Story: Why I say "sort of" is because of how confusing this story can be. It sort of assumes that the viewer has already read and manga and/or the novels. I've watched TB with many of my friends and in almost every episode I have had to explain to them what is happening - Why is an episode called "the Iblis" when they never explain what the Iblis is? Why is Abel a Crusnik? Why is the world in the state that it is? What's with the flashback scenes? Etc, etc. Also the pacing is sort of off - an episode full of action will be followed by an episode of nothing but political intrigue and sitting around talking. I give Story a 7 if only because it is somewhat inaccessable to new viewers, possibly to the point of frustration if you don't know what's going on, and also for the pacing issues.
Art and Sound are very good so I give them both 9. The art is beautiful (except for the stupid CG, which there is thankfully not much of), the music is great, and if you're watching the English dub, the voices are actually not bad at all (except Ion... *shudders*)
Character gets a 10. Lots of character development throughout the show. I've heard Abel is similar to Vash, so if you like Vash you may like him as well. Most all of the characters are complex and interesting. Even many of those that seem flat at the start later reveal many sides to themselves. I think that is my favorite thing about this anime, how even minor characters grow and develop as the story progresses.
Enjoyment gets a 9 from me. However, I predict most people would enjoy it at maybe an 8 (or possibly a 7) level, which is why I rate it overall 8. It's a great story and generally underappreciated, but I do understand that it's quite inaccessable unless you already know the backstory. So my suggestion is this: Read a synopsis of the backstory first, then watch the anime. Better yet, read the manga or the novels first. Trinity Blood is best enjoyed as a unit (manga, novels, and anime) rather than as just an anime. All three of the storylines are slightly different, each adds its own dimension to the world. As a stand-alone anime TB is pretty good, but taken with the other works it is amazing!
