So far as bonds go, i say its "not as focused" in that its not laser focus'd on that specifically. Besides the spirit burn unlock and general experience, there is one merit to actually roleplaying well. Rather, a demerit to being an asshole. No one wants to interact with or help an asshole, and people won't make bonds with them. So if you douche it up, you will be punished with less experience and a lack of trump card compared to other players. Since bonds reset each session, its in your best interest to actually roleplay well, because someone that was a bond one time may not want to be a bond again. Basically, alienating people is bad, and the system can actively punish you for it.
So far as what "Shenanigans" are, i said earlier "Reminiscent of shounen anime battles". Things like naruto, one piece, DBZ, Bleach. Special attacks, high speed movement, transformations, and whatever else have you. Mind, these are just VERY general, entry level examples that people probably know. Other examples would include rurouni kenshin, fate/stay night, Nanoha, etc.
For variety, what i mean is that there's a total of 24 "Classes" you can take, with all of them paired under a specific name. For example, arc slayer A and B have a similar focus on weapon use, but one focus's on damage and the other focus' on evasion and countering. At the start, you can gain 2 of these styles along with 1 race, giving you a total of 3 pools of talents to start from and the general ones to choose from as well. You can get up to 5 styles at level 15, if you choose to take a new style at each fifth level.
Once you've taken style's, you can use their unique talents to anything it could apply to, even if its not from the same style. While each style only has so many talents, theres a great deal more permutations of combinations of them than most systems normally allow. This allows for variety and depth in combat.