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I like historical settings, and the final phase/aftermath of world war 1 could be interesting I thought. This was the time when Japanese expansion began to take speed, and great transformations occurred internally. Interest in the epoch lead me to watch this piece. What I got was just another romantic comedy. At least it was not as bad as other romantic comedies that I have seen so far.

The opening and ending music was pleasing to the ear I think, from the rest I do not remember much. Must have been OK probably.

Some words about the graphical aspects of this animation title. Backgrounds are pretty basic, ... and the fight scenes are sometimes just a dust cloud with some fists coming out of it. However, I somehow got an impression of Japanese streets and clothing of the Taishō area (google it, you may also need it for the calendar dates in the series). The Ryōunkaku (google it), which was destroyed in the 1923 Kantō earthquake, is shown several times.
About clothes: Some characters do not seem to have many clothes to change, even if they are not exactly poor. For example Shinobu usually wears his uniform even if he is not on duty. The female or crossdressing characters (Ranmaru) have a bigger wardrobe. The protagonist Benio herself has various sets of clothes for school, housework, and the street. She dresses herself rather traditional in the first half of the series, but in the second half (after her hair cut), she acquires some sets of fashionable European clothes, even if her economic situation got worse. I think this is in order to express Benio’s change of character and personal circumstances.
In any case, the art is not good, but also not ugly. It reflects the time, and is also linked with the story development, which puts it above mediocrity for me.

The historical background shown in the pictures is just the stage on which the characters act. The characters have no influence at all on historical events, even those that affect their lives. The most prominent example is the Japanese Siberia Expedition after the Russian Revolution. This is closely linked to a turning point in the lives of the main characters, but they are just helplessly subjected to the events. What they make from this experience is another matter though.

Apart from the main characters, there are a couple of side characters for comic relief, which serve no other purpose. Some are only annoying, like that boy with the alcohol bottle or the voluptuous hag with the white kimono. Others have some purpose, like Benio’s henchman Ushigorou, who transports his boss Benio through town after he enters into her service. These do not change noticeably (for example Ushigorou), or their change is not shown (Benio’s friend Tamaki).

The protagonist Benio is the focus of the entire series. At least in the first third, her story seems to be that of an unwilling girl getting gradually attached to a snobbish rich guy. She is a rather outspoken person, who talks a lot about independence of women, which means to her to be able to select the spouse that she wants. However, she accepts the engagement that her father and grandmother decided, grumbling, but without offering serious resistance. Then, she gets relocated to her grandparents’ household, where she spends her time grumbling and doing household chores. In short, she seems to be rather superficial and more bark than bite regarding the important matters (her life and future).
Regarding unimportant matters, she shows more fighting spirit and quite a violent streak.
Benio's antiques include bickering, drinking alcohol, fights (with words and fists), boob jokes (maybe those will last as long as mankind), duels, property damage, bodily injury… Somehow, she does not get into serious trouble for her escapades. One of her fights even earns her a henchman, who serves as comic relief for the rest of the series.

Shinobu, on the other hand, has the air of a somewhat arrogant and oblivious upper class guy, who falls for Benio for some reason, but does not seem to take her really seriously. He usually just laughs about her escapades, and about events that also concern Benio he does not inform her in advance.

Things take a turn later, when it is not Benio, but Shinobu who receives the retaliation for some of Benio’s escapades. Separated from family and Benio, Shinobu is put to the test, and gets the chance to show that he is more than just a well bred snob. Far from home, he manages to get accepted by new companions, with compassion, loyalty and courage, and I started to feel sympathy to him.

Starting with the separation from Shinobu, Benio now also makes some experiences, that change her from the shallow moody parasyte of the first 15 episodes, to someone who thinks about the consequences of her actions and actually takes care of herself and others. She gradually becomes more independent, discovers goals in life and makes a career, which goes well beyond her previous notion of independence, which seemed to be restricted to the free selection of a husband at first. Benio becomes a much stronger and responsible character. She still has her moods and makes mistakes, but now they rather add to her charm.

I didn’t quite like the last scene. It is a scene with stylized background, unrealistic colors and few words. It seemed to be a dream. But if it was a dream, what became of Benio and Shinobu? The narrator finally says what is the conclusion, but I personally think it would have been better if the outcome was properly shown. The way it was, it was somewhat… frustrating. (Not sure if this is the right English word to describe my feeling, but I can’t think of a better one.)

This series was a chore for the first couple of episodes. It seemed to be a clichéd romantic comedy with annoying characters, the protagonist being the worst of them all. As the series progressed, the episodes got more serious and more engaging. Both the characters and story quality improved, and I started to enjoy the title. Especially Benio progressed greatly, but she also started from pretty low lows, so even reaching mediocrity may have been a big step for her... All in all, the series was fairly enjoyable I would say.
Since enjoyment decides my ratings, the final verdict is 6, “fair”.

This review is based on episodes 2 and 3 the of the OVAs. I didn't see ep 1.
Writing this, I assume the reader is familiar with Urd and Skuld.

Art was good, like in the TV series. I didn't feel annoyed by the sound, so it was also OK I guess (but I didn't pay special attention).

I think I can't treat "Story" and "Characters" as separete topics here, because they are so closely connected to each other, and they are what makes the OVAs so enjoyable.
These are sweet little stories of friendship and love about my preferred series characters Urd and Skuld. I especially enjoyed watching ... the suddenly changed persons and how they and their social enviroment responded to the changes of their physical appearances (Urd changed to kid, Skuld changed to adult). This also brought aspects of the unequal sisters to shine which were not seen in the series before.
I liked these OVAs more than the TV series. For me, ep 2 is the best "Goddess" episode so far, and also ep 3 is well above series standard in my eyes.

For appreciation of the characters, it probably helps if you have watched the TV series. Even if you don't consider it that great, I think you can still enjoy the OVAs.

I watched this last year, and I didnt particularly like it, but somehow I can't forget it, so I'll try writing a review.

Most episodes follow the same scheme: The gang hangs around in Kuruma's office and gets knowledge of Interpol's plans, thanks to Takeshi's spying efforts. Then, Takeshi beats up a lot of guys in hilarious animal costumes.
In a few episodes, Takeshi's backstory is treated, and occasionally, the relation between Takeshi and his father makes some progress. Apart from that, there not much overarching story that I remember. It is mainly animal costume guy of the week hunt.
I didn't find art and sound remarkable. Sometimes ... I remember the opening song.

The bad guys and their underlings had distinctive animal costumes. Apart from that, they were rather flat characters who where evil for no apparent reason and had some megalomaniac plans. I found them all dull.
Takeshi's gang was more fun. I especially liked the great detective Kuruma who always looked for excuses to avoid work and not to pay his rent. His dog was the most intelligent character in the series, but unfortunately, he could not speak.

After some episodes, it got stale, apart from the action between Takeshi's gang members. The bad guy hunt got boring. And - I found the violence displayed more and more disturbing. Not because it was gory, rather because of the casual way violence was performed. Takeshi beats great numbers of animal costume guys to death and does not really seem to give a second thought about it. Somehow, I found this more and more creepy the more I proceded, and it still haunts me.
For comparison: Right now, I watch Hokuto no Ken. In there, violence is celebrated, and Ken can make an enemy's death quite slow and cruel. But: If Ken is cruel against an enemy, he has decided to be so for a reason. I don't know why, but I find this much less disturbing than the casual killing in Hurricane Polimar.

Didn't like this series myself, but I would recommend to watch, so you can make your own picture.

I recently finished watching this and I thought I could try writing a review.

Story:
I found the overarching story, as written in the synopsis, rather uninteresting. Most single episodes don't make much of a reference to it, with some exceptions. It happens when the heroine seriously screws up or if other characters (the 3 green little minions or Kenji) have business with the Love Dream land.
The single episodes were of mixed quallity. I found some quite moving, like the ones with Kenji or the story of the old foto from Persia's grandfather. Others were rather forgettable (at least I forgot them).

Art:
Backgrounds: Didn't see anything ... bad or good at the backgrounds, so they are mediocre (5) I guess.

Character designs: Persia was cute, Tota (a chubby classmate) not so much. But anyway, most characters were given distinctive looks that respond to their personalities. Exception are the fraternal twins, which I kept confusing despite the different hair color (was it again the brown haired or the black haired one in whom Persia and Yoyoko were interested?). 7 for character designs I say, so 6 for the art section.

Sound:
It didn't annoy me, so fair (6) is the score.

Characters (this will be the longest part):
Heroine: She is generally a good hearted girl, who wants to make people happy. I guess that's what most magical girls want to do. Sometimes, she makes mistakes, or tries to use her powers for selfish wishes. This either doesn't work, or it backfires badly (at one occasion when she consciously does something evil).
At the beginning, she seems to be unbeatable in brawling and running in her normal form. However, as I watched the series, it seemed to me that she tries to pick the fights she can win. If she can't win, her running skill can be useful - or not, for example, one time she tries to run from some gangsters and crashes into a wall. However, in most cases, or if she can't win or run, she solves the problems by devising a plan. The execution of this plan generally involves her adult form. In adult form, she can assume the ability of any professional, from model to computer programmer.
I liked the heroine, she generally wants the best, but also has some flaws, and she is not stupid.

Now to the heroines companions. There are 3 little green creatures, which Persia received when she got her powers. They are annoying, and cause more trouble than they are worth.
Simba, once a lion and the king of the savannah, got turned into a whiny house cat and lives now in Japan with the heroine. If anything, I just feel pity for him.

The heroine's closer social environment: I already mentioned the twins. They live in the house of Persia's grandfather. One is active in the student council, the other does sports. Both looked just like friendly and boring model students.
She has some classmates, who wouldn't call themselves Persia's "friends" I think, but with whom she hangs out a lot. Yoyoko considers herself as Persia's rival in love regarding one of the twins. The two girls often pick fights early in the series, but this changes at one point, after which Persia tries her best to come to good terms with Yoyoko. There is a reason for that I guess (but I shouldn't spoil here)... The chemistry between the 2 was interesting.
Norinobu is the self proclaimed investigative reporter in Persia's class. He soon suspects something regarding Persia and stalks her eventually. His attempts, failures and the heroine's management of the situations were fun to watch.
Not much is said about Persias parents. They appear in every episode, but they just seem to have the parent role. Rather boring types.
The heroine's grandfather has a backstory and own interests. His fate is somewhat connected to Persia's. He is one of the more interesting characters in this series.

Other characters: A lot of more or less interesting people come and go in the series.
I found Kenji remarkable, a musician whose appearance reminded me of John Lennon. He has his own, more personal relation to the Love Dream land.

Enjoyment:
Despite the generally good characters, I found it partially tedious. Quite often, familiar elements seem to be repeated. Some episodes were boring, some good, so a 6 is sort of a compromise as a score.

If you are in the magical girls genre and have some time to kill, go ahead.