Completed Series: La storia della Arcana Famiglia

Title: La storia della Arcana Famiglia (アルカナ・ファミリア)
Episodes: 12
Year: 2012
Studio: J.C. Staff

At first, I anticipated this to go much the same route as Hiiro no Kakera - a rather mediocre and uninteresting port from harem game to anime series. While it is nothing special - and given an especially shaky first episode - this entertained me 100% more than Hiiro no Kakera.

Essentially, everyone in this mafia family - mafia being such a vague, loose term used here - contracts with a tarot card. It gives them preternatural powers, and they beat things up and generally act all shounen with it. There's alchemy in the mix here too - several of the characters are named as alchemists; and one even has a proper homunculus, grown in a flask and everything.

This series is very trope-ridden and stereotypical. That being said, it hits the right notes with the characters. I truly enjoyed each of them, and each of the main characters got a little moment to shine at some point or the other along the line. The main thrust of the story is that everyone is training for the Arcana Duello; a huge inter-family fight to see who gets the rights to take over as head of the family. Oh, and the current head threw in something to sweeten the pot - the person who wins gets to take his daughter's hand in marriage. Felicita, said daughter, is a little shocked by this, and quite a bit pissed off. She ends up competing for her own hand, completely legitimately.

Ultimately, while there's a lot bit troubling about the show, the story, and some of the handling of early episodes. (Episode One; Exposition Central) I enjoyed it far more than I anticipated. I may purchase it if it makes it stateside, but it would be a "oh, look what I picked up for twenty bucks" kind of purchase, not one that I would seek out with the intention to buy.