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I don't know if SukaSuka is an original story thought up by a studio or a Manga/LN adaptation, but I do know that it had the potential to be a masterpiece if it isn't one already.
So, you might be asking "Why not give it a full score when you're already praising it so much?"...
Let's start with the story. The plot is quite simple, at least that's how it would seem for those who have seen plenty of Anime, I think. It goes like this:
500 years ago, braves and heroes, fought against monsters and beasts in order to preserve peace and protect ... the realms; amongst them there was a certain Willem Kmetsch who fought and defeated one monster, only to be frozen in ice for the 500 years to come. Now, the different races live on floating islands as a refuge from even monstrous beasts that emerged during those long years and wreaked havoc on low grounds. Willem is found by a group of salvagers and freed from his slumber, but he finds out that he is the only human survivor and has lost everything and everyone he once knew, and now he's living in the dumps... That is until he is given a task by the military to take care of a storehouse of "weapons" used in the fight to reclaim the lands from those beasts. There he meets a group of young girls, that reminded him of his lost family and friends and feelings he once had. He later discovers the dark truth about those girls and decides to do whatever it takes to protect them and fight against the calamities haunting the world.

[The story]
The plot thickens when the main character discovers even more painful and dark secrets about those girls, the world, and the fate of his race. The pace of the story was fine until somewhere near the last episode, where it kind of went off-grid... It wasn't too hasty but since I had high expectations for the show and the story it felt like it was rushed for some reason (probably some s**t about sales and views in Japan, which is the reason why many great shows crumbled much to my chagrin), but it still gave a "satisfactory" ending.. Not totally acceptable, but satisfying to some degree, since they left us with a tiny "cliffhanger" and the hope for a sequel (Unlikely).

[The Art/Sound]
There isn't much to be said about the art, which was my cup of tea so as to speak; The characters were given looks that went well with the personalities they were supposed to have, and I think we should praise the character designers highly for the great designs they did for non-human races. Although the monsters were kind of lacking in that department in my opinion. But that wasn't enough to give the show a blow or any damage really. The animation was great and smooth, and I really loved the music, especially the very first song that played (which was the same one the last episode ended with).

[Characters]
The story follows some dark secrets which helped in the creation of unique characters, one of which is our main character's who's seen as a cool young man who loves kids (not a loli though... or so he claims) and cares for those around him. He is strong physically and mentally but also cries in front of his loved ones. All in all, he won't disappoint.
We have clashing personalities and varying characters in the young girls that Willem is taking care of: we have Chtholly who is a true maiden in love, and probably the heroin of the show; she is the lovable character that cries, laughs, struggles but still supports and loves her friends throughout the whole show; We have the meddling Ithea who is as sensitive as she is rude but who would still walk the extra miles for her comrades and friends; and we have the quiet and calm Ren who does everything she has, in her own way to support Willem and Chtholly... And of course, we have the little girls each with her own character and personality.
As events and secrets unfold throughout the show, we see changes and developments in the characters as they try to overcome the many hurdles and issues they are faced with, especially Willem and Chtholly.

Overall, the show was enjoyable, and I think anyone who enjoys drama/fantasy stories that revolve around two Main Characters, rather than a whole bunch will also enjoy watching SukaSuka.

If you love police and detective fiction, and you still haven't seen Psycho-Pass, then stop reading this nonsense, and get to watch this masterpiece, pronto!
This is some of what you're going to learn:

“Being a detective isn’t about bringing someone down, but rather protecting someone.” – Shinya Kogami

“Everything you’ve been taught is based on theories and logic. Soon, you’ll come to realize how pointless they are.” – Tomomi Masaoka

“The law doesn’t protect people. People protect the law.” – Akane Tsunemori

“It is not society that determines people’s futures. It is people who determine society’s future.” – Akane Tsunemori
... (We see a pattern there, don't we? xD)

“For some time researchers have understood that moderate stress has beneficial effects. It boosts the immune system for example. Stress motivates and prepares us for action. It compels our body to survive.” – Shogo Makishima

Without further ado,
[Story]
If we were living in a real-life setting identical to Psycho-Pass:
First of all, it'll be roughly 100 years from now, and god forbid there'll be wars all over the globe, only a few countries most notably Japan... Maybe only Japan will have the ability to defend themselves against foreign enemies and against inside trifles and criminality... But why is that?
The answer is quite simple: Japanese Technology has advanced so much that it gives people the ability to determine a person's state of mind, put in layman's terms.
So there is this system called the Sibyl System, developed by the Japanese Govt and used by Japanese law enforcement. This system can determine the Psycho-Pass of a person instantly, that is the person's intent, or ability to act criminally. With that in the hands of Police officers and Inspectors, the hunt for criminals and potential criminals is no longer that hard a feat! Now you'd think that's it, no need for more drama, except that sometimes, maybe even more often than you'd think, dirty work is a necessity. But for someone to even "think" of doing a dirty work has unspokenly become a crime itself, so the Law Enforcement wouldn't jeopardize its officers and inspectors, this is why it integrated Enforcers in its teams. These enforcers are criminals who have been given a certain amount of freedom and privileges than other criminals in exchange for services accomplished for the Bureau (Law Enforcement). Up to now, it's just the premise, not the story -for the story is far more appalling and appealing at the same time.
Akane Tsunemori starts her job as an Inspector and has been called on short notice because of a lack of manpower. With Ginoza, her fellow Inspector and four Enforcers on the leash, she has to bring criminals into custody, and if push comes to shove use lethal force and means to terminate them... Akane is new to this world, so her naivité, honesty, and perspective on many things seem to always leave her thinking about the authenticity and lawfulness of the Bureau's methods and their extreme reliance on the human-made system Sibyl. Luckily for her, the Enforcers who just by being at their side may make your Psycho-Pass on par with a criminal's, always come to her aid when she needs it especially Kogami who used to be an Inspector himself, and due to some events that will unfold later in the story became an Enforcer.
The team will be facing some rather out of the usual kinds of mysteries and start hunting criminals who use methods that are too smart or too elegant to be their own, only to find out that every one of those crimes may be orchestrated by one highly intelligent mastermind...

[Character]
The story itself is based on the human nature, the psychology behind criminality and irregular human behaviors, so it takes character very seriously that you won't be second-guessing a culprit's choice of words -In fact, sometimes it takes even the smaller gestures to explain the reason why someone would want to hurt another. It's a very character-driven show. We have so many characters with so many personalities, preferences, behaviors, affections, fears, and weaknesses... They all have their own past, explaining so much about their character. They will all start discovering new parts of them as the plot thickens. There will be some little happy moments, many sad tears and farewells, a lot of psychological struggles and fights... And in every episode or a couple of episodes, some of our characters share some of their innermost thoughts, feelings, and secrets as they bond with one another.
You can expect a lot, maybe even more than just a lot in the character development department!

[Technical Stuff]
I think that the art itself was very unique, maybe even original to this show. It did right, very right by the Anime and the story it's supposed to tell!
The voice acting crew was phenomenal; this may be the first time or one of the rarest moments where I found myself enjoying each and every character's voice as they talk Psychology and Philosophy.
The animation was great, nothing too fancy but better than expected. The fights and the action were very well depicted and animated, in fact, it was much better than just great! it added a lot of spice to the story!
The music, Ah! At the very beginning of the very first episode; That song by TK starts playing, the sound of choppers lurking by, and then the encounter between our favorite main character with his counterpart, the ruthless villain! The soundtrack is A-mazing!

[Enjoyment]
I practically said it all.
I literally don't remember how many times I have watched and rewatched Psycho-Pass, just so that I can enjoy it all over again.
I highly recommend this masterpiece for literally anyone, even those who claim not to be Anime fans!


Objectively speaking.

A'ight, here's the thing: a lot of people have been giving some pretty bad reviews about this show, and anyone who has seen it would most probably agree... Except I don't.

So, before I get to the part explaining how I "chose" to enjoy this show, I will start by trying to "spoiler-less-ly" summarize the plot.

[Story]
You have your average looking Shujinkou (Protagonist) "Setsuna" who claims to have come from the future on a rescue mission. His destination is a certain island, "Urashima" with a rather confusing and dark past led by three distinguished families. Each family has its role and its domain on the island. ... And there's apparently a legend revolving around these families, more specifically the girls who belong to them (I'll say nothing more to avoid spoilers). Anyways, the island seems to be in a pretty bad shape, and it's only getting worse, and the key to save it is one of the three girls of the Island's top families.

[Art/Animation/Sound]
The technical stuff was all good, just what you'd expect from a newly produced Anime. The art and the character design were nice, I'm actually a big fan of long white hair female characters ( :3 ), and the design team didn't disappoint in this matter. The Anime itself didn't have that much action, to begin with, and yet the animation was pretty good as well as the sound whether it's the voice actors or background music...

[Enjoyment]
First of all, I must say: I'm a guy who can rewatch a show as many times as humanly possible and still enjoys it pretty much the same. And I have an unspoken rule not to drop any show regardless of how much I enjoy it, and up to this day, I haven't broken this rule, yet. I still find it very hard to decide whether I enjoyed a show or not... It's a dilemma for me!
Here's my take on this one:
Well if you've seen Heroic Age, Wolf Rain, Special A, Kannagi, Bounen no Xamdou, Druaga no Tou, Shikabane Hime... etc (plus any other show I rated 6 or less in my list) and still enjoyed them the way I did, you'll probably feel the same about Island as me: "As long as it ends well without complications, then it's been a decent show". That being said, there were a lot of parts that are still unclear and confusing to me in the story, and there are many plot-holes; I decided to disregard them and try to just enjoy watching and digesting the story...
The truth is, I felt like the whole thing was rushed, and after I read about the source material I found out that this was based off a VN and I chose to give it a 6 overall because of that (the VN), which I'm pretty sure would be pretty enjoyable...

P.S: I didn't write about Character development, because I honestly don't know how to talk about it. If this was handled a little more cautiously, I bet the story would've turned out much better.
But still, I'm grateful for the show. Even if it lacked in so many aspects, I decided that I enjoyed it nonetheless. Hopefully, next time there the studio will do a better job than this one so that we'd enjoy it more.

Now I won't recommend anyone to watch this show, not the fans of the VN and definitely not the newcomers, but if you believe that you're a tolerant kind of Anime-viewer, or if you're that bored, then sure, go knock yourself out! :D

If I were to ask "What makes a show 'a masterpiece'?", the answers will probably vary between "there are a lot of factors..." to something a lot more specific like "The story!"...
My answer would be even more specific: "It has to be on par with Baccano!"...

So what makes Baccano so special?
Everything!

[Story]
Note: I'm not going to "rephrase" the summary given by MAL, I'm going to write my impressions on the story.
To say that the story is outstanding would be an understatement, objectively speaking.
The author took storytelling to the next level by telling three seemingly unrelated stories from different times (1711, the 1930s and 2002) ... that intersect through the characters and the events they involve, making it into one big masterpiece that I personally doubt will ever be outmatched!
One of the main themes, being Alchemy only adds more spiciness to the story, which is already a great one about the renowned Mafia!
One other aspect that I found pretty original is that there are so many characters that you will love enough you'd think they're all main characters to root for! I, for one, wanted to root for Firo, one of the MCs but couldn't stop my urge to root for the rest of the characters, sometimes even for the "bad" bunch!

[Art]
Being a relatively old show, I still find its art and animation great enough compared to newer titles of a similar genre. In fact, I think that the animations are so amazing that I dare say, if not for this combination (Art-Animation), I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the Anime as much. When a fight arises, and Firo starts kicking butts, or Jacuzzi's crew start throwing bombs and blowing stuff up... There's always a feeling of excitement that you can actually see in the characters through the well-produced and artful animations!
Also, there are so many characters, with so many different designs. Each character has their image, which is very well depicted through their design in addition to their personality.

[Character]
The best part yet!
I've already said there were so many characters you'll come to love! Not only because of their looks and mannerisms but also because of their backstory. This show didn't neglect this aspect under the excuse of having a handful of characters, no... It gave each and every character a background story as to why they have such a personality, and why do they have to act the way they do!
I'm not a big fan of flashbacks since they sometimes make things worse in a show- However, when it comes to Baccano, I could only confirm that my impressions (on flashbacks) were totally unfounded and groundless!

[Sound]
Starting from the voice actors, the special effects, to the classic mafioso music used in the show... Everything sound-related was great. To be honest, I don't usually notice anything related to sound when I'm watching an Anime (Maybe I don't care, I dunno) but the truth is the moment I started watching Baccano (the Opening of the first episode), I got so indulged in the story before it even began... You'll see... or hear?...

[Enjoyment]
I enjoyed the story, the way it was told, and how it ended...
I enjoyed the fights, the sounds, the art, and the animations as the plot thickened...
I literally enjoyed the show in each and every aspect that I re-watched it every once in a while... because it is that kind of a show... The kind that you will find yourself enjoying no matter how many times you've seen it!

“Sometimes the closer you are to the truth, the harder it is to see.”
― Jacqueline Simon Gunn

If I told you to find the "reason" behind a certain memory that I have... A memory of a time when I was a little kid, where I am beside an uncle of mine whom I asked "something". Upon hearing the question, my "kind" uncle gave me an answer, which made me "go down in tears";
With the little number of hints I just gave you, I want to hear a reasonable and satisfying answer that reveals the mystery...
This is the kind of show Hyouka is all about!

It takes ... a certain level of "genius" to see the truth as it is, and the best way to reveal secrets and ambiguities is through perseverance and by having some serious deductive and inductive instincts...
These are some qualities that our protagonist prefers to avoid for the sake of energy conservation, as he claims...

[Story]
Oreki Houtarou is your average high school student who chooses a quiet, uneventful, and lazy life over rose-colored encounters and energy-consuming confrontations. Everything changes for Oreki when he finds himself obliged to join the Classics Club as per the order, which is more like a threat, of his older sister. The quiet routine he longed for comes to an end after meeting the club president Chitanda Eru, who has Oreki's opposite personality... Chitanda is a popular exemplary student well known amongst the students, and maybe even in the whole town, and she is cheerful and curious as a cat... Whenever she hears a story with the slightest hint of mystery, she brings it up to the club members much to Oreki's misfortune, who despite being a lazy lad, possesses a great skill in mystery solving.
If Oreki's hallmark and motto are his unparalleled love for energy-conservation, then Chitanda's are her extreme curiosity and perseverance which she expresses using her famous saying "Watashi Kininarimasu!", that translates to "I'm curious (about it)", and with the help of the other two members Fukube, the human database and Ibara, the straightforward and energetic member of the group, Oreki finds himself obliged to solve the different mysteries one way or another in order to sate Chitanda's curiosity...
The setting is pretty simple: four highschool students become close friends through solving small mysteries like the infamous 7 mysteries of the school...

[Characters]
I have seen many shows over the years, and quite frankly I think that Hyouka is one of the few Anime that succeeded in developing its characters over 20 episodes or so. The show focused, in a way on its two main protagonists Oreki and Chitanda without neglecting the remaining characters including Fukube, Ibara and sometimes even the secondary characters get a shot at "telling their side of the story", which according to me may reveal some aspects in their personality, thus counts as "character development"...
The character that changes the most in the series is Oreki, and I think that most would agree. He's always thought that it's best to live a quiet and lazy life without any need for new encounters that may cause chaos in his life, but as soon as he meets Chitanda, he starts seeing things differently and begins to long for a "rose-colored" life. He, who doesn't express his emotions because that would be energy-consuming, starts feeling the need to help his friends and even becomes angry and shouts his lungs out if push comes to shove.
Chitanda on the other hand, who has led a life of a princess due to her family status and reputation, shows unconditional faith in Oreki and her friends, with whom she even shares a secret she never told anybody else. Chitanda is pictured as a calm straight-A's student amongst her peers and the people around her, but when she's with the Classics Club members, she acts a little more like a teenager all the while keeping her image as a respectable little lady.
As for the remaining two members Fukube and Ibara, they tend to have fun teasing Chitanda and making jokes about and screwing around with Oreki and his lazy-go-free character. Somewhere along in the story, they will find themselves in a situation where they have to put their feelings and personalities to the test, which will affect their relationship with each other and with Oreki and Chitanda.

[Art/Sound]
I must admit that when I first set my eyes on this show, I didn't have high expectations as far as art and animation go... But I was totally taken aback when I found out that not only my expectations have been met, but exceeded by miles and miles! Even though this Anime isn't Action driven, the animations are so amazing that you would notice the slightest change in the characters' emotions through their eyes! The designs are awesome, cute, cool, beautiful, elegant... You can relate to the characters not only through their behaviors and mannerisms but also through their well-depicted looks and traits!
The sounds are amazingly well-adapted, exactly like you'd expect a slice of life to be. Every character has a voice befitting of his/her image and the songs are so heart-warming and beautiful giving even more appeal to the show as a whole.

[Enjoyment]
Between seeing the mysteries being solved through unconventional and unorthodox methods of reasoning and hypothesizing, and the everyday conversations that the characters have, you will find yourself enjoying every aspect of the show be it a flashback that will lead to a mystery making Chitanda curious enough to drive Oreki to solve it for her, or the mere clash of ideas and idle conversations that the group has... At the very least, I enjoyed every story told, every mystery unveiled, and every conversation and confrontation between the characters.

I have seen many different Isekai genre Anime, and have grown to like the genre and so far in, I like Tate no Yuusha. I've been checking the Manga and the Light Novel so I had high hopes for the Anime and was quite overjoyed when I heard it was getting this adaptation. Without further ado...

[Story]
You don't have to possess a Chuunibyou syndrome to wish to be born in a different world with different laws and various races and ethnicities... We all wished for that at some point in our lives, except for our main protagonist Naofumi Iwatani, who just happened to be wandering around ... the aisles of a library when he stumbled upon a book, which caught his attention giving him an urge to read it. The more he read about the story of the four heroes, the more he wanted to read... He read about the Bow Hero, the Spear Hero, and the Sword Hero, and just as he was getting ready to dive into the chapter about the Shield Hero, he finds the pages blank as if the story has yet to be told -and that's when Naofumi is hit with a magical summoning ritual from another world and is summoned as that world's Shield Hero!
There, Naofumi has to fight against waves of evil in order to save the world, alongside the three other heroes, who happened to be summoned from other realms as well, and the adventurers of that world.
Naofumi was excited by this development, who wouldn't? Being a hero with magical power and reliable comrades is something everyone wants to experience after all, except that ever since he started his journey, Naofumi has known nothing but betrayals and false accusations destroying his reputation as a hero.
The story is about the journey of betrayal and misfortunes that befall our protagonist, and how he deals with them and rises above all and everything as the real hero of the realm.

[Characters]
As the plot develops, you will notice that not much character development is considered except for the protagonist, which is not bad by the way (Subjectively speaking, I kind of prefer to stick with one character throughout the whole story; that's Naofumi in this one). Naofumi finds himself fighting not only against monsters that threaten the world but also the people who accuse him of being a demon and call him scum or trash. So it has always been a psychological war for Naofumi, but thankfully he is blessed with his sweet and reliable companions who will stop at nothing to prove Naofumi's innocence, kindness, and strength.
As for the other heroes, you'd think they will stand with their fellow summoned Naofumi against the unreasonable crimes he is accused of, but they appear to be just another pebble in Naofumi's way. As for whether they will have a change of heart, you will have to watch the show...

[Art/Sound]
The show doesn't have a "unique" style as far as the art goes; however, the characters' designs are somehow original and most of them are lovable, especially since they reflect their personalities and the roles given to them. The sound is great, the OP/ED are cool and the voice actors/actresses seem to know what they're doing, so everything fits and every character has a voice befitting of their personality.

[Enjoyment]
So far, the show has proven to be enjoyable. You get to feel emotions throughout the whole narrative, and as the plot unfolds you will grow to love the characters and hate some to be authentic.
Nothing beats rooting for people who were thrown to the dirt but decide to rise against the unfairness and injustice, help people all along their journey with their newly found friends and comrades...

Rei Hiroe heard about actual piracy cases in the East China Sea in the 90s, and was inspired by the works of many a Hollywood director like Tarantino, and decided to start working on his own story... that is Black Lagoon.

Now, it goes without saying that there are a lot of amazing works out there in the Seinen Anime world, but what is an undeniable fact is that Black Lagoon rules them all (according to me at least).

[Story]
In short, we have a group of mercenaries called the Lagoon Company that does anything for money -that's mercenaries for ye! Somewhere in the map of the ... world, there's the fictional city of Roanapur that hosts the most ruthless criminals and outlaws of the world ruled only by the laws made by the leaders of Mafia, yakuza... Definitely the wrong place for an honest person to be. Much to Rokuro's luck or total misfortune is more like it, he finds himself in the midst of failing negotiations between his superiors and the Lagoon Company, with him being the only hostage and bargaining chip of the trade. Rokuro's misfortunes don't end here; he not only joined the Lagoon Company but now has to act like a pirate in order to survive in the far-cry-environment than the peaceful Japan where he used to live and work as a lowly salaryman.
The story starts out with a bang! putting the characters through trials and challenges all along as the plot develops with a flair of humor and Western Movie references. If there is a moral or lesson to be learned from this show, it's how -when facing what one never thought or even imagined he would have to face, can one change? how his views towards different ideologies and behaviors are affected? and how to adapt to a foreign place with different common sense using only the know-how in one's arsenal?
That, and even though the odds may be against you being the newest member of such a "community" which is more like a corrupt monarchy, to say the least, there is always a side you never thought you had, and you started discovering it alongside people you thought you would never meet much less trust... That's only a fraction of what our main protagonist, Rokuro has to go through in this amazing work of fiction.

[Art/Sound]
For a work that is 13 years old (at the time of writing), I still find it compelling and attractive. Compared to newer shows, it may be lacking in quality, but what it lacks in quality/animation, it makes up with its originality, the attractiveness of its characters, and definitely the awesomeness of the story overall. As for the sound, it is as good as any, but that's just my opinion. Every character has a voice that fits the image and the personality they should depict, the sounds of guns shot, sword fights and stuff getting blown up are what you should expect and the music couldn't get any better (or could it? I'm not sure xD)

[Characters]
Although the story revolves around the Lagoon Company, I think that the main focus character-development-wise is our favorite couple Rokuro and Levy. After you finish an arc, you will feel that they are the characters that have developed the most, or changed the most. That's probably because the boss almost exclusively if not always puts them up as a pair and sends me off with challenging missions where they just have to talk and confront each other.
On the other hand, the author didn't neglect the other characters. If a character doesn't have a background story explaining why they're doing what they're doing, then they probably have a very unique and charismatic personality that makes them the elephant in the room.

[Enjoyment/Overall]
It's probably an exhausting and extremely hard work trying to figure out how a criminal thinks and acts. You'd think they're purely evil, but even then their acts must be based upon some complicated reasons and motivations. One of the best aspects of this show is when you find yourself sympathizing with some of its bloodthirsty characters, and when you try to unveil a hidden plot of some ruthless mastermind with ends unbeknownst to the common rabble. So the enjoyment factor is always at its peak even as new plots unfold!