(Skip to the next paragraph if you just want to read my thoughts on the ending and the new Taizai series)
Taizai the anime is a well done adaptation that can leave anyone with satisfaction once they’ve finished. If you're looking for some fun without caring about missing information and some deus ex machina plot twists, then this is the show for you. The animation is average for A-1 pictures standards, and if you’re picky, you’re going to watch lots of off-model characters. But is nothing that will ruin the experience for you. The music is good enough to make the action scenes more compelling, and the OPs EDs are pleasant enough to watch them every time at the beginning and end of the show.
It isn’t a good stand-alone show, though, as it leave major plot holes opened by the time it ends. It’s not a problem of the writers, nor of the original creator, Nakaba Suzuki. The problem was how quick A-1 got the rights to adapt the manga. Adapting 102 episodes and finish at a point where nothing is resolved and without the certainty of a second season is dangerous for the quality if the show, and it is worst when it’s finished with an anime original conclusion.
The problem is that, as I said before, it leaves a possible 2nd season (not confirmed as of today) in a very difficult point, mostly because of the anime original ending. Major development for Gowther and very good details for the story, like the Balor’s eye or the introduction of the Pleiades knights, come right after the end of the Hendrickson arc. So the scriptwriters are in for a very good challenge if a 2nd season is indeed confirmed. In order to connect the ending of the 1st season with how the story goes in the manga without losing such important information, the most logical thing would be remake the second part of the last episode.
Although it is less likely, a remake of the complete show is another possibility, but it would be a lost of time and money in something that was, for the most time, well done and without any major flaw. And frankly, watching everything again would be boring for a lot of people as it hasn't passed much time since this anime ended.
To sum up, Taizai the anime is a great show for people who just want to have some mindless fun and don’t want to analyze every single detail of it. For or those who don’t plan to read the manga and don’t like plot holes and deux ex machinas, the show may be a lost of time. But for manga readers like me, the ending might be underwhelming and might put in danger information presented right after the last animated arc of the manga if a second season is confirmed.
So the recommendation of this show will totally depend on the tolerance of the possible viewer. To me, this show was a treat from beginning to end, and I can’t wait to see how the writers would manage to solve this big problem.
