The beginning of the series was interesting. You had a character who was conflicted about his place, if he could really be human, and behave as one, yet acts very much like one even though he's a Torch. Often Yuji would hear from Shana that he is "just" a torch and it would get to him. Through out the entire story he tries hard to identify and establish some kind of connection to Shana and be as much help to her as he can. To make things just a bit harder for Yuji, Shana's personality leaves her detatched from the world, since her focus is mainly on being a Flame Haze and how serious she takes it. Aside from the two main characters (Shana and Yuji) there continues to be diversity in personalities of characters. A fair portion of the time the characters are what are helping to drive the plot, but there are times where that doesn't happen.
The Plot is interesting and different in some aspects from things i've seen before. It makes you wonder yourself if life where that way, if you were a torch, would you notice? What would your personal conflicts be? Would you still want to do everything on the figurative (and sometimes literal) things you want to do before you die list? Would it actually count if you tried to since you aren't really you and more but an impression of who you are. At the beginning it can pose a lot of personal questions for yourself but seeing how Yuji deals with these sorts of questions (not all of them) and how he tries to reaffirm himself that he still has an identity is the initial hook. You end up wondering where he developed the strength to look at his reality so calmly, yet with conviction.
The romance that you see in the story isn't overwhelming either. It's there yet it's controlled and the romance doesn't become the plot. One of the more enjoyable things about the romance in the plot is Shana's own confusion and lack of understanding of things. Her uncertainty and balancing the part of herself that is a Flame Haze and the part that she identifies as Shana is an interesting parallel to the story, and shows the growth that Shana goes through once meeting Yuji. However, with that said Shana's feelings for Yuji do become more involved with the plot as it progresses and some may see that becoming more of the focus.
Even though a fair portion of the story is serious there are comedic points that can get you laughing and help lighten up the story and see the characters as those you could identify with to some degree. All in all, It was an enjoyable 24 episode season, and i'm curious to see how they plan to continue the story.
