Review of La storia della Arcana Famiglia

Many people have said that Arcana Famiglia sucked, due to the ending and the lack of storyline. I would agree, but it wasn't to that exaggerated extent. First of all, I can agree that there really was no story plot. The Arcana Duello was supposed to be the main core of this anime. However, it wasn't really reached. All the episodes in between the last felt like fillers except for the character development scenes. Personally, I find these very enjoyable, but the fact that 90% of the anime were these episodes, it wasn't entirely satisfying. It was like: Alright, I know this about this character,and that about that character, so what are you going to bring next regarding these facts? Honestly the end was rushed, and it ended the story, but whether it was executed properly is a whole different situation. I guess you could also say the ending itself was not the ending the viewers wanted, but the twist was expected.

Moving on, the art and sound was satisfying, I guess you could say, for any anime it would've passed. I don't know why, but in my opinion I found the outfits rather... cool. It set the atmosphere and the whole mafia scheme really got me hooked. I think the voice actors really suited the characters, and modulation between different emotions were smooth as well.

Character development was good, but again, it left it at a point where nothing was accomplished. I felt like I understood the characters, but I didn't know what the producers and directors would do regarding these basic structures. Nova, Liberta, Diberte, Luca, Pace, Dante, and even Jolly were developed quite well during the anime. This makes it entertaining, due to all their contrasting personalities. However, Felicita was developed poorly. This is the downfall. I wouldn't say she had no personality at all, but she had no significant outstanding qualities that made her different from other anime girls. Considering that she was the main character, this made the anime much less enjoyable. I kept thinking, if i were in Felicita's place, I wouldn't be acting like that...

The enjoyment was great though. During the first 7 episodes, I laughed so much. The little jokes and sexual innuendos were great. However, when things began to turn serious, those little puns lessened. I even enjoyed the punishment/repent sessions at the end of every episodes since they stopped. Even though the ending was rushed, I enjoyed it, comprehending every detail. It wasn't intense enough, but they had good laughs. I would recommend you to watch it if you don't mind the somewhat trashy storyline and like comedy animes. Despite the main female lead being a typical girl, the other male characters were hilarious due to their contrasting personalities (again).

Overall: I really enjoyed Arcana Famiglia, and I wouldn't say that it was terrible. I think you should give it a try, because it isn't as bad as all the comments say. I probably shouldn't compare, but these first 12 episodes are rather like a build-up similar to build-ups in the anime Fairytail. The difference is that Fairytail has a more thought out story-line with a main antagonist. Like Arcana Famiglia, they had to develop their characters, but I think that with Fairytail being 100+ episodes, has more potential for a storyline rather than 12 episodes. Again, give Arcana Famiglia a try, because I enjoyed it, despite the disappointing ending. I'll tell you that it isn't a really crappy ending, but it's rather rushed. I rate this a 7.