Review of The World is Still Beautiful

This is one of the best shoujos I've watched so far. It stands out with it's unusual setting, great and not cliché at all characters and the great music. Story: It was pretty original. I like the world the author created, although I couldn't understand everything about it. The story was a bit too fast paced for my taste in the first half, but it got more well balanced towards the end. It felt a bit over dramatic to me at some parts, maybe because twelve episodes are not enough to really get into the story and feel moved by the drama. I did feeled pretty movedin the last 2-3 episodes though.

Art:
The art was nothing outstanding, but it wasn't bad either. I liked the way the eyes were drawned.

Sound:
This was my favourite part of this anime. The music is great. I really like the rain summoning song, it's so touching and I can never get enough of it. The opening was pretty nice too and the ending was great. The voice acting was really good too. I liked how Princess Nike didn't have a over high pitched voice like most girls in anime.

Characters:
The two main characters were really well developed. We got to learn about their past and how they became the way they were. The way their relationship developped was really nice too, it felt realistic. Most supporting characters like the butler didn't get much development, but they were funny and interesting. Some of them could have been removed without changind anything, like the elder trio (I never understood what their role in this story was).

Enjoyment:
I really liked this anime, the first episode really got me hooked and I enjoyed most episodes a lot.

Overall:
It is a great shoujo and I don't get why it isn't more popular. I really liked the older woman with younger man (or child here) kind of relationship. It's so unusual but worked great here. A must watch for fans of romance that are getting tired of the typical shoujos with shy girls and strong boys.