Review: Guilty Crown

Guilty Crown

Where can one begin to talk about Guilty Crown? It’s the hip new thing from Production IG, yet it has almost garnered as many haters as fans. Are they just jealous of its popularity, or is it a real piece of work? Well, I’d say both…

Right from the start, GC impresses with eye candy action, but underwhelms with an average male protagonist and premise…so much so that a dedicated hate club was quickly formed. The story follows an innocent kid named Shu who gains super powers, gets sucked into a rebellion to fight the oppressive government, and falls in love with a chick that has no personality. Been there done that. Just about any other character starts out way more interesting than those two. However, I don’t think it deserves hate for that. It’s just average in these respects and better in others. The haters who kept bashing it became more annoying than Shu’s whininess. x_x

So, what is GC better at? Aside from the visuals and music, it definitely gets points for using bold and creative ideas. Granted, the mixture of sci-fi and religion won’t make an ounce of sense (durr it’s fantasy), but void genomes are pretty cool in my book. Basically, Shu has the ability to extract “voids” from people and use them as weapons. They take the shape of people’s hearts, ranging from a refrigerator to gravity gun… As time goes on, Shu learns how to combine them, among a few other things. Isn’t that neat?

But…I’m not going to pretend that I never had any complaints. The main thing is that I couldn’t stand the slice-of-life episodes that center on Shu’s mundane school life. The second half is easily my favorite because of the dramatic change in Shu’s personality and all the drama that comes with. Believe me–it has some very thrilling, chaotic moments that are worth the wait. But at the same time, it’s obvious that the creators decided to make things up as they went. The direction goes all over the place, resulting in a confusing, complicated mess. Many of the characters don’t get fleshed out well, or it happens too late in the game to truly care. Don’t even get me started on the plot holes…

The key to enjoying GC is to adopt a carefree attitude. To heck with plot! If I had spent all that time nitpicking, I’d be like…

In the end, I’m happy that I stuck with Guilty Crown. Yes it starts out average and the story is deeply flawed, but it can be pretty entertaining if you don’t take it too seriously. It’s all about the visuals, action, adventure, and drama. Who knows, it just might become your guilty pleasure too.

Wow… I can’t believe I never mentioned that sexy Gai in this review. Oh wait, I just did. *face palm*

Mimi’s Score: 6 Meeps out of 10 (Fine)

    

 

    

    

Guilty Crown Episode 22

Convergence

Sooo… What did you guys think of this ending? Predictable? Rushed? Awesome? Banal?

Despite the eye candy, it was all quite average to me. The fight between Gai and Shu wasn’t nearly as thrilling as I thought it would be, and the rest is just expected. At the end of the day, the world is saved and Shu lives on…as the next Fullmetal. xD There’s not much else to say, really, except that the music was superb. Seriously…I want the OST.

I guess I feel relief now that the whole show is just…well…over! I’ve had my fun with it despite its flaws, and now I’m ready to move on. I know that some people were hoping for a second season to provide more explanation, but I probably wouldn’t stick around for any more crazy attempts at that. Now to get on with my review which I’ve been slacking on. Oh joy. =D

Guilty Crown Episode 21

Eclosion

Ahhh… What better way is there than to start an episode with Gai’s sexy abs… =D *ahem*

The first half of this episode is just build up for Shu to get close to Gai, which is nothing special. It isn’t until Shu and Big Eyebrows duke it out towards the end when things get really interesting. All I can say is… OooOOOoooo eye caaaandddy…  Oh, and Mana is back. DUN DUN DUUUUN.

Annnd…that’s it in a nutshell. With only one more episode left to go, I can now rattle my brain trying to figure out how to score this anime and write a coherent review to describe it… Oh boy.

Guilty Crown Episode 20

Remembrance

Considering how easy it is to lose sight of the plot and stop caring about it altogether, it’s about time we got a decent back story of the characters and the virus. There’s more scenes of young Gai, Shuiichirou (bad dude), and Shu’s family. Yay!

Granted, this flashback episode doesn’t answer everything, as I see lots of confused, angry forum people scratching their heads about Gai’s past and current motives, mysterious revival, and all the “science,” but… I think that by choosing not to dig deep into those things, I end up enjoying it more. Why make yourself suffer by trying to understand the irrational? For me, it was simply entertaining to see all the key players in the past, such as how Shuiichirou and Shu’s father’s friendship started and ended up in tragedy. Now I’m looking forward to the battle of Shu vs. Gai.

And Shu’s name means “group.” ‘Dawww~ ^_^

Guilty Crown Episode 19

Rebirth

Shu and Haruka… What a heartfelt episode. *cry* Okay, not really. I kinda forgot about her most of the time. Her purpose here is to inadvertently give Shu a void genome, which restores his powers. Or rather, he uses his own void to “bear the burden of this sin.” It gathers people’s strengths, weaknesses…yeah, it is what it sounds like. Shu’s character development has been one heck of a roller coaster ride, though I prefer his Jesus persona over that wimp any day. Oh, and Scarface gets condemned to death.

What would make the perfect finale to this series? An over-the-top showdown among Gai, Shu, and that kid with big eyebrows would be nice.

Guilty Crown Episode 18

Dear…

I hope this will be the last episode where Shu acts depressing and pitiful. Not that I blame him, but he’s had enough setbacks. Judging by the look in his eyes at the end, I think he has finally found his resolve! Go Shuuuuuuuuu! Wait…what is he gonna do? Threaten Gai with a Twinkie?

Well, I guess I’m no longer a Gai fangirl. I prefer blond hair after all. *pout* But I think the new villain role really suits him since he had a dedicated hate club from the beginning. =P And it’s only getting worse, as he uses voids with no regard for human life. I almost forgot about the other void user with huge eyebrows; when is he gonna step in and do something? The poor kid gets no development… *patpat*

Arisa is not too happy about being a “pawn” for Gai and kills her grandfather, but she goes in denial mode by doing whatever Gai wants. It’s a shame, really, but I’m not complaining. I’m just curious to see what’ll happen to her. Either the show will pull off something totally unpredictable or go with a big cliche, like her void breaks while protecting Gai from a deus ex machina, followed by a sad smile right before her death. *sniff*

Annnd it’s Inori’s time to shine! Since Gai’s army is looking for her, she decides to go on the offense. Was anybody expecting that? Just wow. It’s about time she did something awesome.

Oh, what is Scarface gonna do? Hummm. o.o

Guilty Crown Episode 17

Exodus

First impression: *speechless*

Mimi: Seriously. I haven’t seen such madness since Code Geass, and this manages to set the bar even higher than half point. Sheer MADNESS, I tell you! Muahahaha! *cuts off Shu’s other arm while I’m at it* I suppose I’d call it “mind blowing” for all the wrong reasons. I mean, I personally reserve that expression for masterpieces like Steins;Gate or Legend of the Galactic Heroes for the “AHA!” moments and ingenious plot twists. But here it’s like…you’re caught up in a train wreck that renders you speechless for how entertaining and shocking it is… *guilt levels rising* I’m so glad Alex whipped me to make me watch/blog it. ^_^

You can hate Shu for turning into a dictator. You can hate Arisa for turning into a whore. You can hate Gai for being resurrected. But I loved every ridiculous minute of it. Just as I had hoped to see, Shu creates an army of void users to attack the enemy, though it ends in total disaster for him. Arisa arranges them all to turn against him once they find out that broken void = death. And to top it all off, Gai appears out of nowhere to say “Long time no see, Shu” and slashes off his arm like any old friend would. Uhhh… yeah. o_o Oh, and let’s not forget the aircraft up there that’s about to drop “RM warheads.” *head spinning*

Anyway, back to Shu. I actually feel sorry for him. Lost his potential girlfriend in the saddest way, been manipulated, and now this. How will he be able to recover from such a huge blow? What craziness awaits us next?

Alex: It’s like Mimi said. You know when your watching something that’s grabbed you and you can’t look away? That’s what Guilty Crown’s turned into. I’m not even sure if it’s good or bad anymore.I mean, Arisa leaked the operation plans, turned Tsugami and Ayase against Shu, got Gai and some of his new buddies to come attack Shu and cut his void-drawing arm off. Now that he can’t draw voids anymore, he’s pretty much useless…and everyone apart from Inori hates him now. Oh, and did I forget to mention that the United Nations are dropping Radioactive-Material Warheads onto Japan? Think nuclear bomb…just bigger. The hell is this show doing?

Guilty Crown Episode 16

Kingdom -The Tyrant-

Alex: I wanted to do this episode this time. Mostly because Guilty Crown is a huge guilty pleasure for me, and it’s actually amazingly enjoyable when I stop taking things seriously and stop looking at it through my critical eyes. I mean, yeah, the plot gives the sensation that it’s just being made up as the writers go,  but improvising is considered the best thing possible for writers. Anime doing well is about how enjoyable it is, not about how well it can stand up to a critical viewfinder. In that term, Guilty Crown is doing really well for itself, and it’s managed to bring Noitamina to a huge new style of viewers. If anyone wants to argue that Guilty Crown is bad, i’m more than happy to go at a word battle with you xP

Anyway, in terms of a timeskip, it’s only been a few weeks, yet Shu’s finally given in to the darkness inside him. It does feel like i’ve missed an episode or something, considering that the void system’s been fully implemented and Shu’s turned into a full-on tyrant. The focus in the episode is when a former Funeral Parlour member appears, and we pretty much see the situation through his eyes.

I mean, not only has Shu changed the way Hare died, he’s abandoned all his former comrades apart from Inori, and in doing so, become completely dependant on her for some reason which I don’t think we’ve seen. Or, maybe it’s because of that strange power Inori has. And I think that was Gai at the very end…xD

If you want to look at it in a critics view, it’s a really interesting study of the personalities, and how the weak desire to be the strong and will stop at nothing to change. Then again, maybe i’m just enjoying Guilty Crown a little too much right now~xD

Guilty Crown Episode 15

Confession

Mimi: Oh boy. This is where my guilty pleasure really kicks in. I just love all the drama around the void ranking system, where the lowest ranked classmates try to prove themselves by getting the vaccine on their own. Their plan fails miserably, and tragedy falls upon a certain girl who finally manages to confess her love to Shu. Okay, maybe it isn’t a big surprise. I felt that Hare had it coming eventually. But it is still an emotional scene, and the way that Shu reacts is terribly exciting.

I know, I know. It’s totally cliche for an anime character to go berserk after someone close to them dies, perhaps even a cheap move to change their personality. I remember that back from the early days of Digimon and beyond. Yet I still love those sudden, dramatic changes in personality, especially here. *guilty* I mean, surly a tough, bad Shu will prove to be more interesting than a mopey, shy little kid. Something had to give. How he will handle things from here, I’m quite eager to see.

Scarface playing chess with Shibungi? Coolness. xD

Guilty Crown Episode 14

Election

Mimi: Oh don’t you just love drama? Now the students are beginning to lose their minds, berating Arisa’s plan to wait patiently for her grandfather, harassing girls to see if they have FP tattoos, and some poor idiots getting killed off by Inori as a result. Meanwhile, GHQ begins “Operation Purify Tokyo,” aka mass execution. Lol at the blond psychopath who just said, “I don’t like this…there’s no love in this killing style.” ….really?

So as you can see, this episode is pretty eventful, but I think a lot of us can agree that Shu had the best moment of all. He actually…oh I don’t know…mans up! And don’t make him angry, he says. o.o With Shu now being the leader of the school, Yahiro becomes his biggest fanboy and invents the “void ranking system” to indicate the value of each person. Oh boy. x3 At any rate, I’m glad that Shu has finally taken up the leadership position, even though he was kinda forced into it by his fanboy. I’m curious to see what their plans will be.

A little worried about Inori. Just a little.