I'm not good at this "overall review" thing, but since there are all these nice guides I'll try to write something...
Meanwhile, my overall "evaluation" is
here - it was written before the finale which didn't fix anything that was wrong with the show before, but at least provided a very entertaining and satisfying (if, as usual, clunkily written) closure.
Animation Quality: 7? Maybe?
It was pretty nice, I guess? The actual animation was a better-than-average fair, as for the CG... I guess it didn't blend in seamlessly, but the whole thing was so colorful and lively that it didn't bother me. The designs were nice, and every now and then there were some absolutely gorgeous scenes.
What
did bother me was reusing footage from Genesis (sorry, I just can't get over this
). Now
that was cheap and amateurish and every single reused frame stuck out like a sore thumb. Different character designs, different colors, different animation, seriously, what the hell? And all just because they couldn't have been assed to link the show to Genesis in a way that doesn't involve flashbacks. (It would've been possible, you know!) Not to mention it made the whole thing less accessible for first-time Aquarion viewers.
Voice Actors: Good, I guess?
The seiyuu did their job well, nobody was bad, nobody was miscast, etc. A special mention goes to Fujiwara Keiji and Nakamura Yuuichi, who were not only spot-on as Fudou and Mykage but provided deliciously hammy performances that fit the tone of the show wonderfully, and it felt like they were just having loads of fun with their characters.
Script: 4
The individual episodes were mostly OK (not perfect, but very enjoyable), but overall? Yeah, I still can't believe anyone got paid for this. I mean, if at least the dialogue had been good, but... no, it was average at best (and it was kind of pathetic how they kept stumbling over Kagura's reverse speech). I rant about this at length in the post linked above, here I'll just say that I feel very sorry for the main characters, especially Amata & Mikono, and also Zessica for what she turned into for most of the show. They would've deserved a much better treatment. (Good thing that my likes and dislikes tend not to depend on how well the writing treats a character, so I kept liking my favorites and rooting for them.)
Also, dogs. FFS, REALLY, COME ON, did you really have to drag Genesis into
that?
Soundtrack: 10, except most of it was reused from Genesis which is not only cheap, it's also questionable since the score was written for a different show... ah well. Most of the time it did its job well, though, and wasn't jarring. However, I still can't get over using Yunoha no mori as the second ED. It's not even a question of whether it's a good song or not, it's just.... wtf?? Yunoha?? the hell, really.
Editing: as in series editing? It sucked, big time. See above.
Sigh, just to think what this show could've been with a good writer in charge.
Enjoyment: 8
Because despite everything it was still hugely entertaining.
And the finale managed to close everything on a positive note for which I applaud the creators.
Emotional Involvement: I... dunno? I really enjoyed the show, despite all its huge flaws. It had lots of laughs, lots of "whoa pretty!" moments, etc. and I cared about my favorite charas enough to enjoy them and keep rooting for them throughout the show (even when everyone hated them), and my feelings had ups and downs, though most "downs" were related to how my favorite charas were doing, so... I suppose this counts for something. On the other hand, the glaring flaws in the writing kept me from getting as emotionally involved as some people here and elsewhere, which is good because I could keep enjoying the show without taking everything personally, so to speak. (I think everyone knows what I'm talking about here...)
Average = Total Series Rating = Aquarion.