Animation:
Though the styling is obviously dated by today's standards, it was pretty good for its time. Some people think the female characters look overly cute but I thought it was fine. Given the magical surrounding the sakura trees, expect lots of sakura blossoms.
Sound:
The music in the entire franchise is pretty special, and it all started with Yozuca's melodic opening here. The BGM is orchestral and similar to that in To Heart. However, there are moments of high tension where the OST just adds that extra touch. The BGM always reminded me of a circus for some reason, and though that association isn't necessarily correct mood-wise it definitely made it memorable.
The voice acting cast was very good and includes some very well known seiyuu. Yukari Tamura did great here and, obviously, Yui Horie's character, Kotori, became ridiculously popular.
Story:
The plot is pretty simple at first. It shows Jun'ichi going to school and making friends with many girls, while also conjuring some fairly humorous incidents. Once all the characters have been well introduced, the twists begins as each girl apparently harbors some feelings for Jun'ichi. From this point on, the tone of the series becomes much more serious and intense.
Magic plays a part in the latter half which deals with people's dreams (as in goals/desires) and what happens when those dreams are taken away.
Overall, the themes are all tied together near the end and the conclusion is very satisfying (yes, D.C. has a second series but you could easily just end it at the first series and be fully satisfied).
There are also side episodes attached to some of the episodes which don't have anything to do with the main story. Some are just for humor while others deal with a mysterious cat-like figure.
Character:
Jun'ichi seems like your typical male student, who happens to live with his adopted sister, except that he seems to be overly-popular with the other gender. As in many animes, the parents are always out. The anime does a good job at showing how difficult it can be to express one's innermost feelings as it takes over half the series for Jun'ichi to finally admit his true feelings.
Nemu is a love/hate character. She seems strong on the outside but is actually quite frail on the inside and will often be seen running away from her problems. However, her brother always takes care of her to make up for her weakness.
Sakura is probably the most mysterious character during the first half of the anime. She is much more resolute in her goal to become Jun'ichi's lover and will openly display affection for him. Luckily, most of the mysteries surrounding her are answered in the later part of the anime.
Overall, each character's development is well done and is given a proper conclusion.
Value:
This was one of the earlier harems that I had watched, and one that I still remember to date. Re-watch value is pretty high if you're into the romance aspect, as development goes quite a good deal further than a lot of more current harems. I found the drama near the end very intense and ended up watching certain episodes multiple times. For me, this was one of the most enjoyable harems that I've watched.
