which had me fast forwarding straight to the start of the episode despite how much I liked the song used. It was the worst case of 3D CGI animation that I've ever encountered. None of the characters looked like they should have and the location, structure and design of the house in that particular opening didn't even match the rest of the episode.
Lastly is the opening and ending animations. Shaft did a wonderful job with the opening itself, for all three versions of -daze-. Shidu's art was ever present during -days-, and while most of it was stills, it was still amazing. However, the ending for episode 8 could have been better, since all it did was cycle through the manga, novel and pv art.
While I gave quite a few goods for the Art segment, I still rate it 6, because honestly, some the overall art was too bright (Blindingly so...) and did not suit the mood of certain parts of the episodes at all. But that's kinda my own opinion...
Sound: 9/10
Now this was what made the anime bearable. The music and voice acting. Music included new versions of the original Kagerou Project songs with actual singers instead of IA doing the singing. And are inserted at the most suiting moments. The BGM was oddly suiting in certain situations as well, and made it more interesting. daze and days, both songs composed by Jin as the opening and ending themes, were just as amazing as the original Kagerou Project songs. daze was upbeat and fast paced, making it rather enjoyable. days was slow and gentle tune wise, but the lyrics itself was rather sad.
Voice acting was amazing and was much better than what I had been expecting for the series. Each VA voiced their roles well and conveyed the emotions of the characters perfectly.
Character: 6/10
There wasn't much character development here since it was confined to just 12 episodes... Characterization was well done in this. What I didn't like was how certain characters were made out to be more important than they seem to be. Case in point, an episode dedicated to Kisaragi Momo, explaining her past when it wasn't really relevant at all outside of explaining her ability and her woes (Jin, we know you like Momo, but really?!). Marry, Seto and Kano's importance to the series was shuffled of towards the end of the series, and Shintaro, who was supposed to be the main character, barely got any character development at all! The Mekakushi Dan itself never really got to know each other outside of the original 4.
Anyways, character interaction wise, you can tell most of the time it is in pairs that characters interact. Ene and Shintaro, Marry and Seto, Shintaro and Ayano, Haruka and Takane, and a few more. This was honestly what redeemed the character rating for me. It's still a six though.
Enjoyment: 5/10
I should have enjoyed it more. I'm quite sure I did to tell you the truth. Particularly character interactions and the music made the series bearable. But some parts of the anime really could have been a lot better. Maybe if it had been a full 24-26 episodes I would have been a little more satisfied. Or even this - Maybe if I was a newcomer to the series when I first watched the anime, I might have enjoyed it more, especially with some of the plot twists. But I based my expectations of the anime on the songs, novels, and manga, and thus, I found myself slightly disappointed in the anime as a whole. I still enjoyed it to a point though...
Overall: 6/10
The anime was fairly good, story decent, art not bad, music great, characters needing improvement and I only enjoyed it to a point. I do not really recommend watching this for BOTH newcomers to the series and already existing followers.
For newcomers, the story is extremely vague unless you already know some of the story from either manga, music PVs or the novels, so unless you do some research, you will not be able to enjoy the anime as much. But if you do watch the anime without some prior knowledge and end up wishing to further your understanding of the series, I recommend getting into the rest of the original Kagerou Project series, be it songs, manga, or novels.
Existing followers are asked to proceed with caution when watching this anime. Especially beyond episode 9. Unless you do not mind having a Happy End Route that is rushed and completely messes with your current view of the series. I enjoyed the first 9 episodes, but I really do not wish to acknowledge the last few episodes. If you do end up watching, be wary since the episodes are riddled with novel spoilers.
