Characters/Development
Setting the general scene is done well in the first episode, introducing a small amount of the cast during the first half and themes that exist throughout in the second. There is a large cast of characters present within the series, however they do tend to lack any depth to them, feeling flat and plain. An example being during the early parts of the series when both Souma and Kureha are taken to End Earth, we learn about the Soul Blades, which come from the heart of the person at hand. Typically Kureha gives Souma her heart to fight off the enemies at the start and a few instances a little later, but soon after she becomes a background character not adding much to the storyline throughout the rest of the series. But that doesn’t only apply to her though, as it happens to several other characters who become quite distant and seem to be quite useless without anymore purpose of being in the story. Character personalities are also rather stereotypical, although this isn’t exactly bad it makes future events seem obvious. Souma plays as the main hero in the story who likes to do what is right, trying to protect everyone while he is at it, not wanting any deaths amongst his friends. Kiriya however seems to play as a form of rival between them for a short while in the start of the story. The focus on a majority of characters are lacking except when it comes to Souma, Mao and Zero who get most of the spotlight.
The general flow and progression of the story itself is also rather non-existent as it feels rushed and rather uninspired. There is no sense of form or shape, which feels like a big mess of a plot. There are times when the characters need to be in a certain location due to specific event or plot device, and they seem to get to that one area without any signs of effort. The scenes switch too quickly between them and lack anything to break their time getting there or to show they actually traveled between locations. There’s no sense of time as they are located in one place, then another soon after. The battles also suffer similar issues, which come across as dull and not very entertaining. They are too simply executed, nothing special about them. The Soul Blade concept of the story is definitely an interesting concept at first, but isn’t approached very well. Later in the story it then becomes something less special. A wide variety of different blades take place and only two, other than the designs of them, seem to have distinct differences due to the way they’re showcased to the viewers. The series does start out rather interesting during the first two episodes but that soon dies out and begins to crawl into an average plot development where things get a little too typical, with some nice twists here and there, but nothing remarkably rememberable.
Animation/Scenery
The series keeps a rather bright, colourful and cheery tone to the series where colour matters to it’s location. Fields and sunny landscapes use a lot of light greens and blues, while the dark and gloomy locations tend to use a lot of green tones. However the details within the scenes are existent, but they could have been better. The backgrounds themselve do represent their location well, but sometimes lack those extra details to make them look so much better, such as better lighting. There’s nothing particularly special with the scenery except the colours do fit with the locations at hand, but the lack of detail makes them feel uninspired. Character designs are good for both the humans and beastmen in this series, as well as clothing choices. The animation however isn’t too great, the generic actions are done simply enough but so have the battle sequences. Simple swings of swords, quick fights and still shots of the action are examples of what take place during these scenes that causes the fights to be nothing of special value, especially those later within the story.
Audio/Music
Not much to comment here since I didn’t pay too much attention to it, beside the following. The opening theme song is definitely a rememberable track and fits well with the fantasy setting of the series, but when it comes to background music I never noticed anything too special about it. Voices for the character fit well and didn’t seem out of place, but were again stereotypical choices just like the character personalities.
Conclusion
Has a good concept with the Soul Blades but the series doesn’t tend to flow well and lacks a sense of shape to it. Could have been a much better if it didn’t feel rushed and lack development to the characters, but even so it is still rather average with nothing special to pick out.
