A show can still be great for other things, like if the moment-to-moment humor is great, or the directing is particularly interesting, or maybe if there are just some really cool ideas. But I just felt that everything was mediocre here. This leaves the main story, which was I really thought was lacking. I must say here that unlike most people on MAL, I don’t get turned off of shows by tiny, little things, like single moments or small political/moral disagreements, and plot holes or inconsistencies by themselves won’t make me lose interest in the show. It is very hard for me to explain what is bad, though I will try where others haven’t. A lot of plot points just end up going nowhere. The background art for the world looks great (in the first couple eps) but there is nothing unusual or fantastical going on that would add magic to it, so it’s all just there. Cool new places are introduced, particularly later on, though they just seem like a drive-by and nothing really interesting happens in them. The worldbuilding and sense of place is unsatisfying somehow, and I struggle to explain it [Edit: I agree with some others' assessment that it's mainly to do with story and conflict resolution]. In the end, it fails to capture the magic that is what I love about anime so much, and in the second half I felt bored watching.
This is my first Yuasa show. I’m very slow at watching anime, but I am still excited to someday watch some of his other works that seem interesting.
For more context, I could only leave this review because I did manage to finish this show, and I still liked it enough to give it a 3, which I later raised to a 4. I watched weekly as it came out and I never watch with distractions, sped up, or skip OPs/EDs. It's definitely not a cookie-cutter show and I'm glad others had the chance to enjoy it, but for me it was a disappointment, especially from a story standpoint.
