I started this anime without really high expectaitions, so I was positively surprised when I watched it.
First, the story:
I really liked the setting, though I expected something diefferent. I thought it would be more game-like, because that's what I read in an recommendation before. But it isn't really a game in wich they have to survive and there wasn't really the goal to win against the other "players", they fought more or less together against some god-like things. But I think it was better like this. The story was well-paced and though it were only 13 episodes, it didn't proceed to fast. It was exciting when they fought and you couldn't tell already 5 minutes earlier if someone was about to die or not. Also, I liked the development it took towards the end. Only the end as such was not too great. I don't know, but it wasn't so exciting. Just the few last minutes could have been a little bit more...how to put it without giving spoiler...well okay, you'll see. If you don't, that's okay, too, But it left me a little bit like that: "Oh, it's over. Okay." I wasn't dissatisfied, but I didn't think: "That was it, Great! Just..Great!! I'm impressed!!" And that is somewhat what a really good ending should be like.
So now the art:
I really liked the art. It was nice to look at and the characterdesings were really cool. I especially liked Alcor's design, he looked kinda special. Okay, his eyes were strange because they were white around them - I identified it as extreme long white eyelashes but some people also say it was makeup. I don't care, it was strange but gave the character a very special feeling and I liked it. Okay, the women were all a bit too curvy if you'd ask me, but it didn't really annoy.
The sound:
The sound did what it should do, I wouldn't say it was very special but it delivered the mood, so it's okay. I liked the opening. But all in all it didn't really stand out.
The characters:
Those were really, really cool, I think. My favorite is definitely Alcor. I think he was somewhat really cute and I liked the way he cared for the humankind. It is difficult to write about him wothout giving spoilers, but all I can say is, he really, really is cool and his way to see things was interesting to me. Also, he had a quite nice character-development.
Hibiki was cool, too, but he didn't have that certain something that made me like Alcor that much. He was calm and that without being heartless - I liked that. But there wasn't much more to him than that, to be honest. Then there was Yamato. He was somewhat cool, I must admid, buuut - in the end he just pissed me off. He is a good character and I didn't lose all sympathy for him 'till the end, but...in the end, he was just so...you will see. His extreme stubbornness and elitist thinking were pissing me off in the end. Daichi was not obviously special, but his uncertainity made him somewhat liekable. He didn't really develop in the beginning and to be honest, he didn't develop in the progress of the Anime, too... but when he did in the end, I was somewhat proud of him and liked him even more. Plus, he was important for the character-setting, I think, because he somewhat lightened the mood. I think this anime could have been somewhat depressing without him...I don't really know, but there was really no woman I really liked in this anime. There were good composed characters, but I just couldn't really like them. Io was somewhat boring, but not annoying. Makoto was okay, no, she was actually quite cool. She wasn't so "perfect", if you know ehat I mean. She had to handle an inner conflict and always struggled between what was "right" and what she wanted to do. Yes, she was really okay, but I didn't really care for her.. And Kanno Fumi was okay, too. But I didn't sympathize with her. I think that was because her motivations and stuff were never really explained, if she even had something like a motivation...she didn't really seem to care.
In the end, I'd say the male characters were definitely cooler, but the female characters didn't annoy, either and that is already something if you watch at all the annoying anime-girls in so many animes....
So my conclusion:
It was a really nice Anime worth watching it. I liked the conflict it thematized; the question what was right and what wasn't, and I liked the way the characters were. I had a good feeling with them all and Alcor was just great. The Anime didn't get me too excited, though...it was good to watch, well-paced and had a certain depth. Well the fights were exciting, too, but the whole Anime didn't make me feel too strong with the characters..I didn't cry and wasn't happy with the characters, like it is with some other animes. Okay, I felt with Alcor, but he is special. *^*
In the end, I'm really glad I watched it and would recommend it to everyone who likes apocalypse-settings, interesting charakters and big monsters/demons.
