It was a really good series in my opinion. The steam punk was just awesome, has some great animation for being as old as it is (others I've seen from ~2003 look pretty bleh). An amazing soundtack, had to buy that, and the limited edition DVD set was the best usage of $75 thus far. The story really captures the essence of friendship and doing what you want to do. I took that close to heart as my dad was a pilot and I an aspiring one. They had different perspectives and out looks on it
with Mullen leaving the Silvana to become a musketeer again
. Also, the clash between the upper and lower class along with the guild was really well played. The ending for me was mind blowing to say the least, but should have been done in two episodes, and they could have made it two seasons, having things to expand on such as the Guild Rebellion. I think that would have been a cool snippet for a side story, among other things.
On closing, the funny thing is, I had just subscribed to Netflix and saw the anime section and remembered how stupid anime was (when I was like 10ish) and added this as a joke to really mock anime and never get through the first episode... Was I completely wrong, not only was the first episode captivating, but as my first, it was a gateway to the epic of the unbeaten path that is anime.
So, as my first ever anime show, and for just how awesome, start to finish, visual to audio, 12 out of 10. I would recommend anyone to check it out, way worth watching...again...and again... and again....