The concept of this series is intriguing, and lends itself to a lot of interesting possibilities. And at first, it seems to be taking advantage of these possibilities with a combination of steampunk style battles between Japanese feudal lords while facing an incoming influence from the West. But after the first half, it instead becomes a confusing, somewhat bizarre concept with a poorly defined conflict.
Right off the bat, in my opinion, the weakest part of the series, is the story. Initially, the story had a lot of promise, with East (which strangely only consists of Japan, and an ancient Indian King is considered a Western figure) being divided up into several conflicting nations with less advanced technology, and facing tension with the unified, more advanced West, which does somewhat represent the dynamic of the time this is inspired by. That alone would've made great series, which I would've watched. But after the halfway mark, the story seems to morph into a poorly explained, poorly defined conflict that I still don't really get. Attempts to explain the conflict are often either confusing, or boring.
The fight scenes are hit and miss. The mech designs are cool enough, and so are the powers, if not admittedly somewhat silly. If you like that, great, but for me, the later ones get slightly too outlandish.
The characters are alright. They all have distinct personalities and designs, and the important ones are developed as necessary. The Western characters, however, are rather one note, with the exception of Caesar and I'd say Alexander. The bonds between the characters are also well done, and I buy the relationship between Nobu and Joan (who's disguise is beyond paper thin), as well as those between the other characters. Its hard to go into the other characters without going into potential spoilers, but they're all fine. But towards the end, things get somewhat confusing.
The animation is fine, if not slightly inconsistent. Sometimes it has a more standard anime-esque appearance, while it can suddenly morph into a more realistic appearance. It can be somewhat distracting at times, but its not like either appearance is necessarily bad.
In summary, I thought this anime was alright. The first part is definitely the better half, though. If you're looking for something interesting, but not particularly grand or extravagant, you might enjoy this enough.
Strong Beginning, Lackluster Ending
The concept of this series is intriguing, and lends itself to a lot of interesting possibilities. And at first, it seems to be taking advantage of these possibilities with a combination of steampunk style battles between Japanese feudal lords while facing an incoming influence from the West. But after the first half, it instead becomes a confusing, somewhat bizarre concept with a poorly defined conflict.
Right off the bat, in my opinion, the weakest part of the series, is the story. Initially, the story had a lot of promise, with East (which strangely only consists of Japan, and an ancient Indian King is considered a Western figure) being divided up into several conflicting nations with less advanced technology, and facing tension with the unified, more advanced West, which does somewhat represent the dynamic of the time this is inspired by. That alone would've made great series, which I would've watched. But after the halfway mark, the story seems to morph into a poorly explained, poorly defined conflict that I still don't really get. Attempts to explain the conflict are often either confusing, or boring.
The fight scenes are hit and miss. The mech designs are cool enough, and so are the powers, if not admittedly somewhat silly. If you like that, great, but for me, the later ones get slightly too outlandish.
The characters are alright. They all have distinct personalities and designs, and the important ones are developed as necessary. The Western characters, however, are rather one note, with the exception of Caesar and I'd say Alexander. The bonds between the characters are also well done, and I buy the relationship between Nobu and Joan (who's disguise is beyond paper thin), as well as those between the other characters. Its hard to go into the other characters without going into potential spoilers, but they're all fine. But towards the end, things get somewhat confusing.
The animation is fine, if not slightly inconsistent. Sometimes it has a more standard anime-esque appearance, while it can suddenly morph into a more realistic appearance. It can be somewhat distracting at times, but its not like either appearance is necessarily bad.
In summary, I thought this anime was alright. The first part is definitely the better half, though. If you're looking for something interesting, but not particularly grand or extravagant, you might enjoy this enough.