Now for old anime, it had 64 episodes and the story started to diverge from manga in the US arc(trying to not spoil or less possible for new fans). The old anime added a lot even in what the manga cannon stuff was (some good and bad not not really to go much more in depth regarding the add-up) and the latest part was just anime original.
Now back on the new adaptation haha (sorry this is a roller coaster) is more manga accurate on how stuff happen. Now, sure some stuff were cut still but really minor stuff. The new anime seems to be more and adaptation on what the old anime never had a chance to do.
Now, i think people are overpraising the old anime it wasn't bad but not amazing either... i feel people have a lot of nostalgia towards it. So i understand why people can complain to it. I re watched recently and yeah i mean early is more developed but im so use to manga that it doesn't bother me too much character development are made later in the books. To me it misses on how the character were develop in the manga in the og adaptation they lost their core i find. In the manga we see great things that happens (i know old anime couldn't put it coz catching up manga etc... just trying to say how it is) we have Horohoro backstory, Joco/Chocolove arc and important fights, Jeanne secret, how Anna and Yoh met AND the real ending was great but the epilogue MADE it great for real.
Now the anime so far is really mid-tier sadly the animation is often stiff so it makes weird and because its so condensed it does feel rushed by moments. Now i wanna say since episode 8 and onward the pacing is WAAAYYYYY better. Still could maybe be slightly better but its getting on a real decent normal anime pacing. Some part are getting a bit more well animated but its not MAPPA or UFOTABLE for sure so sadly we cant really expect the best animation of the year but we can hope for an improvement.
It is one of the first paranormal shonen so people can easily make some parallels with newer one. Although if you expect something darker like Jujutsu this really isn't dark its very light but gets a bit more philosophical later on.
Finally overall, i recommend it even if early it makes it feel a bit too shonen cliché sometimes (it's a bit like that early in the manga but with the extra panels and everything it does change the perception of it and makes a bit better) overall if you are new and want to get into the story it works. If you are an old anime fan only dont get surprised early you gonna feel like they just cut everything but remember old anime added a lot of original. Once again when we get to the US arc you should be able to see new things and enjoy. After all tough, in all fairness it is way better to read it none of the anime adaptation gets Takei spirit and ambiance that well and i think its hard to do. If you cant get into the new anime try to read maybe you'll be able to like the story. It just keeps on getting better, but i understand its not for everyone. I want to point that like any other review this is an opinion and you should really watch for yourself and judge most of the time. There's so much more i wanna tell but that's it for now. I hope it was helpful to give you a good idea. I'm a simple man and im just happy we getting a new anime and merch haha. Take care
