R006: Dantalian no Shoka

I have always liked a bit of the supernatural, which is why I tried watching Dantalian no Shoka.  How was it? 

Episodes: 12

Plot:
The main plot is about Huey who becomes the key keeper of the mystic archives of Dantalian.  Dalian, the human form of the archives, help him in retrieving various "Phantom Books" which are said not to exist in this world.

Story:
It was a story per episode, and the formula was quite repetitive.  The main characters hear about something unusual happening in town, or is asked for help with regards to Phantom books.  The power of the phantom book is then shown, and then it is either retrieved or destroyed.  There was actually a sub plot, which I think if more elaborated the story would have been better, but unfortunately it wasn't.  At the end of the series you are left quite hanging.  There is a feeling that the ending was quite rushed, and that it wasn't really the ending.  I couldn't say it was the completion of an arc either, for as I said earlier, it was a story per episode.

Characters:
You don't really get to know the characters that well, even Dalian.  There was a background story on Huey, but that was it for character development.  There was no real depth to them, even the antagonist which appeared late in the series.  Well, there was a sense of mystery about some of the characters, but nothing else.  I can quite say that the characters in this anime are quite forgettable, unfortunately.

Animation & Music:
Usually I separate these two categories but there isn't much to tell about either so I just decided to lump them together for now.  The OP and ED songs were okay, the opening was quite apt for the anime, but the ending was just a bit creepy for my taste, like it was meant for a more scary anime.  The animation was just so-so, considering this was a supernatural anime.  Some parts of the animation were not the usual type you saw but rather seemed like paintings, which was a nice touch which made the series a bit darker (Iwhich personally I think it was supposed to be).

Overall verdict?  I guess I can say if you can spare the time you can watch it, but if there's some better series you'd be far better off with that.