Guilty Crown

Guilty Crown is a great anime that does a poor job informing its audience. *REWRITTEN REVIEW* Within broader anime culture it's usually pretty cut-and-dried what shows are the standouts and which are the stinkers. Though there are always exceptions, any given show is pretty quickly labeled worth your time or a waste of it by general consensus. However in recent years we've seen a rising trend of shows that are much more polarizing in their nature--not universally accepted as good or bad, but most frequently panned by the vocal half (minority or majority is hard to say) while the often-drowned-out, supportive half scratches their heads and wonders what the naysayers don't get about the show they enjoy so much. I would say Guilty Crown is one of these shows, but in actuality the situation is a bit more unique than that. In the wake of its more popular contemporaries and the shadow of Code Geass (an anime from a few years earlier that featured similar themes), Guilty Crown is all but forgotten. And that is a real shame, because beneath an ineffective flow of key plot information lies a diamond in the rough that deserves far more affection than it receives. Art & Sound: 10/10 First off, Guilty Crown looks and sounds amazing, as even the staunchest of critics will usually admit. Indeed, this may be the primary attraction for the show--while the story is good, as we'll get to in a minute, it is the vivid imagery and rousing soundtrack that truly sell it as something more than average. For every memorable scenario, there is a locale and audio track that are twice as memorable. The show's vision of near-future Japan is a simply delightful mix of realism and science fiction, crafting an atmosphere that is both unique and appropriately familiar. Characters were designed by Japanese artist 'Redjuice', bringing a stylistic flair that is rare even among anime, a genre of entertainment well-known for its style. Hiroyuki Sawano also shows up to grace Guilty Crown with one of his greatest soundtracks ever--if not the very best--accompanied by popular J-pop band Supercell and a new spinoff act of the group, Egoist (named after a fictional band within Guilty Crown). From every angle, Guilty Crown represents a sort of dream team of artistry, and it shows in every second of audio and animation. As a side note, it's worth mentioning that Guilty Crown received an English dub following its original Japanese release, and not only are the English voices bearable, but in some cases they seem to represent their characters better than the originals. Dub fans rejoice, but it's hard to go wrong either way. Story & Character: 8.5/10 On a single watch through the season it would be very easy to deduct a few marks on Guilty Crown's story and characters and call it a day, but this would be a disservice to both the show and its viewers. The simple fact of the matter is, it's practically impossible to pick up on every nuance of Guilty Crown's intricate and ridiculously complicated plot without prior knowledge of the story. When approached with an open mind it's still plenty enjoyable the first time around, but you will probably be left with more than a few unanswered questions, both large and small. The answers are out there, and most of them are even present in the anime alone, not to venture into the tie-in visual novel prequel and spinoff light novel. The problem here is how the anime prioritizes saving up big reveal moments over making sense. The first eight episodes--easily the highlight of the show--are fairly straightforward and may almost come off as entirely too simplistic, not preparing viewers for the depth that will suddenly come upon them out of nowhere starting thereafter and continuing until the show takes an awkward twist for a few episodes before finally coming back around to the same refreshing caliber it began with. If that sounds like a bit of a rollercoaster, that's because it is, and as such embracing the ride will be a bit of a struggle for some people. This challenge is made all the more difficult by seemingly unpredictable characters that not everyone will identify with. Most prominent personalities in the show are modeled after classic introverts, and just like in the real world, those who think along different patterns may find themselves frustrated, failing to grasp the inner conflicts Guilty Crown's author attempted to depict in the story's characters. The rest of the characters are mostly based on staple personalities of other dispositions, but despite the lack of originality all but a few are fun and interesting and manage to avoid falling flat. So where does the 8.5 come out of all this? Easy: multiple viewings. Despite the poor job Guilty Crown does at informing its audience of the world it portrays, it's not for a lack of information or even for conflicting information. While certain story elements do need to be taken and simply accepted at face value, this is far more often the exception than the rule, and they are there for pure spectacle and enjoyment value. When things get serious there is actually a pretty terrific urban fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian narrative going on. Put differently, Guilty Crown's primary story flaws are not in content, but presentation. The story is there and it is a unique, fantastical experience made the more interesting by a believably realistic backdrop, but you will probably have to dig a little to find it. The kicker: it's worth digging for. Chances are you won't see Guilty Crown as it was meant to be seen until the second or third time through, and while it's a shame it takes so long to get there, there's certainly plenty to keep the experience enjoyable in the meantime. Guilty Crown aims to be many things, and in general it succeeds at them. Highschool? Check. Mechas? Check. Mysterious, intentionally mind-blowing super powers? Check. Quiet, cute, and deadly love interest? Double check. Ordinary guy thrust into extraordinary circumstances? Check. Amnesia? Check. Super virus dystopia? Check. Secret rebel organization versus evil government? Check. Guilty Crown manages to tie it all together in a pretty satisfying way, so in theory there should be something here for everyone. The question is simply whether Guilty Crown's mix of everything will resonate with you or not. As far as quality itself goes, Guilty Crown easily stands on at least an equal plane to the likes of more popular shows such as Sword Art Online or Attack on Titan. It just doesn't explain itself quite as plainly. Overall: 9/10 Guilty Crown is a stylish and atmospheric take on many different, familiar anime themes all rolled into one. Though not without its missteps, the broader narrative operates on fascinating and engaging concepts that are simply buried beneath a layer of poor information delivery. Though a bit of criticism is due for this one central flaw, it does not ruin the experience of the anime as a whole. Early on each episode is a delightful showcase of imagination, and while the transition to the deeper plot is jarring for first-time viewers the show doesn't fail to come back around well before the season's end, and definitely offers something to repeat customers during the same time frame. Guilty Crown is an anime best approached with an open mind and a love of great art. The story may take a disproportionate amount of time to get a grasp on but it is a story well capable of getting yourself wrapped up in should you take the time to do so. Meanwhile the fantastic character and location designs and the memorable, deeply moving soundtrack will carry you along from beginning to end. Guilty Crown is not the sort of show that will resonate with everyone, but those that 'get it' will really, really get it.

After reading the synopsis for this anime, I was really excited. After reading that the Guilty Crown had a lot of criticism, I then became a bit hesitant to watch this series. With such a promising premise, I was surprised to see so much hate. However, I have never been someone who did not watch something because of mediocre reviews, so I went for it. Did Guilty Crown end up being a crown I wish I had never tried on, or is it my "guilty" pleasure. Bad puns aside, this review will dissect my feelings of this often criticized anime. Story: (5) I would give this a 5.5 if I could. The story in this anime is one that I loved and did not fully understand at the same time. In short, the story consists of a somewhat weak high schooler who meets a strange girl and receives a mysterious power that lets him grow stronger. I will not give any more detail in that to keep everything spoiler free. In the first twelve episodes of the show, the plot was all over the place. The base story was set, but random deaths and plot twists were thrown in several spots that. These plot twists either did not make much sense or were way too rushed. I felt the ideas in 11 and 12 were introduced too quickly, and took away a lot of the emotional impact of the emotional events. Despite the action-filled, shaky plot-lined first half, the last ten episodes of the show improved on just about every aspect of the plot I wanted. The plot was more centralized, made a lot more sense, and it had a better mix of action and dialogue scenes. In those last ten episodes, I was thoroughly excited to see what happened next at the end of every episode. The plot still had a few shaky points, but it ended up being very fulfilling in the end. Art: (9) Wow. The art in this anime is beautiful. The environments are unique, the characters' appearances are memorable, and the opening and ending credits look fantastic. The art when a void is extracted look brilliant, and the character's expressions while being extracted from looked very believable. My favorite aspect of the art style was during cutscenes with the crystal-like virus (which I will not describe any further). The crystal effects were menacing and beautiful looking at the same time, which perfectly conveyed the theme of beauty being a symbol of destruction in this anime. Overall, right at the 9.0 score level. Sound: (9) I may just like the music in this anime than the art. That is saying something. With the power of song being a supporting theme, this anime needed a good soundtrack, which it definitely had. The vocal music was all beautifully sung every time. The instrumental music, particularly in the last few episodes, was nearly perfect in matching the mood of the situations. I loved how Inori sang a lot of the songs rather than just being in the background. It was a touch to make the soundtrack more human-like. As with the rest of the soundtrack first opening is now one of my favorite opening tracks of all time. I liked the second one too, just not as well. Additionally, the voice acting was very good. I thought every voice matched up with the emotions of the respective characters very well. I would give this category a 9.5 if I could. Characters: (6) The characters in this anime were a bright spot and a letdown at the same time. The characters who were developed the most were all very likable, or at least memorable. As far as fairly weak main, male protagonist, I liked Shu Ouma a lot. He was a lot less whiny than a lot of other characters in other animes from his archetypes. Interestingly enough, I thought the female characters in this anime were a lot more likable and developed. Hare, Ayase, and Inori all were very cute and likable. Even though I do not think Tsugumi received enough character development, she was also very likable and cute. On the negative side of of the score, I think that the villains were highly disappointing. Each of them were intimidating, but none of them had very clear motivations for their actions. Along with that, I thought that there were too many of them. I thought Daryl could have been an interesting character, for example, but he was not shown in enough dialogue scenes to merit this. Similarly, I thought there were too many characters on the heroes side too. Souta was the only one who I thought received enough depth, besides the ones I have already mentioned. I think if the writers would have worked more character development into the first 12 episodes, this problem would not be as big. The only times I ever felt emotion for a character was in the back half of the series, which should not have been that way. Enjoyment: (8) Even through the dizzy plot line of the first half of the show, I enjoyed the anime as pure entertainment a lot. Even when character and plot development were lacking or sloppy, the action kept me highly entertained. The humor was overall very funny, the action was fast and exciting, and the dialogue was solid. When I watched this show, this is exactly what I planned on wanting: entertainment. This show was fun to watch, and with a little patience pays off for an ending that did not disappoint me. The only hindrance to this fun is the confusing and murky plot line of the first half. It was a little frustrating at times. Overall: (7) Guilty Crown is not a perfect anime by any means, but I definitely enjoyed it. I think you all should give it a try too. If you like high-octane action, quirky characters, fantastic art and sound, a little fan service, and debating connections between religion and science, this anime will be enjoyable to you. So, the story is not Shakespearean and the character development is lacking, it does not ruin the show. I think this show is almost criminally over-criticized. It is still a hell of a lot of fun. All in all, this is a crown that you should not have to feel guilty to try on.

When i first watched Guilty Crown, my first thought was that it was going to be a great anime. I was expecting 50 episodes of more good music and animation. The story would get better, and the weak protagonist will grow to become a cool and likable lead. Unfortunately, it did not exactly do that. The music and animation stayed good throughout. It made the show bearable to watch after the story kinda went down hill for me. I found myself listening to the second opening on YouTube even after the anime ended. The character development is where it gets tricky. This is probably also where most people found fault in this anime. The main character,Ouma, Shuu, starts of as like a typical shounen anime character. He seems pretty weak, but he obtains powers that allows him to help his friends. That's great and all, and we expect him to use said power to help and save people. However, as the story goes on, his personality and actions greatly change. You can't even tell if your watching the same anime anymore because he's a jerk in one episode then the Messiah in the next. It gives off an extremely unlikely and non relate able feeling to the story. Another problematic character was the main heroine, Inori. She is a very generic heroine with a flat/ 1 dimensional personality. It can get pretty boring to listen to her go on about Shuu, then say barely anything for the rest of the episode. Her main selling point seems to be the fan service. She a very revealing outfit, and she can sing very well. Once agan, pretty generic. Don't get me wrong though. I still found her to be a very likable character (one of my top tens actually), but i could not ignore the fact that she was poorly made in order to appear more cute and sexy for the fans. The story... When i first finished Guilty Crown, I really thought they should have just ended it after the first 12 episodes. I mean the last few episodes were pretty good, but the episodes from around 13-20 both depressed me and angered me. So much stuff happened at once that it was hard to take. I found myself asking again... This is Guilty Crown right? It was probably just because the way the characters acted, but the story just did not cut it for me. There was still some unanswered questions when the story was over, and i found myself wanting to see more. Since Guilty Crown only got 22 episodes, everything felt rushed. Like i said before, i thought that it would be a 50 episodes+ anime because then there could be more explanations and better character developments. Unfortunately... this did not happen. The first 12 episodes felt like a nice, enjoyable, and well built anime. The next 10 episodes felt like it switched completely into a different world of hate, deception, and betrayal. A smoother transition and several other improvements could have made Guilty Crown one of those anime that people still talk about after years and years have passed since its release. It did not of course, and people quickly started to right bad reviews about it. Despite all that was said above, i really did enjoy Guilty Crown .It still takes you through a nice and thrilling ride,(although a bit bumpy) and it might make you shed a tear or two in the end for the characters, or the poor anime that did not quite reach its full potential.

This was one of those animes that I really did hope to be good. Sadly it simply proved that you can't judge an "anime" by it's cover. -Story- It's mostly bs. It starts with young Ouma Shuu joining some "terrorist" group. Afterwards almost every episode of the first part, is made out of spectacular effects/art, explosions, betrayals aaaand a lot of crying and self-pity. The first 12-ish episodes could've been reduced to max 5 if it wasn't for all those explosions, shouting, running and crying. The first part of the story felt more like a filler than an actual part of the story. At times it does seem that the story advances too fast but that is only because they SKIP some parts, frankly most of the first part is made of the main character Shuu crying (I did say this before but it annoyed the shit out of me). The second part starts with a more determined male character, someone that does what needs to be done for the best of the majority. While it seems that they worked just a bit more on the story part of the second half, it does have way more "fuck logic" moments. It's just a pity that I can't spoil the ending but the last episode simply blew my mind, in a bad way. While others did say this too but the story is full of cliche's, maybe they tried too hard, that's why they fucked up the story so bad. -Art- 10/10 nothing to say here (judge by it's cover, right?) -Sound- Sound effects 10/10 but that's normal I guess... They did try a lot, nothing to say, even the main female character has an original song of her own. While I really like most of supercell's / ryo's music I didn't like any of the songs in this anime, but hey maybe it's just me. That makes an 8 for sounds for me in the end. -Characters- At least we have some development on Shuu's side. The problem with the characters in that most of them are simply without any personality. Seriously, it's like all of them are simple "vessels". Shuu is an annoying piece of crap in the first part, the good part is that Shuu does develop a little bit, well at least he doesn't cry that much towards the ending. Inori... she is simply nothing, I mean she is beautiful in the anime but that's kind of everything that you can say about her. For the most part all that I can remember about her, is her saying "Shuu" and that's it. Characters 3/10 -Enjoyment- In the first part I felt many times that I should get up from my bed and skip those really annoying crying/self-pity/ full of effects but nothing else parts, but meh I'm too lazy for that so I had to watch it all. You can imagine how much I did enjoy this anime, right? 3/10 -Overall- Maybe I simply expected a lot more out of this than I should have. All in all I do believe that this failed because they did try a lot. We all know that sometimes when we try too hard we simply fail. Overall I gave this a 6 mostly because of the really "wtf" moments towards the end, otherwise it would've been a 6.5 (which means 7 to me).

Guilty Crown (GC) is a series that I have always thought had some real potential to be great, and I genuinely wanted to like it so much more than I did. However, the series lacks a clear focus and direction. GC is not a bad show, and is worth your time for any number of reasons, which I will explain below. That said, those people who are looking for a well written, tight, and coherent narrative that drives the viewing experience might want to look elsewhere. Art (9): One of GC's strengths is its animation and visual style. I assume that the series was pitched around the concept of creating a highly stylized and rich world. The action scenes are well choreographed and the level of animation is fairly consistent throughout. It is clear that a great deal of money was invested into making GC look and feel like one of the best produced shows out there, and to that end, mission accomplished. Everything looks great. Sound (9): GC has great sound work to accompany the great visuals. While the effects themselves are good, the real star of the show is the soundtrack, which features some great original tracks that fit the mood of the show. I particularly enjoyed the opening track from the intro sequence of the first season. I also liked how the soundtrack was tied into the show via Inori, one of the protagonists, who is the lead singer of a pop group called Egoist. Character (6): The characters of the show are difficult to peg into a numerical score because there are some inherent strengths and weaknesses in almost all of them. On the one hand, many of the supporting characters are very strong, and are consistent throughout the series. Although not every supporting character has a clear arc or any real reason for the audience to become invested in them emotionally, they often serve their purposes well within the framework of the story. On the other hand, the aforementioned supporting cast is also a major pitfall of the show. Often these characters are much stronger, more relatable, and more likeable than the main characters. GC's main protagonist, Shu, is a real conundrum. During the first season, Shu is a very cookie-cutter archetype. His character arc is fairly predictable, which is certainly not always a bad thing. Yet, it works against him in this case. He is particularly annoying for a large portion of the show (an argument can be made that he never stops), and there is very little incentive to be emotionally invested in him as a person, or the things he experiences throughout the course of the show. During the second season, Shu's character makes dramatic leaps in personality on an almost episode-to-episode basis that is unrealistic considering the set-up of the show and the world it creates. Again, this works to Shu's detriment, since he is supposed to be the driving force of the show, yet who he is, why he is, and how he changes never follows any sort of reasonable arc. It's hard for me to invest in a character that is so confusedly schizophrenic. GC is a character driven series that does not take care of its characters very well. Some of the strongest characters are the least important given context, and some of the most important feel much less substantial and underdeveloped than they should. Story (5): Unfortunately, GC's narrative is the weakest and most baffling part of the series. Without divulging any real plot details, the easiest way to sum up the main problem with GC is that the story has a severe case of mistaken identities. The first season sets up its story arc in a very specific way and ends on a pseudo cliff-hanger, which is fine. However, the second season is written as a completely different show from almost the first frame. The two halves of the show could easily be watched as stand alone series, and work fine. They do not necessarily add anything to each other, and the change from the first to the second series is actually pretty jarring. Each season has a first, second, and third act, but there is no real overarching structure to the series as a whole. The other main problem with GC's story is that it is pretty poorly written. Many Interesting concepts are introduced into the show and promptly left alone. These concepts and plot points then stack on top of each other to the point of general confusion. Nothing is really explained in very much detail, and there are several plot twists and developments that are introduced out of nowhere without any logical explanation or reason behind them. Granted, this problem is much more prevalent in the second season than the first. But, it does not really matter. I do not expecting to have every detail laid out and explained in detail, but GC has more than its fair share of head-scratching, "what the hell just..." moments. Enjoyment/Overall (6): Despite the significant problems I have with GC, I do not think it is a bad show, and I liked it just fine. The quality art and soundtrack are well worth giving this show a fair shake, and to be fair, I kept watching every week until the final moment. Ultimately, what holds GC back is that all of the creative effort was seemingly spent on the art and sound. The characters and storytelling - overwhelmingly the most important aspects of any television show - were confusing, slapped together, and not well constructed. I would definitely recommend this show to people who are looking for eye-catching action, stylized visuals, and a killer soundtrack. GC is a great show to watch without having to invest too much brainpower. However, as previously mentioned GC is not a show that will satisfy those who are looking for a well constructed narrative that is thought provoking and easy to become emotionally invested in. --- If you have any questions, feedback, or just have something to say, let me know in a message or on my profile page.

(Some SPOILERS) Read at your own risk. (Also, for the review, Code Geass = CG) Since this is my first review, I would like to be brief here. In all honesty, I would call Guilty Crown a CG Spin-Off. More so, both the anime are the work of the same writer. So it really is fair to call this anime a CG Spin-Off. Story: 6/10 (Since it's almost the same story as CG) The Story revolves around a guy given mysterious superpowers by a girl (Wow this is so unheard of). The power’s name is “The Power of the Kings” (CG much?). He joins a terrorist group and uses these powers to try to save Japan, from being controlled by a foreign organisation. (Again, totally not similar to CG). I would like to end this here since I feel like exposing more of the story would be too “spoil-ey”. Art: 7/10 I loved the art in this anime, especially the vivid use of blue. It’s very eye-catching and one of my favorite colors. Sound: 8/10 The music in this anime is very catchy. The centre of it, of course, is Inori’s voice actor. Character: 4/10 I would have given 8/10 for character if MC wasn’t such a whiny kid. Again, most of the characters are very very similar to CG characters. Like, I couldn’t believe that they would even recycle personalities. Especially some of the scenes. *****Spoiler***** - Both the anime involve MC’s being anti-hero at some point. - And at one point when the MC’s are in big despair, they try to take advantage of the girl who has a crush on them. *****Spoiler End***** Enjoyment 7/10 Overall 6/10 All and All, I enjoyed this show a lot. Even though it was a Spin-Off, it was fun recalling CG which I happened to have watched about a year ago (10/10). For CG fans who have watched CG a long time ago, I would suggest this series as it would be a good way to refresh CG memories. Thank You for reading. Bye.

Ok, so you know how when you're writing a review the rating 10 says "masterpiece?" Well, yes Guilty Crown quite perfectly, simply put, a masterpiece. This is probably one of the best animes I've seen recently----well, actually probably ever. Yes, many people have complained that it is too similar to Code Geass. I can't say that I've finished that anime, but just from the very first episode, I can say: yes, there are a lot of general similarities, but not enough to say plagiarism. And besides, it really wouldn't be since both stories come from the same creator. But, on the standpoint of just drawing me in from the first episode, GC accomplished this almost effortlessly. STORY 10/10 Perfection. Wonderful. LOVED IT. Very well-thought out, kept me on the edge of my seat, fluid guiding throughout. The main plot was very unique with the idea of voids, the virus, etc. I'll admit I was a little confused in the first couple of episodes like, "why do they have purple crystals on their face because they're inflected? why isn't it a rash or whatever? why is Shu so messed up? What's with Inori's robotic-like personality?" But I found that all of my questions were gradually answered as the anime went on. There were so many plot twists that had me like, "Oh...oh..OH MY GOODNESS." GC's creator=genius. Loads of action with a pinch of romance, and large general theme of friendship, courage, etc. Pretty much hit all of the clichés. But the way that these themes were expressed was unique, and I feel slightly more realistic then portrayed by other animes. It wasn't always sunshines and rainbows. Many of these relationships came from loss and bonding, etc. I was NEVER bored in this anime. I wish there could be a season 2, but after the ending, I don't think it'll happen. All knots were tied neatly, and although the ending made me a little sad, it was beautiful. (Yes, I'll admit it, I cried a little) ART/SOUND 10/10 There's no denying it. If an anime's appearance and soundtrack have me cringing, I probably won't watch it. NOT the case here. From the first second of this anime, you're immediately drawn in by it's beautiful, I mean BEAUTIFUL art and music. Inori's songs are absolutely perfection and get the right emotions across every single time. I think had it not been for her singing at the end, I probably wouldn't have cried. The emotion is SO compelling. The art is VERY comfortable to look at. I loved each character's outward appearance. They were very easy to distinguish by all the subtle details put into the designs, and just wonderful. Character 9/10 This is the only category that does not receive a perfect score from me. Don't get me wrong, I loved how each character had their own separate personalities, back stories, etc. I just wish that GC had more episodes to completely display their potential growth. The creators did a great job with the 22 they had, but I just wished there had been a little more development, especially from one of the mains, Inori. Yes, I get that she wasn't fully able to develop due to her character makeup, but I wished that her relationship with Shu was more convincing. It felt a little rushed. Other than that, I don't have any particular complaints regarding characters. I would like to give a shout out to Hare and Gai's characters. They were probably my favorites in this anime, mostly because they stood out the most. Hare was one of those characters that was easily distinguishable with her undying friendship, selflessness, and sacrifice. Gai was overall badass. There's no mistaking it. From his first introduction right off the bad he is beating people up effortlessly and I'll admit it: he looks hot while doing so. And somehow he pulled off the long hair and still looked amazing. The main, Shu, was great as well. I applaud the creators for not sugarcoating things like loss in him. I like how you could easily tell how death greatly impacted his character and personality. ENJOYMENT 10/10 Psh. I've already said this multiple times. Freaking LOVED IT. Would watch it again. Where's the like button??? OVERALL 10/10 Guilty Crown is going to remain one of my favorites for a while.

I've gotten back to watching anime for quite a while, so I do have a firmer grip on what's good and what's bad in my mind. Story: 4 The story starts out pretty nicely. The visual effects and the music together are indeed great, but it started out a bit slow. I didn't have any gripes about that at all. I think it was up until episode 11/12 that everything went smoothly. Everything was pretty calm: the school life, Shu and Inori, the fighting.It wasn't anything tragic, except maybe the fact that Gai dies. The 2nd cour (for those of you who don't know what a cour is, it's typically 11-13 episodes that air over 2-3 months) however, was where things started to trouble me. The second cour is very, very different from the first one. You have people dying and losing powers. The hierarchy created at the school along with Shu's complete change in personality-- just set a new atmosphere. It took a more serious hold. Shu is heartbroken by Inori being taken. He uses his admirer's/lover's feelings as a replacement for Inori -- that is -- until she dies saving him. I thought of this part of the 2nd core was OK. It wasn't really much of anything compared to the first cour. Now, when Shu and the others start fighting back is where the fun actually starts to begin. The infiltration was pretty good. Shu loses his Power of Kings, but regains it eventually, thus making episode 19 the epitome of awesomeness in the 2nd cour. The ending. To be frank, they should have ended it with Inori living, or Inori AND Shu dying. There's an interpretation saying that Inori is still with Shu through the fact that he took in her heart (the guilty crown). However, the ending did not cut it for me. The single, biggest fault for fairly to good anime, is the ending for me. If it's entertaining but doesn't end with at least a bang, then it just really turns me off. GC pretty much set itself up with that ending in that they pretty much had almost everything nailed. This is why I gave the story a 3. GC set itself up. Art: 9-10 It's great. I'd expect no less from Production i.G. Sound:10 For jpop, this anime nailed it. Supercell is pretty good. OP1 My Dearest sung by Koeda and OP2 The Everlasting Guilty Crown sung by Chelly (under the name Egoist) are both good. ED Kokuhaku was also up there. Characters:3 The characters were very flimsy. Shu was pretty much pathetic until the end. He shined 19 onwards, until the end. Inori did not develop much, but was used as a love interest. She was one of the more solid characters. Gai was extremely easy to change. He died believing for one thing, but when he came back, he came back completely different. Daryl was OK, but the end just forgot him. Darth. Darth just came out of nowhere. I mean nowhere. There's not much background on him at all. He was pretty much there for most of the story. He pretty much kidnapped Inori and fought Shu. Other than that, he wasn't big. Not really a needed protagonist (he was really a meh character), there could have been another way to plot the series with better antagonists. As for Shu's brophilic sister, she was -- not to be redundant or anything -- OK. She played her part for the 2-3 episodes where she even did anything. The psychopath antagonist is starting to become more and more recurring. Enjoyment: 5 The high school hierarchy, Souta (Inori's lover boy), some characters, and the ending lit my fuse. The other things I enjoyed, but these stood out too much. Overall: 4 It was decent. The visuals and sound made up A LOT for the faults. In terms of story, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood and Clannad After could have blown this away. The characters could have used some improvements and been more solid.

Ohhh Guilty Crown, you started off strong but then ended off weak...really weak. I must say when i started this show, I was excited after the first episode, Animation was amazing, Soundtrack was top-notch, story was a little scratchy but i thought they could clear it up in the later episodes. Turns out, they didn't. So without further ado, lets begin my review STORY --> 7 Honestly, I was interested in the story at first. But the reason I gave it a 7 is because of the WAY Guilty Crown told the story. I genuinely liked the concept of voids, and how everyone has a different void depending on the person's personality, and also how voids lead to drastic character changes. As mentioned before, they didn't tell the story well and it felt plain compared to how complicated and interesting it could have been. .The pacing wasn't very good and they left many questions unanswered. You will just end up getting frustrated the more you watch it since there is still so much you don't know and don't understand. It isn't one of those stories where it lets the viewers decide, it IS a concrete story but they told it horribly. If they had put more effort in the story and hadn't rushed it, it would've made this anime from fair to amazing. .Overall story was interesting, storytelling was horrible. CHARACTER --> 5 Some characters in this particular show were actually interesting, like Inori and Gai, but the main protagonist was boring and typical. The character development in the show, was at some points good, but at most points it was boring. The Character start to become interesting halfway through the series, but rather than that, it was the same dull characters. Gai and Inori were probably the only interesting characters, since they had unique personalities and also how they change throughout the course of the show. Shu was an alright character, what I liked was how the show actually made you hate the protagonist at some points of the show, which i found new and interesting. I feel that the character's could have been made much better and developed better. Art/Animation --> 9 I gave art and animation 9, because it was actually amazing. The art was top-notch and the animation was smooth and not choppy. It made the fighting scenes that much more better and makes the enjoyment that much higher. I was surprised by how unique and amazing the art for this show looked. Overall I would recommend this show to anyone who just wants a time waster or a show which is great for the eyes. If you enjoy good battle scenes, then this show will satisfy. Don't expect much from the story though. I would still recommend this show to anyones since it is sort of interesting at some points Enjoy.. :D

Overall guilty crown was a mixture of good and bad. The animation and sound were of great quality. Even the plot was excellent. BUT....the plot being excellent and actually following through with the plot to an entire storyline is two different things. I mean, the post apocolyptic japan, the void, the resistance, they were all interesting....felt A LOT like if they ripped it off from CODE GEASS (the BESTEST SHOW EVER). However, the story fell apart for the following reasons: 1. Characters: the main character was pathetic. Given the first 8 episodes would of been okay, but eventually you would expect to see some growth. There was, but it was CONFLICTING, even when the main character became a tyrant, he was still pathetic, always looking for appraisal, always forgetting who he is, in other words, he lacked individuality. The other characters were not that better. To not spoil the story I will say, many of them did things for stupid reasons. Again on the main character, he should have truely taken a leadership position, yet he failed at that. There were many instances of people switching sides, which made the cast seem unstable. 2. The story was explained, but hard to follow. Many things were explained very breifly and even now at best they are still murky. Like: when did Mana change? What was Gui true motives? What was Da'at about? How was all this started? WHile these questions were answered, they were answered EXTREMELY breifly without much detail, thus blurring the chronological order of the show. Had they spent more time explaining these details in an extra 4 episodes I beleive the story would have truely been better. 3. As mentioned, many of the characters motivation for what they did were weak, unsolidified and unjustified. BUT, what really brought this show down was the ending. Without giving any spoilers; the ending was just plain wrong. There were 3 other endings that could and should have occured; that would have made more sense and would have been justifiable to the suffering of some of the characters. Yet, they chose a "happy ending" that sucked, was completely out of place, and really wasn't all that happy. Even the "BOND OF FRIENDSHIP" between everyone was weak. They all had soo much drama amongst themselves, yet they acted as if they were the world to each other in the end, like how the mugiwara (one piece) crew act; or how suzaku an lelouch(CG); tiger and bunny( tiger and bunny) acted...whcih in those shows those bonds actually existed from simple coincedences to history to friendships. This had too weak of bonds. There were some bonds that were justifiable like Hare and Shuu, or even Shuu and Gui (which in a sence got messed up), even Shuu and Sugar (can't remember his name); however the other relationships were just weak.

so many people hate this anime yet so many people love this anime.. confused ? okay, let's start with the review. The story is good up until episode 16, where Shu went Insane after _SPOILER_ _SPOILER_ Hare dies when she tried to heal him. He became more cruel than before, and after that episode, i think the anime is rushing so a lot of things is not explained properly. But i personally like the bittersweet ending where Shu lost both his sight and Inori at the end, because Inori sacrifice herself to help Shu. Why i say a lot of people hate this anime ? Maybe because of the ending of this anime. Shu lost his sight, the anime didn't mention the cause of this. I think it's because Shu's void absorb all traits including souta's cancer, and he lost his sight in the progress. Overall, the story is 6/10 for me. Art, as expcted from production I.G The art is fluid, character design is cool, each one of their void is amazingly well made. But sometimes the battle feel a bit awkward, but overall the art is pretty good, 8/10 for me. Sound, i don't particularly dislike the sound, but i don't really like it too. The OST is nice, but nothing spectacular. 6/10 for me. Character development is pretty bland, the balance between number of the cast in this anime and the screen time that were given to them is not really enough. 5/10 for me. Enjoyment, 9/10 Even this anime is imperfect, i did enjoy watching this anime. i watch guilty crown 2 years ago, but i rewatch it to write this review. as i said before, i personally like the ending. Overall, if i sum up all the score and divide it with 5, 6.8/10 But i round it to 7. This is an enjoyable anime (for me), but you guys who read this may find this anime good too.

After watching the entire series in 1 night and giving myself a short amount of time to cool-off instead of writing this with the thought of it being the best/worst thing I have ever watched flowing through-out my mind.. I have taken it upon myself to attempt at writing a review for this series. :] Keep in mind this will contain *LITTLE TO NO SPOILERS* so if you haven't watched the series yet (Which is my targeted audience) then have no fear! anyway, here we go. Initially I was weary of beginning this series, in-fact I had put it off for so long I ended up watching a total of 15 separate series before finally coming back and deciding to give it a go. My argument for this was that "It seemed to much like all the other series out there... a modern day feel but with futuristic looking powers and loli girls" But it wasn't until watching the first few episodes that I had realised I was wrong, definitely wrong. The series gives a vibrant and refreshing kick, It had been a long while since I had seen an MC being shy and having social issues. I quickly grew to liking Shu Ouma considering he is some-what like myself *shelters himself from reality* & thus I had become intrigued to see what type of person he would become. Story: The Storyline for Guilty Crown was very unique in my opinion, It was a very interesting take on the entire operation for obtaining their hidden weapons & clearly a lot of thought was put into the effects of doing so. With that being said I was also like to address the originality of it all, the entire plot was unlike anything I have seen before. I will admit at some points I was getting small reminders of a series known as Absolute duo, but the sense rapidly morphed into its own original point & led back to its own path. Over-all I rate the Story 8/10. It was such an entertaining experience, the only reason it's not higher is because of that gut-kick for an ending TT~TT Art: The art was absolutely outstanding! Everything was so smooth-paced and yet at the same time so exquisite, giving a sensation of high definition euphoria. The lighting was very well placed, everything seemed to be correctly lit at the right time giving a more realistic and intense feel to the scene. I would also like to note how well done the explosions and magical scenes are, they were a lot clearer and accurate compared to some of the other types of anime out there and over-all gave off a better experience. Over-all I rate the art-style of the series a 9/10. :) Sound: Whilst writing the initial starting point for this review I had to contain my excitement for issuing this subject, considering it was the topic that stood out most of all to me. Firstly, the soundtrack: The soundtrack for Guilty Crown was unbelievably incredible! Every time a new soundtrack would be laid out I was instantly hooked on listening to it. It gave such a more intense and unique feel to the series and really merged it into being quite the masterpiece! Secondly, the cast for voice actors: Everything was perfect with the selection of voice actors, from the MC's voice right down to the little cries and sighs from characters you'll see once and then forget about. Their voices really fit the type of display their character shows, for instance the character"Gai" has such a bad-ass personality along with his voice. Over-all I rate the sound a 10/10, It was such an amazing experience and refreshing compared to all the soundtracks you'll hear elsewhere. Character: The character development is also another severe topic I was scratching to get at. I love how well it all played out, from the nicest of people becoming heartless monsters due to tragic experiences to the most heartless characters sacrificing their own rules and logic to make others happy, they have really portrayed an interesting group of characters. Each and every one of them has an intense background story, causing them to grow into more of a likeable character, and they all play their given role spectacularly! Over-all I rate the characters 7/10, Initially I had intended for a higher rating, but I tried not to forget the flaws and down sides to them all, such as some of the most prideful women using themselves for prostitution in order to obtain something as simple as information. Enjoyment: I said it before and I'll say it again, I was definitely wrong with my first opinion on this anime. Of course it wasn't very professional of me to judge the over-all result from a few brief summaries and statements, but I have come to forgive myself because I ended up giving it a shot and was definitely pleased. Each episode left me dying for more and trying to self-plot the upcoming events in shear desperation to find answers on what was to come, however the events that transpired around halfway through the series really started affecting me. from then on I was on alert for trouble and sadness and began to miss the more cheerful times, however they had brought it all back together towards the end of the series. Over-all I rate the Enjoyment a 9/10. Over-all: In conclusion to everything I have stated in this review, my Over-all score is 9/10. This series is an absolute masterpiece and deserves no less of a title, I'd like to personally thank all those who have recommended it to me for it was an experience I will never forget. This is only my second review that I have ever written so don't be to harsh on how I did c: Thank you for reading and taking time out of your day to hear my opinion!

So, Guilty Crown. I like this anime probably more than I should. It really isn't that good. Sure, the sound and art are great, but its dragged down by its egotistical storyline and poorly-explained characters. I get what the studio was trying to do with the story, I think. And I understand the kind of characters they were trying to convey, but Shu ended up as an easily-manipulated ass and Inori, to me at least, was nothing more than a pretty idiot. The action scenes were terribly initiated. The story was everywhere. The characters were trying to do too much as was the genre. Guilty Crown's best feature was probably its randomly placed Supercell songs. There were too many characters, the story tried to be too many things, and the genre was all over the place. But if you still want to watch it even after reading all this, then at least take my advice into consideration: Pay attention, write down all the characters names (trust me, the minor beginning characters will come back), don't trust anything Gai or Yahiro says, and lastly, don't watch the last episode. Sayonara, LeahReca

This is my first review so excuse me >< but i decided to write it one of my favorite animes. "Even if everyone calls you a liar, even if you hate yourself, I’ll be on your side." -Inori This story is utterly heartbreaking yet tugs on your heartstrings due to the changes you see in the characters. It may not be the BEST anime out there, however in my opinion the story is very well done. There were many questions left unanswered, however it captured me straight away. ~STORY~ 9 Many people has commented the story was pretty bad but I didn't see how bad it was. It may have been similar to other plots however it really was an eyeopener for me. So Guilty Crown is about a high school boy named Ouma Shu whom obtains an ability called "The Power of the Kigs" that enables him to draw "Voids" or weapons representing the person from other people. Because of this he is thrown into a fight between the quasi government organization GHQ and the group Funeral Parlor whom is trying the restore Japan's independence. Shu then encounters a wounded girl names Yuzuhira Inori who is a singer of the popular group Egoist. He later finds out she is involved with the terrorist group Funeral Parlor.During the story, Shu's memories start coming back and is revealed of the horrific memories of his past. That is basically the back story, I can't reveal many things due to spoilers however unexpected stuff pops up!!!! ~ART~ 10 The art... it was beautiful, it was just absolutely beautiful. Especially when they were drawing the night times, it was wonderful. The animation was also very fluid and flowy. And of course the characters were drawn wonderfully as well!! ~SOUND~ 10 The sound was amazing, and its quite amazing how Egoist is made into a 'band' as well. Egoist is the Japanese pop music duo consisting of songwriter Ryo of Supercell and the vocalist Chelly. Supercell is one of my faves but the music was fitting and really deep! ~CHARACTERS~ 9 To be honest my favourite character is Inori however Hare really captured me although she wasn't int he show for long... Shu, Inori, Gai, they all seem like a typical oh highschool boy with a girl and the 'bad guy', however the change they each go through is really really important. Shu goes from a person who tends to avoid others to a brighter and more loving character, to be honest a bit like Inaho from Aldnoah Zero! He changes in personality multiple times during the show for example when Hare died he became cruel and forgot about kindness and when he lost his arm he becomes very protective. His love for Inori is very deep as well. Shu really has been through alot..(if you have watched it you will understand). Inori is very quiet but you can see she definitely feels something for Shu due to her determination of helping him although it might have been just orders first. She is shown to be emotionless, able to kill enemies without hesitation etc. however she is very sweet to her friends. Finding out she is a ------ (watch the show!!) really shocked her and it was hard for her to understand if she was real or not. However because of her feelings for Shu I guess that kept her going and she's always there for him. She's extremely loyal and helps him through emotional troubles and is willing to sacrifice herself just to see him happy. Really Shu showed her the beauty of the world even through the sad times. ~ENJOYMENT~ 10 Do I even need to tell you my rating? OFC A 10. I absolutely just loved it. Again it has flaws like all other animes and its not one of the best but it really tugs on your heartstrings and feel for the characters. "I’m fine with being a monster. I’m fine with having fake emotions. But I’ll protect Shu. Because I am me! Even if I’m just a fake… To me, I’m the only… real one!" - Inori OVERALL Its just great. Might not be the best storyline and characters but definitely worth watching! Thanks ~

If I were to summarize my feelings on the entire show of Guilty Crown in a single word, that word would most certainly be 'Dammit'. Guilty Crown begins with the potential to be a fantastic anime, armed with crisp graphics, beautiful music and pulse pounding action, as well as a pretty good story. However, the moment a certain someone made a surprise reappearance, I nearly threw my PS3 (I watched it on Hulu) across the room in rage. The point of that first paragraph is to say that Guilty Crown could have been great...if it stopped halfway through. Now, onto the actual review! The story of Guilty Crown is not anything extremely groundbreaking. The main man, Shu Ouma, awakens the power of the King and is able to pull out the manifestation of people's hearts, known as Voids. He must learn how to use this power as he fights with heroine Inori Yuzuriha and charismatic leader Gai Tsusugami to beat back government oppression. However, in terms of story, there are two 'arcs' to speak of. The first one, which takes up about the first twelve episodes, is a wild ride of emotions, firefights and sheer, for lack of a better word, epicness. You will not be able to put this anime down. The plot of this one doesn't pick your brain, but you can still love the action and the character interactions. The opening scenes and the ending episodes are especially impactful, with Inori's songs not only playing a significant role to the story, but tugging my heartstrings as well. Overall, if it stopped here, it would have been one of the best anime of all time, without a doubt. Sadly, there was a second arc. In this one, the damaged main cast pick up the pieces of the first arc and work to survive the following chaos. What makes this arc much weaker is that the somewhat grounded plot begins to float away into space. Some characters make unexpected returns in the worse of ways, and the background lore adds a level of complexity that only muddles the experience. This arc brings up nice concepts, but it implodes into itself leaving an ugly stain. STORY: 7/10 The art/animation of the series is among the best in the industry, with explosions, SEs, character/mech designs and environments looking fantastic and fresh, with a futuristic vibe different than other interpretations, yet just realistic enough. No qualms on this front. ART: 10/10 The songs are the strongest part of the series. The openings are magnificent, the endings (the first one at least) are beautiful as well and the in-anime soundtrack is good enough to warrant an import from Japan. Egoist will always be in my heart! The voice acting is good as well, but it's overshadowed by the score. SOUND: 10/10 As far as characters go, the character's are solid as a whole in the first arc, but fall apart during the second. Shu is a bit of a Shinji Ikari-copy at first but he eventually grows a personality before becoming a dictator with the fate of his allies on his shoulders. Inori goes from silent girl to supportive sidekick of Shu. Gai is a charismatic man who captures the interest of the viewer and is one of the carrying forces of the show, but even he is not immune to the curse of the second arc. The supporting characters as a whole are not very memorable with the exception of Hare, one of Shu's female classmates. She looks at Shu as a love interest and even though she is overshadowed by Inori, she is much more likable. Furthermore, she is one of, if not the only, characters whose quality actually INCREASES during the second arc. CHARACTERS: 7/10 I loved the first part of the series. I didn't get all of what was going on, but it was a great ride. It's "ending" led itself to a sequel (aka the second arc) but could have actually stopped right there and landed with at least a 8.5. However, the second arc took all the good things of the first arc and threw it in the mud. The actual ending to the series left much to be desired and I didn't like how some characters made some unwelcome returns and intelligence-insulting entrances. This, in turn, ruined the whole series. ENJOYMENT: 7/10 Overall, this is a series that could have been a King among anime if it only stopped half-way. It's characters were decent and the story, while getting a bit convoluted, was a nice tale. However, the second arc rips apart that goodness at the seems. Luckily the art and sound were great and set the bar high for other anime. The final grade for this series a 7/10.

There are 2 sides to every story, The emotional side and the cognitive side. What I mean by this is what the story makes you feel and what is actually happening in a story. As far as Guilty Crown is concerned, it has been one of the most successful animes to make me "feel" something but it has been very lacking in telling a good and unique story. As many of the other reviewers have noticed already, this anime is full of cliches and to be blunt, nothing much in the anime comes as a surprise other than the ending or more like, the reason why things turned out the way they are. Plot: The plot value of the anime I have decided to devide into 2 parts, one part for feeling and one part for story. Feeling: 30/30 As you watch Guilty Crown, every episode and every arc(?) will make you feel something. There isn't very many moment when you dont feel something and when you don't something big is going to happen and your gonna feel something big soon. all the way starting from the first episode to the last episode, anxious, despair, indecisive, frustration, love, hate, agony, jealousy. All sorts of feelings that you will experience. Even though we all know how its going to turn out, we cant help but feel the that way. Even if your a dense person and you don't feel much this anime will still make you feel something and even though more often than not, those feelings that you feel are quite negative and I can say that this feeling is probably why some people hate this anime so much but to be able to make people feel strong emotions with only a screen and some speakers (or head phones) is truly a difficult task. Story: 18/30 There were some moments that you get surprised by what happened but the majority of the show feels very predictable and if you are not surprised at the turn of events at all. If you look at the show from a top down perspective and see what happens from start to finish and think about it, the plot actually doesn't feel too bad it was predictable at a bit too many times but you are just rewarded too often for guessing what's gonna happen next. But the major events, those were well thought out and how those shape the over all shape of the story. I believe that if the minor small details are to be overlooked, the overall plot alone deserves 18/30 Character: 18/20 For the first major half(?) of the anime the characters dont exactly develop at all. instead the idea of the first half is to get you to know the character and then the development all happens in the second half. I personally think that this approach is very effective because the aim is to show you at the end how far each characters has grown since the start of the show because you are introduced to alot of "static" characters in the start and these characters dont change much at all so when they do change, you can feel it and not only that, it makes the changes they undertake that much noticeable and dramatic. However I believe that this ties in very strongly with the feeling section of the plot because this is one of the ways Guilty Crown makes you feel something. Art: 10/10 I normally dont look at artwork in animes too much but man the artwork is beautiful. As unpractical as some of the designs were (common who'd go into battle looking like a red flag), but they looked gorgeous. The fights were also very pretty to look at. It is however at too many times filled with too much fan service. Not only that, its very direct in delivering it to your face. Sound: 10/10 This is probably a bit of my bias as I am a Supercell fan. Cant say much here but I loved the both the intro songs and both the ending songs and many of the insert songs that the anime's got. total: 30 15 17 10 10 --- 86 out of 100 (round up to 9/10) Over all: 86/100 Over all Guilty Crown is a very feeling centered anime with a bit much excessive use of fan services and the over use of cliches. If you strip the plot down to its bare bones then it actually doesn't feel too bad. Overall, it was really enjoyable to watch. You should definately watch this if: A) if you want to feel something B) if you want some fan services C) wants something pretty to look at D) all or some of the the above

So this would probably be my first serious review about an anime. If u have already read the first sentence then please continue reading, since this review is mostly about both the positive and negative parts of Guilty Crown and how people react to the series. I came up with my own ranking system to rank a series of how the series is developed and how I enjoy it (note: I won't use the Part 1: Rate the Anime Category much). I call this system the "SPAMCALL". So anyways I'll start. S-tory (7/10) I believe the story is really interesting, since the stuff about it is quite revealing (in the first part). Having stories like friends and betrayal are my kind of stuff, and I can say the same for some people. And likable areas for the story is parts where badass characters gets to pawn the assholes and stuff. Putting robot fights like ones in Gundam makes the story interesting since the series is about the future. P-acing (5/10) The pacing is quite bad for a good anime company. Since its an original story I feel like the series is being rushed and slowed in some episodes to make up for it (though it didn't work). That is one of the reasons people just simply dropped the GC. Battles were quite short. There is at least one or two death of a major character in every episode (villain or hero, either), though some of their deaths were just pointless, its like they just simply killed the character early since they didn't know what to do with the guy on the future eps. Even Though I said all of this, I still enjoyed the short battles. During the first two episode I gave the series a 9/10 but because of pacing it dropped pretty much. They poorly executed the series. A-nimation (9/10) Looks really good, though not that perfect. Some people might be able to see the seemingly whitish or lightish stuff on every episode. M-usic/Voicing (10/10) All of the songs, whether it'd be OP, ED or In songs they are all awesome. Though for me the best is "Everlasting Guilty Crown" by EGOIST. Major characters has good voicing but extras were not, though that does not lessen my score for Music and Voicing C-haracter/Setting (7/10) For me, villains were more likable than the protagonist, facts that people don't like Gai and Shu (I also hate them) makes the villains stand out more sometimes. But I think Production I.G tried their best to make the protagonists stand out (even though it didn't work). Ouma Shu is an very unlikable but as u get to watch him and see closely, you will be able to reflect on a normal person, first of all, people sometimes does not want to use their power because u are afraid of hurting others, but that does not mean you will never use it, Shu is like this. Another case is that if your close friend dies, would you get angry? Of course, he/she is a close friend, Shu then became mad and beat the crap of the machines easily, with a pissed off face (people dislikes this) and used the Void ranking system. His attitude changed (this is normal for us people) and when time comes he shows a bossy attitude and at the same time a kind behavior, that just proves that some part of him is trying to fight out for saving himself from gloominess and sin. And when he learned about his capabilities, he started to help everyone and able to love someone (at first it was just crush). So with all of this info, Shu is probably has the most "realistic attitude" in the whole series (but I still hate him). The setting is good, the future and stuff with war and almost destroyed setting. ALL- in all I give the series a 7/10 (originally it is 6.6/10 but I rounded it off) The series a big mess but quite better than your average anime. Fanboys might give Guilty Crown a 10/10. But I guess that is understandable. Other comments Well here is an advise from me, if u are a new fan of anime, and are looking for Fall 2011 Anime, do not start with this series, start with more enjoyable anime like F/Z, HxH 2011, Chihayafuru, Persona 4 and others. But if u have already started watching Guilty Crown, I also advise u people to not drop the series, you could just put characters like Ouma Shu and Gai Tsutsugami in your most hatest anime character list but don't drop the series. Know why? Well doesn't really matter, I would just like thank people who read this review, I tell u Guilty Crown is an average anime, not really bad and not really good, but u will enjoy and hate many parts of it!

Guilty Crown is a series that had great promise from the getgo. Excellent artwork, a great director (Araki Tesurou - Deathnote, Highschool of the Dead), and an interesting and deep story. The plot is about a resistance group fighting to protect Japan from UN interference after a strange alien disease devastates the nation. An interesting plot, but at times it feels the plot is rushed and others like it is taking it's time. The characters are a mixed bag and their inconsistency detracts from the story. Several of the secondary characters are great and could have used some more elaboration on their backgrounds. The main characters were erratic and seemed to jump to bizarre conclusions without enough explanation. The Protagonist Ouma Shu was terrible. He starts off as your typical shy student without any confidence, but every time he take a step forward in development, he takes 5 back. How many times can a character chose the singe worst choice available to them before you start to root for the bad guys? Inori was drawn well, but was not really interesting at all. Meanwhile you have Ayase Shinomiya, whom while handicapped, is strong willed, interesting, loyal, tries her hardest and makes you want to root for her. The characteristics you wish would develop in Shu. I think the biggest problem with this anime was that it is only 22 episodes. An additional 2-4 episodes, which would have made it a normal 2 season length, would have gone a long way to filling in the holes and flushing out the characters and giving some redeeming qualities to Shu. So after what started to be a promising anime, it ended up being rather irritating at points. If you are bored, feel free to watch it, otherwise, you aren't missing anything.

Guilty Crown... It receives the most hatred of any anime I've watched (besides SAO, but I won't rant about that anime's shit- excuse me, bland second half.)Honestly as shitty and horrible as the story was, and as bipolar the characters I can say I enjoyed this anime above anything else I've seen so far, granted I have not seen much anime. I gave this anime a score of 10/10 on MY anime list, that was based purely off my enjoyment,BUT my enjoyment doesn't truly reflect on how good an anime is.Let's get started. -Music/Sound(10) Fantastic, this anime's music plays the biggest role in the anime. It alone is what carried the mess of a plot on its shoulder and having one of MC's be a musician who sings these wonderful songs to us on an episode to episode basis is simply wonderful. I also mean to exaggerate the importance of the music in the plot itself. So, for music absolutely no complaints here. As for the voice actors... I liked them, but they weren't anything special, especially in the dub. (Shu's voice actor in the dub couldn't have fit his character better, but that's what annoyed me...) -Visuals(10) You've all heard it before and now I'm going to say it again: this anime is without a doubt eye-candy. The animation is consistent and beautiful. I really loved the animation having to do with voids especially, whether it was the voids being put to use as weapons or even simply being extracted. Episode 4 really ehpasizes the beauty of the series and was the hook that kept me going at the begining.Hell, one of our main antagonists goes as far as screaming," IT'S BEAUTIFUL," during one particular scene, to which I couldn't agree more. Character designs were good, excluding Inori's character design (which was excellent.)Amazing visuals overall. -Story(5) In most anime the story is the heart and soul of the show. For Guilty Crown the story felt like it was put off to the side as a, "We'll think about that after we make the series beautiful," and it showed. I love post apocalyptic settings, but this one was kinda just meh. The apocalypse virus seemed like a cool idea at first until it was thrown aside being labeled as : generic kill off the human race type thing. The idea of Voids also struck me as being cool, until they didn't put enough depth on the concept. The rest of the story is a mix of clichés, although those didn't bother me as much as they did other people. I also hear a lot of people basically calling Guilty Crown the failed version of Code Geass, why is this you might ask? You're asking the wrong person because I have never watched said show nor do I ever intend to( I do not like the mech genre, Endlaves in Guilty Crown played a very insignificant role being why I continued watching it.) As for the ending of Guilty Crown all I can say is I was disappointed. It seemed kind of dull compared to the rest of the series in terms of ACTION, however the emotion towards the end of the series, was heartfelt all the way to the very ending. Unfortunately, emotion also included anger, and I honestly can't believe how much of a 'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING' ending this was. It was a complete bull shit ending that made no sense until you watched it 5 times(this dropped the overall score from 8 to a 7. The 7 was me being to generous.)Plot holes were obvious, but nothing that couldn't be figured out with a little inference(lets just hope you aren't used to being spoon fed every answer otherwise this is not the anime for you.) As for the anime's two part setup all I can say is that the second half is much stronger in terms of character development and to some extent story and is a huge step up as the series takes a much darker tone. This is unfortunate considering most people did not stick around long enough to enjoy the second half. The story of Guilty Crown required far more then 22 episodes, to be honest it could have been an anime of two 25 episode seasons with all the content they tried to stuff in this tiny little anime and if they had done that this anime would be SO much better. Overall the story was mediocre, it had a lot of flaws and the cliches weren't hard to see, but its nothing you can't enjoy. -Characters(7) The characters are by far the most hated part of the anime for most people, even more so then the story for MOST people. Shu is annoying and bitchy, I almost dropped this series on episode 1 simply because Shu annoyed me so much, but I think the main reason I disliked him at first was because he was different. I was so use to the reckless badassory of most male main characters that this change felt very sudden and uncomfortable. After a while, although, his character started to man up. Did it take too long? Yes, but at least it happened. In the end Shu was the most developed character of the anime, although parts of his development made me hate him with a passion. Next we have Inori to which I immediately drew parallels to Mikasa of Attack on Titan, for the first... I don't know 10 episodes, before she became a damsel in distress. This disappointed me because to be honest I like stronger female characters that don't become very reliant on the male characters(like Mikasa.) She was also labeled as completely emotionless which is true, but her character has a lot of depth (unfortunately this depth is not explained to its fullest in the anime itself, however it was explained in the visual novel Lost Xmas which I had the pleasure of enjoying.) People also say she has an insignificant role in the plot, but I find her to be the source of every part of Shu's development. Without her, Shu would be the wuss he was at the beginning and this story wouldn't have gone anywhere.Also vice versa we have Shu to aid the developement of Inori's development, she goes from being a lost character at the begining with no true sense of purpose, to a person who has found a way to be human in the fucked up world they live in (I love dandere/kuudere archetype characters don't ask why because I don't even know.) This co-dependent relationship is what makes Inori and Shu simply wonderful. As for Gai, he's a badass sure, but his motivation or lack there of is... Disappointing?That's probably the right word. The rest of the cast was okay, though the antagonists stuck out to me as good characters. Overall I feel like most people make the characters out worse then they actually are. The characters that needed to develop, did (although some were done in a very shitty way) and I personally didn't hate any character that I wasn't supposed hate(besides one...)The number one thing you will notice about the Guilty Crown main characters is that they are broken. There is no better way to describe them as just being plane broken, but thats part of the reason they are enjoyable to watch. -Enjoyment(10) I already said this was my favorite anime, right? The visuals during the action scenes were consistent and awesome. The music added a great emotion to a lot of scenes ,the OST is DEFINITELY something worth finding and downloading. Inori was adorable, Inori and Shu together was even more adorable. I love this show and I am able to say that yo -Overall(7) Guilty Crown didn't have the greatest characters, nor the greatest story, but there's something about it that makes people like me really love the show. On the other hand if you nitpick this anime for every little thing it does, you will end up hating it like some people. So, is it okay for me to rate this anime as good considering everything wrong with it? Yes, because if you look at the music, the visuals, and even sometimes even the characters you could tell this anime was setup for greatness. Unfortunately, in the end the plot and (for the most part) the characters are what dragged this anime down for most people. Do I recommend this anime? I'd say you should procceed with caution, because you will a)love this anime, or b)beat the shit out of it for every little thing, depending on how you look at the series. So, go ahead give it …

To be honest I never understood what was going on in the first place. An epidemic happens in Japan and the rest of the world comes in to confide "peace" and don't feel like leaving. Bad guys butchering innocents, then the main character comes in and there I was, sitting there thinking about Busujima's boobs wondering what the heck is going on. As I have mentioned earlier, the story is complex. I had to rewind a single episode many times just to get a small fragment of what's going on. What I do know is that its sad and is mostly a tragedy. And I was extremely sad and nearly cried... The plus points would be the art. Even though the story was rubbish, the artwork and visual graphics were astounding and it was kind if like CGI porn instead of an anime. The sounds and beats were also marvelous and astounding. It was so beautiful that I would rewind a certain part just to listen to the music. And rewind it again at a later time to understand the story. An then there's the characters. This is the type of anime where the main character is whiny and should be beaten to death with a stick by another more eligible protagonist. Characters like these are terrible and downgrade the story. But there were a few good ones and for these characters, I give them merit badges. And cookies. The enjoyment count is as low as it gets and the comedy is factor is a zero. The violence count is at a medium level and it was just sad. In short the creators if Guilty Crown wanted to make it sad and emotional. Its just another one of those sad anime that have many plus points but is overshadowed by a poor storyline. 2/10.