Frankly, these days giving animes a base rating below 5 stars is just not a proper review. It's biased and too personal opinion influenced - especially given the rules of MAL. That said, this anime very much so gives the feeling of late 1800's/early 1900's japanese literature (see Akutagawa or Osamu Dazai).
With that, it's not for the faintest of heart. I'm pretty sure there has to be an umbrella term for the style of anime, I'm unaware of it so I'll give examples that are similar as either a warning or note for those interested. Dororo, Akudama Drive, Babylon, Tokyo Ghoul, Chainsaw Man or Hell's Paradise from this season: those are all anime that fall into the same general category. They're not sweet and the easiest to watch. There's blood, rough characters and themes that tread into morally charged topics that many will shy away from.
Outside of the interesting mix of characters, the great music and animation, it's bold in a way that - again - will not necessarily be for everyone. The character designs are on one side quite unique, while some others you might recognize from other shows and overall the voice actors were chosen well.
The story is thought provoking and, as mentioned before, it gets you to think one about morals in all types of shades and ways.
Overall there's nothing much to fault here. The only downside is that it falls into the category of shows that appear to become more common these days where the focus is less on making the audience get to know the characters. It gives you enough to feel for them or like/dislike them, but is definitely focused on the morally challenging and rather heavy plot. The ending was a surprise, but it rounded up the story nicely. And sure, some things could always be better with some additional episodes, but that's sadly how it most of the time goes as the stories continue to grow yet the episode count and length remains the same.
It's a solid show that doesn't necessarily have to be watched in one go.. The spoiler-esque little thing will be below.
-
-
However, if you don't like portrayals of religion in anime, then this is not for you.
