I enjoyed this anime, but couldn't rate it any higher than what I gave it (especially with how frustrating some of its negative aspects presented themselves in later episodes). Also, I actually gave a rating on sound, which was based off of the soundtrack (I saw the sub version, and the voice acting was fine). There was one episode which had an annoying high-pitched whistling in it to simulate a Western atmosphere, but the whistling was so grating that I had to cover my ears; good thing for the subtitles!
Good anime, but very predictable, especially for anyone who has seen fantasy animes or "modern day kid goes to another world" animes. Let's get started.
Plot
"Been there, done that."
There were no surprises or chilling parts of the story/plot. Rather, it was all extremely predictable, especially if you just pay attention to the story. The most common thing I wound up wondering was "is s/he going to die".
There wasn't any major plot until around halfway through the series, and it was more of a comedy with a few dire situations thrown in for the fun of it.
All in all, this isn't the anime's strong point. There are even some events which occurred that could have been done a lot better to bring out the plot or have the story make a little more sense, but it felt like much of the story had just been thrown together at random.
In fact, there were many times when I had to double-check to make sure I hadn't skipped an episode by mistake, because there was something else happening that didn't seem to belong in the current story arc.
Some of it was also choppy, and it slowed down in places which shouldn't have slowed down while it sped up in areas which should have had better explanations.
It's really hard to give an accurate rating, or even a good description, of the plot because of the rather hodge-podge way it was put together. Again, the plot is hardly the anime's calling card.
New viewers to the genre might get some surprises, but everyone else will most likely be able to predict the outcomes...well, if they aren't too confused by the scattered way the story is presented.
Characters
This is what the anime has going for it, and what draws people in. Unfortunately, I can't really describe the characters in full without including major spoilers (or dropping even bigger hints about the overall plot).
The protagonist is a baseball enthusiast named Yuri Shibuya. After he saves a (former) classmate from three bullies, they attempt to shove his head in a toilet...but he's transported to another world, instead. His character is very determined, innocent, and pure hearted (but not in an overly obnoxious way).
Another big star is Conrart Weller, who is one of the first to come pick Yuri up after the teenager was dropped into the other world. He's fiercely loyal, and is probably the best swordsman in the entire land. He often acts as a voice of reason when Yuri's emotions get the better of him, and acts as a father, mentor, and brother to Yuri.
Gunter von Christ is another character seen early, and is mostly the comic relief of the story. He doesn't get many serious scenes, and is the most overly dramatic out of all of the characters. His strengths lie in the library and records, as well as history (though this isn't often highlighted, as again, he's mostly used as comic relief).
Wolfram von Bielefelt is a hot-headed "little prince" with a big attitude. I'm actually finding it difficult to write this part objectively, as I dislike his character the most. He's generally a brat who is average at swordsmanship and the fire element, and also takes on a role of comedy most often. He also gets accidentally engaged to Yuri, but seems to rather like that and reminds Yuri of it at every opportunity he gets.
Gwendal von Voltaire is one of the oldest, and could be described as a tsundere character. He seems rather cold at first, but does have his soft points, and eventually warms up to Yuri (though he wouldn't admit it). He is decently skilled with a sword, and can also use the element of earth (though we actually rarely get to see that).
There are many more characters, some mostly being comic relief (such as Anissina), and others important to the story. I think some situations could have developed the characters a little better than we were shown, but the main characters I listed (with the exception of Gunter, who pretty much remains the same throughout the series) had the most development.
There are also some characters who were underdeveloped, and even a couple whose situations we never see again (there's a character named "Rick", who comes to mind with that). It's that reason that I can't give a full score in the Characters department, though that's what the anime really has.
Overall
It's entertaining, and I'd recommend it to fans of the genre.
Unfortunately, the series couldn't seem to decide what genre it wanted to be. For the first 15-20 episodes, it was mostly comedy. Even some of the more "dire" situations reverted to comedy as a default, or interrupted the building tension with comedy relief scenes (often featuring Gunter and Anissina).
That interruption of drama never ceased through the entire series, unfortunately. It was extremely annoying towards the end of the series, when a dramatic moment was happening or about to happen, and then there would be a scene change to what some of the other characters were doing.
That's not something anyone wants to see in the middle of an extremely important scene, or what is about to become a very dramatic situation. Those light hearted parts were unwanted, and even other fantasy-comedies I've seen didn't dare change scenes like that or try to throw in comedy where it didn't belong.
Another shortcoming was mentioned in the character section, and that was the fact that a few scenes felt rushed; probably because they were interrupted by comic relief instead of properly concluded or explained.
Other parts were too slow in getting to the main point (and also interrupted occasionally by random scenes), while other parts didn't explain things well enough or go into it enough to make it feel like a situation was completely resolved; many of them felt open-ended and lacking.
Some fight scenes are also over too quickly or just not very interesting to watch (which is why I docked some points off of the animation), and others felt like a let down or extremely anticlimactic.
However, overall, it was a good, fun anime.