Secondly, if you haven't started watching, I must pre-warn you of this part in the 1st episode which caused a fair number of people to give up in disgust. It's the scene where Houhou is trying to bury the MC, Soran, and he just sits there like an idiot. Why doesn't he just get up and run away? See, in the original webcomic (which I checked out), that pit is supposed to be much deeper than shown in the anime (it's over Soran's height even when he's standing up and he likely had to jump to get over its edge--at which point he was easily kicked backed down by Houhou.) For some reason, the anime depicts the pit as being really shallow, which makes this particular scene not credible...but I'd put this down to bad art, rather than bad writing.
***Ratings***
-- Plot/Pacing: B
At first, the mystery behind Soran's background and the Outsider world in general made me anticipate each new episode, as I found myself wanting to know more about the Outsiders and the different organisations and to see the development of the various characters and their relationships. However, after the whole Outsiders thing was explained (episode 5), I felt it wasn't that big of a deal/reveal at all. Worse, the pace slowed considerably (around episode 7 onwards)--and it was already quite slow before. The comedy bits are also a bit overdone and can be quite jarring, but you kind of get used to them after awhile.
-- Seiyu/Sound: B+
I'm watching the Japanese dub (with sub-par English subs.) I think the voice actors did a fairly decent job, giving the characters enough of their own life and personality, such as the indifferent Houhou, the slutty Natsuka, the cunning Lo Ryu, etc. The soundtrack is pretty much standard J-rock, but the OP managed to get stuck inside my head after awhile.
-- Art/Animation: B
The character designs are nothing out of the ordinary, and the quality of the art is inconsistent (from "not bad" to "ugly/lazy.") I don't know if it's just me but I felt there was a noticeable drop in the quality from episode 7 onwards.
-- Bonus/Bias: +10%
I'm giving bonus points solely for the character of Fuu Houhou. Normally I detest those "stoic", emotionless-girl type of characters, but Houhou just seems different somehow...her messy hair, poor fashion sense, ignorance of societal norms and conventions, and her insane skill with kitchen knives and choppers all combine to give her a very unique appeal (read: "moe.") Her character significantly helped to sustain my interest in the series--and I know there are a number of people out there who feel the same way.
***Additional info***
The original source is a Chinese webcomic and the anime is a collaboration between Chinese and Japanese producers. I watched the Japanese dub and a bit of the Chinese dub (just to compare), and I think the Japanese dub was produced first, the reason being that the animation matches the Japanese voices better, while it is a bit out-of-sync for the Chinese voices.
In terms of differences in script, the Chinese one is more crude. For example, in one scene, a female character in the Japanese script says something like, "it would be better if we were on a date", while the Chinese script has her saying, "it would be better if we were in bed". The Chinese script also has more cussing.
As for English subtitles, unfortunately the fan-made one is very far from perfect. Some terms weren't translated at all. For example, the following terms:
(1) Kinkou - literally "golden light". It's a visible aura manifested from one's inner energy. Soran's kinkou is supposed to protect him from harm.
(2) Xiangxi ganshi - "Xiangxi" is the name of a place in China (where the practice of animating corpses to transport them was popular in the past), and "ganshi" literally means "corpse-driver". Ryu Kenken is referred to as a xiangxi ganshi--a person who knows how to manipulate corpses.
