IMHO. 'Tokyo ravens' ~ makes me wonder if it were a wise decision to quit watching slice-of-life

I don't think there is anything in the world that would make a boy interested in shoujo genre, at least if he wasn't initially into those lovey-dovey stories. But making a shounen appealing for girls is easy, just add several comrades who are even stronger and more handsome than the main character.

It might seem that due to this, 'Tokyo ravens' is head and shoulders above other shounen series - you know, since apart from a typical harem of a shy tsundere plus a loud tsundere plus a positive girl also tsundere a bit and a tsundere loli, gathering around the main character, there is a nice harem comprised of a loyal friend, a mysterious teacher, a righteous warrior and several other types.
Is it enough to make a shounen good? Unfortunately, no. It's probably not the best idea to try outwit yourself when writing the story. Setting a premise of an adult world where everybody lies means creating a maze, but it's no good when the creator of the maze forgets, well, not the way out, but the very fact that such a way is necessary.
I swear there are other anime based on an unfinished work or simply not that allow for the ending to feel like a real ending, at least of certain chapter. Unfortunately, instead of the culmination I was hoping for - a culmination for only this section - things gain momentum up until the second half of the last episode, but if there's no time to untangle what has been messed, there's no peak as well. The crude attempt to end the chapter in a moment of romance fails in my eyes, because, I must confess, I don't find it particularly appealing when the guy only realises and confesses his feelings after his beloved get killed...  As did fail the attempt to show that there is nobody wrong or right in the real world, which is why former friends and colleagues turn into enemies and former foes can become allies... It's also too crude, you know. I bet by the end of the series nobody of those dudes fighting other dudes at full blast could say what they were fighting for. Or not fighting, as for some of them.
What a waste of nice music, especially that opening by I've Sound reminding of some of the most recognisable songs of Shimamiya Eiko, wonderful voice acting and, I'm surprised at myself for saying this, art, including the 3d parts.

And what a waste of this beautiful concept of modernXcombat onmyodo. Those spells intertwining mantras and ancient words sound absolutely magical.

'Soul Eater' anime ~ so cool so scandalous

There are cases when the story is interesting, but the ending spoils it all. Or when the music is better than all the other aspects. Or when a famous anime director you were having high hopes for does not prove to be as good.

All of it does not have anything to do with 'Soul Eater'. This is a story of coolness.

story

What is the usual result of making an anime based on an ongoing manga which is not going to end any time soon? A poor ending of the anime. The directors either try to follow the manga as long as possible and then suddenly turn everything upside down, or create their own version of 'how it was' and fail to present anything edible credible.

Imagine my surprise when all plot twists in the anime turned out to be interconnected and by the final episode they all came to one single ending with no plot holes or mistakes in the narration. Moreover, even though the story was far shorter 'twas interesting enough.

And now let's forget all the difficult words and phrases I used.

...

This is a true 'shounen' piece, showing examples of brave warriors fighting with evil who know no fear. Oops! They do. In fact, this is the main attraction of the story. You don't have to fight with no fear. You have to have the courage to fight your fear.

In the middle of the series I told +Арагорн Араторнович - tell me my dear friend, why anime is considered to be bad for young people when such pieces like 'Soul Eater' promote friendship, trust and loyalty.

It's the kind of anime series where moments like this remind you that this is 100 times more important than any series created exclusively for entertainment.

Still, SE tries to be something out of the box and overcome the walls created by the 'shounen' genre.

It's not without fanservice, though. Both for guys and for girls.

The characters are abundant, and everyone could find one to relate to, one to respect or admire. Or more than one. Or relate and admire at the same time. Because it's like the first time I felt understood the character's feeling SO deeply.

And despite tons of blood spilled, it is an extremely kind shounen. Because everyone is doing his best to protect his friends, and to protect the whole world. Because even though they explain that they simply want to be cool, or to be greater than god, or to maintain the order, in the end they all fight for peace.

...

......

And still, the biggest merit of this series is...

The humour. The wonderful Japanese humour that rather than simply making you laugh, makes you stare at the screen and say WHA????

Like, have you ever seen a God of Death who is like

Or a singing Legendary Sword whose favourite phrase is

The level of madness in the series reminded me of King of Bandit Jing. I've never ever seen such crazy ideas, be it the story or the design.

music
Welcome my new record-breaker. The playlist I created out of Soul Eater OST, character songs, opening and ending themes lasted for 6.5 weeks. If there were cases when I listened to an anime OST for so long, it's not hard to count them with one hand.
Taku Iwasaki is a genius in OST-composing. Different bands who lent their hand to creating the album gave the OST an original hip-hop feeling. The tracks just didn't fade away with time. 6 weeks in a row they were inspiring me, or better to say - weren't letting me go.

voicing
I've heard Omigawa in a different anime. Her voice made me want to switch it off. I heard Uchiyama in a different anime. His voice impressed me so much I decided to keep my eye on him.
And it doesn't matter here at all. The seiyuus did such a great job I must confess the manga would not be that interesting at all if I didn't read the characters' lines with their respective seiyuus voices.
Welcome the other heroes - Kobayashi Yumiko, Nazuka Kaori, Miyano Mamoru, Takahira Narumi, Watanabe Akeno, Koyama Rikiya, Sakamoto Maaya, Ookawa Tooru, Kuwashima Houko and Neya Michiko, Uchida Yuya, and of course - mr. Koyasu. And many many others. It's not that they simply did their job. They made the black-and-white world of the manga colourful to the fullest.

graphics
I must confess, even the original manga did not look as attractive as the anime in some moments. Maybe that was because the anime was created when the manga was already moving towards its middle, and the anime designers took a bold step to creating a fuller, 'spaced' variation on what they saw in the earlier chapters comparing them to the later chapters.

conclusion
If I had to explain what SE is in one sentence, I think I could use this stop-frame.

My humble opinion on 'Kaze no Stigma' - both anime and manga

Plot and characters
Let me make one thing clear. 'Kaze no Stigma' is shoujo. Even though the manga is sometimes labeled as shounen or seinen, 'tis still shoujo. There is some fanservice for the male audience, of course, but not without shoujo fanservice also
There are different kinds of shoujo in terms of characters and plot developments. If we cast aside those with fragile heroines who spend the greater part of the anime of manga crying and worrying for other characters who do all the serious work (like Miaka), among those who are left most main heroines belong to the type of Ayano. They possess an explosive character and tend to be easily provoked by caustic remarks uttered by other characters. Moreover, those remarks, reprimands and scolding are for a reason unknown supposed to be the best romance that can bloom in a shoujo. Apparently the directors and screenplay/manga writers honestly believe that the only way to make their works popular among the female audience is to create a bit brutal but sexy - no, brutal in a sexy way - guy who is never at a loss with words, who would leave the heroine on her own every time she faces an obstacle offering her to overcome it herself, or even oppose her and drive her almost to death, so that she would grow as a warrior/priestess/game player/personality/whatever. Moreover, the heroine who gets to know eventually that she was either left alone, or tricked and used on purpose, and thus endangered, only punches her beloved and shouts 'bakaaaaa!' - this is the limit of her annoyance and revenge. Of course, she has no chance to stand against him, to say nothing of winning - she is inferior, and will always be. This kind of 'sassy teacher - eager pupil' relationship is thought to be the essence of shoujo, the real advantage that would capture the hearts of young spectators or readers. Sorry for not being not one of them
On the other hand, I cannot deny there are a lot of other elements necessary for popularity. The dream of the female audience is granted in the fourth episode out of 24 - 'tis not a real kiss, but who cares? The lips joined are enough for young girls to scream with joy - and forget that the characters are supposed to be cousins. After the main event has already happened, what's left is only to increase the level of ero - so we have licking the cheek, kissing the neck and the edges of hair.
Don't forget about guys! Pantsu shots in abundance, low angles and windy weather, big breasts in the middle of the screen that are sure to jump noticeably in spite of the fact that we are in the middle of a very important battle. I could close my eyes to such things if only they were done with an understanding of how funny they look. Unfortunately, they are for real...
Dark past of the main character, casualties during the 'war', revenge, mysterious enemy, everything is on its place. Did I really watch this anime never ever before?
Even watching 'Rurouni Kenshin' where every character who was about to attack never failed to name his technique, and scenes of daily life were filled with SD and 'oro?' did not make me feel THAT awkward.
The manga 'kaze no stigma - kannou no miko' tries to be closer to the original ranobe, obviously. Kazuma is in a constant frenzy, blood is taking more space on the page, the plot and the relationships which existed in the anime are absent. Well, not absolutely absent - some phrases and scenes are completely alike but in the end manga scenes fail to create the same impression. Some events are simply 'omitted' - no one wants to have an absolute copy of the animated version, eh? It would not sell.

Graphics
Is it 2007, really? I would not give it more than 2004...
Manga is much better. Obviously the mangaka knows his trade. Cute expressions, scary expressions, girls figures exposed for admiring, and lots of lines on the page which make it almost impossible to understand what is going on... Congrats.

Seiyuus
Good staff. Most of seiyyus I am familiar with, but both them and those whom I did not know were pretty good. However, there was not much of an opportunity for them to show everything they can. This is not their fault, eh? Oohara Sayaka-san, Makino Yui-san, Watanabe Akeno-san, Itou Shizuka-san, Inokuchi Yuka-san, Takahashi Chiaki-san did a great job.

Music
The traditions of anime soundtracking were preserved. The background reminded me of good OSTs of 90s, and the OPEDs were on a high level. Lyrics by Ishikawa-sama, music by Arai-sama and nice vocal - there are all the elements for a good theme song. This applies to 'hitorikiri no sora', but the OP 'blast of wind' was good, too. The second ED was not a very impressive song, but at least the three seiyuus are good at singing - not shouting something with kawaii voice which is a frequent thing in the latest animes.

Conclusion
What date is it today? Oh! I better hurry to check whether the next chapter of 'kaichou wa maid-sama' is translated! Why? Though these two have a bit in common, 'kaichou' is thousand times better than 'kaze no stigma' because the stupid setting is not used there. Ayano and Misaki are really alike - active, extroverted girls, protective when it comes to their friends and simply those who are weaker, both are unwilling to admit their feelings. They even share the same seiyuu. However Misaki is stronger. And Usui is stronger, too, in comparison with Kazuma. Much stronger - he is able to support Misaki despite her misunderstanding - support really, directly, and be together with her no matter what, but he is able to admit his weaknesses as well, and yield to her, and is ready to trust her, and count on Misaki, while Kazuma only seem to cherish Ayano as his 'possession'. Dear shoujo makers - look carefully at Usui, THIS is the guy that girls want. Am I wrong? Well, at least I want to see characters like Usui more.
In the last episode Ayano says - 'What am I to you? A burden? I don't want to be the princess who waits until the battle ends and kisses her hero, I want you to rely on me, too!' - however she ended up being exactly what she described, forever chasing and unable to reach Kazuma, despite how much she helped in the last strike to erase the mighty enemy. Quite opposite, Misaki did not look much of a help to Usui, and the sole reason of his love to her is 'you would not smile so easily, and that cute face expression of yours' - but then why, I ask you, why do they seem to be much more equal partners who DO share the same feeling?