[Marion]

Wonderful. I already typed out my entire ramblings for this season, so let me post them now.

Spoiler for Best and Worst of the Series:

Best Arc - Adaptation wise: Banquet of the Golden Witch (EP 3)
Hands down the best arc adapted. Very minimal things were cut and it was generally a good arc from start to finish. I think the lowest point for this arc was episode 14 (when Eva finds the gold), but even that episode wasn't horrible overall.

Best Arc - Art wise: Alliance of the Golden Witch (EP 4)
If you look at this arc you'll see it has the least amount of QUALITY or generally bad art in it. Although quality went up and down it wasn't completely terrible, making it the best art wise.

Best Arc - Music wise: Turn of the Golden Witch (EP 2)
Although music wise isn't usually a category, considering that this anime is an adaptation of a sound novel I thought it only be fair to include a category like this. Generally good tracks were used, both originals and game remixes (Moon, Requiem, World End Dominator and Dread of the Grave).

Best Arc - Script wise: Legend of the Golden Witch (EP 1)
They eliminated what they needed to and despite the rushed pacing it was a decent arc adaption.

Best Episodes:
1st: Swindles (18)
2nd: Fools Mate (5)
3rd: Queening Square (16)

In my opinion these three episodes were the best in overall values. They were enjoyable, entertaining, consistent with the storyline and had the best display of emotion. Swindles had the right emotion in it, Fools Mate is probably the most properly adapted episode in the entire series and Queening Square was entertaining (yandere kyrie I love you) despite the cuts and slight changes they made.

Worst Episodes:
1st: Adjourn (24)
2nd: Sacrifice (26)
3rd: Back Rank Mate (11)

Now even though 26 made me rage very much, Adjourn lacked emotion, proper impact and cut a lot out, where Sacrifice at least kept to the original material as much as possible. I'm not even talking about Goat-kun here - the episode in general was just bad. Pacing was off, deaths were inconsistent and it was inconsistent with the storyline. Back Rank Mate had awful pacing, because they decided to put in Shannon's fight with Beato into that episode when it should have been in episode 10, and it was generally not one of my favorite episodes. Blunder was in the top 3 originally but I decided to excuse it, if only because the rush pacing of that episode made for a very good 5th episode and they still managed to keep things consistent as possible.

Best Female VAs:
1st: Ohara (Beato). No words can describe how much she amazes me. Although I always liked Beato she was never really one of my favorite characters. But Ohara's performance alone changed that for me. I was able to picture how Beato talks and acts even better thanks to her and it's probably one of the best things that came from the anime.
2nd: Tanaka (Kyrie). Kyrie has always been one of my favorite characters, but I simply loved how Tanaka handled her. She knew when to be logical and smart, but also displayed Kyrie's malicious and caring side as well. I've always liked her, since the old days when Ghost in the Shell arrived and she voiced Major Motoko, but her performance as Kyrie is probably one of the best performances she's done since her role as Motoko.
3rd: All the Stakes VA's. Picking just one out of the seven was too difficult. The Stakes had no strangers to the industry (Yonezawa, Hikasa and Toyosaki) but also had newcomers/first major role VA's as well. And all of them were just wonderful in their role. The voices were perfect - menacing but also had the right touch of immaturity, since you have to remember that despite being ruthless demons they are technically suppose to be teenage girls.
Other notable VA's: Mariko Mizuno as Siesta 45, Ami Koshimizu as Rosa, Kikuko Inoue as Virgilia and Yuki Kaida as Gaap.

Best Male VAs:
1st: Ono (Battler). When I first heard Ono as Battler in a preview drama track a good few months before the anime aired, I was pretty unsure. He didn't sound like Battler to me at all. But now I can't imagine any other voice suiting Battler. It has a rough sound to it, but at the same time it can give a playful side and a sadder side (even though the awful directing didn't give him a chance to show either sides much).
2nd: Koyama (Rudolf). Ore wa Jack Bauer Besides the Jack Bauer jokes I did enjoy Koyama voicing Rudolf. It sounded odd at first but I think he wasn't completely accustomed to voicing someone as old as Rudolf. Still he got use to it and Rudolf's character was truly brought out. Since the anime didn't get a chance to show Rudolf's playful side as much, I especially enjoyed hearing him in the 2nd Drama CD Omake Track, where he truly brought out Rudolf's sly dog personality and his sniveling 'oh god don't kill me kyrie' voice was just so perfect. Although he mostly does dub voices for movies and television series, I do hope to see him more in the anime industry, even if it doesn't pay nearly as well.
3rd: Sugita (Ronove). Moving past the 'Ono and Sugita, Itsuki and Kyon, etc etc' jokes, Sugita did very well with Ronove. He truly brought out Ronove's personality and didn't make him sound too flamboyant or too rough, but found a very nice balance with the character. Truly one of my favorite VA's.
Other notable VA's: Yusa Koji as Amakusa and Mugihito as Kinzo. Ryukishi make more major male characters!

Favorite Anime Remixes:
1st: Mortal Stampede Remix. Simply no question about it. Since I listened to it I haven't been able to understand WHY it was not used at all. It's an amazing fight song and it stayed true to the original sound, pumping up a bit more of the trumpets and trombones for the song. It would have been a perfect track for the Jessica and George battles.
2nd: Happiness of the Marionette Remix. Similar to the Mortal Stampede remix this is a beautiful recreation. Again they brought out the orchestra and it sounds like a song to be used in a royal ceremony, similar to Evatrice's succession. Simply beautiful. Why was it used only once.
3rd: Requiem Remix. A beautiful recreation - it's not nearly as overwhelming to me as the original and it gives a good feel. I enjoyed it very much.

Favorite Characters (Adapted into the anime)
1st: The Siestas. To tell the truth I was never a big fan of them. They had their moments but generally weren't my favorites. But wow the Anime Siestas > VN Siestas. Much more animated and have more antics than serious time. Although a lot of those fun scenes were cut in EP 4 sadly, including the carrot and useless bunnies joke.
2nd: Beatrice. I think Beatrice had a very proper adaptation. They put in many hints of her being the good guy and generally captured her character as a whole very well.
3rd: Maria. Similar to Beato they captured all of Maria's moments. Although they could have toned down the creepy faces just a little bit more, I wouldn't judge based on those faces and rather the general way she was written into the script. Maria has never been one of my favorites, but the anime just brought her to life for me as a whole.

Worst Characters (Adapted into the anime)
1st: Battler. He was done very well for the first arc, but after that it kinda went downhill. Constantly angry, constantly serious. Battler DID laugh with Beato and he did get along with her to some degree. The anime just made him angry angry angry throughout it all.
2nd: Kinzo. Okay seriously the guy doesn't JUST yell for Beatrice. He does do other things and he does still have some air of power and charisma. They pretty much reduced Kinzo to an old man yelling for Beatrice all the damn time. He got better in EP 4, but that's only because he had to become better.
3rd: Jessica. She's not my favorite character, but wow did they just make her so mellow. No crazy outbursts, no constant anger at the killer. Just not a good fit. The characterization got better as the anime went on, but too little too late.

Animation Quality: 8
Voice Actors: 9
Script: 7
Adaptation from Game: 5
Editing: 6

Although that's how I feel about the series as a whole, my general feelings go up to Average (6). I didn't have high hopes and expectations, but just god.