Kekkaishi has your drama, your comic relief scenes, and your thought provoking scenarios all in one AND the best part is that it isn't long and overly drawn out like Naruto, Bleach, or InuYasha.
Plot (9/10):
As mentioned earlier, it's got your basic goofy main character who has a crush on his neighbor and later on meets his best friend who happens to be half-Ayakashi ("ghost"/"demon"). HOWEVER, Kekaishi also successfully merges in some well back story plots that defies your average shounen story making it about 100x more interesting and it isn't drawn out to be annoying. The only reason I don't give it a full 10 was because I felt the ending could have used a little more "padding" i.e, giving it a slightly more thorough conclusion. It wasn't completely open-ended, but I do feel that there were maybe one or two knots that could have been tied before ending completely.
Art (8/10):
Considering that I'm writing this review in 2015 and this anime finished airing in 2008, I'm actually rather impressed with some of the special effects in the show. There were a few questionable shots, but overall I thought the art work was clean, well-done, and interesting. I only give it an 8 though because there were a few awkward shots/angles.
Sound (9/10):
Awesome voice acing (I'm talking about the original Japanese) the voices are all amazing and you really feel like you're watching something and not listening to someone reading off a script. There are also some very good, well-known voice actors such as Hiroyuki Yoshino and Kenjiro Tsuda. Also, including sound, the voice sound wasn't as ill-proportioned as some anime can be (i.e, the sound effects and music overpowers the voices making it difficult to hear).
Characters (10/10):
The characters were all very "3D" meaning they really captured the audience's attention. In my opinion, I really got to "know" the characters more as people than just characters in a story. Even the villain Kaguro, because dang, did that guy have STYLE! He was bad to the core, but there was a certain amount of charm in the way he did things that kind of makes you like him and respect him, but still not "like-liking" him enough to hope he isn't killed off in the end. He made for a very good villain and normally one would hope to look for "grey villains" in anime that can decide to be seen as good or bad, but not this time. Kaguro was completely black in personality, and it was kind of "refreshing" in a way because often anime creates antagonists who, more usually than not, join the hero side which, although interesting, can kind of become predictably boring after seeing it occur so often.
There is also a good amount of character development and interesting personalities and, like I said, you really "fall in love" with the characters.
Overall and Enjoyment (10/10:
Overall, it was an awesome show with a relatively satisfying ending and I'm actually really depressed now that it's over. I suggest it for people who want mindless fun, but not to the point of brain dead fluff. I mean, I liked it so much that I managed to write a review for it, which I haven't even done for my most FAVORITE or favorite shows; so it just goes to show how great this series is, right? :P
