I also had a problem with the series,
my first impressions were from the "lets go to the zoo"ish filler episode, and from a lousy DS game (yay! lets hunt for EXP!).

after hearing some very good things about the show, I decided to check it out. I think it's biggest selling point is how colorful the world is.

animes like it? maybe a tad bit of slayer, without the non-stop comedy, and a more down-to-earth story (still saving the world, just not from UBER DEMONS!), with more focus on characters.
that's nothing like slayers, I know. but that's the style.