The first few episodes set up a certain hype that the rest of the anime struggles to live up to and that can make it extremely disappointing to curious viewers.
Being separated into arcs, the viewer will be introduced to new characters at every interval. This can provide an excellent foundation for exploration and inspiration, but when they introduce characters who are uninteresting (or worse yet, annoying), then the series can suddenly grind to a halt as you try to trudge your way along into the next arc.
I'm pleased to say that the series still works out to have more good than bad overall.
A lot of people criticize the art in the show, but I didn't actually find it to be that bad. The backgrounds were lovely and the simpler style of the characters allowed for more fluid action when they weren't filling the minutes in with atmospheric panning shots.
That said, I don't think any of the animators have animated a fight scene in their life before working on this show. Shaoran is seen presenting his foot to an enemy on multiple occasions.
This is supposed to present as a threat, but the risk of someone simply grabbing his foot and twisting him in such a way that he loses his balance is high. Anyone with even a basic understanding of fighting can tell you how important keeping your balance is.
So with that in mind, I still maintain that the art was decent enough and the animation was good when the characters were moving, but they needed more reference material.
I didn't have any issue with the sound, however, I would've appreciated more music variety, especially pieces without vocals.
The characters weren't anything special, but they were likable enough with their relationships and motivations in mind.
I'd recommend this series to anyone who enjoys sugary sweetness, fantasy, and fairy tales.
