Review of Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom

This is my first time writing a review so any feedback is appreciated. I put this series on hiatus for a while and just finished it last night on a sudden whim. I have to say, it is one of the best anime I have ever watched. Art (9/10) The art is very great. It is animated very realistically while still retaining the part of anime art that attracts so many people. Phantom's movements and eye changes are some of the exceptional arts. Character (10/10) This, I have to say, is the most important to me. With all the anime being created, there are less of the cold, cool malecharacter that possesses amazing abilities at the beginning. Instead, most anime nowadays center on a pathetic, weak male character being beat around by an arrogant female character, overcoming challenges and eventually emerging victorious,(blah blah lame). Zwei in this anime is all that anyone could ever look for in a good character. He is cold, logical, intelligent, cool, skillful, taciturn and doesn't take crap from anyone. HE is in control. Throughout the anime, I always seem to relate to him and cheer him on.

Story (10/10)
This is the story of Reiji, a kidnapped tourist who was trained to be a heartless assassin of peerless skill at a desert facility and given the codename Zwei. He meets Ein, the prototype assassin, also known as Phantom. They endeavor on the quest to find out their true identities and escape from the world of assassinations and the crime organization Inferno, which they once belonged to. Throughout the story are numbers of twists and revelations that would certainly beat the "journey to slay the evil dragon" storyline any day. The end is much like the end of Code Geass R2. It is very ambiguous and leaves the viewer confused and deep in thought.

Overall (10/10)
This anime embraces tragedy and vengeance, two often ignored concepts in anime. Life isn't always full of happiness and flowers and the producers of Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom understand that. If you are bored of all those mainstream animes where the pathetic main character has no backbone and just gets beat around but then (SUDDENLY) obtains great powers... only to be beat around by the female character again, then this anime is the answer to your prayers.