Art
That is definitely one of the strong points of the series - it looks very well. The pallette is overly dark, but it fits very well with the theme the anime is going with. The characters are well designed, the environments are beautiful and the actions scenes are mostly well done. It is beautiful, it is well rendered and it goes really well with the story that is being told.
Sound
There is nothing that really stands out on the sounds. Yes, both the opening and the ending are good, but you don't get shivers from hearing any of the anime's soundtrack outside of it. So while the sound fits in well, it is not a point of attraction.
Character
The best part of the show are the characters and their development. Both maind characters are well designed. Irritating, yes, but they are very well developed within the series. Learning about themselves, escaping indoctrination, changing the way they act because of their experiences, learning and growing.
The best part is actually protagonized by the side characters. The development of both the security chief and the medical chief are fantastic, clearly in line with their own obsessions.
There are a few very big missed oportunities in development on the autoreivs - Pino is ok, but she stays mostly the same annoying thing during the series, and Iggy really could have used more screen time to be more shocking. Although his development is exactly what Re-I experience with him must have been. Ignored, ignored, ignored, holy shit what happened?
Enjoyment
I quite liked the show, with a few exceptions ( Ep 19 in particular was terrible ). But it suffers a lot in the middle with episodes that are completely disconnected from the rest of the series that could have been better utilized to expand the storylines and points that the show brings but puts aside.
Overall
The show tries to get you to think about some pretty big questions - what is humanity, what is to be human, whats the difference between a human and a robot, who controls and decides that...
I can't say it fails to deliver - it raises some really interesting points - but it clearly bites more than it can chew. A lot of points could have been used a lot better - the Cogito virus why the proxies fight each other, why they are so vital for the cities... The virus in particular could have a series of its own, instead its just utilized as a backdrop instead we get a lull that lasts almost 10 episodes, going to very random places. A lot of that time could have been much better utilized.
It is a good and interesting series, but it just does not compete with the masterpieces of the genre.
