You can find the synopsis of the series on other reviews. In short, Japan has lost its "independence" to a certain extend due to a major disaster, and the "United Nation" decided to take over. Very interesting premise considering the things happening in our real world, but the anime started more like the typical reluctant hero story. Shu Ouma, the typical teenager that didn't want to be involved with anything, suddenly obtained a super power and being involved with a terrorist organization. There's the girl, there's the "rival" Gai, there's a really bad-to-the-bone guy, there's mecha, guns, actions, it's starting off as your typical sci-fi shounen anime, and the story revolved around Shu from being a reluctant teenager into a hero.
Sounds okay, right? Well, not really. This first half of the series is the hardest imo. You are forced to follow Shu and friends, but you don't really know what's going on. Even after this first arc ended, I was still thinking "WTF happened?" Plotholes aplenty. I almost gave up watching. But things started to ramp up on the last half.
The last half of the series may not cover up the tons of plotholes, but boy it gave you a good punch to invoke emotions. Some may feel that it's forced, but it made up what it was lacking. It's a roller coaster for Shu, with a touching ending to boot. I also like the way they made everybody to dislike Shu during the isolation arc in their school, portraying the typical mass reaction of people demanding the hero to perform, yet turned their back when the "hero" showed a human side. Heck, I didn't see anybody apologizing to Shu after he survived on his own with only Inori on his side, and saved everybody. I still give the story a 6, as there are still things that I want to be clarified, despite most of the plots were hammered down your throat in just few episodes towards the end. Also considering the mediocre start, it's a 6.
The art is great, a combination between organic-tech aplenty. The characters? They are good, some are good that you hate them. You may feel that the supporting characters are used inappropriately to propel the emotion towards Shu, but I guess it worked. I couldn't care much about Shu and Inori at the start, and I ended up supporting Shu and Inori mid-way through the end.
In conclusion, try to watch the anime through. I know it's hard, but it's not as bad as you might think it is despite the negative reviews. In the end, I enjoyed it, despite being so close to drop it.
