Problem 1, i.e. the most fatal hit for this anime has to be it's episodic nature. Episodic shows need to carry weight with each installment, either the setup, the characters, or the audiences feelings have to change. When you fail to accomplish any of the three, you fail as an episodic show. For example the setup should've changed with the new adopted sister, especially with the past she has. But no, she's only a sister in name, her every appearance afterwards could just be concerned passerby A ,with the extra line of oniisan or something. The lack of emotional fallout, or comedy, or excitement made most episodes dull, so if nothing really changes in the set up and the characters, and the emotional pay off is only once a blue moon it becomes hard to be invested.
Problem 2, most if not all the supporting and main characters are static. At the end of this show I still couldn't tell you anything about Makoto or Takashi, not even the basic his dreams are, he fears, he reason for his behavior is . These things are the staples of any character. Without them you could replace stick figures without names and the story would still flow the same.
Problem 3, masked as a plus, would have to be the story. The story tries too much, I can understand why. It wants to have an array of character, it wants to make Ikebukuro feel like the wild west. It wants to match that psychedelic feeling the opening gives. It wants to touch on a variety of topics with a vast array of opinions. But what no one seemed to realize, is that there is not enough time or money to achieve whatever the hell you want. Gang fights are interesting, so are drug businesses and cartels, the mafia is super interesting. There is so much that when you throw them all together in the stew you get gray sludge. That's the problem. Though the plus, has to at least be that it's inspired, that it wants to do something. I think that's the reason I stuck out so long and watched so far because even if the characters were static and the art standard, even if some episodes are so boring. The author/writer/director added a certain, I don't know how to explain it, mood that made me feel some kind of hope that something might develop and come to full form. I had that feeling till the last episode.
If you ask me, I can tell I'm being picky, it's not bad, it's certainty not good. If anything I feel it's perfect as background noise when you farm. But I feel that way because I though maybe this could be the next Durarara or Baccano, something like xxxHolic, or Mononoke., or even maybe Natsume Yujinchou. Interesting , and unique. Focused but still the plot remains episodic. The fact that my hopes have been crushed led me to this low score.
TLDR; I liked the idea of it, but never the execution
