Presentation
The box art is definitely eye-catching. It displays a picture of Allen posing to strike and the adorable Golem Timcanpy flittering in front of him on a black background and a silver lining with the Exorcist crest at each corner. The individual case for the first DVD is the exact same as the main box, minus the border. The case for the second DVD features Konda posing with his sword Mugen on a white background. The discs themselves both display a complex star-shaped design with odd lettering and symbols inside each point on a white background. The art in the series is very reminiscent of Full Metal Alchemist albeit considerably darker, the main colors being black and white, with a bit of green to show the powers of the activated innocence. It’s very easy to assume that if you enjoyed the artwork of Full Metal Alchemist (which I did) you will enjoy this one’s as well. The character designs are also very similar to Full Metal Alchemist to the extent that the main character is a white haired, short, thin male (which tends to get him called Bean Sprout by Konda and later Lavi) whom when his power activates turns his left arm into a metallic weapon. The rest of the character designs are pretty typical for a well-drawn anime with each character having a very unique look to them. The music in the series is relatively creepy to listen to if you don’t have the rest of the anime behind it. The menu screen music can give you shivers if you listen to it long enough. The opening song is a guitar-shredding upbeat sounding (but the lyrics are rather sad) heavy metal mix that never gets old, while the ending song is a bit of a softer song done by a female vocalist. Both voice acting groups do well in this series. Its fun to note that in the American cast, the director is also the voice of the lead character and he does a good job of both.
Extras
The extras are once again the standard fair of textless songs and trailers, though it does also give you the added bonus of an informative and fun commentary on the second episode. You learn a great deal about the voice acting community and the work the put into voice acting from the voice of Allen (whom as mentioned was also the director) and the voice of Lenalee.
Overall the first season of this series is a great and beautiful start to what I could easily see becoming a classic in the field of Anime. It’s enriched and quirk characters will enchant you. While the story will keep you wanting more and begging for the next volume. I definitely suggest keeping an eye on this series.