Guilty Crown

Time does a lot of strange things to a show's reputation, doesn't it? Once acclaimed anime like Kill la Kill are now considered terrible disappointments that couldn't live up to the legacy of its infinitely better predecessors, Mari Okada has gone from being cool to hate to cool to like to back again without any real middle-ground, and not getting into Symphogear is apparently the equivalent of suffering a major personality disorder. It's gotten to the point where I'm kind of missing the moe trend a bit. At least cute girl/slice-of-life fans have an understandable reason for why they like what they do. It reminds them of a calmer time in their life. Not a reason I can sympathize with, but it's better than your reasons consisting of nothing but shouting memes all the time like you're the reincarnation of fucking He-Man. And yet, while Guilty Crown has definitely enjoyed a warmer reputation since it invited a fuck-ton of anime fans to smash it over the head with all the hammers at its disposal, people are still undecided regarding how much they enjoyed it. It's not like Samurai Flamenco where they say it's a great show that uses the insanity in order to get a message across. Most people just say it's a fun show to point and laugh at before refusing to put it on their favorites list because apparently being enjoyable in that vein is an automatic disqualification. Then they link Shinmaru's or Draggle's "epic" posts on the anime and relish on the fond memories of dumbness that trainwrecks like Aldnoah Zero could never hope to achieve. You know guys, I don't like it when you consider the show God's gift to anime because nothing spoils a product more than rampant fanboyism, but at least be honest with said gift when you receive it. If I can put the goddamn thing on my favorites list despite my generally pessimistic views on most of what surrounds the show, why can't you? I admit to having warmed up considerably towards Guilty Crown over the years. I don't find it as funny as most people, I don't consider it one of the most fun anime in years (although it's probably my favorite anime of 2011, a year that had quite a few shows I liked), and it kind of takes a few episodes to get really fun (first arc is okay, but everything after just dwarfs it by comparison). But in a medium that constantly winks to the audience and indulges on the joke to the point of over-the-top weariness in order to produce laughs or "awesomeness" or stupid donut metaphors that the characters in Silicon Valley would find dumb, shows that take their stupidity as seriously as Guilty Crown whilst simultaneously using the stupidity as an essential part of its core message are as hard to find as a five-legged gecko. Not to mention, the pacing, action, and characterization (however fucked up it is) are all solid for the most part, and the animation/music is generally great. And any anime that accomplishes all that deserves quite a few props, even if the stupidity you have to swallow in order to appreciate what it's going for can be a bit too "anime" for my taste, ironic or not. In case you're one of the few people who haven't seen this show, I'll fill you in. Guilty Crown is about a boy named Shu Ouma, who on paper is your standard teen who's bored with life and treats his friends like they don't even exist, yet refuses to do anything about it, but in practice is the guy whose picture would be used as the definition of the word "chew toy" since everyone in-universe and out-of-universe loves to dump on the dude no matter what he does to the point that Lara Croft is recommending therapy. After discovering his scantily-clad crush, a pop singer named Inori, hiding in his secret place, he ends up getting roped in the middle of the conflict between a resistance group called Funeral Parlor and the Brittania-copy cat organization known as GHQ after acquiring a mysterious ability to pull objects out of people called "The Power of the Kings" (hahaha, insert Code Geass-ripoff joke here). I'd attempt to fill in the details regarding this conflict, but I'd rather not turn this review into an essay and Guilty Crown's plot is such a cluttered pile of bananas that Ikuhara fans wouldn't be able to explain in a way that makes any sense. So let's just say for simplicity's sake that the show is about Shu and his growth from a nobody to the king that Japan deserves. And since Japan is run by a bunch of idiots in this universe, it stands to reason that their king would be the biggest fuck-up the likes of which has never been seen. As I was doing my third rewatch of the series, watching the show go to more and more desperate attempts to torture our pretty boy main, I kept getting a high school version of Jack Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2 stuck in my head: a controversial pretty boy in love with a badly written fucktard whose attempts at being cooler than he actually is is both sad and kinda tragic when you realize why the creators made him out to be the protagonist in the first place. And since we're bringing up Metal Gear Solid, Guilty Crown shares a fuck load of similarities with that franchise, doesn't it? Like the horrible dialogue, superpowers mixed with mecha, girls taking every opportunity to show their cleavage even when being shot at, campy military leaders that are at odds with their more realistic underlings, post-modern themes that people are divided on regarding their existence to this day, and the fact that it pulls off the goofiest shit with a straight face. Wonder if Hideo Kojima has ever taken the opportunity to watch this thing. I'd be surprised if it didn't end up in his top five anime series of all-time. Fortunately for you, Guilty Crown, I really love Metal Gear Solid. Especially 2. And I have a certain amount of fondness for Mr. and Mrs. Fucknugget too. But at the same time, whilst I'm glad we agree that turning Shu into a break-dancing cyborg ninja would have been a bit too post-modern for the series (and we live in a world where an Alexandre Dumas adaptation can have a giant mecha fight out of nowhere and still get acclaims across the board), I will say that not turning Dan Eagleman into a shirtless right-wing nut who body slams people from his giant mecha is a fucking missed opportunity. Because honestly Guilty Crown, I kind of find your villains a bit on the meh side. Scarface ain't bad or anything, but he's no Revolver Ocelot or Liquid Snake or Solidus...uh actually Solidus was worse, so never mind. Anyways, Guilty Crown comes off to me more and more over the years less like a bad anime and more like a good show that nobody wanted because it didn't fit within what they were used to. Mainly, being offensive on purpose, because this show is clearly trying to offend you and it's not getting any of the context wrong whilst doing so like, say, Cross Ange. Shu is not as inconsistent a character as people say he is. He's a nice but REALLY stupid dude who just can't win and goes to more and more extremes to try and compensate for his personality flaws, only to fuck up in a very consistent rate. Every time he tries to grow, he finds himself unable to do so because something (really stupid) always happens that gets in his way. Even when he turns into a neo-Nazi wannabe, he (hilariously) reassures us that he's doing it for the good of the school and that after they were free, he could drop the act. And when that plan failed, he went through the standard character growth we expect from an underdog protagonist before finally becoming the Jesus Dalai Lama Christ the cast deserved. A very dumb one, but it's not like the characters surrounding him were much better at that point. Specially Inori, who's so blatantly wish-fulfillment-y that it gets hilarious. I'm gonna be straight with you guys here. I laugh more at Guilty Crown whenever somebody (particularly Shu) worships Inori like she's every man's fantasy when it's plainly obvious she's the sexist caricature that the underbelly of the Evangel…

Guilty Crown had amazing art, a captivating soundtrack, and very attractive characters. I find myself, two weeks after watching the show, still listening to the soundtrack. (Supercell is amazing.) But it lacked in all the basic things important to a show: Outstanding plot, decent character development, and a story that's easy enough to follow. As I watched the show, I was entranced by the action and the background music, but I was almost always confused by what's going on. There were too many things being thrown at me. The protag, Shuu was a bit cliched and the motives of the government were sometimes unclear. As for Inori, it felt like she served no other purpose than to be everyone's mold. The first few episodes were amazing, don't get me wrong, but by episode 6 and 7, I started losing interest. But I pushed through, and I was rewarded with an amazing second half opening; That's it. There was no salvation in the ending either. I might try to watch it again to try to get a better understanding, but it's upsetting that I even have to do that. I really like Guilty Crown - but definitely not for the story.

Just as the average idiot that is fooled by fast food commercials, I must admit I felt the same when watching Guilty Crown. I'm not that much of an avid anime viewer, to be honest, I watch a fairly modest amount of anime to base an opinion (At least I hope so). I decided to try out Guilty Crown because I was enticed by the animation and mechas. Of course, I had no idea it was a decision that I would regret. Judging from the first episode, I couldn't really say much. I decided to continue with the hope that it would get better. Boy, was I ever wrong. Each episode I watched, the more I hated the show, and its characters. With unlikable characters, it was even harder to watch. But what made it extremely unbearable was the amalgamation of every single anime cliche. I'm not saying that cliches shouldn't be used. Sometimes they work or you need to use it for the sake of the plot, but in this case, they overdid it. Compiling typical high school anime cliches such as cultural festivals and beach episodes with serious science fiction anime cliches like mechas, monster girls, and evil government scientists, it just didn't and couldn't work. Because of all these cliches pieced together, there was no discernible plot that was comprehensible. Well, there was a plot of course, but it wasn't easy to follow or properly explained. I can rant all day and night about the show, but I must admit that the animation and visual effects were superb. Not to mention, SOME elements of plot that I managed to extract, like the Apocalypse Virus, and the Void Genome. Those I found fascinating and I honestly wished they focused more on just ONE those elements because it would be a far more successful show, or at least more bearable to watch. Alas, I am just one opinion in the world. For those who actually enjoyed the show , I apologize and I accept your opinions as well. Maybe I missed something when I watched it. Or maybe I took it too seriously. I don't know. Anyways, feel free to watch Guilty Crown and judge it yourself. If you find something I missed, please let me know and enlighten me.

Warning: Non professional review incoming. Also, my first one. So, every once in a while, some random anime pops out and causes lots of hype. Guilty Crown is just another one of them. What's fun is that most of the viewers have 1 of 2 very different opinions on this turd. Me? Well, the score should be a good indicator of my opinion. Anyways, back on track. Story: 1/10 Terrible is all I need to say to this cluster fuck. Let me summarize it without spoiling. - High school boy wants to change things but doesn't have the power to do so. - High school boy meets famous female singer - Said singer is being chased by soldiers - Soldiers capture woman - Boy obtains super powers - Boy joins Terrorist group called Undertaker - Train wreck occurs. Art: 8/10 The art is good no doubt. Beautiful in fact. That's all there is to it. Sound: 8/10 Once again good. Maybe even great. You won't forget this anime's OST... Unless like me you don't really pay too much attention to it. Character: 3/10 Disgusting. All the characters are disgusting except for maybe some side characters and Shu. Let's branch it off into 3 groups: - Shu's friends: Stereotypical group with no depth. - Undertaker: Same as above with some actually decent people in there like Ayase and Tsugumi. - Enemies: Well... while most of them are forgettable, Segai, Daryl and DAN EAGLEMAN (That's right motherfuckers) are awesome. Enjoyment: 7/10 You're probably all going like "Wtf this guy just gave the story and the characters terrible scores. How can you enjoy an anime where you hate the plot and the people?" Simple, think of this as a comedy. The moment you do, everything's gonna be so much nicer. Plenty of hilarious moments which normally should've been taken normally but I just couldn't because it was so bad. Overall: 5/10 While the story and it's characters were terrible, this anime is a sight to behold. It broke out of its' shell and became a comedy! Wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't watched it myself. Definitely give it a try if you want to see a story written by a 12 year old.

After watching this anime, I found myself thinking about how I may randomly lose very good scenes and animes only because of my lack of trust in covers. Of course, if you look at its name, at its description and even at its cover, you (whoever that might be) could consider this anime to be quite another cliché. In the end, maybe it is. But isn't it quite difficult nowadays to choose between fake and true? We are bound to our own personal feelings and reactions when watching an anime; in the end, all we see is our own enjoyment (received while and after watching the respective anime). So, after watching Guilty Crown, I got a very nice feeling inside. I thought to myself ”this is not such a wonderful anime; but, even so, this is a very good anime, even with its clichés and traps, I enjoyed every bit of it”. After realising that, I couldn't but understand that whenever one cannot objectively rate an anime, he or she can at least react subjectively with his/hers honest and fresh emotions, feelings, and views. Guilty Crown is not special in many ways : there are a series of clichés in it: the personalities of the characters are not new, the lines they use are not new, anything they may say or act is not entirely now (the cliche of a very good main character, too kind to bear the burden on his shoulders, the girl who can save the day, but is broken inside... a blonde students' president, a bunch of friends that might easily get hurt, a world in destruction, a twisted past, lost memories, etc. They are all there: but yet, how do we judge the originality of such an anime? I cannot do it, for I have not watched that many animes as to know which took what from another. If you are in search of originality, I might not be the one to entrust you with such a hint regarding this particular anime: for I do not know. What I do know, though, is that you will probably enjoy its fine art and style, its beautiful soundtrack; that you will perhaps enjoy Gai, the handsome, beautiful and mysterious long-haired guy, that you will love and hate Shuu for his shyness, for his kindness, for his stupidity... that you might love Inori, both her songs and her characters, that you might as well get crazy over the plot and its doings, that you might enjoy every second of its action without even realising it... that is, without even realising it, you might get caught in a very twisted, beautiful world: the world of fantasy. A place where you can no longer realise who you are, nor think about that. What I am trying to say is that I do not think this anime is about originality at all - I do not talk nowadays too much about originality, it's suspiciously hard to really know what is original or not. But you have too look into it and see if it moves any parts of you. And if it does, I think that is a good anime. That is what I believe Guilty Crown is such a good anime: because of the feelings it transmits. I enjoyed the story, also the arts, the sound tacking and had a very good time watching it (2 days /22 episodes). I strongly recommend the band Supercell also (the ones who provided the song themes for this anime; Inori's Departures is perhaps one of the cutest songs I have heard in anime up till now). So, for a weekend, you might as well try watching Guilty Crown: I believe you will find in it the drop of action-drama-super power- science fiction -and love-and music- you need to relax and fill your mind with fantasy and beauty.

okay. since the first season[or arc if others would call it] of GC is done, I'm going to give my review!!! X3 ~this is in my opinion so please be kind to me. XD Overall, I did like the anime because of the following reasons: its beautiful animation graphics and the effects, which is kinda realistic(one of my criteria with the animes I watch); the characters, I liked them. :) ;the songs are also beautiful, which is composed by ryo of supercell[ i must say they chose a good group to make the songs]. Also, the plot, where an ordinary high school student who thinks he can't do anything changes and realizes that he can & he has the power to do it if he will believe in his own strength and become a hero...and where people fight for justice and peace. < I think it has a moral/lesson which is really good because most animes now don't have this.hehe..and the situations of people being shown in the anime is something where we can open our eyes with the society we're living in. It happens to us, right? Though I don't watch these kind of genres, there is something that has drawn me to watch this. I fell in love with the anime before watching it.[true.promise] There aren't parts which were boring and most of the time it has surprising events. sfx's and bgm's, great. :D and i think the plot is far from Code Geass and it isn't a total copycat. :( also, [if you haven't seen this] check out this interview with the producers of GC [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2011-11-28/interview-koji-yamamoto-ryo-ohyama-and-george-wada-on-guilty-crown] gomen for the long review! this is the shortest possible i can give and i want to give my review. :) thanks for reading.

Guilty Crown is a lot like a soup with too many ingredients in which half of them have gone stale. The setting is pretty much Code Geass--occupied Japan, resistance fighters, and a mysterious power given to a highschool student. The cast is glutted with underdeveloped characters, quite a few of which go on to become cannon fodder, and the subplots and sequence of events are choppy and uneven. The series does touch on one particularly interesting theme however; those seeking to change the system start turning into the very thing they despised. Unfortunately some pretty bizarre and incredulous events put an abrupt end to several episodes' worth of development in lieu of some out-of-place Judeo-Christian esotericism and a few climactic battles. The final ending is either laughable or bittersweet depending on your take. Overall I'd say Guilty Crown brings in too many elements and themes which are better handled by other series, and then leaves them half-baked.

Story: 3/10 I'll try my best no to spoil anything... How can you describe the story? The story is inconsistent from the very begining to the end. The first few episodes follow a storyline that has quite an original setting (NB: a vaccin isn't used this way) and is decent. Then for the rest of the show the story makes no sense at all. A whole bunch of unbelievable coincidences happen which don't make any sense. It feels like the story was out of breath and the author added that at the end to be able to make it more interesting. It had the opposing effect. Art: 8/8 The art is breathtaking. It is extremly good and saves a little bit this anime. I think it was truly wasted on this. Sound: 8/8 The background music is good and all the themes are just awesome. Character: 3/10 I don't particularly dislike the characters. I just think that the story destroys them. For exemple, numerous times you should pity the characters but the only thing that comes to mind is WHY? I mean they some overly stupid things for no real reason and you're suppose to sympathize with them? There still are some good characters like the woman in the wheelchair but most of the characters are so poor. That was without talking about the almost non-existant character developpement. It is there with the two main characters and then fades away for the other characters Enjoyment: 5/10 I think I was pretty pissed off while watching this but the romance made it still enjoyable. Overall: 5.4/10 I think it was a less than average series. I would never recommend it to anyone. In fact, I'd do the opposite. If you don't really mind a crappy story and pathetic characters then watch Guilty Crown. If not then don't Sorry for everyone that really likes this series but let's face it: It ain't great!

Guilty Crown was definitely an absolute blast to watch due to its amazing visuals and amazing sound. However, it was extremely difficult to really immerse yourself in a story that is incoherent and full of loopholes. In essence, I award Guilty Crown with the title of Michael Bay's Transformers of anime. Story: 5/10 Guilty Crown's story isn't bad per se. It's actually a really really good and interesting story, one which actually had me excited from when I started this anime. It follows the primary protagonist Shu as he meets Inori, a famous singer who also happens to be part of the terrorist organisation Funeral Parlour. His adoration for her then leads him into a life threatening situation where he tries to save her and she gives him the Power of the Kings, a power which, frankly, is way too overpowered when given to someone who actually knows how to use it. Due to this encounter, he joins Funeral Parlour in their attempt to fight against GHQ, an organisation which has seized authority and power in Japan after they were meant to prevent outbreaks of the Apocaypse Virus, a virus that had broken out ten years prior to the setting of the current story. Did you get all that? If not, then you may not want to watch this anime because it gets a lot more complicated than that. It only takes a few episodes for the entire story to go completely balls up and I spent a solid few minutes after most episodes reading a synopsis of what had just happened and to see if I had missed anything that was particularly important. However, having already made such negative comments about the story, I want to say that it's not bad. It's actually really good. I was stongly interested and intrigued by what it actually had to offer me. It's just the way in which the story is told leaves so many loose ends that will have you scratching your head and asking many, many questions... So many questions. The story continually introduces plot point after plot point without explaining previous plot points and it simply becomes a huge mess. In addition to such a problem, the pacing is horrendous. For example, the beginning of the anime is somewhat slow; Shu tries to balance life with Funeral Parlour and life with school after gaining his powers. Then a few episodes later, Shu is desperately trying to save the world from some sort of evil scheme which is never really properly introduced. It takes well over a full episode to establish the fact that Shu is a socially awkward boy but it takes a few minutes for someone to steal something of importance and almost kill everyone in the world with it. And I just want to reiterate once again that the pacing is absolutely horrendous. It's only after episode 12 when I feel like things improve quite a bit. However, episode 13 is a pretty huge leap forward in time, which might cause some people to become quite pissed off. I didn't mind it and I also believe that it was pretty well explained though you might ask some questions about the logic regarding certain decisions that were made during the time skip but hey, one does not simply question the logic of an anime. This second half of the series stop introducing new plot points and finally starts explaining a few of them and answering some of the questions that you may have. Key word: few. But after 12 episodes of an absolute mess, it might be a bit late for some people to start accepting answers and explanations. Characters: 6/10 This story is focused primarily on Shu and Inori, along with other main characters like Gai, and... Gai, the leader of funeral party in the first half of the series. These are only three characters who really ever receive any development. And this bugs me quite a bit because the supporting cast of around 20 other characters was just as interesting, if not more interesting, than the main cast. The supporting cast (this includes villains) isn't given enough screen time for us to want to know more about them but given nowehere near enough time for any meaningful development to occur. Even when surprising revelations were made about the supporting characters, it really had no impact on me because I couldn't really bring myself to actually feel that much for them. On the other hand, you have the main cast of Shu, Inori, and Gai. Each of these characters is developed rather nicely. However, due to the pacing of the story and the requirements of each character for their respective roles in this mess of a story, the process of their development is also somewhat a mess. In the second half of he series though, just as quality of the story improves, the development of each of the three main characters improves as well. Animation & Art: 11/10 Now forgive the 11/10 that I have given the animation and art. It's because I've given 10/10's to anime whose animation and art doesn't even come close to comparing to Guilty Crown's and I feel like it would be a huge injustice to Guilty Crown if I gave it a measly 10/10. Having said all that, you should already know that the animation and art is absolutely stunning; an absolute feast for your eyes. The normal scenes like when Shu is sitting in highschool or at home would be considered amazing in many other anime. I can't even begin to describe just how good the action scenes are. Or how good Guilty Crown can look in scenes where it tries to be beautiful. Sound: 10/10 Just like the animation and art, the sound is also sublime. The openings and closings provide really great listens whether in the anime or outside the anime. The background music really scales up the epic-ness of the fight scenes and CAN evoke some emotion. And Inori's singing is as beautiful as beautiful can get. There isn't much I really can say about the music in this anime, except that I strongly recommend you go listen to every single song that they have to offer. The voice acting (I watched Guilty Crown dubbed) on the other hand is the reason I didn't also give sound an 11/10. It wasn't bad. But it wasn't good either. Some characters had really good voice acting which contained a lot of emotion and really helped me immerse myself in the anime while some characters had somewhat bland voice acting. Enjoyment: 8/10 Guilty Crown is a good anime and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Episodes 1-12 were difficult to comprehend to say the least but when some things are explained in the second half of the anime, I began to really appreciate what had actually occurred in the first 12 episodes and it really took the burden of all the questions I had off my mind. If there's anything that everyone should enjoy when watching Guilty Crown, it's the animation, art, and sound. And it's mainly these three things coupled with the interesting but somewhat badly-told story that I reccommmend that you watch this anime. Thank you for reading! Any feedback is much appreciated.

After finishing this series, Guilty Crown left me feeling… rather empty. The production value behind the show was great, the animation breathtaking, the OST was conducted by one of the renowned musician in the industry, and above all else, we had an all-star seiyuu cast. Everything looked very beautiful and it was a joy for my eyes and ears to enjoy. So what went wrong? I believe this was mostly because of the production committee behind GC played everything “too safe”, and “laziness” was to blame. GC took a lot of themes and tropes from many other different animes and mashed them all up together, packaged them so well that it could easily appeal to the mass audience. In one way, GC was quite a hit and a commercial success, but on the other hand, it became a train wreck and a huge loss of potential. One of the many tropes GC used was by making a “relatable” male protagonist, Shu Ouma, who was presented as a shy boy who had difficulties in making friends with others, he was a coward, low self-esteem and selfish, in essence, hardly any good trades. He felt that he would be of no use to the world. In a sense, many teenagers who are still developing could well face these issues in real life and may find Shu “relatable”, as personally I did face similar troubles years ago. GC then proceeded to develop him more as a character by having various traumatic events of different magnitudes affecting him. Unfortunately, I can’t help myself but feel that the creators put a rather half-assed effort on this. Minor events that shouldn’t affect Shu so much made him depressed for weeks, yet a much larger event which should have a bigger impact on him, Shu just brushed it off as if it never happened. The said traumatic events affected Shu in practically any way the creators made it convenient for themselves to portray Shu the way they wanted to. As a consequence, any thoughts of believing Shu as a “real” character was turned into dust. His progressive growth as a character was nonsensical, and he was like a totally different character throughout the series, he turned from Haruyuki into Kirito at some point, and turned into Lelouch thereafter. He was socially inept at the beginning, and then suddenly he became so likable to others around that he managed to form a pseudo-harem and even became a leader. I understand how major life events can turn a person 180 degrees, but sadly it wasn’t done very well here. Another mess of a character in GC would be Inori Yuzuriha, the poster girl of the series. Her character designs were no doubt decent, sadly it felt way out of place when used in the show. Who on earth would wear a sideboob outfit in the middle of a fight against robots? Sorry but to me she was created merely to help promote the sales of merchandises and Blu-rays. Her personality was also tailored into what could be the perfect waifu material – soft spoken, kuudere, beautiful, sexy (who was never aware that Shu was ogling at her tities), strong-willed, badass and wasn’t afraid to kill. Sounds to me she was the ultimate otaku fantasy wife who should be able to fulfill most of their fetishes. All of these were fine should they provided a fine backstory for her, but unfortunately there wasn’t any, despite the fact that she was very relevant to the plot. I found myself picturing her as a sex combat maid android sent from the future, as it made much more sense this way. (sigh) Speaking of the plot, I am often perplexed by the fact that the anime producers did not want to let go of the school setting. Yep you guessed it, the usual school festivals and onsen scenes were present. The terrorists were mostly teenagers who for some reason so immensely talented and trained well enough to stand up against the military. Gai was merely a 17 years old boy but he acted as if he was Hitler, somehow Inori could shoot more accurately than James Bond because she was "talented and trained", and the wanted serial killer cum super hacker was only 14. The fact that they were merely teens made it convenient for the producers to brush off any silly actions the characters made as “pubescent mood swings” or “because love is blind”. Furthermore, they made all the good guys in GC teenagers, and most of the adults were the bad guys. The black and white hat that were assigned to the characters were so blatantly obvious that it was difficult to take the antagonists’ ultimate evil goal seriously, and the show did not actually explain it well on the motive of their plans, simply throwing in the mask of “I am evil just because I am” to them. The plot elements introduced in GC were actually very interesting, especially the concept of the shape of a people’s heart in the form of “Voids”, which I believe to hold immense potential to make a great show if handled well. However, it seemed to me that the producers were lazy to elaborate on the Void concept, using it merely as a convenient Dues Ex Machina that Shu and Gai often pulled off to solve whatever difficult situations they were stuck in. What happened to “as the emotions and fears of a person change, so do the form of their Voids?” I never see any change in a person’s Void whatsoever in the show regardless of the so-called “change of feelings and fears” occurring in said person. Notice how I repeated the word “convenience” so many times in this review, basically, this summed up how lazy the writers were when they were concocting the plot of GC. This extends further to the Apocalypse Virus, the Lost Christmas incident and the subsequent selective amnesia Shu had, the ultimate motive of the antagonists, to the entire setting of GC itself. The writers hardly finished anything they started. Ultimately, GC could be seen as a summer blockbuster anime which came in with a bang, and ended without leaving a trace of excellence behind. With its beautiful presentation and many tropes thrown in, it might appeal to anime newcomers, and personally I also believe that GC is a decent choice to introduce anime to others. But the poorly written plot and characters left a bitter taste to those who expected a mesmerizing tale from one of the most famous modern animes out there.

Most overrated anime of 2011. Which had a lot of potential and nice art but ! (yeah here it comes) Because of poor execution of storytelling, failed character psychology design and not so good episode structure, is definitely far from great. Not mentioning all the cliché present in big portions: high-school, black and white, every important guy has to have his girl, she has to be cute or capable(not both), mentally unstable main character, badass char, saving futuristic japan issue... The worst thing is probably the continuity of episodes. Many things doesn't make sense, main plot is barely holding throughout the episodes. Anime itself doesn't stick to any genre. You can find mix(mess) of romance, fantasy, sic-fi, mecha, action, tragedy, psychology elements that are misapplied in whole concept. Its obvious that GC tried to copy loads of stuff from Neon Genesis (Shinji,Dad,mom), Code Geass (Rebellion,Tyrant transformation) etc.. Unfortunately Its not working out in the incoherent story with illogical behaviour of characters. The only thing worth of praise is fluid animation and high-quality art design. The anime might be targeting younger audience with lesser anime experience.

Hello, Cheezburgr Fantano here, internet's busiest anime nerd, and this is The Anime Drop. Today we're reviewing... [audiovisual glitch] v-v-viewing Guilty Crown. Guilty Crown is this absolutely gorgeous looking show with designs by my main man redjuice and directed by Araki Tetsurou whom I don't seem to remember anything about because he's so easily forgettable. Onto the main event, lets start with the story (by the way I don't give a shit what you think, spoilers ahead). It all begins when this dude whose name sounds like "shoe", shu(?), shuu(?) - in any case we'll name him shoe or something because Japanese language is stupid. So this dude finds this scantly dressed wen- sorry, girl in an abandoned building where he uses to hang out (boy what a creep). It turns out the girl is a popular niconico idol so naturally he wants to tap dat ass but shit happens and she gets captured by the JSDF or something crazy like that. The nigga gets the crystal meth from her and decides to listen to some voice coming out of that doraemon looking thing. So this guy goes to finish the drug deal in Inori's stead and he gets beat up by some macho looking sperglord. After that he gets saved by this yakuza jesus. So then two minutes later he gets shot in the fuckin heart like a true street ninja and it blows up the crystal meth vial, which goes to his head immediately and gives him the power to pull fridges out of people's chests. So he pulls out this fridge that looks like a sword from Inori's valley and then cuts a fucking gundam in half. DUDE IM SOLD So now that we got that out of the way, lets get onto the main dish. The plot. If anything I learned from this is how dumb people can be at times, or how you SHOULDN'T TRUST A FORMER DRUG ADDICT THAT SOLD YOU OFF LIKE JUDAS. THANKS YAHIRO. I'm 100% serious when I say that Yahiro is a fucking dick, and a TON of things could've been avoided by not listening to him. But our MC here is a tough nut to crack so he didn't realize he lost his hand because of him in episode 22 at the table. There are so, so many simply dumb things about the story that I could list here but that's not the point of the review. I could probably go over the sound or the art, but I doubt anybody is interested in that. I give both the art and sound a 9/10, those are pretty much the only solid points of this show. Due to the fact that MC went through life very quickly and suffered of PTSD from a young age, it makes me wonder if the author had some sort of sick fetish with torturing him. He suffered every kind of pain possible, atleast psychologically, from the impact of a friend dying to despair, hopelessness, fear, anxiety, the list goes on. I don't think people give him enough credit when they say he "TURNED ALPHA" or "BECAME A REAL MANE" in the end because the poor lad went through so much in these 22 episodes I'm surprised he didn't end up in therapy after episode 22. So, basically, if you enjoy lots of anime, if your backlog is infinite and you don't mind something that's different from the sea of garbage shows and stock plots most anime seems to originate from, you can try this. This is a perfectly fine choice for anybody who wants to see something refreshing. I myself have enjoyed it and I would recommend it. Alot of people seem to worship the plot of this like it's a masterpiece or something, but, really, it's simply not that amazing. I've seen so many other shows that did the "strong ass moralfag" trope so much better. And in a show where people have morals like this you need scenes where people are screaming their will at the top of their mother fucking lungs. Unfortunate lack of screaming real, legit screaming in this show. Characters that are advertised in the show as "having strong morals" are actually just jokes. There's this yakuza jesus that does a 180 at some point in the plot and basically ruins everything the series has been building his character up to. Which is just dumb. If it helps, I know it helped me in any case, the girls are cute, most of them, not talking about that blonde slut here. Fucking piece of shit didn't even die. (That's about it the only girls that ever do something are Inori, Ayase and Tsugumi, by the way Tsugumi best girl) Redjuice's strong point is drawing girls that you'd tap without a second thought, masterfully shown in his works ranging from the Beatless illustrations to that one cover on REDALiCE's album that had like one good track because the guy can only do shitty J-Core that died back in 2008. So basically if you're into cute girls you might as well watch this because you won't be disappointed. From catsuits and bouncing fat cat tats to designer costumes and the dude's trademark hairclips. If you want to find your waifu do take this ride. I was very impressed to see EGOIST being a cameo in this show, I very much enjoy whatever comes out of their funhouse and I was not disappointed by Guilty Crown. Strong vocals by Chelly and very well crafted and composed lyrics by my main man Ryo from supercell that made this really cool Vocaloid song back a couple years ago. Very touching lyrics, very fitting for the setting the plot runs in, very, very soothing. I must admit that when I was watching episode 22 the ending song hit a number on me and had me tear up because of how well executed the scene was, the timing was just right and the premise was decent enough for a tearjerk moment. I guess it all goes to the director on this one, very well done. The music is nothing short of great, tracks ranging from warm instrumental arrangements to just-right electronic "time to get pumped" kind of tracks which are very well embedded in the last couple episodes near the climax of the plot. If only the plot was better, my god, this could've been a 9 or even 10. Instead? I give this a light 7. Nothing more, nothing less, because this show can make you very mad if you're a no-bullshit person like me that likes to nitpick and question everything, even when I told my disbelief to hang itself somewhere in the corner there were still things that ticked me off. And I can say that I enjoyed shows of magical qualities like Kakumeiki Valvrave without rising an eyebrow constantly through the second half, although that show too has a shitty ending. But this is just my opinion. What's yours? Did you like Guilty Crown? Did you hate it? Cheezburgr Fantano here... Production I.G. ... EGOIST... Guilty Crown. Forever.

Let me start off by stating that Guilty Crown was not a recommendation given to me by anyone, nor was it a show that I “planned to watch eventually”. Before watching this, I had never heard of GC, and the only reason I picked it up is because I came across it on some random anime generator and it seemed like a good filler show to enjoy. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the anime; with no external biases or influences, I was able to appreciate this anime for what it truly is : a decent anime. It had some really strong moments, and some pretty weak moments. I just happen to enjoy the stronger moments more than I hated the sub par moments. STORY: 5/10 The overall plot was at best unpredictable and at worst disjointed. The story line, relative to other animes, is pretty complex. By complexity, I mean that there is a lot of mystery involved in the plot concerning motives, and characters; there are implied and explained back-stories, and lot of dodging questions. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you finally hear the explanations and you are only vaguely intrigued by it, you are left wondering... “Why the heck didn't you just reveal this in the first place?”. This anime would have been a lot better if they had left the story line simple and focused on the aesthetics, emotions, and actions in the show. The plot wasn't too bad, overall. They were moments that left me in shock (in a good way) and these moments made the show worth watching. Art: 9/10 The art style was amazing and eye catching. I was intrigued immediately by the first scene of the show, and there weren't too many times where I was enthralled by the aesthetics of their art, whether it is character design, or background. The art was really really good. Sound: 10/10 WOW! If this anime was half as a good as it's music production, then this would be one of the greatest anime ever done. I was considerably blown away by the background music that seemed to elevate every mediocre scene up to a good scene, and the good scenes up to a masterpiece scene. I don't have much words to describe how good the sound of this anime was episode by episode. Inori's singing was also always beautiful, and was probably the only good thing about that character. The soundtrack was so good that I sometime wondered if it wasted for such a show, and maybe could have been used for a better anime. However, that doesn't matter. What counts is that this production did really well with the sound aspect of the anime. Character: 3/10 I pondered whether writing a detailed synopsis on the main characters of GC, but I've decided not to. It's not worth it. The characters are nothing unique and most of the times, they really pissed me off with their actions. Shu Ouma has a memorable name, and maybe at some points seemed to have some potential to be a good introspective but assertive main character but most of the time, he turned out to either be recklessly stupid or a pitiful coward. Most of the time, I was left wondering what mental illness this kid seems to have. He seemed to lack the rational part of our brains, especially in the first half o the series. To his defense, however, Shu did have some redeeming moments. Inori was just a mess of a character, extremely inconsistent, and really just used as a crazy eye candy that can sing a bit. Out of all characters, I really enjoyed Ayase and Hare, they at least seemed genuine and I've had nothing to say negatively about them the entire show. I hated Arisa, though I respected her in the beginning of the show, and I really really considered condescending this show rating just because of this bword...but I held myself back. The rest of the cast, including Gai, were in my opinion, mediocre at best. Nothing to be excited about. Enjoyment : 8/10 Due mainly to the art and music, and partly to the surprises of this show, I really enjoyed he later half of this series. I was watching this episode by episode and not really caring too much, and just going through the motions..but there came a point where the show "turned up' and really went on high gear. At this point, I couldn't help but look forward to the next and next episode. It really got suspenseful and entertaining and I enjoyed that moment. Not too many shows can make you wonder or be excited for the next episode, but near episode 12-14, GC was able to do that, and thats something I appreciate. Overall: 7/10 The art and sound really is inflating this show, it should a bit lower than seven, but it was a decent show. I would definitely watch a second time, and I plan to but it's not because this was a masterpiece or anything, but because I really enjoyed the emotions that this show try to convey. There was a particular episode, which I won't spoil, where you could really feel the emotions of Shu Ouma..oh man, was it heart wrenching! and probably this was the moment, that I started not looking at this anime as a a filler, but as a stand alone anime that I should look forward to and enjoy. So yeah, based on this review, there is a lot of mixed feelings here. If you improve the characters, and made the plot a bit simpler to follow then this could have been a really special show. It's really disappointing when you think of the potential. I would still recommend this show to anyone. It's decent anime.

Sakuga? Is a term used in anime to describe moments in a show or movie when the quality of the animation improves drastically, typically for the sake of making a dramatic point or enlivening the action. Anime that are labelled Sakuga tends to have a bigger budget compared to your average anime production. Look at any Ufotable and most Production I.G anime for example. Many of the show are capable of using a lot of Sakuga thanks to bigger budget. Sadly many of the Sakuga labelled animes tends to have little to no substance and as a result, many of these Sakuga shows ended up being mediocre at best and at worst garbage. Yes there are exceptions like Fate/Zero, The World of Colours and A Lull in the Sea but more often or not many of these Sakuga labelled anime generally have little to no substance to back up their visuals. Then there's Guilty Crown. Guilty Crown is an anime that was released in the Fall 11 season that spawned 22 episodes. It was produced by Production I.G the same Studio that gave us classics such as Haikyuu and Ghost in the Shell and it was directed by Tetsurou Araki the same director that gave us classics like Death Note and Attack on Titan. In the year 2029, the mysterious Apocalypse Virus spreads and plunges all of Japan into a state of emergency in a period of chaos known as Lost Christmas. Eventually, an international organisation known as the GHQ intervenes with martial law and restores order to Japan at the expense of its independence. One decade later antisocial boy named Sho Ouma meets Inori Yuzuriha a lead singer for Egoist. He soon discovers that Inori is a member of the Funeral Parlor, a resistance group that aims to liberate Japan from the clutches of the GHQ. From Shu must take part in the actions of Funeral Parlor and the "king's mark" appears on his right hand in order to take back Japan. Guilty Crown can be best described as a beautiful firework display that is filled with amazing explosions sounds and the incredible attention to detail that is used to make a beautiful star inside the charcoal. The soundtrack of Guilty Crown is fantastically well-composed. Various sci-fi techno and dub step track masterfully blend in the world of Guilty Crown. The insert songs that played in the anime were incredible. Euterpe, Release my Soul, and Bios are well-produced songs that have a lot of energy and hype to many key moments. Guilty Crown soundtrack is only made better with the outstanding sound direction. The explosions, crystals shatter to small pieces, gunfire and sword slicing mechs add tension and suspense to the scenes. All the opening and ending themes were all great on they own rights, and they perfectly fitted well with the anime. Both the dub and sub are pretty good. Both languages featured an all-star cast that did a tremendous job with the roles that they were given. The best thing about Guilty Crown is without a question the visuals. These are some of the best visuals I have ever seen in any anime. Fantastic character/mecha designs along with the glorious sci-fi futuristic colour palette and breathtaking background scenery. This is only made better by the captivating animation that is filled with movement, spectacular fight choreography that would please anyone. It feels like I'm watching a Disney Pixar movie at points. All of these things make Guilty Crown a very enjoyable anime to watch on a technical and audio standpoint. I even purchased the series on DVD just to watch the fantastic well-composed visuals. Now, this is where things start to get sour. If, you guys haven't notice, yet I only been talking about the visuals and soundtrack of Guilty Crown and anyone who has seen it knows exactly why. Guilty Crown is not a good anime. To put this kindly Guilty Crown is at best a subpar anime and at worst it's pretty awful. Guilty Crown is a bizarre fair as it takes every element from Code Geass and Evangelion bastardised. The writing reeks of incompetence as the series loves to shove in some of the most laziest and stock anime cliches imaginable making the series outright infuriating to watch. The series has a lot of tonal disparity as it has no idea of what tone it wants to have half of the time. This is only made worse with the show's disastrous direction as this is one of those series that has no idea of what it's doing. Many plot threads come and go without any sense of build up into them. The worst thing about Guilty Crown is without a question the plotholes. If, you guys don't know what plotholes is then let me explain. A plothole is an inconsistent occurrence in a series of events that conducts the series narrative, logic, direction. These include random power-ups, continuity errors, character contradictions and my personal favourite have a plot element that frankly betrays its own plot that it established. Guilty Crown is the embodiment of this as I believe that every single episode and I mean every single episode has least one or two plot holes. The incompetent sandwich plot is only made worse with the existence of this thing that is Shu the protagonist of Guilty Crown. The main character Shu is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with this show. Not only he's a soulless husk of a character, but he's downright incompetent of functioning like a proper main  character. He is a very hard character to relate to thanks to his brick personally and almost every single character that he makes only strengths the plot contrivances that pop-up in the narrative. The most insulting thing about Shu is his character development if you can call it that is generous. In the first half, his a bootleg Shinji clone. Constantly whining and running like a coward and generally doing stupid things for the sake of it. He did have some cool moments but these moments feel forced and at times contrived.  The second half takes Shu an already incompetent character into one of the worst protagonists I have ever seen in anime. Thanks to the sudden change that had no build up. Shu goes from being whiny beta into a hypocritical badass. Instead of being amazed I was downright laughing because I have never seen a show that literally toys with its characters. On top of the series awful direction and writing. Shu being a badass is one of the dumbest stuffs, I have ever seen as I'm just literally watching an hypocritical idiot pretending to be badass when his clearly not. Lastly, the less we speak about his ham-fisted romance with Inori the better. The supporting characters are even worse. They are incredibly inconsistent as they consistently act out of character. Not to mention they motivations are extremely half-baked. Inori is the embodiment of this problem. Apart from being a shameless C.C + Rei knockoff she just an inconsistent mess of a character that only justifies the shows terrible writing. Even with the best character in the show Gai quickly gets ruined by a certain plot twist that frankly killed destroyed him as a character. Finally, we at the show's breaking point of insanity. The final couple of episodes were historically bad. Not only these episodes were narratively broken that is filled with some of the worst plot-twists and writing that you will ever encounter in an anime .But around that point, the series has completely given up of making sense.  Freakish amount of plot holes that would make Future Diary blush, unbelievably dumb character actions, horrendous dialogue and a crappy conclusion that would infuriate you to no end. So was Guilty Crown. Never I have enjoyed an anime so much despite knowing that is bad. I absolutely despise the plot and characters but I still loved the presentation and music in in which allowed me to enjoy despite being a train-wreck. Guilty Crown may be an bad anime but it is a fantastic case study of how to not let style take over substance and because of theses reasons, I heartily recommend Guilty Crown.

Guilty Crown is an anime I had heard so much about and was really looking forward to finally watching. On the outside, this show looks like an action-packed thrill ride filled with stunning visuals, an amazing soundtrack, and some of the best animation I have ever seen, but the more you watch the more you realize that all of these are just covers for the shows complete lack of proper story telling. This show gets a ton of hate AND a ton of a love from a bunch of people in anime community, and hopefully my review will give you an honest opinion of the show :). Story: 2 This anime has one of the worst told stories I have ever seen, and its really fucking depressing when you realize how great this show could have been if it would have been given proper attention. Basically, this show follows our main character, Shu, who has been given the power to take the "voids" out of people's hearts (for some reason). He later uncovers a conspiracy surrounding the Japanese government and their plans to take over Japan using the "apocalypse virus." Shu ends up joining a terrorist group know as Funeral Parlor in an attempt to overthrow the Japanese government and stop their plans to use the virus to take over (I think?). The show was just incredibly confusing and 75% of the time I legit had no fucking clue what was going on. It was a gigantic mess from start to finish. They tried to cram in way too many plot elements and it just ended up making the entire thing unwatchable from a story standpoint. The ending is also extremely disappointing, and leaves the viewer with no satisfying feeling whatsoever. Art: 10 As much as I hated the story of this anime, and found it to be incredibly confusing, it does have some redeeming qualities. The art and animation in this show is some of the best I have seen in any anime PERIOD. The show looks drop dead gorgeous. Everything from the color palette to the crisp and fluid animation is top notch, and I would highly recommend anyone watch this show just for its artistic value alone. This was definitely the highly light of the show by far. Sound: 9 The soundtrack in this show was almost as equally fantastic as the art. Both openings are memorable and catchy as hell, and I honestly looked forward to them every single time I started a new episode. All the songs in the actual show are great as well, each doing a good job of adding to the mood of the scene they are being used in. I still find my self listening to the opening theme songs from this show from time to time because they are just that damn good. Characters: 3 Just like the poorly told story, the majority of the characters in this show are just as as shit as the plot itself. Shu is your standard high school student main character. This type of main character has been done so many times at this point that I just really don't care anymore. He's your typical whiny bitch main character that is afraid of everything, goes through a metamorphosis mid way through the show, and then becomes a badass by the end of it *Yawn*. Its been done time and time again, nothing special here. Inori, who is Shu's love interest (Lol), is even more boring. Nothing special, she is simply in the show because reasons. She is really only there to be the forced love interest of Shu. Yes, she does have some back story, and yes, she serves some kind of purpose to the plot (I think), but its so poorly explained that I couldn't care less about her. The other characters aren't even worth mentioning, they are basically just cardboard cutouts. The only side character that I found somewhat interesting was the girl in the red suit that had to use the wheelchair (can't remember her name). She was actually given some decent backstory and purpose, but it sure as hell wasn't enough to save this cluster fuck of a show. Enjoyment: 5 There were definitely parts of this show that I enjoyed, but I most certainly wouldn't watch it again. It was the definition of "Meh" Overall: 5 The only reason this show gets a 5 is because the art and sound were just so outstanding. This show would have easily been a 3, but the art and sound at least make it somewhat mediocre of a show. Like I said earlier, I would recommend this anime to anyone that wants a beautiful show to watch with an amazing soundtrack and crisp animation. However, if you are looking for a show with an amazing plot and in-depth characters you are not gonna find it here.

I only watched Guilty Crown because of the hype that surrounded it, animation and music. I didn't care about the plot, I thought that it was just another ripped-off series of Code Geass. and to my dismay, it was a copied version that failed majestically. I'll just get to the point, because I really forced myself to watch this series for the sake of finishing an anime. The story is really a rip-off. They didn't even bother hiding it. The cliche tropes were all there. Incest,boy meets girl, my-life-suddenly-changed, hero, saviour, god-like etc. there were so many plot holes that that it became difficult to watch. the characters were just so " meh." Shu was such a bastard, bitchy, cry-baby and everything that I don't want in an MC. He's the embodiment of MCs that are full of crap. He was a character trying to be a bad-ass but failed miserably that it was excruciatingly difficult, unbearable and embarrassing to watch. Inori...y'know the only lines that I can remember from her are " shu " and "shu " that was all. They could've just hired someone from anywhere and make that person utter " shu " every episode. Her character was so..wait, was she even a character to begin with? She didn't even have a personality for god's sake! She was literally a walking cardboard that just wore revealing clothes and had a tape recorder that has a record with an awesome voice glued to her mouth for the sake of advertisements and appearances. other characters: they were here and there. Killed off when the story needed them to be dead and revived when the story needed the crap to be alive. tbh, I really hate guilty crown to the extent that after I finished watching the show I have cursed so many times that I don't even know what to say. for the other aspects of the show like animation, soundtracks, ops and eds, they were so beautiful that they became wasted on such a garbage crap. With a superior production team, great directors, top-notched musics and art and a golden time slot, what could possibly go wrong? Everything went wrong and for reasons that are unknown to us. The only thing that kept me going was the superb animation and the awesome opening theme " My Dearest " Actually, the shows so bad that this might have just been an advertisement for Supercell. this show is so bad that I would rather watch Bob the Builder.

Well. This is my first time writing a review, and I registered to MAL especially for this anime. For this piece of dirt that was summoned from the deepest depths of hell... Let's start, eh? We'll review the anime part by part. First, story. (6) Anime starts with a blast, causing unaware viewers to raise their hopes for this anime. And let's say, for a few episodes, I was one of them. Story follows a teenager named Ouma Shu, who by the way, is a wimp. But one of a kind. There is so much I want to say to him, but gonna save it for the Character part. If you read the summary of the anime, you can see it's a pretty generic shounen anime, that brings nothing new to the anime world and just... well. 'till the end, it won't leave the way of being generic, I'll give it that. But what is this show's point? Another Code Geass? Many have failed there, my dear friends, and don't be mistaken, Guilty Crown didn't make any groundbreakes. Actually, it failed miserably. Because there is no system. First half and the second half of the anime, completely different. In the first half, you can understand things, feelings, thoughts. But second half... I mean, wtf? This cannot be possible, since it's practically impossible to make such a mess, it leaves you with a feeling of chaos. Art. (10) Art is quite wonderful. I mean, it is really wonderful. Fight scenes, backgrounds, character's bodies and faces, all in a sync, it's almost refreshing to the eyes. Nothing bad, or if there was, I didn't catch it. Sound (9) This is one of my weak points. My ears are not good enough to make a decent comment like most of you, but I'll say that nothing made me uncomfortable. Background music matched with the fighting scenes, and the voice actresses of characters were chosen with great care. Nice job. Character (5) And now, most awaited part of this review. Character. Let's just start by saying, "fuck you, shu!" Ouma Shu... he's definetly in the lowest tier of MC's. No one can be a bigger pussy than him. It's just not possible. Having dropped a quite a lot anime for their weak, pussy MC's, I'm going to say it took all I have to watch all the 22 episodes to write this review. I can't even begin to understand why people love this wimpy, pathetic MC's. I even punched the wall while watching the anime, 'cuz he made me mad. Character development for Shu was... well, bad. He never acted out on being a pussy, actually he made it clear that he will be a pussy 'till the day he dies, 'cuz that's just him. He actually ran off from his group which he "willingly" joined, well because, they needed him to act like a man. But no! God no! Oh heaven's no! Don't let Shu be a man, please god! Let him grow a vagina, and let him join Ichika's harem of wonderful mecha girls! Well, guess what you pathetic human being, if you don't want to act up, do something, or just even say something, DON'T GO TO THE PLACES WHERE YOU HAVE TO DO THOSE. Actually, if you can, please just die. But wait, there's more! When you get to the second half, he goes bad-ass, ruthless, and a piece of shit. Don't get me wrong, his bad-ass phase was even more girlier then any GF's I had, and trust me my otaku friends, I have the experience. He's just... oh my god. Why does characters like him get to be the MC, and good characters like Gai just goes unimportant? Anyway. I'm leaving him now. I'm not done swearing on that moron, but I'll be doing that verbally while writing the review. Inoha... well, she's a bitch. Yeah. I really didn't get how she turned out to be a good character, but she was a bitch. She admitted that she was using her girliness to get Shu to join her terrorist group, (don't worry, no spoilers. She says that in the start) and then story picked up for her from there. But let me go back to Shu, how he was after Inoha said she tricked him to join the group, how a little crying bitch he is, and an episode later, voila! He goes back to be her little dog, who pets him around like the little puppy he is. I mean, you have to be somewhat angry right? When you learn that she tricked you, she gave you hope of love then ripped that dream apart... No! Of course not. Be the little pussy you are, and totally go all over her! Good job Inoha, for driving that bitch around. Enjoyment/Overall (3) I had hopes for this anime. High hopes, I dare to say. Well, thanks to Ouma Shu, my hopes were shattered like when William Wallace found out those pussy Scot lords turned him over to the Brits. I couldn't swallow my pride as a man and as a viewer, and for every few minutes, I punched something. MC really ruined the show for me. If you like a pussy, spoiled little brats who turns into a girly bad-ass in the second half for a MC, then go for it. Art and sound is pretty good anyway, so... Well good luck. Find the jewelry in this anime which I failed to find.

Wha-a-at?! I'm bewildered by the number of reviews I've read on Guilty Crown that rated it poorly (6-), and although Guilty Crown had it's flaws, in addition to my strong dislike towards mecha (this was actually the first anime with any sort of mecha I've finished), Guilty Crown was still a decent, no, a great anime. People seem to like to compare Guilty Crown to other popular, similar anime like Code Geass (I think?) therefore giving it a bad reputation for not being on the same level as them. Since I haven't seen these other anime, I can't compare, but Guilty Crown in itself was a highly enjoyable and interesting anime. I actually like the title of the anime, because it was fitting towards the anime. Guilty Conscious. Crown: Monarchy. All points in the anime. Anyways, although when I first started the anime, I had my doubt but as it turns out, I really, really like this anime. Story: Japan is in chaos after the Apocalypse Virus spreads after Lost Christmas on December 24, 2029. During this time, Japan is under the military rule of a global organization called the GHQ. Ouma Shu, the quiet main character ('s) life completely changes when he meets the beautiful pop idol, Inori, who is on the run from GHQ soldiers. While trying to save Inori, Shu accidently acquires the mysterious King's power called the Void Gene that allows him to pull voids, the manifestation of a person's heart (a weapon or useful item) out of people. Ouma Shu's destiny completely changes and he becomes intertwined with not only the GHQ, but also with Funeral Parlor, a terrorist organization that is rebelling against the GHQ (Inori is part of this group, and she has her secrets). A story of revealing what's just, and what's corrupt. The addition of the Adam and Eve references seemed a bit redundant to me in this story, because I didn't really see any theme of temptation. Maybe when Shu became a dictator, the power of temptation? Eh, whatever, it's not like it took away from the anime. The story overall was good and intriguing (really intriguing to me). The first half of the series was wonderful, then there was a frustrating and unnecessary plot twist midway that lasted for a couple episodes and sort of tilted the direction of the anime which eventually made the anime rush it's end. But the show, despite it's pretty random, and confusing end, redeemed itself with the tragic, and great last 10 - 15 minutes to wrap-up the story of Guilty Crown. I think Guilty Crown had too many things going on in the plot all at once though, and that caused there to be many easily noticeable plot-holes. But not enough for me to dislike the anime. By the way, thank goodness Guilty Crown didn't revolve around mecha, otherwise I think I would have hated it, the mecha scenes were boring and dumb to me. Art: Phenomenal art. You just can't get any art more beautiful and well-drawn than Guilty Crown. The character's themselves were drawn to perfection, Inori was beautiful, Shu seemed pure, and just, I loved all the character's portrayals! But even more so than the characters, the artwork of the background design, the apocalypse disease crystals, the voids, and the action scenes. Sound: Okay, I'm going to say it right now for Guilty Crown because it deserves it. Guilty Crown has the best music I've heard in anime eevvveeerrrr!!! The first opening, when I listen to it, I feel sorrow, happiness and joy. The ending, great conclusion to every episode. The soundtracks were beautiful. Inori's voice actor, Ai Kayano has the most angelic, beautiful voice I think I've ever head. She sings multiple songs (I LOVE DEPARTURES BLESSING!) in the anime that fill me up with emotion, and make me tear up. But as I've mentioned before, the voices aren't the only great thing, all the pieces of music are perfect! But the soothing, sad songs aren't all, the epic action scene songs (Bios) certainly add to the "fun" aspect of the action scenes that I wasn't too big of a fan of. And... when I thought the sound couldn't get any better, the second opening hit me, and it instantly become my favorite opening in anime ever. Everlasting - Egoist (Inori) is my favorite opening in anime, no doubt. I loved it. Repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat. But wait there's more! Remember when I wrote that the very tragic last 10 minutes of the anime made up for the anime's mistake? The last song that comes on to wrap up that ending was BEAUTIFUL (Release My Soul). Just thinking about the song, and the ending scene is making me tear up. Wow, I really ranted about how great the sound is, but it really is!! Best in anime that I've seen so far by far! Character: Okay, so the characters start off with lots of potential and interest especially Shu, Gai, and Inori, the 3 main characters. But... Gai never really develops, his character just changes personalities for actually no apparent reason. Shu obviously changes, but in my opinion, in a worse way. It's like the show plays around with the audience with Shu's annoying character: Just when you think that he’s finally come to accept his destiny and his powers, he quickly regresses back to being a weak, stupid boy. Inori is a character that I don't know why I liked to be honest, because the anime completely throws in a blender and shreds to dog food all her character's potential. But, once again the last 10 minutes of the anime really makes me love Inori. The side characters were all interesting as well, at first that is... And once again, Guilty Crown never develops them, and they really become nothing. And the antagonists... Who actually is the antagonist?... BUT, despite all these flaws in the characters part of the anime, I still gave it a decent score because of a specific female character named Hare Menjou (and Inori). Hare and Inori made the entire story of Guilty Crown a tragic tale. Hare and Inori made me cry soo much, that... Oh my, they made me cry so much. Enjoyment: To my surprise, I found myself smiling and seeking more of Guilty Crown after every episode. Guilty Crown is definitely a good anime that I think other people just talk poorly about for no real good reason. Maybe I'm biased, just because I enjoyed watching it, and I LOVED THE MUSIC! Listen to "Release My Soul", Listen to "Departures Blessing", Listen to "Euterpe", Listen to both the openings, and most definitely listen to Krone. Loved Guilty Crown a lot despite it's flaws! Why do I give it a 9/10? ENJOYMENT, I was never bored, ever while watching Guilty Crown, an anime I'd recommend to anyone that seeks enjoyment and simply amazing muuuussiiiiccc.

It seems that guilty crown is an anime that viewers either love or hate. Personally, I loved it, and give it a 10 in my own list. However, to be fair, their are many flaws in this anime. In terms of review score, the points given should be lower. Story: 7.5 I really like the premise of guilty crown. The ending is very emotional and there are several high points in the story. However, there are clearly also flaws in it. This anime took many elements from previous awesome animes like Code Geass. Some of the copied elements doesn't really fit into the story as well as it did in the original anime. For example, the King's Power that Shu possesses is pretty ridiculously absurd compared to the technology in the anime. The motives of GHQ and most of the characters in the anime are not made clear to the audience or are unreasonable. Furthermore, much of the plot development is strained. I especially dislike how Gai turned evil just to protect Mana. Still, the revelation toward the end of the anime of how Shu and his sister caused Lost Christmas is powerful. Overall, despite many flaws, guilty crown does deliver a entertaining story and coherent plot that really comes together in the end. Art: 10 What can I say. Even the haters of guilty crown would admit that guilty crown has amazing art. The costumes and background scenery are well designed. The mood conveyed by the animation reflects well the theme of the anime. Sound: 9 The songs are also amazing. I love the introduction, the conclusion, and the intercept songs. To this day, I can still hear the lyrical line "all the things that make me whole, I'll now give it to you. I am yours" clearly in my head. Character: 7 The characters in guilty crown is generally not as well done. This is especially apparent in the protagonist, Shu. At first, he appears to be a constantly depressed and cowardly boy. He is supposed to grow during the anime. However, the growth portrayed is not subtle but instantaneous. A prime example would be when Hare died, Shu suddenly becomes a lot crueler. It is funny because Hare and Shu do not even talk that much, yet the extent that Hare's death on Shu is so great. Then, somehow, Shu realize how important friends are. Overall, I still like Shu, but he is not a very consistent character. I think that inori is a very likable character, but her existence is pretty random. I mean, she is a popular singer and always dresses up in a flashy dress, yet she always charge in the battlefield and has off-charts power in terms of void. Her purpose in the story is revealed at the end of guilty crown and actually is a central piece of puzzle in solving the Lost Christmas virus. Enjoyment: 9 What can I say. I just really like sci-fi/superpower anime, especially when the protagonist grows from a weak boy to a OP fighter. I actually had a blast watching this anime. Overall: 8 This may seem to contrast with the score on my anime list, which is 10 (totally fan-boyism). If I look at this anime objectively though, it probably deserves a score of 8 - 8.5. Ultimately, it depends on whether a person like this genre of anime. I know this is really cliched, but if you like Code Geass, you would probably like guilty crown.

Well I shouldn't have had high expectations to start with but I thought the average scores for it had no real basis, oh man, was I wrong! First 12 EPS: 8/10 - The Rest: 3/10 - Conclussion: 5/10 - It's watchable but not really enjoyable if you watch it completely, it tries to develop characters but they just feel unreal and you don't really care what happens to them other than perhaps Inori, but even she loses much appeal after the first 12 Episodes... The Anime clearly tries to go the way Code Geass went. The only problem here is, that the main protagonist isn't fit for the role of Lellouch and the Anime overall wasn't able to build up any relationship with the characters as a whole. They should have made this a 13 EP Anime with a good Ending EP instead, then it would be worth an 8 I think. That way it's just a 5 for mediocre, with a stupid plot and uninteresting characters but at least with good visuals and audio.