This may be a little different because against my better judgement I have watched the ep.01 of Otome Youkai Zakuro already, so my perception of articles is going to carry a bigger slant. In fact, I was even going to give Zakuro a wider berth than usual because SDB dibbed it and recently we weren't marching in lockstep. Oh well. As far as Steven's impressions, there wasn't anything lulzworthy, but compare this:

"I didn't realize that this show was intended to be a comedy. I think I was expecting action adventure."

.. with this:

正直な所、まったく期待してなかったんだけど普通に面白いなぁ。

Kitai shte nakatta she says. A common theme, actually.

Scamp says:

A particular grievance I had with this episode was the way the music would change to point out what you were supposed to be feeling during the current scene.

Isn't it how it is supposed to be?

I mean, it’s not like it’s that bad or anything. The animation is of good quality. The beginnings of romance are all kind of sweet. I can’t see the actual plot going anywhere interesting outside of the romances though. Just lots of little skirmishes with yokai and the people of the village.

He clearly quit before watching the ED.

Aroduc was not excited (I omitted extra "though"):

The overall premise ended up being a hell of a lot more generic than I was expecting. [..] The lack of any decent hook is probably this show’s biggest issue []. The characters are decent, and it’s watchable, but there’s really nothing to get excited about here unless you have a fetish for bishie sparklies and roses.

No disagreement here. Although I expect the main conflict to be with the villain team of blue roses, I do not look forward to it all that much. After all, I am very happy that I dropped Xenoglossia after ep.8.

Production was pretty poor all around. They made lots of cute faces, but it certainly was not ambitious with the animation and absolutely nothing interesting going on with the art style at all.

SDB said: "The art and animation looks high budget. J.C. Staff isn't skimping." Eye of the beholder, I guess.

Smithy opens with: "it turned out to be surprisingly good." (I think I'm getting the picture). Also, a middle ground:

Did notice right away the animation by JC Staff isn’t terrific in each and every scene, while some frames such as close-ups in key scenes are well cared for, other scenes alas showed animation flaws. While these were obvious, it didn’t especially bother me but most viewers will no doubt notice it.

Opinions are like international standards: select the one you like.

Mike, a rare guest in these parts, opines:

[The opener] was very different from what I imagined it would be, but with seemingly top-notch production values and lovable protagonists the series would be a very good way to waste one’s time. It probably won’t provide much food for thought, but its first episode was a delight to watch and the interactions between beast and human were just priceless.

At least he did not use the word "surprised".

Libera (a minion of RP) is, first of all, surprised:

I was half-expecting something like an already established group getting past their species difference to trust each other, with some mild adversary along the way. Not what looks like a matchmaking service, where the real problem between the characters is the unresolved sexual tension. In other words, I wasn’t expecting a full blown shoujo.

Also:

My one worry is that the girls are going to do all the fighting and make the guys look stupidly lame. If the guys aren’t going to do anything, then there’s no real point in them being there except for the matchmaking.

I was wondering about it. They may be powering girls up like in Sekirei... Obviously manga readers would know ahead.

Here's a run-down of unquotables:

CKS found Twitter.

Aorii waxes phylosophically about lactose intolerance and the interaction of customs.

Minnie was "pleasantly surprised though". Riiight...

Peter says: "Pretty good first episode." Well, yeah...