I don't mind the character design much, I just set my mind to consider it a shoujo design, and just deal with it. It's something different from what I usually watch, so one episode every so weeks with this unique design I can tolerate. As for the singing, I just fast forward the part, so it doesn't bother me much.

Still, I've never been too critical on character design, for me story > character design any time. It's probably why I'm usually pissed when people don't give Fantastic Children a chance just because they don't like the designs, and it's one of my favorite shows plot-wise.