Let's start with the stuff that I really do appreciate. The songs are awesome; the animation remain high quality and consistent; the writing and pacing is solid; and the character's roles are well played and developed through the course of the series.
Here's the problem: I find it really hard to relate to any of the characters, and actually liking them. I guess the most likable guy for me would be Huang, for being more humane, thoughtful and mature than most of the other cast. I feel that most of them either too one-dimensional (the main characters, mostly) or developed too late in the series for me to care about them (the key characters late in the story).
The plot, as it turns out, it actually incredibly simple, because most if it turns out to be needlessly complicating. Why keep feeding us bit of information about the events of the Hell's gate and Heaven's gate when what we really want to know is our main character's motives, background and relation to the other main characters? I mean sure, he's pretty cool and had an awesome fighting style, but that itself doesn't make him stand out amongst other anime protagonists without the story, which comes almost too late in the series. The series is also irritating in a sense that we kept learning about the supporting characters who are half as interesting and care about even less.
I did find the series enjoyable, really. But it seems like every time I anticipated something interesting to happen, I find myself saying "oh great, what now?" because some ELSE boring happened instead. It feels like they're not really interested in selling the main storyline, and that's probably not very healthy for an anime production.
Plot/Concept: *Groan*
Story Style: Excellent
Audio/Visual: Great
Value: 7
