I'll give much credit where credit is due; I thought there was an interesting character development; I think Ringo's backstory was splendidly well done. She may seem annoying, creepy (what with every single thing she did and how far she went), but the reasons to how she behaves are acceptable (in the sense that one can be satisfied, and it answers questions quite well). Nevertheless, there are way too many other characters with a lack of an intriguing backstory. Yes, they do have dramatic and drastic story, but they are bland and too similar to the "fate is everything" concept that is already attached to Ringo. They also behave in such an immature and unthoughtful way that it is so easy to get pissed off at characters, even if you have a bias. I did have a bias, don't get me wrong, but it was horrible to see that a character who seemed so interesting and mysterious get a lousy past with lousy raison d'être's. Honestly, I find it anti-climatic.
The storyline is not flawless. It may seem so because it is complex, with many links between the various characters who seem so out of the blue. Yet, the complexity goes overboard. It's that feeling you get when you've too much of something that the situation becomes as if you didn't have enough of it. Think of a parabola, after you've reached the top, the effectiveness starts going back down. The links between the characters are random twists, in my opinion, that were added in as if just to make it more complex on purpose, and I personally think that was not really needed and it ruined the plot, if anything. The thing is, if you want good complex plot, you need good complex material.
The anime started off light-hearted even though it was a rather serious issue going around (Himari dying etc). It even started to go nowhere with Ringo's arc, and only came around at some later point. The comeback was interesting for a little while and then it fell into the chain of twists. I thought the addition of mascots was strange. Nothing against it, but it doesn't add to anything. I love the penguins, though.
I disliked this series mainly because of personal reasons, I will admit that. I do tend to stay away from disturbing series with characters who've gone beyond perverse with no character development. Here I am getting character development, but it seems still too banal to me, save for Ringo's case. Yet, even for her case, she develops to a certain point, and stays at the same line for a while.
I also dislike that it is too focused on "fate" even though it is the main theme and is bound to be that way. I thought they were all too obsessed about it, and a variety of non-obsessed characters would have been a good idea.
However, because of the somewhat uniqueness it has that I cannot deny, I'd say this anime would still pass as a fairly okay anime.
