SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH THIS IS MY OPINION, YOU MAKE YOURS YOURSELF.
It looks like studios are finally realizing that the first episode is what hooks you and the ending is paramount so, having just finished watching, I could be slightly positively biased because of the ending being REALLY satisfying (+1 point to the director).
Nevertheless, I'll try my best to be as"objective" as possible.
What made me start watching Izetta?
1) It's an original story made by a studio I never really heard of and a director I never really heard of
2) Promising setting
What had me worried before watching?
1)Cheesy premise
2)Possibly excessive fanservice and "edgyness"
3) *see point 1 of the previous category*
What made me stay?
1)Beautiful character designs
2)Interesting world "mechanics" (alternative version of WWII, how magic works, etc.)
3)OMG THE MUSIC
4)Action (I'll come back to this)
5)Yuri *nghh*
What would I change?
1)Get rid of some of the kind-of-useless secondary characters and expand upon the "useful" ones (e.g. the friendship between Berkman and the "pilot guy", the royal guard, etc.)
2)Since it looked like it wanted to be a military show, I wouldn't have minded some more details on military strategy since it looks like Izetta is the only asset Eylstadt has.
3)More "human" dialogue (which would contrast better with public speeches).
Additional notes.
The sound department did a fantastic job, I would have expected the music to fit the time setting of the '40s but it actually has a "witch theme" which I didn't even know it could actually exist! It's a mix of "medieval" sounding tones with clavicenbalus and strings and more rock tones for the action sequences all glued together by the everpresent and epic sounding choir; you can even hear some electronic vibes in the last episode.
Sound design is spot on and even the magic chime (which had the highest chance of becoming annoying) was managed really good.
As for VAs there isn't anything to really complain about even if Fine's voice, while it fit the character, didn't really perform well in private emotional moments.
The action scenes are really well done, you can feel the speed and the impacts even whith something as silly as a girl riding a cannon. Even if most of the vehicles and "massive" objects are cg you can feel the weight of a tank being hurled at the sky, which is a feat in of itself.
All in all I enjoyed Izetta, her massive boobs didn't disrupted the flow of the story as much as I thought they would and while it didn't turn out to be the strictly politics/military show I thought it would be, I realized that story is not about the war or the magic, but it's about Fine and Izetta and their struggles between being lovers and having the fate of a country in their hands.
Quote of the show:
"If my life could grant Fine's wish, then I think I would go to the stake with a smile".
