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[ Visuals - 8/10 ]
Having been created by MAPPA, a high score for this one was inevitable. The studio consistantly churns out well-animated and drawn out anime, and this is no different. However, despite not taking any dips to my knowledge at any point... I find that in terms of animation it rarely plays around with the visual stuff or editing. Besides, while I enjoy the opening it feels weirdly oversaturated and CGI. Sure it has it's good moments, and I love it nevertheless, but I feel like there are parts where more could've been done, or less colour could've been used. (Them choosing to cut away right after Yuzuriha complained about wishing they had a hot teacher straight to Shion, was pretty fun though, not gonna lie.)
As this series is an adaptation of the preceeding manga - complete now, I believe -, one might be inclined to claim that it did a visual disservice to the manga in all likelihood, because mangas tend to be more detailed. However, it seems MAPPA likes to choose specifically the chicken scratch drawing mangas which, though possessing a great story and characters, doesn't have much visual appeal, because it did it again with Hell's Paradise, as it did with Attack on Titan. Well, no, that was an exaggeration. The manga is nowhere near as scratchy as the AoT or JJK manga - it looks much cleaner for one - but what I'm trying to get at, is that they're not exactly trying to recapture the detail of the Dr Stone manga which had a separate artist and writer allowing for that quality of visuals. And they're not flailing around struggling to even keep things consistent, let alone pretty and unique, as Pierrot did whenever it tried to adapt a manga into a weekly anime. They made several smart decisions with this one, is what I'm saying, by having a short season and adapting a manga that was mostly loved for the story, allowing them to add to the visuals and make the anime both its own thing and a relatively faithful adaptation.
[ Sound - 7/10 ]
As with most anime, sound design here is largely functional. Sure, the OP and ED sound absolutely gorgeous, but in he anime itself, I think the sound is mostly carried by decently chosen voice actors. Decently, in that it doesn't feel as though Shion's voice fits the person - to me at least - in either sub or dub. Granted, that sort of opinion is not rare with me when it comes to my favourites, but even so.
[ Story - 8/10 ]
The overall plot appears self-contained, intriguing, and while it certainly takes inspiration from both things in real life and other pieces of fiction, it feels authentic and its own thing enough. The dialogue is solid, even if nothing amazing... and yeah, I don't have any major complaints. I should warn people though - this a retcon/flashback heavy show. Personally, I wasn't a fan of this fact and I know that for some people this is also obnoxious. I feel like the foreshadowing was missing in places.
[ Characters - 7/10 ]
The characterisation is more subtle and therefore seems a little less tropey, and the characters are varied enough among themselves, but I could definitely name you a few characters that strike me a lot like others. That's not inherently a bad thing - I don't strictly mind a Bakugo-With-Codependency-Issues, or The Mentor -, but it bears talking about for the sake of the audience who a) might not like tropes or b) might think they're somehow part of the elite for avoiding tropes when they're actually diving right into them.
There are characters I like more, characters I like less... but that's a subjective thing. You may find that you like them more than I do. Moreover, we learn more of the characters as the story goes on. But, predictably, in only 13 episodes, with so many characters, many characters end up being glossed over before being offed. It is a pity. Some are used more as tools for the sake of hyping something up, furthering the plot, upping stakes, whatever, but end up feeling less like people in the process - always sad when that happens.
There is a certain issue with fanservice - I thought there was basically none, that whatever sexual scenes were relegated the weird magic system they had going on, so this was a bit disappointing as it all unravelled -, but at the same time, not all of it is just shirtlessness, etc. and some of it is a little creative. Still not keen on shirtless moments, with guys or gals. Also, to me it comes to highlight a lack of body shape diversity - the only ones who deviate from that pretty norm are dead folks, by in large. Kill your uglies, I guess. And in that case, I'd be dead if I lived in the universe of Hell's Paradise by now. (Shion, for now, seems to be an exception, in the sense that his face /is/ scarred... and I guess there is something to be said about Yuzuriha's mucus, but let's not kid ourselves... it's probably reminding of someone's kink, and that's what keeps her alive.)
Speaking of Shion, he is one of my favourites in this anime. I guess, him being scarred, a blind badass and him being a sweetheart made that inevitable.
I'm maybe not as entertaining or intrigued by the villains as with some other series/movies.
I prefer the leads - Gabimaru and Sagiri - to many others (mostly because he's not a loud and obnoxious optimist and she actually seems interesting), but I wouldn't put them on top of my favourite protagonists list just yet.
[ Enjoyment - 9/10 ]
For all the places it is lacking in - character and sound wise - it is still an enjoyable show that I couldn't just put on in the background. It kept dragging me back to actually watch it, which is a sign of an attention-grabbing show, no matter how many issues I might have with it. It isn't excessively long, doesn't drag and makes good use of time, but it could take more time with some characters, and I think some could use more development/characterisation. Moreover, it occasionally dips into "shock-horror-edgy"... but then, I can sort of forgive it on the basis that most shows do.
Besides, it seems to balance it all out better than the likes of Berserk or JJK in my mind.
[ Overall - 8/10 ]
Personally, I would recommend this show. Don't get me wrong, it's not like "ThE-bEsT-sHoW-eVeR", it's not flawless, and despite my mistaken initial idea... it does actually have fanservice... I don't know why I forgot that about the manga. It might not be for those who feel uncomfortable with any sexual content, nudity, gore or lots of deaths. But it's a reasonably good adaptation that is easy on the eyes and it's only 13 episodes long so far. You're /probably/ not gonna die if you give it a shot so that you can form your own opinion.
