Although this series had the potential for a lot of overwhelming magic battles, a majority of the fights were fought through words and plot devices. I'm not really one for drawn out dialogues, but within this series, it was very well done and kept me hooked. There were three consecutive episodes where the characters hadn't moved an inch, but I hadn't noticed -- and wouldn't have cared even if I did. I was at the edge of my seat until the end.
I really enjoyed the characters. I'm normally a freak for romance, but didn't even mind that there was no hint or suggestion of such until mid-series. The two main protagonists gave me a Nartuo x Sasuke feel, and the plot had set up for many instances where that rivalry could stir up -- but both were able to handle things maturely. Which I feel is pretty rare in anime, so that was pleasantly surprising.
The plot itself was fairly original. I enjoyed the way that by mid-series, I had trained myself to expect the unexpected. This led to my only anticipating a few key parts of the story, as opposed to having most plot "mysteries" figured out before they were revealed, per usual.
