For the story, as it happens in lots of adaptations of any manga, the sequence of the plot changes a little and that can be quite a put-off. Some of the original story isn't even adapted and others are either short or expanded. It feels like episode to episode, your opinion of the show itself changes…
The art and effects are still very well done, like the fight scenes. The
mangaka's original style, like the thick and rough paint brush strokes for the "dramatic" effects, are incorporated in a good way. The animation is very clear, also. I'd say what I didn't wnjoy was the stop-start of character motion in comedy scenes…I feel like there wasn't enough done on top of that to give the watcher the notion that it even was a comedy scene.
The bgm could have been a little better. Where it was good, it did well to bring the moment to life I'd say. The theme songs help set the mood for the show in a positive way-- like the OLDCODEX op gives off the dark and action-ish feel and the cv ending brings more life to the characters. (I really enjoyed the ed because it was cute lol)
The cv's do a very good job of voicing the characters…I've had plenty of moments where a character appeared and I was like "wow, that's exactly what I thought he'd sound like!!!" As far as development goes, some characters are focused on more than others so it feels like you know them more (example Kuro and Mahiru) and everyone else just kinda fits into their roles and that's it :( because their backgrounds aren't adapted much at all.
Overall, I do enjoy the adaptation as much as I do the manga. I did notice the friendship theme and it's strong prevalence in the plot…which isn't bad but it does make up a large theme of the series itself…take it out and it would be completely different and would probably have a more mature feel to it. The action is good and the dramatic scenes could've used a little more work I believe. "Yes!! More dark shoujo is needed in this world!" is what I thought when I first started to enjoy the series (and is true after all). It's all guys (yessss) pretty much so for shoujo/reverse harem fans it isn't very hard to find a bias or two. No romance either (that was a plus for me) so it doesn't interfere with the plot. I do feel the anime was a little underrated but there are different types of watchers out there, no?
~~~and there goes review number 2.
