The story is as typical as stories of this type can get. “Supernatural girl unwillingly teams up with supernatural boy and go to fight baddies while having a growing attraction for each other” is all you need to know about it. All that about families with special control over the elements is just a blunt backdrop story that hardly feels mystical or even thrilling looking to pay attention to for long. Can you believe the same premise can be found more captivating in a silly show like Naruto? Anyways, aside from being identical to a hundred other shows, there also aren’t any plot twists or anything to surprise you about it in general. It plays out so dull you are watching it with apathy.
A good thing about it is that it brings closure in the end instead of NOT bringing closure like most anime do. It is still a predictable outcome but it is better than no outcome. I would normally score an average score of 5/10 for it, but then there is another problem. FILLERS! Lots of them, many of which are throw away fan service ones. And most missions don’t even seem to connect with one another even when they are supposed to be in the core story. So you basically get only the three first and the three last to have a meaningful plot. Which is in effect 1/4th of the total duration and for that I give it a 3/10.
The characters are basic when it comes to personalities but at least they are not following the usual mold when it comes to shounen. The hero is almost an anti-hero and the heroine can actually fight well despite being a girl in shounen. Other than that, their chemistry is nothing much to write home about; as usual they begin as unwilling allies and along the way they get to like each other more and more. And yet you never get to see anything more past some platonic affection so it never gets spicy enough to bother paying attention to them.
Even past the expected development they get as characters, you still find it hard to like them, since they are otherwise quite blunt. Kazuma has nothing more going about his personality, other than playing it uncaring and avenging, and Ayano is basically a red-haired tsundere with a flaming sword, which passes as a less interesting Shana clone for not being voiced by Rie Kugimiya. All the other characters don’t even manage to be regarded as anything more than one dimensional allies and bad guys, with zero characterization. And seriously, Kazuma’s sibling is a boy??? Whatever, this is a show that bases all its appeal on the lead duo and does very little to feel any better than whatever else you can find out there. I would again normally score a 5 here since they do develop expectably, but then you have a big cast of cardboards surrounding the main duo, so they feel like lots of wasted material and I lower it to 4.
The production values are ok for the time the show was made, although they never manage to get into awesome levels for lacking aesthetic appeal. For example, the elemental families are supposed to be centuries old and delved deep into tradition and mysticism yet you hardly feel anything mystical emanating from the whole setting. The use of superpowers in battle is also basic to the most part and despite there being 4 elements, after awhile they all play out the exact same way and it only matters who has the bigger energy beam. The use of special effects also feels dull, as most look like nothing more than monochromatic computer generated overlays. The several scenes of fan service also don’t offer any more excitement to the table, since they are all very basic and softcore. I also didn’t like the overuse of deformity every time they try to make Ayano look funny when she is angry. It looks cheap, not funny, and of a style one would normally encounter a decade ago. I give the artwork a 7.
The music part left me with complete apathy; neither the songs nor the voice acting were anything special. I leave it at 6.
Value and Enjoyment are rock bottom for all the reasons I stated above. This show has nothing to offer to a veteran viewer and barely tries to be anything more than a goofy, average, tired, watch-once-and-throw-away anime with simplistic characters, loose plot, dull fan service and battles, and predictable outcomes. Not recommended at all.
