1. Story. The story picks up a year after the last season ended. Despite the gap, the story is immediately engaging, and with enough background that a newcomer wouldn't be completely lost. So, ten out of ten.
2 and 3. It may be cheating, but I usually wad these two sections into one and call it 'style.' For style, I give this one a nine, if only because the animation is a bit simple at times. Still, the music and the artwork lend itself to the focus of the story, which is the characters and not the action surrounding them.
4. Characters! If I could, I would give this a twenty. It's not because they're my favorite characters of all time, it's because each of them is developed and treated like a real person. This is the single best fact about this anime, each character is as round as the could possibly be.
5. Enjoyment. This is my lowest mark, at seven, but only because the storyline and characters were so engaging I was actually angry at some points. Still, this series truly involves the mind, which I do appreciate greatly.
6. Finally, the overall marks. As you can see, I've given it full marks, and for all of the above points. Frankly, this anime couldn't have been done better if it tried.
Even the dub is excellent, which is saying something.
