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A constant disappointment with a handful of high points. That was my experience with Tenki no Ko, despite having low expectations to begin with.

Story : 2/10

I don't think you'll find many people who can defend this movie's story. As usual, Shinkai's plot is nothing but a threadbare arrangement of scenes. I don't know if there's anything more to say on this topic.

Art : 6/10

Fair enough, the art wasn't bad. However detailed it was, it did remain very, very bland though. The animation does have a few great moments, but isn't consistent. Still, that was one of the more enjoyable points of the movie - basically, ... it doesn't hurt to look at.

Sound : 6/10

If you've watched a Shinkai before, you probably know 90% of this movie's soundtrack. The remaining 10% are mostly comprised of a couple average-sounding songs overshadowed by the characters talking (not to say much of anything worthy of interest, at that). There are a few musically very pleasant moments here and there, but that's where it ends. Again, it's decent and can bring a fair amount of enjoyment, if nothing more.

Characters : 2/10

Well, well, well, what do we have here ? Two main characters, crudely underdevelopped. A supporting cast that isn't much better, except for the guy whose development nobody even asked for. What else ? Nope, nothing more in sight. A bland cast, some of which have little potential as characters even if they had gotten more focus, is everything this movie has to present.

Enjoyment : 4/10

Here's a tip, if you're not confident either the subs or the dubs are gonna be up to par, don't try your luck. My own experience with this has been fairly ruined by bad, very bad subs. If you can, I just think it's better to watch it raw. At least that way you'll neither cringe at distorted translations nor lose the meaning in the original text.
If you completely turn your brain off, you might have the off chance of being moved by the art and sound and derive some additional enjoyment from that.

Overall : 5/10

Usually, when a show is average, most of its components are. Not in this case. This is a complete mix of parts, some good, some bad, some VERY bad, which basically creates a rollercoaster of a quality. Which still ends up being completely average, only in a not boring way.

In the end, if you want to watch this movie, by all means, go ahead. Just remember to completely erase your standards before you do.

Kemono No Souja Erin is a wonderful tale of friendship, love, war, fate and philosophy, and a very special and beautiful one.
Erin, the main character of the series, is quite obviously the key not to the whole plot but to its end. But, that is only due to her evolution throughout the series, as she makes her way through life, facing hardships, sometimes being unable to overcome them, having painful experiences but continuing to live on. In that sense, Erin is a fully human and relatable character, far from what you would expect from such a special girl.

The series conveys a message of ... freedom and kindness between man and beast. Being born in a village of Touda breeders, Erin learns from her mother Soyon that she would prefer to raise those trained-for-war beasts as if they were in the wild, which is sadly impossible because the soldiers must be able to control their mounts, and thus the Touda must be raised in a specific way that, in Soyon's eyes, make them look pitiful. Erin, at a very young age, decides to follow the same principles. The series then relates Erin's life throught childhood and adolescence, staying true to her beliefs despite a number of contradictory experiences.

In the background, they Holy Kingdom of Ryoza is suffering from internal rifts, leading to a political maelstrom in which Erin is forcefully dragged.

The internal alchemy between the thoughts of different people upon the relationships between man and beast, the political issues within the country, and Erin's unique personnality and mindset, leads to a very intriguing yet absolutely fantastic plot, neither too simplistic nor too complicated. At the same time, the OST and the art are more often than not carrying a feeling of serenity and peace, which is in due times broken and made to leave place for feelings of uneasiness and uncertainty. In other words, although I have found the soundtrack to be at least repetitive, it fits the general mood of the series quite well, while brilliantly highlighting the critical moments.

I have yet to talk about most of the characters, who either have an influence on Erin, or have an influence on the background political conflicts, or both, or have no influence at all and can be regarded as quite useless (the ones from the last category, though, are very few, as I can recall at most two or three).
I will not develop too much on most of them for obvious reasons of not wanting to spoil anything. I wish, however, to highlight some most interesting ones, such as the teacher Kiriku, a truly anti-manichean character if there ever was one, the Sezan (the Queen's bodyguards) Ial for being an unwavering symbol of loyalty, as well as Jone (some write John, I belive MyAnimeList also uses John) the honeyman, who, according to me, is the most critical character regarding those who have contributed to Erin's evolution. Thus, rest assured, you will definitely find great, loveable and relatable characters in this series.

Given all I said, it seems natural to assume I really enjoyed the series. Did I ? Yes, oh so much. While it took some time for the scene to be fully set (may I remind you we are talking about a 50-episode show ?), some moments left me panting with thrill, drowned in tears, or frightened to death out of fear that this or that even may happen.

As a conlusion, I would say Kemono no Souja Erin is a true masterpiece in my eyes, as it has a great plot, an art and OST very fitting to its mood and some of the best characters you could find in such a work. Finally, I believe it to be enjoyable for a vast majority of anime fans, and even by a number of people otherwise generally unfamiliar with anime ; I also think it has aged and will age well, and that it isn't restricted to just one age group, although it was initially meant for kids.
Thus I would recommend it to anyone in search of an anime of great quality, regardless of whether they are used to watch anime or not, and if they are, regardless of which anime genre they prefer.