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To start, I have NOT read the manga. That said, I wouldn't know if this is a great chapter-by-chapter adaptation or not.

Tatsuya (mmc) is a refreshing look at a shounen lead. He is neither weak, OP. He has his flaws, yet is a dominating force that can be admired. The same cannot be said for other characters. Many characters are sterotypical. You've got the overly shy (Azusa Nakajou), the moe glasses type (Mizuki Shibata), the silent "android" type (Shizuku Kitayama), as well as many other tried and tested anime tropes. In fact, there are so MANY characters introduced, that even in 26 episodes more ... often than not, character development is lacking.

Additionally, the story is rather erratic at times. I did like the division of the series into arcs, and I enjoyed the story overall, but significant details were either glossed over or left out completely. We get a glimpse of Tatsuya's background, but that's all. I would have liked a little more explanation on what exactly was done to him, how rare he is, and a deeper look into his relationship with his "sister" Miyuki and the non-existent relationship he has with their family. Again, a 12 episode one-shot series, I couldn't expect much. But I expect a little more cohesiveness and development from a 26 episode adventure.

The basis of the story is interesting: Magicians developed as weapons. Seeing this power grow and how it could be abused made me excited to see more. The series also took a more scientific approach with the presence of magic through CAD's (which were never fully explained either).

Overall, it's not a bad series. I would hesitate to settle in for 26 episodes if you're on the fence about this one. I can't imagine there are not better options out there. But on concept alone it's a win for me. Execution makes it average.

If this series gets greenlit for another season, I hope there is more explanations and deeper character developments, and not just the fan service kind.

I started this series with high hopes and an understanding that they may not be met. Unfortunately they weren't on all levels but were on a few. An above average series for some, disappointing for most, but still something that I, in the end, enjoyed and liked, though I would only recommend to a niche audience.

Overall: 7
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Story: 7
The idea in it's very basic form is nothing new. A guy-girl duo out to save people from things they don't understand/are misusing to hurt others. Despite this, I found it interesting still that "phantom books" were chosen as the tools. ... It's something different and in a sense, philosophical, to see that words are chosen as the weapon. Anyways, the story starts off rather episodic with very little tying one episode to the next other than the main characters. There isn't much plot development till the last few episodes which left me wondering why they either didn't attempt to turn this into a longer series or just start integrating the plot sooner. There is a set of characters that don't make an appearance till the last two episodes and another set that are briefly glimpsed earlier than revisited in the last few episodes. Also, an entire history/relationship between Huey and the pig-tailed girl is pretty much left unexplained. In short, the story was generic yet refreshing at the same time, however, the plot development was weak and rushed. Unless there is another season or a movie to be released, this is a big weakness in the series.

Art: 9
As the rating suggests, I liked the art. In all actuality, the art and animation deserves an 8 but I am rating a 9 for two different reasons. 1) Baby The Stars Shine Bright's and Alice and the Pirates was involved in designing costumes for Dantalian and the cast. I am a huge fan of Goth Loli (one of the secret reasons I picked up this series to begin with) and anyone who even has remote interest in Goth Loli should know this name or look it up. 2) Episode 9. Watch it. The art is fantastic. The rest of the series has great art design and above average animation though at times stiff, thus the deserved 8 rating, but these two things pushed it to a 9.

Sound: 8
The OP and ED are both good choices with the OP being the better of the two. The ED was a little strange for most people though I enjoyed the live action perspective and thought he video was interesting. The OP, however, is a beautiful number that really captures the mood with a somber score that is also, surprisingly, serene. The voice acting was good other than the fact that I kept finding myself being irritated with Dalian's pronunciations. For some reason, the way she strongly pronounced the ending syllables of her sentences rubbed me the wrong way and wore on my ears after a while.

Character: 7
The lack of plot development resulted in a general lack of character development. We see Dalian and Huey go through various adventures with each other but I never once really felt that their relationship had matured. There standing seemed the same in episode 2 as it did in episode 11. Only in the last episode do we see some emotion/connection between the two, but this is lost within the whirlwind of plot being flung at the viewer. Other characters are either abandoned or relegated to a mere mention in the closing episodes. There is never a strong tie connecting main characters to side characters and thus everything feels loose and unorganized. Also, as a personal note, I found Dalian to be a little too much tsundere, border-line childish. Scratch that, she WAS childish. Just not cute enough to overcome it.

Enjoyment: 7
I mostly enjoyed this anime for the art and the idea of books being used as weapons. This was somewhat lost in the chaos that was the last episode, but none-the-less, I still found this enjoyable enough. I wouldn't recommend unless I was sure someone else had the affinity for Goth Loli/Victorian style that I have.

WARNING: THIS MIGHT CONTAIN SLIGHT SPOILERS THOUGH I WILL ATTEMPT TO KEEP THEM TO A MINIMUM!!!

Also, I the first paragraph under each section was based on 3/12 episodes seen. The second paragraph will be an update based on having seen the series in it's entirety. I'm just too lazy to actually write something brand new lol. Anyways, On to the review...

Story: 3
The story has been weak for me and falls far short of expectations. I was expecting something dark and similar to Blood+ in many ways but perhaps with a fresh twist, however, what I have seen thus far is basically ... a high school slice-of-life drama with about 5 minutes at the end of every episode that give a slight nod to this series' predecessor, Blood+. I understand this a new series with an alternate take on the story but this pales in comparison to the previous version. There has been little progression in the story other than through character development (the little that there has been anyways) and there hasn't been an explanation offered for these "monsters" that Saya keeps fighting despite already having seen 1/4 of the season. The story just isn't entertaining and is convoluted and obscure.

This hold true for about half of the season. Then after episode 5 the series begins to become a little bit more action oriented but offers even less character development and zero plot progression as a result. Then an entire seasons worth of plot, build-up and all, is dumped on the viewer in the final two episodes with the last being a gore-fest. I understand what the story was aiming for and I even understand the approach that as attempted, but I felt the story was just crammed into two episodes at the end thus it rushed to me and failed on it's delivery. SPOILER: Also,if this matters to you at all, even knowing there is going to be a movie next year, the series ends with information but no resolution.

Art: 7
As far as the art design goes it's not bad and on par with other anime. The animation itself is nothing spectacular with the exception of Saya's fight scenes. Though a little too dark at times, the animation instantly improves and I will say that I am happy to see fluid sword movements in some scenes without excessive repetition. Other than that, however, it is basic. Not bad but not great. The character designs are ok, though I must admit I am not that much of a fan of Saya. The hair is just ridiculous for someone who has the responsibilities that she does. Again, the previous Saya from Blood+ was far superior in this respect again. Also, for supposedly being a high schooler, Yuuka Amino sure has the design of someone who just stepped out of the russian mafia. I feel like she is drawn far older than her character is intended to be.

As the series finished, I pretty much retained the feelings I had after episode three. Bad character designs and great actions scenes. Actually the latter became even better. Especially in the last episode when Saya fights "Thundercat". You'll knw who this is when it happens. And the ensuing fight scene is probably one of the best I've seen in an anime in a very very long time. The action is fast, almost "what just happened" fast, yet still clear. The sword movements are swift and non-repetitive. Overall, the action is the saving grace of this series from an artistic point and I can only hope the action style is incorporated into other anime in the future.

Sound:6
I am not an audiophile so for me I look for basic clarity and voices. I can hear things clearly, so it passes my clarity test lol. As far as the voice choices, I haven't adored any of them other than Misato Fukuen. The voice actors are alright and don't take away from the story.

This held true throughout the series. An average score for average voice acting.

Character: 3
Here is the big one for me. What. The. Hell. Is. Wrong. With. Saya. She is beyond lacking common sense. She is beyond ditzy even. She is a whole new level of clueless that is shocking to even have to witness. She has ZERO awareness as to what's going on around her unless it has to do with that dog, Tokizane, her father, or fighting. It's painful to see a main protagonist be so absentminded she doesn't even realize that her friends, who are but five feet away from her, talk about her to her face, and then snap into battle mode in the remaining few minutes. Also, I think that her adoration for her father is kind of odd. It's a little too much daddy's girl for me. Not that the show ever hints that the relationship is odd, which I think makes it even more odd since it was probably unintended. The other characters fall flat and seem bland. The saving grace to this show are the twins. They are cute and funny.

This is about the most interesting part of the series since so much happens in the last two episodes to either change perceptions or reaffirm suspicions. Saya remains beyond ditzy and clueless till the last episode and everything else would spoil surprises so I will simply say that character development is still extremely slow and uninteresting. It's hard to relate to characters and care about them when their personalities are so generic and underdeveloped. However, the last two episodes change this. For better or for worse is up to you. For me,it made it interesting. Most will probably just rage.

Enjoyment: 4
At least the fight scenes are entertaining, despite the fact I have no clue what she is fighting or why. Still, as stated above, this is where the animation picks up a bit.

This hold true thought an explanation is given at some point. The animation still remains the biggest plus for this series. The fight scenes are good, even if they are a little sparse in the beginning. I actually kind of like the "twist" at the end. The deliver was a complete failure and thus this series will be rated very low on average but I like the attempt. Again I understand the why, but it doesn't change the fact it failed.

Overall: 4
Explained above.