I wanted to like this show. I really wanted to but that didn't seem to happen for a number of reasons and finishing all the episodes became a obligation rather than something I actively wanted to do. To put it simply, the characters were dull. There is no other way to put this. Each one was the equivalent of white bread with about about as much personality with the except of one or two. The main character of William was the most guilty of this white bread personality flaw. He was responsible to a fault and so strait-laced mature that he came off as robotic.
If you had a conversation with him it would go like this
Q: "What is your goal?"
A: "To spread the word of the goddess Gracefeel."
Q: "What are your interests?"
A: "Speading the teachings of the goddess Gracefeel."
Q: "What do you do in your free time?"
A: "Train so I can become strong like my parents who died and defeat demons in the name of Gracefeel"
To say the least William's entire being revolved around the memory of his parents and Gracefeel to the point of being cult-like.

The pacing story itself was dreadfully slow. It took forever to do even the most minor task because of the endless verbosity of the characters dialogue and explanation that went into every scene to the point everything slowed to a halt including the fights. Given it makes sense to take time to explore and set-up the world of the characters and train them up to a realistic level but somehow they made everything incredibly tedious and one reason was because the characters themselves weren't engaging and neither was the mundane training scenarios. Even after the first part of the season, things barely improved with more tedious fantasy activities that have been repeatedly done since the day Lord of the Rings was first published. To say the least the plot was severely lacking in originality as well as charisma.

One thing I will give the show credit for is the level of world-building that went into the show. The religion systems in place in this world were well-crafted and someone put a lot of thought into the gods and how they affect the world. The setting was the most redeeming part of the show because it was the part that the most thought and care went into. But even then the world itself, like the villages and towns, was still mediocre when you take into consideration the sheer endless series and stories that have done the exact same thing.

If this show was a person walking through a bog, they would drown from walking too slow and incapable of making a decision fast enough because they would spend too much time going over each step it would take to escape.