OVERALL RATING: 9/10

plot: 8/10 -- the story is not what i was expecting at all, but i greatly enjoyed it. the story revolving around the idea of zodiac animals is very intriguing. this season is a beautiful conclusion to the 2 seasons prior to this one. there were many challenges & difficulties that were presented & each one had a deep meaning to reach the purpose of the story. i love how the anime went into detail regarding many of the characters' stories. something i did not particularly enjoy was yuki's storyline with machi. i was truly glad to see that yuki was getting so much character development when interacting with his classmates, but i just did not like the storyline with machi. it seemed very rushed & did not feel impactful to me at all compared to all of the other characters' stories. i have to admit that the ending felt very anticlimactic to me, as well. throughout the anime & the prior seasons, the viewers see the zodiacs being "chained" to be with "god" as the big problem. however, this problem ends up being resolved on it's own with time. literally. it just felt rushed at the end, but i did enjoy everything else about the story.

world/setting: 10/10 -- i love the concept of the zodiacs in the world as well as the past lives of the zodiacs & their reincarnations. it's just so interesting to me, i've always liked the idea of chinese zodiacs & astrology zodiacs. if you're not interested in it, you may not enjoy this anime as much, but i loved it.

purpose: 10/10 -- i felt that everything that happened happened for a reason. there was nothing unnecessary at all in the story. all of the characters have clear goals that they work to achieve. i kind of feel that there are a lot of subplots between the characters, but they all come together to support the main plot. to be more specific, all of the zodiacs have issues being connected to their "god" & each of their issues feel like subplots that make up the whole problem with the "god" & i really liked that.

characters: 9/10 -- i believe every single character was beautifully written except for machi. i'm sorry to any machi likers, i just did not appreciate her character at all. she did not have much depth to me & it seemed like she was added near the end just as a way for yuki to have a happy ending with some romance. i do think she had potential to be a great character, but that's it. other than that, all of the other characters had detailed backstories & incredible character development. even the characters who appear to be the antagonists are so beautifully written. i do dislike some of the characters, but i have to admit that they have amazing characterizations. i would also like to add that i usually dislike the happy & wholesome, bubbly airhead type of girl protagonist that seem like they can do no wrong because of how kind they are. it feels unrealistic to me & it annoys me because they cannot do a single mean thing, but tohru honda is a beautiful character with actual reasons for how she is the person that she is. i really like tohru honda, her friends, & many of the zodiac characters!

storytelling: 10/10 -- i really like how we were able to see different perspectives of characters as the story shifts. the story is very chronologically organised & i believe the order of perspectives that we get to see were perfect for the story.

enjoyment: 9/10 -- i've pretty much said this already, but i truly enjoyed all of this anime besides the storyline with machi. i finished this season in one weekend. while watching, i was very immersed in the story & eager to see what would happen next. i was very curious to see what would happen to the characters & their futures so i could not stop once i started.

animation/visuals: 10/10 -- the art & animation for this anime was truly beautiful. the entire anime was very aesthetic & pleasing to watch. i like watching anime that is more on the pretty side; art style is very much something i consider when i watch an anime. this anime's art was perfect. it's the greatest upgrade from the 2006 version of this anime.

pace: 6/10 -- i felt that the pacing was fine until maybe halfway through the season. i don't recall exactly when the pacing started to feel off to me, but the ending started to feel like it was getting rushed. the conclusion was very anticlimactic & sudden to me. it felt like everything happened so fast & suddenly everything was already over & the characters got their ending. i did enjoy the conclusion, but it was oddly timed to me.

soundtrack: 9/10 -- i honestly really like both the opening & ending for this season. they both fit the vibe of the anime, they were sweet & simple. the background music for this anime was also very lovely. the music always fit what was going on in the story. the reason i do not rate this a 10/10 is because although i like the music, there was nothing that stood out or was memorable to me. there was nothing that made me think "this is REALLY good".

gut feeling: 9/10 -- one of my favorite anime, but i will have to say it's not a perfect 10/10 for me.