The rushed final episode nevertheless manages to get some good philosophy in there

Yes, the final episode was terribly rushed. The anime butchered the manga. We have all read these complaints.

Nevertheless, I liked this show overall.

It was full of strong moments, such as the following reflection on the cruel selfishness of romantic love.

I liked the evil characters a lot. Then again, none of the characters had much time to become annoying, so any redeeming qualities tended to make the characters likeable.

I particularly liked the following dialogue, which sums up the struggle between block-headed “power of friendship” humanism and block-headed Nietzschean will-to-power.

Both sides in the debate are ultimately blockheads. But both are sympathetic. I cared about what happened to these characters, even if their principles were not very deep.