I started watching this one when it was already halfway through. I didn't really know what to expect aside from edge, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn't nearly as edgy as I thought it was going to be.
This world of this anime doesn't feel like a standard fantasy world to me. The different humanoid factions (that aren't just elves and dwarves) were interesting and the actual dominance of the magical beasts was cool too. There's much more to the world to explore too. I think that's one of the biggest draws for me.
The battles were exciting too where I didn't necessarily know where they'd go.
Characters were decent. Wouldn't say they're the most developed, but not static either. I liked the 3 main characters. I'm not sure what to think about Nell being "beautified" after being healed. It felt kind of like they thought the audience wouldn't like her if she wasn't a hot girl.
I'm a little bummed about season 2 to be seemingly set in a school though. A fair amount of fantasy anime seem to pivot towards some school arc somewhere along the line, even if it didn't start out as such. I don't really get it. There are so many school anime, why does the non-school one have to go to school too? Oh well, maybe they'll do something interesting with it.
Also, the OP is a banger.