The anachronistic setting is split into three factions, rather like Outlaw Star now that I think of it. There is Chronos, which is a secret society of assassins who have some sort of ill-defined influence over the world's governments. Their members are all badass fighters with various supernatural weapons, much like Organization 13 from KH. Two such members were the main character Train Heartnet along with the main villain of the piece, Creed Diskenth. The first seven or so episodes explain the backstory of how these two characters leave Chronos and join the other two factions in the setting.
Train decides to become a freelance bounty hunter, known as a Sweeper, after meeting a nice girl who persuades him to leave the life of a cold killer behind. Of course, being a bounty hunter for hire isn't actually that different from being a bounty hunter for Chronos, but I suppose Train now has the ability to choose which jobs he is willing to take. Indeed, there is nothing morally challenging about the story in any respect - the Sweepers are essentially no different than the ninjas in Naruto or the mages in Fairy Tail. They are unambiguous heroes. Train forms a squad with comic relief/everyman Sven Vollfied, deadpan loli stereotype Eve, and femme fatale Rinslet Walker. I quite liked Rinslet, was ok with Sven, and rolled my eyes at Eve, who is probably the most cliched character of the bunch. Interestingly, Train himself goes from being an edgelord to an upbeat shonen protagonist over the course of the series, though he is still haunted by his dark past. I imagine much of Train's popularity comes from surface-level appreciation of his character design, but he's actually a fairly rounded character who has some depth to him. It's worht noting the main characters match up 1:1 with Cowboy Bebop's main cast. Train=Spike, Sven=Jet, Rinslet=Faye, Eve=a less fun version of Ed, and Creed=Vicious.
Speaking of Creed, he is an utterly psychopathic villain who is also a yandere for Train. He's never explicitly stated to be gay, but we all know. He creates the third faction of the series, the Apostles of the Star. Despite the cool name, the group's motivations are ill-conceived beyond taking over the world. It's never really explained why Creed despises Chronos so much, or how he would do things differently than them. Indeed, beyond his singular desire for Train he's a flat character. Ultimately, he's a flash in the pan villain who has style but no substance.
The series has very good animation and sound across the board, which helps to differentiate the extensive cast of secondary characters. They all only get scraps of screentime, but I was impressed by the sheer volume of different designs and powers. It helped the world feel vivid and populated. For a shonen series, many female characters got significant focus and were strong fighters as well. Wasn't a sausage fest at all despite the yaoi overtones between Train and Creed. The fight scenes were usually quite fluid and the colors really popped. In addition, the opening song is fantastic. I think the technical aspects of the show kept me endeared even when the actual plot got dangerously thin.
In total, I think everyone should watch Cowboy Bebop instead, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the series. The manga the anime is based off of is finished, allowing for a complete story. You don't always get that in anime. Although this show doesn't tell the full story of the manga, the impressive technical qualities displayed helped boost my score to a very weak 7 bordering on a 6.
