At times I felt like this show was too dramatic, it felt a bit silly and predictable. Many times, I felt that I wasn't in the mood to watch another episode, but I put it on just to be sure, and sure enough, I would be wrapped up in minutes. What really got me excited every time was the opening theme song, which suffice to say, kicks all kinds of ass. The closing song is beautiful, and ends every episode on such a lush note. The opening and ending are enough to increase the overall rating by a whole point, that's how awesome they are! Great artwork too on the OP, with the pink silhouette and thorns, and the multi-colored fields, etc.
But I digress. The characters and their designs all point to an obvious fact. One person made them. In lots of really good shows, the characters have realistically distinct personalities, which is really hard to do as a writer. In this show, they have the same patterns of thinking, and even perform many actions that mirror each other. Their designs are also homogeneous. This isn't such a bad thing really, lots of great writers have this same problem, though to a lesser degree. It does mean, however, that you will relate to all of the characters, or none of them, and for similar reasons. And, sometimes you will get tired of them.
The story is historical, and thus can't help many of its weaknesses. This show quite effectively tells the history in a way that is very engaging, although not necessarily all true (I don't think the protagonist actually existed, for example). Overall, it is totally worth watching if you're in the mood for old school anime, it might bore many anime newcomers though. I rate a bit harshly, so my 7/10 is what most people would consider an 8/10 or even 9/10.
