Which is a shame! Hakyuu Houshin Engi has merit. It's art style is unique. The storytelling, while strait forward, includes a lot of moving parts. The characters are probably the weakest link, with all of them fulfilling roles in which they stay within a certain margin. The hero is a hero, the villain is diabolical - so on and so forth. I feel this approach is ok though, because (imo) this anime focuses on the overall story arc, and not the character interactions.
Who will like Hakyuu Houshin Engi? Fans of Chinese action cinema - especially the really far out type movies like Swordsman II, Master of the Flying Guillotine, & (especially) Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain. Hakyuu Houshin Engi feels like it takes place in the same world as Zu: Warriors in fact. So, my guess would be both draw heavy inspiration from Chinese folk tales.
What is the world? Classic asian middle ages where humans and senin (immortal demons) work for or against one another in various ways. The main character is a senin who's goal is to protect humans from his own kind, which makes his position a constant challenge. Many senin want to rule, or do as they want without interference, while others strive for more peaceful co-existence.
There are a lot of characters, and they are not all on the same team - and there is subtlety to allies and their motivations. This isn't four main characters, who always are together, each with defined roles. There's a bunch of grey areas with regard to characters, which (I guess) is complicated? Not really - this anime is strait forward as long as one brings a little intelligence to the experience.
I would put all the production values at above average, but not spectacular. The strongest element, to me, would be the art design. Everything has an interesting look, from the architecture to the floating islands, clothing, character design, and all the magical effects. It's just a cool looking anime, and fun to watch.
I rate this overall as a 7. While far from classic, this anime does a lot of things right. It does occasionally fall flat on it's face in a scene or two - odd, tonally separate scenes that can really feel out of place. Other times a lot of the characters just talk there way through long sections, where it feels like the writers are unloading story without showing any action. But these moments are outliers through 11 episodes. Still a long way to go, but I feel this anime could go in either direction (better or worse) from here.
While there certainly is some fan service and predictable elements in Hakyuu Houshin Engi - by and large it has a unique approach that separates itself from most anime. If the viewer feels a bit out of place? The old rule, watch at least 3 episodes, maybe 4 or 5 in this case, and judge for yourself at that point.
