First off, let me start this review off by saying that I have noticed how this show has been given a ridiculous amount of undeserved good reviews... I feel this anime is by no means unique in its content, save for a few details I will go over. But despite that, it has somehow managed to draw me in, I liked certain aspects of it that I know aren't all that great.
Now, let's begin.
STORY:
Simply put, the story was extremely basic with a few good twists thrown in, it is riddled with overused tropes that had me rolling my eyes, but the ride was a lot of fun. They took me by surprise with the first episode, in regards to the identity of the main(?) character and the hero's quest the characters set upon was predictable but still felt rewarding regardless. It is a simple plot, with characters on a mission to save their home, assemble a team, and take down the big bad. If the story wasn't SO full of generic events and subplots it could easily get a higher rating from me, because as I said, despite all the bad elements I enjoyed myself a lot.I'm a sucker for medieval/magic/knight stories, & I was mostly happy with the world they built.The biggest problem with the story besides the core plot being generic was the fact that almost no one was to blame for their actions and in turn no one truly earned their happy ending! Almost all the villains were redeemed, but the main villain's evil personality and motivation came out of nowhere and made no sense... They were just set on achieving their evil goal because a switch flipped! There was no development or build-up. The use of Deus Ex Machina was overused to the point where I knew that nothing truly bad would happen or have any lasting effect!
Also, almost everything was connected by at least 2 or 3 degrees, everything had some sort of deeper meaning, everyone was important in some way, and everyone knew each other by name or by extension... It was ridiculous how interconnected the plot and characters were. There was no sense of mystery, no real loose ends, everything was way too neat, hardly realistic, and hardly satisfying. Mostly it felt cheap in the end, treating the audience like they needed to be spoon-fed.
However, in terms of delivering the story and keeping you engaged, the story did very well! The pacing was phenomenal, one of the best aspects of the story, I never felt bored or overwhelmed. All the important information was delivered exactly when you needed it, and while I said it was like being spoon-fed, it was somewhat refreshing to let the story do all the legwork without effort on my part. The character's past connections and history was given through character interaction as well as flashbacks. It was a very fun ride that couldn't quite decide on being serious or wacky, but in the end there was enough there to more than hold my attention, and even though it was using borrowed concepts from other popular shows like Nauto and Bleach, it more or less felt like it was done in the right spirit and done well. The thing that really kept me invested was the characters and their interactions, which I will go into later, they were applied really well to the story and fit the unbalanced tone overall. When the story did something right, it did it really right.ANIMATION:In terms of quality, the animation and art direction was more-or-less the current industry standard for acceptable quality. It was neither amazing or beautiful, nor was it boring or ugly. It did its job we, the colours popped, the simple shading & light effects worked well, and felt like they truly belonged with the overall tone. I don't really have any more to say, it felt right and looked nice, nothing more.SOUND:The opening and ending themes were nice and felt appropriate with the show's mix of drama and positive outlook on the characters and story. The score was more or less uninspired save for one or two tracks... So much so that I barely remember the music at all. It was forgettable and just served as something to hear besides sound effects. Truly it was background music.CHARACTERS:Now for my favourite thing about this show... The characters. Despite what I just said, I have some serious issues with a handful of the characters. One of my main problems with the show overall was how almost everyone is innocent and justified in one way or another.But more so than that, I hate how most of the characters don't have layers or drive to them, they just do what they do because they're supposed to, no questions asked. Princess Elizabeth is just a walking trope dispenser, she is unbearably perfect, incorruptible, and too kind... "How can she be too kind?", quite easily, when it doesn't make sense and she does it constantly. Elizabeth has powers activated by love and kindness, she has a covered-up secret eye, she always cries, she just wants to help no matter what it takes, she's happy to sacrifice herself whenever, and she never falters in her quest... EVER. She's sexy, cute, smart, loving... Flawless. What am I supposed to invest in, exactly? She's a saint.Hawk... That goddamn pig, I hate it so much. The jokes got really old really fast. It's a nuisance.The villain, what's-his-face. Why is he evil, why was he that determined to gain power at any cost? Who knows. He just decided to do whatever he needed to gain god-like powers one day, we never learn who he really is or why he's even that relevant in the first place. Everything surrounding him feels like a rushed cardboard cut-out. Plus, the way the show is structured, I knew his conclusion and how it would play out all along, he's so terrible it borders on parody.BUT... Except for the main villain, I still like Elizabeth and Hawk... I enjoyed most of the other characters, their interactions, and their relationships. My favourite characters are Ban and Diane, the friendship between all the Sins is fun albeit predictable. Despite several characters being underdeveloped and way too simple, that approach actually worked well with the pacing of the story, and once again let me just enjoy what was happening without me having to work for it.The real magic here is that in spite of these flaws, the characters are what I liked best, and besides what I have already mentioned, I don't know why... It just worked. Even though I could clearly see all the tropes and character archetypes, I was invested, and I cared, at least what I think is me caring. OVERALL:I enjoyed the ride, it was fun, and despite its shortcomings, I would probably recommend this, especially if you're a fan of Shounen or Fantasy anime. Regardless of my better judgment, I really liked it, but that won't save it from my honest and mostly objective ratings... I give it 6.2/10 because I just don't think it's worthy of 7/10. It has too many generic flaws and feels like I've seen it before so many times. Solid effort. Please keep in mind, to me a 10/10 is a masterpiece, something that should transcend anime entertainment as a work of art. If something gets what is almost a 7/10, that's still better than most, and I think is worth a try.