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Story: 3
To fellow lovers of this series, I apologize. But the plot of No.6 is horrendous. (extreme spoilers, just skip this entire paragraph if you haven't seen it yet) The bees are never explained. Tornados magically appear. Those inside of the wall never seem to accept those outside of the wall. The weird singing is apparently caused by some omnipotent god. The government with its dark and sinister vibe could have been considerably more creative in its dark/sinister-ness. No one ever explains what on earth a "moon drop" is. Maybe I just need to work on my suspension of disbelief, but this show felt like ... it had a lot of Psycho-Pass-esque potential and instead fell flat on its face in an attempt to wrap everything up before the final episode.

Art: 4
Nothing awful but nothing fantastic either. Unfortunately, the brilliance of some scenes (Safu in front of the stained-glass window) made the rest of the series look bland.

Sound: 4
None of the OSTs stood out to me and the opening was mediocre.

Characters: 8
Finally, the entire purpose of watching this show: the characters. If you enjoy complicated emotions, this series is a must-watch, from Nezumi and Inukashi's love-hate relationship to Safu's inability to express her emotions to Karan's love of her son to Nezumi's fluid sexuality to Youming's unexpected confession to Inukashi's unknown gender. And the grandaddy of them all: Nezumi and Shion's relationship.

Enjoyment: 9
In all seriousness, this series is at the top of my guilty pleasures list...mostly because of the romance. But I promise you that I'm no BL fiend; I just genuinely love the relationship between Shion and Nezumi. I love that they have a genuine relationship without descending into fanservice; I love that they aren't treated as some circus act because they are a gay couple; and I love the range of emotions the two go through as they grow closer. The writers manage to recreate a prince/pauper or book-smart vs. street-smart situation without too much cliche. Also, the handful of tender moments that the two share get me every time because they never feel fake, even if they are a little dramatic. In the end, the hart-wrenching conclusion of their relationship left me feeling like I was on the verge of tears, but also deeply satisfied (having put the cherry on top of the series's un-artificial tone). (spoilers) Though I just have to say it drives me crazy that Inukashi and Rikiga bail hard at the end.

Overall: 7
The plot is absurd to the extreme and the art style and sound do little to smooth this over, but I consider this series well worth the watch simply because of its impressively complex characters. I like to look at it as a multi-faceted romance against a sci-fi backdrop, and the non-ridiculous aspects of its unexpected conclusion give it a decent score in my book.

Story: 8
One of my favorite things in a fantasy show is a fully-thought-out or self-explanatory universe, one in which simple and uniform laws dictate the "magical" aspect of the show, keeping it both clearly fantasy and yet still believable. Madoka Magica does this perfectly, with even the wildest of twists easily explained by Kyuubey. My only complaint is that, because it is such a short series, I wish that Madoka Magica's dark side had come out just a bit sooner so that I would have had more time to enjoy it.

Art: 9
I typically like my animation to be the tiniest bit smoother (think Kyoukai ... no Kanata), but Madoka Magica's supremely unique design makes up for this. I love that the animators were not afraid to do something different and, in the end, the outstanding creativity and beautiful colors makes this one of my favorite art styles.

Sound: 9
Unfortunately, OSTs rarely stand out to me while I'm so focused on the dialogue of the show. Madoka Magica is definitely an exception though, and I refused to skip both the opening and the ending tracks while also enjoying the mid-episode music. The heavy guitar definitely helps bring a darker tone to the show even while it is still in its much happier first few episodes and I loved every minute of it.

Character: 8
Nearly every character is given a fully fleshed-out background and fittingly-complex personality, all with an aspect to which anyone can relate. There are (relatively) unpredictable transformations and heart-breaking relationships and wonderfully powerful acts of true love, all while even minor characters are not forgotten (ex: Junko, Hitomi). If absolutely nothing else, I wish that Junko had been involved in the storyline a little more considering how mush screen-time we spend getting to know her.

Enjoyment: 9
I love nothing more than a show that is not afraid to kill off its characters, and Madoka Magica does not disappoint. With a few small exceptions, there are no "just kidding, she's still alive" moments, while each death still feels significant and purposeful, as opposed to done in the name of gore. On top of it all, I am definitely one for a good ol' girl power story.

Overall: 9
Madoka Magica completely reinvents the magical girl genre, keeping it fresh and new with its unique art style, complex characters, short and sweet plot, edgy OST and famously mind-blowing twist. It's rich with emotion without feeling over-the-top and comes to a close with a deeply-satisfying ending. A must-watch for anyone.

Story: 5
An interesting enough premise, but Blue Exorcist turns out to be just another school-setting shounen with a main character with the typical daddy complex and a shallow/unfinished romance.

Art: 5
The colors were bright, which is always enjoyable, but the character designs were lacking and some features came out awkward-looking. Ex: Shura's oddly boxy midsection and Yukio's unusually wide face

Sound: 3
None of the OSTs stood out to me, but I loathed the jazzy opening.

Characters: 4
I really enjoyed Rin and Shirou's relationship, and Shiemi's smidgen of character development was nice to see. But there was little depth in the characters otherwise. Instead, the writers took the ... easy route and focused on Izumo's (spoiler) easily-predictable somewhat transformation and Rin and Yukio's unorthodox relationship (which came off as awkward and forced to me). Though I must applaud the series for (spoiler) letting Noriko go, which shows some resolve.

Concept & Execution: 5
The daddy complex was nothing new, though I thought the religious overtones and occasional references were interesting and almost Neon Genesis Evangelion-esque.

Enjoyment/Overall: 4/4
I was rather let down by the series after hearing so many good things from friends. The first few episodes are still wonderful and emotion-filled, in my opinion, but the rest of the show fails to follow-up and the conclusion is horrifically anticlimactic, (spoiler) with the exception of the relationship between Rin's mother and Satan, which I found surprisingly touching.

Overall, it feels like a textbook shounen that could have taken an edgy turn with the religious overtones and instead wimped out.