At least I know I did not enjoy it the first time.
First episodes make absolutely no sense. Even if the characters explain what is happening, you will stare at the screen saying “is this FOR REAL? what was the author THINKING?” a LOT of times. I did, but let me tell you something: after a few episodes of comedy, weird characters and ridiculous storyline, you somehow get yourself immersed in the story. How? Keep reading.
Story: Katekyo Hitman Reborn is a shonen, but it is not your typical shonen. The story is certainly different from any shonen you have watched yet: a teen —who is apparently not good at anything— is chosen as the Vongola Family’s (a Mafia) Boss and a baby (who happens to be a mafioso) gets to tutor him. Our hero, Tsunayoshi Sawada, HATES everything that is part of the Mafia: the guns, the fights, the danger and is not really much of a mafioso himself: he is wimpy, lacks self-esteem and even courage. Yeah, very ridiculous. In fact, I dropped this anime three times because I couldn’t bare watching it though I regretted it as soon as the action started. The writers somehow found a way to explain everything that didn’t make sense as the story kept advancing. It gets better with each arc and so does the manga. Weapons, animal companions, flames... This anime has what you could ask for in a shonen for great battles.
Characters: From the beginning, the anime is focused on introducing each character. There are a lot of characters but since the story is a bit slow paced, you get to differentiate them easily. The characters all seem to go through great character development (especially our hero -which starts from being a coward to slowly developed courage and great resolve-), each of them have theme songs that play when they appear on the screen, each of them is different and strong in their way. There is really a variety of characters, they are colorful, their personalities are well defined and they act accordingly. I guess that one of the most remarkable things about this anime is how well the characters are written and thought of.
Music/Sound: As I mentioned above, throughout the anime, each character had their theme song (for example, whenever Hibari entered the room or met Tsuna, a theme song would play or sometimes when Tsuna got into his Hyper Dying Will Mode a theme song would also play) which honestly, I thought was pretty cool. The openings, in my opinion, sound like typical shonen songs so I loved them and so happened with the endings. I don’t think there was a single bad or unfitting song in this anime, all of them according to every moment and character.
Art/Animation: From the start, the animation was one of the most average things about this anime. I didn’t like it. I don’t know how but without noticing (really, I didn’t notice) the animation got pretty good. Even if some fights, due to their nature, are “dark”, the animation remains colorful and that’s one of the things that I definitely liked about the animation.
Enjoyment: If you like comedy and you don’t watch it with a critical eye, you will certainly enjoy this anime right from the beginning. If you are looking at something serious, you might get bored (as I did). This is definitely an anime that to truly enjoy it, you have to sit back and stop trying to understand it.
Overall: Katekyo Hitman Reborn! has been my favorite anime for a while, I wouldn’t say it is the best anime I have watched but there is something about how I fell for the characters, the music, the fights, the arcs... It was all put down together and it gave me some laughs aside from a few tears it got from me. This anime isn’t a 10 (especially by how slow paced it gets between arcs = fillers), but it is one of the best shounen there is.
I am sure that if you decide to give this anime an opportunity, you won’t regret watching it.
