I don't consider myself an emotional person, but this series often kept me at the edge of my seat, especially at the finale. Probably the best part is that you don't know what the ending will be, until it happens - you can make guesses, but you can't be sure whether it's going to be a "happy end", or a "heroic death" end, or even something different altogether. I won't say which one it turned out to be, except noting that it was a perfect fit for the series, and that's something you don't see too often, unfortunately. The character development is probably the best I've ever seen. Every single character gets thoroughly developed, but almost no one is static - they all change significantly throughout the series, evolve under the new, unusual conditions (except maybe Luna, but she's strong enough already). This what makes this show so realistic, despite it being a cartoon, a science-fiction, and a fantasy all in one. And that's a major achievement.
One should note, though, that at first it may not look too promising - the story starts to develop slowly and not very eventfully for about a dozen episodes. But after a while the real adventures begin and so do the mysteries. Actually, the first hints that the series has much more to offer than just a group of lost kids, do appear in the earliest episodes. And then the real fun starts. The animation is as good as you might expect from such a series. Even those silly, irritating anime faces (with apple-sized sweat drops, crosses for eyes, etc.) all but disappear by the middle of the series, making it ever more realistic (and enjoyable). My only complaint is that at the ending of each episode they provide a short, but all-inclusive summary of the following episode. Apparently, the makers of the series are unfamiliar with the term "spoiler". I recommend switching to a different channel the moment this summary starts. Besides that, really can't think of anything bad to say, so it's a solid 10.
And in my case the series has also contributed to my Japanese, because I watched it with subtitles. Entertaining and educational at the same time - how about that?
