When I was first introduced to the show I only saw Black Star fighting, and your first reaction to him should be along the lines of "Naruto clone/knock off" but he's much more. He's over the top but has a really vulnerable side demonstrated none the better by his fight with Kid (if I recall they fight several times so its not a spoiler!). Maka and Soul are the most "real" characters in how down to earth their personalities and dreams are. These 2 pairings also create a nice bit of romance suspense being boy/girl pairs.
The Art is certainly bold and different. But it works well within the show and serves as a great little world for which these crazy powered teens can live in.
I'm a sound guy so I typically judge it by one of two things. Did I notice it, and if I did why? Sound's one of those things most people never notice like all the background music in any TV Show or Movie that is always playing. If you never notice it, its doing its job fantastically. If you did notice it, why and how was it being used? For Soul Eater I largely didn't notice the sound until music was actually used in the plot. It was different, jarring even, but reflected extremely well of the character it was meant for.
If you watch this show up until the Battle for Brew you need to read the manga. Its even better and has a bigger cast (other students in the anime act more like filler even though in the manga they're pretty integral to parts of the story). The anime and manga also caught up to each other at this point so the story starts to differ greatly. For instance the Manga is still being written as of Oct 2012.
