First of all, Story:
The story is wonderfully woven. It's believable. It's also somehow manages to make wanna-be-inspirational phrases actually inspirational, Kamina's being among my favorites.
I found the sadder moments in the story line to be some of the saddest I've ever seen, but in a different way than normal. They didn't move me to tears, they just -moved- me. Strongly.
It manages to be funny and serious simultaniously, never sacrificing an important moment for humor, but never taking itself too seriously.
Voice acting:
There are some pretty well known voice actors in this anime, but I can assure you: -never- have I seen ANY of them do a job such as this. The acting is all top notch. Breath-taking.
Voice-acting is such an underrated profession. It's so often taken for granted. It's such an amazing thing to see the craft at it's finest. These aren't characters, these are people. The voice acting is part of what makes you believe that.
But its the character developement too.
Character Development and Design:
First of all, each of the characters has definate growth. Each one of them, and the way the writer and voice actors handle grief is some of the most realistic I've ever seen. You feel for them.
As for the design, they're all phenominal: aesthetically pleasing as well as original and just plain cool!
Mech animes are almost always a turn off for me, but this one had me captured--not interested, but ENTHRALLED--within the first ten minutes. By far the best first episode I've ever seen in ANYTHING, and it only gets better.
I can say, without a doubt, that it is one of the most overall impressive and enjoyable animes I've ever seen, with the absolutely most satisfying ending to a series there's been yet. You want more, but at the same time, it's come to such a perfect close, there's no reason to push the story further.
If there was ever an anime worth watching, it's this one.
