The original character designs are drawn by redjuice.
The illustrator of the manga adaptation is Shion Mizuki.
Story & Characters
At first glance, Guilty Crown seems to stand out at a crossing point where it could appeal to many types of fans - those
who like mecha anime, spectacular visual, or action-adventure, or even a bit of music from supercell. Even if it's
a bit cliche, it sounds like a great idea at first: a deadly virus outbreak, a resistance army armed with fancy-looking
robots, and an array of near-superhuman people, all thrown into a futuristic setting replete with gorgeous scenery and
eye-catching costumes. But then something terrible happens: the direction went nowhere. All the way, everything
we've seen is assorted fight scenes, new disasters coming and going, and the familiar artistry aside. But any
actual motivation or sense of purpose? No. Nothing to report.
In the future, a deadly virus has devastated Japan, and shortly after the event, an international organization known as
GHQ comes to rescue, putting the country under martial law while aiming to restore it. Many years later, high school
student Ouma Shu lives a normal life and doesn't care about the ongoing events, all that is about to change after
running into famous pop singer Inori, who turns out to be a member of a resistance group named Undertakers. Naturally,
if he didn't prepare for the worst then he should be when he takes possession of a mysterious power that can draw
weapons called Void from people. Then there's the charismatic leader Gai, who wants to make him a member, Shu
doesn't like this at first, but when the GHQ sets their eyes on his power, he joins their cause to liberate
Japan.
Guilty Crown started off as a big honking mess. It's pretty to stare at, for sure. The plot itself in the first
half isn't bad: from the first few episodes, when Shu takes his tale of political strife and drives it straight
into the kind of hammy, blood-soaked territory that would have been handled by Gai, it's obvious that a big mess is
out of the question. Everyone is always on the go, and something is always happening. Fortunately, the show still finds
time to fill in the proper backstory and introduce viewers to characters. Though less central, Shu's classmates and
unwilling Undertakers compatriots all have emotional lives of their own, particularly as they relate to charismatic,
manipulative Gai.
Guilty Crown is a soap opera. And a very bad one to add. We should have seen it coming, there were bad sights after all.
While the first half aimed to find its own voice, but never got the chance to develop it, the rest makes a bold leap.
However, at this point, it boils down to an awful plot twist that seems impossible to keep the story going in that
circumstance, where the worst of its people are brought out daylight: cynical, ugly, misguided and turns on their fellow
men. The story is less about the monsters outside than about the monsters inside, the people you're stuck with,
your friends breaking under the strain. It's a mess of terrible writing, horrible characters, and absolutely no
structure or regard for consistency or build up, and the plot - cobbled together from equal parts Death Note and Code
Geass - is propelled at such a speed that neither its derivation nor its jarring shifts in tone have less time to
rankle.
After Shu shows off his awesome potential in the first episode, he becomes an interesting case, jumping from one
personality to another. When he's first introduced, he's a shallow, weak-willed guy, torn between wanting to
go back to his old life and finally being part of something where people respect him. You want to feel sorry for him
right? Wait until you see he transform into a selfish and mindless dicktactor in the later episodes, even giving off the
"why do girls like assholes?" aura at some points. Come to think of it, his relationship with Inori becomes a
central part, but they're too underwritten to provide the necessary emotional weight; all she's doing is being
lack of emotion, constantly comforts Shu and shows off some dark hints of her humanity. And if that's how poor the
characterization is for the lead roles, imagine how bad it is for the supporting cast.
Rating: 2
Art
Now, Guilty Crown's foundation itself isn't bad. As Production I.G's latest offering, it's also an
absolute blast to stare at, packing great animation and innovative mech designs, Guilty Crown is a visual feast in the
nerd for everyone. Character designs by redjuice of supercell fame also help to make the character art and animation is
uniformly sharp and the cast's attire ridiculously stylish (particularly stylish and particularly ridiculous in
Inori's case).
Visually, the show is truly a beautiful series all around. Fantastical Void weapons from people that jaws really start
dropping. Robots are diced, crushed, levitated, and thrown through buildings as Shu leaps, flies, and runs across
anti-grav globules of water. Energies swirl and streamers of silvery... somethingness explode from the souls he taps.
Missiles, robot armies, laser defenses and a giant prism field are all featured at different times, as are good ol'
standbys like guns and knives and fancy martial arts. With Production I.G's muscle, it's the kind of series
that's so good looking, it can get away with sweeping plot points under the rug because everyone's so
distracted with the shininess on screen (maybe there's crack in those?).
Rating: 8
Sound
Unfortunately, the score isn't on the same plane. It's over-the-top, yes, but not always in a good way.
Composers from supercell provides the theme songs, while the effect is certainly striking, it doesn't always cover
its plain embarrassing. The songs themselves can be quite pretty, especially when Inori is doing the singing, but you
can't help wishing they were used with a little more finesse. Shame, even the voice acting isn't that much of
a praise; along with his bad characterization, Shu certainly brings out an earful monstrosity, while his seiyuu tries to
make him sound boyish (or badass), it didn't work well, all you need to know is when Shu gets to scream a lot while
he shakes Voids at people or to crazily shout out Inori's name every time when there's a catastrophe around.
Ultimately, while his voice acting isn't quite cover-your-ears bad, it ends up sticking out for a lot of the wrong
reasons.
Rating: 5
Presentation
Some anime shows are so bad, you can tell they're going to be horrible from the start. Then there are shows that
look promising on the outside, only to be completely hollow and unsatisfying on the inside. Guilty Crown is an example
of the latter type, a series built on good intentions and crowd-pleasing elements that end up being wasted. Sure,
it's fun to look at, kind of like a fireworks display or a pinwheel, but that's about it. There are a lot of
elements within Guilty Crown that have the potential to be great standalone story particles, but as a whole, it lacks a
sense of purpose. The Apocalypse Virus is neat, I guess, but releasing a crippling, humanity-destroying virus kind of
seems like a generic bad guy thing to do.
With a weak script, a bunch of awful characters, and the visuals so incredibly flashy that its no longer amusing, Guilty
Crown aims to be trashy fun but ends up as plain trash. No one can deny that it is shiny. If it's bright colors and
mech fights you want, Guilty Crown is your kind of a deal. If you don't mind the plot, then might as well enjoy
these pointless visuals for whatever they're worth.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Story: 3
Characters: 2
Art: 9
Animation: 10
Voice: 4
Music: 6
Overall: 4
Good:
+A lavish visual presentation, with striking character designs and over-the-top animation, make it a fun ride to
watch.
Bad:
+Visuals are pretty much the only reason to watch.
+The plot runs liberally on materials borrowed from other sources, with weak depth and weak leads.
Rating: 3
Final Verdict
3.8333 (below average)
Reviewed by Weskalia, May 18, 2012
