For one, I enjoyed this anime. For several reasons. But in no way would I ever consider this the best anime I ever watched.
Story: I'm going to be very generous and give this a 9 out of ten. I really feel like I could give it an 8. Actually scratch that, I'll make it an 8.
The story itself, if taken seriously, is not the most breathtaking or in my opinion, anything short of silly. Now not that most other anime is particularly more realistic, but they really went for the zany with the drill power thing. But part of I think the reason the drill power idea was was chosen was to help with that overall fun theme that this show does have and does well. Not every serious part of this show is to be taken absolutely seriously. It is supposed to be fun. And if the main theme weren't so zany in some ways, it would take away from the overall feel of the series.
I think what does make the story good and is it's plus point, is it is a little bit zany and funny the whole way through. While being epic enough in moments to make you actually take it seriously. And a good pacing, what really makes this anime good more than anything, is the pacing. It gives you several different elements and manages to pull them together in a very good way.
Another thing about it and that whole thing is that it pulls in to being a very feelgood uplifting story that will give a person courage.
Still not deserving of a 10 out of 10 though.
Also along with that, this is about the closest thing to a Dragonball Z mecha that will ever come to be. It is WAY OVER 9000!! So those who are starved for an anime truly paralleling the content overwhelmingly epic power growth and mind shatteringly Godlike power of DragonBall Z, this show undoubtedly has it.
Art: Now this is a real selling point. That artwork is really sleek and just purty even while being what might be called superflat. It shows that anime artwork is still ever evolving and growing. Even if there's some things I like about other styles better, boy is that stylish. No problems here. Not one.
Sound: Well, I'm not that fond of some of the music, and more fond of other. There's nothing particularly lacking about the music or the sound effects, but it's not the best anime soundtrack I've ever heard by a long short. And ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWA gets real annoying real quick.
Characters:
It only covers a few of the bases in my mind.
For one, for those with a homosexual attraction to really many men, you've Kamina.
And even a homosexual. Though not the type one would usually choose for a yaoi slash fic of any type, it's nice that gays get representation in anime.
Personally I found the best of this characters fixation with manliness to be a humors silly part of the show. But at other times it felt annoying. You know there's only so much zany humor I can get out of a GAR.
If there's any one thing that I could take about his and most characters personality in the show, it was the hope the inspirited. Kamina was an emotional guy, not a logical one. And I don't think this is a spoiler. And so his emotionality of being an emotional, positive guy, made him and the other characters he influences, feel really fun.
So you don't have to be homosexual for manly men to like this guy. Looking past that, if you just like happy-go-lucky, emotional, bright eyed characters, he can be fun.
The rest of the characters are pretty cool, better so that Kamina, but no one particular memorable that I would ever even close to state was my overall favorite anime character of all time. Personally but, they all have their own charm. No problems, but they're not the greatest cast of all time.
8 out of 10.
Enjoyment:
Enjoyment is actually a 10 out of ten, even though overall this show is an 8 out of ten for me.
Really, this show has perfect pacing, despite it's flaws. It's very easy to marathon and enjoy for me. I did not feel this huge
Overall:
I think despite it's really good aspects, this show has it's flaws. And it is no way deserving out of a ten out of ten or a number one ranking on My Anime List. This is undoubtedly one of the most sickeningly overrated anime shows to ever come out. And I really enjoyed this show.
But in the end, it is only like a amped up Outlaw Star to me. And personally, there was even some things I liked about Outlaw Star better. I would say it is only a few points above exactly what Outlaw Star was, and I don't mean rating points.
Not saying this show is bad, and I've both said a lot of good things about this show and given it a impressively high rating, and I think you should see this show if you actually haven't already. But the idea that this is the best anime show of all time just makes me *facepalm*. So hopefully even though this review is likely to get lost in the sea of reviews, hopefully maybe someone may come by it as a moderately rated and slightly less fanboyish review(I couldn't think of a better word) and have a more general medium idea of it, and not be so disappointing as I was when watching it. Don't go watching it because you think it'll be the best anime of all time, because you'll be disappointed like me, quite possibly.
