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I believe every second of this show was worth watching for me personally. The premise is intriguing and the plot is overall pretty solid, even if it is somewhat messy. In any case, it's strong enough to keep the viewer interested and engaged. Many people complained about the ending being too rushed and cramped, but I did not feel this way at all.

What made this anime great for me is it's dialectical nature: at times it really worked as a good suspense horror and at times it was truly heartwarming, thanks to its characters and atmosphere.

I found all of the characters to be interesting ... and likeable and easily invested myself into their struggles and relationships. Character development was great in my opinion: it was honestly gratifying to observe the friendship between the main characters develop and watching them grow. Add to that some really wholesome moments in the final episodes of the show.

Atmosphere is another huge strength of "Ghost Hound". Being set in a somewhat rural and isolated area of Japan it presents us with some beautiful landscapes and architecture. It also gives us a glimpse into the way of life of the locals. It's small things like that which made this anime extremely immersive. Not only the soundtrack, but the sound just in general was great, contributing to the overall unique atmosphere of this show. The OP and ED were pleasant as well.

Given all that, slow pacing of this show was a real gift!

True, "Ghost Hound" has its flaws (people point out, for example, that many things are indeed left somewhat unexplained, although I do not necessarily see it as a real flaw) and it is understandable why some people would dislike it. However, for me the good that I described outweighs the bad to such an extent that the bad is almost non-existent. When you are watching "Ghost Hound", you can see and feel Japan while following a solid story with great characters. In any case, that was certainly true for me.

Loved "Honey and Clover", Hated This!

I simply did not enjoy 3-gatsu no Lion. It had a great premise and a great potential. There are some nice moments and arcs, I really enjoyed a couple of episodes. But I had to really force myself to push through the rest of them. I would say there are 5 major reasons why this show fails for me:
1) The story has a nice premise, but major themes and characters remain somewhat underdeveloped and unexplored. The pacing is weird and I didn't find it enjoyable.
2) Too much obnoxious humor and gags that I did not find funny at all. And ... when I say too much I mean TOO MUCH.
3) The Shogi aspect of the show made it totally boring and unrelatable to me. It's simply hard to pay attention to characters obsessing over something you simply do not care about in the slightest.
4) Total lack of a romantic love aspect. The MC does not even express any romantic feelings in any way and does not reflect on love, at least not that I remember. Yet, this is a big part of adolescence for most people. So I find this puzzling. Again, it wouldn't be a problem if the show had more substance over unfunny humor and wasn't overfocused on the whole shogi thing. I think a romance could possibly, just possibly somewhat save this show for me. 'Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru' was pretty much focused on shogi too, but it didn't feel like a drag because it didn't suffer from the issues that plague 3-gatsu no Lion and had a romance that most people could relate to to keep the viewer engaged.
5) Music and atmosphere: not bad, but not memorable or special at all. It's average.

Overall I say that 3-gatsu no Lion is a major let down for me. I went in with high expectations, given how much people had praised this show. But why, exactly? A lot of them seem to like it mainly because they can "relate" to the MC who is struggling with anxiety, depression and trauma. But is this really enough to call this show a masterpiece? I guess it is enjoyable if you like the humor, the way they integrated the shogi theme and the pacing. But I didn't and I would not recommend watching this show, from my perspective. There are a few meaningful momenst that are overshadowed by lots of bad stuff. I think it just wasn't worth it for me. But I would recommend watching 5 or 6 episodes to see if you like it. If you don't - I doubt it will get better for you and I doubt anything of value will be lost for you.

After I ended up disappointed with 3-gatsu no Lion I went on to watch 'Honey and Clover', also a work of Chica Umino. I found it to be a solid work of perfection. It succeeds at everything that 3-gatsu no Lion fails at: creating strong characters and showing powerful character development, creating a great atmosphere with an amazing soundtrack, making the pacing enjoyable and finally at creating a truly deep reflection on life and its meaning. Indeed, 3-gatsu no Lion failed at everything that Honey and Clover did so perfectly. Sad!

No spoilers review (although I will list a few general themes that are present in the show).

I will definitely recommend you this show if you enjoyed things like Monster or Noir and looking for something similar to experience. Blood+ does remind me of these two. What makes all three of them Good - despite their many flaws - is, I would argue, first and foremost, the atmosphere and the asesthetic. But also the themes that are explored, as well as heavy emphasis on character development.

Enjoyment: 9/10. It's subjective, plain and simple. I enjoyed this show greatly for it's unmatched atmosphere, heart-warming and heart-breaking scenes and ... great characters.

Philosophy: 8/10. Unlike certain animes like Lain, Evangelion, Ergo Proxy and Texhnolyze which are often seen as pretentious for their explicit use of obscure symbology and twists, Blood+ does not offer the viewer any "deep" incomprehensible scenes to interpret. However, there is much to be found if you think deeply. Blood+ uses relatively simple plot themes to explore hard existential, metaphysical and ethical concepts. And as such, offers much more value in terms of philosophical analysis than the shows I mentioned. Just like Monster. At least it's the case for me. Just to name a few subjects explored in this show: the nature of personhood and moral responsibility, free will, loneliness, friendship, the meaning of life and nihilism, speciecism, extinction, suicide and sacrifice, does the end justify the means, violence, ethics of scientific research, power and domination, loyalty, betrayal and love; I could honestly go on and on. If you think carefully throughout watching the show, you will find it very rewarding!

Soundtrack: 10/10. It is superb. This is what creates half of this show. Melancholic, peaceful, heroic and powerful - these are the words I would use to describe my favorite bits of the Blood+ soundtrack. I liked all OPs and EDs, although some less than others.

Characters: 8/10. I found a few characters to be mostly annoying, but this did not spoil the show for me. The characters may bot be perfect, but they are good enough to really make you care. And there's also character development and I think it's good.

Story: 7/10. It may have some flaws and inconsistencies, but if you are willing to be charitable, they will not spoil the show. This was the case for me. The story is good enough to keep you interested and invested in the show. The flaws didn't bother me too much as I was busy enjoying the characters and the soundtrack and immersing myself into this wonderful experience.

Art: I don't really care about it. It was good enough for me, but I have little standards. Although I will mention that the SINGING scenes are horrible! You will know, if you watched! But if you haven't, don't let this discourage you. Characters and atmosphere is what you should be looking for in this one.

I will conclude this review by saying a few words about the flaws of this show. I think there are many of them. Some of them are legitimate, but most, I think, can be explained and made sense of if you watch the show carefully and consider the point of view of the characters. There are annoying moments and sometimes things are badly executed. But personally, I am willing to overlook this, because overall I think there is much more good that outweighs the bad, in my personal opinion. Give it a try, and if you are into it, it will totally be worth it. Thank you.