Phoenix: 1-7
First of all, I love the book-like cases the DVDs are packaged in. I paid a lowly sum of £14 and received a thin box, complete with three cases that are basically hardback book covers with bits of plastic stuck inside to hold the discs. The covers are even reflective/shiny. Great value for money.
The series itself is different from other anime I've watched, in a good way. The art is almost cartoony, featuring characters with huge noses and the like, but I like it because the character designs aren't the norm. The stories vary from a down to earth, Apocalypto style story about survival, death and nations falling to futuristic tales about humans having moved away from the Earth because of the planet being on its legs. There's lots of variation.
The opening four episode arc, about a primitive tribe getting slaughtered, a warrior taking a boy from the village under his wing because the same thing happened to him once and a dying ruler searching for the Phoenix in order to keeping living was very involving. There weren't any epic, over the top moments - it was purely a solid, down to earth story - but it kept me coming back for more. I can see some find the story a bit boring because of the slow(ish) pacing, but I never lost interest. Like the IGN quote on the back of the first volume points out, Phoenix simply has a quality that keeps its viewers watching until each episodes conclusion.
The second, two episode arc was more interesting, though it wasn't as involving. It was about a researcher on the moon getting caught in an accident and ending up being revived, the cost being half his brain being replaced by a machine. When he awoke, he could no longer see humans, instead finding himself only able to see monsters, and he had no memories of what lead up to the accident. Yet, for whatever reason, he discovered that he could view machines as living organisms, and an encounter with one machine resulted in him turning on the humans and running away with 'her'. A fascinating story, overall.
I watched the seventh episode, too, but that wasn't amazing, it being a standalone affair and the story being nowhere near as engaging as what had gone before it.
My only complaint so far is that, for a series called "Phoenix", the bird itself has barely featured in any of the stories, it always lurking in the background and never being of any great importance. Going into the series, I expected to see a series of stories with one message: that, in every age, humans are foolish creatures. That turned out to not be the case, though...
I can't see the whole picture yet, but so far Phoenix has all the makings of an unknown gem. I'm glad I picked it up at random.