**Contains some spoilers**
Story (Kagerou Project including; songs, light-novels and manga) = 10/10
BUT!
Story (Anime) = 8/10
Before I write this, I have to explain that Kagerou Project is a complex story interwoven through different mediums of art. It's a story that does not solely exist in any one medium. Each acts as an extension to the other. The story line in the anime is able to take place because of the failures endured in the light novel and manga. However, coming into the anime as a stand-alone piece, they could have done a better job.
We all know that 12 episodes wasn't enough. Like seriously, as if they couldn't have made it just ONE episode longer and just put a little bit more effort into explaining things a little clearer. Whether or not shaft tried to purposely increase the ambiguity is up for debate. 12 episodes for the complex story that Jin's Kagerou Project had, in terms of a stand-alone anime, the story surely lacked. This one tries to pull off a Pulp Fiction. In terms of chronology, I hear comparisons and things like how this tried to copy "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" but the retards don't understand that Haruhi payed a sort of homage to the directorial style of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. You watch episode 1, then 2, then 3 and it's all over the place, you don't really know what's going on, and this throws a lot of people off. Then you get to episode 4 and you just feel like "Damn!! So that's what was going on!!". Sure it's not going to sit well with the general community because well, it's an Art piece.
Art= 10/10
The cinematography in this piece is simply wow. They portray the surreal vibe of Marry's world just wonderfully. Nobody other than the main characters are colored in, that adds such a deep layer to the whole thing. The world they are living in is there because Marry turned back time to relieve the happiest days of her life with her friends. In this world, nobody other than her friends are important and thus, nobody has a face or is colored in, or are wearing masks. Random one frame shots of character expressions that seems to be forcefully edited in, creating a vibe of "that's not real". Everything the art does is to establish how far far away from a reality based anime this is. A true homage to the surrealist movement. (In contrast to say, Welcome to NHK, where the art does it's best to capture reality)
Sound: 10/10
As for sound, I think it speaks for it self in regards to the songs. Jin is a top class composer. The entire story actually spawned from Jin's Album "Kagerou Project". Aside from that, SHAFT did a top job at recording ambient sounds too. Masterfully adjust reverb and echo to really give you a feel of the exact place the characters were in. Be it open space, or closed room.
Characters = 9/10
Not all characterization needs to be done in dialogue or even during the anime. Every song, every ending credits, even the story of the girl after the credits of every episode added a layer of characterization. This is basically the equivalent of an Art Film and the way characterization is done might be drastically different from what you are used too, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. The characterization here is done in a VERY sublime way. Unless you watch the entire 22 minutes you are going to miss out. If you have a habit of skipping the ending credits, you've already missed out on a BUNCH of character development. Every character has his or her background covered in such a powerful, yet ambiguous way. Truly different and compelling.
Enjoyment = 10/10
The reason why I enjoyed it so much is basically because I heard a few of the songs and read the manga. Obviously this section can vary greatly from a low score of 1 to a maximum of 10.
Overall = 8.5/10
Can't give it a 10 because this is an anime only review. Surely it loses points for jam packing so much into only 12 episodes. But maybe it's a SHAFT stunt so that the curious ones get drawn into the entire Kagerou Project world. Who knows.
If you feel like you want some credentials for this review, feel free to ask me and I'll email you my essays on German Expressionism or Spirited Away, both of which scored A+. Or I could send you some of the short films I've made. This might not be much and I'm not trying to sound condescending but it's more than what the other reviewers are offering :)
