Guilty Crown: Lost Christmas - An Episode of Port Town

Merry Christmas! or not. It's far too early for Christmas but Guilty Crown once again attempts to bring forth a piece of work involving action, science fiction, drama, and super power all at once.

But I do have to say, this OVA that consists of only about 15 minutes is worth the watch compared to the entire 22 episodes of the original Guilty Crown. No, I am not guilty here. I am actually serious as this OVA contains a piece of work that despite being roughly 15 minutes just makes me want to stare at my screen and watch it through all the way.

Guilty Crown: Lost ... Christmas is the special episode included in a DVD with an animated short bundled with the limited edition of the PC game Guilty Crown Lost Christmas. As a special episode, one would expect little to no story. And of course, you're right to those who've watched this. It has virtually no story. However, what it does have is the badass Scrooge. That's not actually his real name but it's what he goes by. Unfortunately, there's not much we find out about him. After all, this special episode contains only 15 minutes of animation footage and really can't expect much of a character development from that.

Speaking of characters, there's Scoorge's mysterious sidekick, Carol. With silver hair white as the snow of Christmas, she presents what we see as the fixation of this special episode. Both of them seemed to have escaped some sort of facility that made them as experiments in the beginning. Of course, Scoorage does not allow anyone to push him around and handles his pursers like a boss.

We don't know who, when, or how he was kept at the facility. We do know that he has the Power of the King and like his previous predecessor in the original GC as he extracts the void from his sidekick that we all take guilty pleasure of seeing.

As for the artwork, this special episode feels a bit blend. It's nothing special to pay attention to or make out of. It's not exactly the best way to promote a piece of work with standard art but who am I kidding, this is Guilty Crown, one of the most controversial series created last year.

Like it, hate it, or just deal with it...Guilty Crown: Lost Christmas has a great soundtrack like the original series. Even though brief, it brings back some nostologia from the original GC when the OST song "Bios" was played. Admit it (even for those who hates Guilty Crown with a passion)..the soundtrack is epic. For all other reasons beyond the story, characters, or animation, the soundtrack of this special episode is not bad at all in the soundtrack department.

Overall, the relationship between Scoorge and Carol seems to better than Shu and Inori. For one thing, Scoorge isn't a coward or a weak lead. He makes his decisions from the very beginning. In fact, I'm guessing that escaping from the facility was also his decision, one that is rightful and thought out void of surprises. Furthermore, Carol seems to be independent. She doesn't look like a sex toy and in fact, has more of a fixed personality rather than Inori who shows up every episode nearly a different person from the original series.

As for the other characters, they just seem to be there behind the background making their own speeches like another day at the park. Perhaps they're there to enjoy Christmas. Perhaps, they're there to enjoy the special episode. At any rate, they are there but surely has some roles. Unfortunately in this special episode, it's just too short to tell.

Well, overall his special episode is somewhat special. The kickass OST is there. It gives the ears guilty pleasures especially at the climax scene. The characters are presented better than its original predecessor. In fact, in less than 15 minutes, the two main characters are more likeable than Shu and Inori of all twenty two episodes combined. Despite short, this OVA was entertaining to watch. There does seems to be many questions that needs answers but it does presents a piece of work that while not Christmas gift present worthy, is still a fun watch.

Santa is not here yet but this special episode is. So what are you waiting for? Go watch this special episode now. [insert evil laugh here]

Here's my 30 second review and immediate afterthoughts, limited to the 50 word limit in the "tags" box in my anime list. This is NOT a full review.

"Too short. Its stoic but caring hero and his bubbly companion make up a likeable cast, and its plot has potential. "8" may be overrating it, but the desire for more than just the taste you've been given makes this a possible redeemer for GC's disappointment."

Notes on the art, sound, and characters:
+ Redjuice's art doesn't disappoint. The same budget obviously wasn't poured into this 11 minute OVA, hence the CGI'd mechs. Otherwise, the slightly downgraded animation in Lost ... Christmas reminds us of one of Guilty Crown's best features - jaw dropping visuals.
+ A fantastic ending theme, courtesy of the fictional band, Egoist. Beautifully composed piano ballad accompanied by great vocals. Hats off to supercell and Ryo!
+ Recurring characters. I've always wondered how our uber-creepy Major Segai started on his plight to insanity.
+ A fantastic new cast. We all know that the audience loved to hate the ultra-whiny, indecisive blubberfest Shu. Lost Christmas's protagonist "Scrooge" is much more no-nonsense, without coming across as overly stoic. More importantly, the female lead "Carol" had personality! Sure she and Inori shared the resemblance in that their odd outfits were overly sexualized, but the fact that her role involved more than being eye-candy to be used by the protagonist makes the MCs in Lost Christmas much more likeable.
- Too. Damn. Short. However, even if you're not a fan of being teased with content that might never be produced, Lost Christmas is worth a look. Hell, even if you didn't like Guilty Crown (or became disenchanted with it like I did), I recommend watching this prequel. It definitely lights up the imagination to what Guilty Crown could have or should have been.

All in all, a great teaser. It's a shame that there's no news of a follow-up (considering those cocky producers had promised two seasons before airing). Guilty Crown may have been a huge let down, but I would absolutely love to see more of the visual novel content presented in Lost Christmas animated.

I'm GUILTY! of watching and enjoying this one off 12min special, and I must say that Production I.G and Aniplex are GUILTY of doing such a good job. This is maybe one of those anime where you might consider as the best 12 min of ones life and you'll be GUILTY if you don't watch it. So enough of the GUILTY BS, what we have here is a prequel of the previous anime Guilty Crown, it overrides as to how the Apocalypse Virus came about, in the previous anime there is no mentioned of the "Chasers," what this 12min special specifies is how the experimental ... subjects called "Scrooge" and "Carol" came to be so in a sense the "Lost Christmas" thing is a mistitle and it refers more on the main character than to an incident from one of the episodes of "Guilty Crown." I guess that's the way with prequels, it always has certain situations which would be override, but it still maintains the genre and the plot of the show. So for the story I'm GUILTY giving it a "Very Good" number 8.

Art: Mediocre 5

Since I'm GUILTY of not being an art critic.


Sound: Fair 6

Since I'm GUILTY of just liking the ending closing theme.


Characters: Very Good 8.

This 12min special is all about "Scooge," "Carol" and the main antagonist "Segai Makoto Waltz" whose roles did live up as to what is expected, I really like the way where 2 lab experiments who are struggling to get away and end up fighting the chasers and eventually facing the main antagonist is really something. You can really sympathize with the protagonist, and the antagonist is really someone you would like to kill if you have it your way.

Enjoyment and Overall: Very Good 8.

Thought it is a very good 12min anime, I'd wish that this anime should have had it's own regular TV air time than just be limited to a 1 off special. Then again it is really good and overall I plea GUILTY for giving this 1 off special such very good rating, side note, I'm still yet to watch the other 4 panel special of the previous anime "Guilty Crown." since there is still no link IO can access to it yet, I think It'll be best for me to not make a fuss about it yet.

So I rest my case

Everything the Original Guilty Crown could and should've been. A male lead with a spine who has much greater potential of being the anti-hero/hero of guilty crown and a female lead who has emotions while still having the same beautiful characteristics of Inori.

I watched this OVA this past Monday. Since then, I have seen and heard a lot of people have commenting on this tremendously short OVA as being better than the full 22 episode series. To them, I say they are nuts.

The story is confusing, but from what I can gather, Scrooge and Carol are running away from wherever it is they came from. In doing so, they are confronted by Segai and Scrooge uses the king's power to take the void of both Carol and the Corgie she was holding. That's pretty much it. What I did like about this little short was that they ... went into a little bit of Segai's back-story. He was an interesting character in the main series and to see why he is so infatuated with the void power is intriguing. Overall, after 12 minutes of show time, I left not knowing anything. It was a clip, nothing more. It added nothing to the plot of the series.

The art is on par with the series, which means its top-notch. That's really all I can say about that. Due to its short length, there really is not much to comment on. The animation is superb. It is what I would expect from the makers of Guilty Crown.

Where I get bothered is the characters. I understand the name "Lost Christmas" played a part in the characters, but the names Scrooge and Carol are a bit too cute and gimmicky. A lot of people have been comparing Scrooge to Shu, saying that he is the stoic, cold-blooded killer that should have wielded the king's power. In 12 minutes, nothing is left to character development. What you see is what you get, but it doesn't necessarily mean that's what he'd be like for 22 episodes. The best part of the full-length series was watching Shu develop and learn from his mistakes. I found Shu to be intolerable at the beginning of Guilty Crown, but learned to respect him at the end. In addition, Carol is often discussed as an upgrade over Inori. While I admit Inori was very bland and emotionless she too evolved, but she was also a complete badass. I personally found Carol to be annoying. I also didn't see anything Carol did of value besides offering herself to Scrooge. Carol playing the part that Inori did in the series makes no sense, and to think you could've plugged her into Inori's role is asinine.

Being a fan of Guilty Crown, I enjoyed it, but I by no means loved it. It was nothing more than a teaser clip. It did not add anything to the plot or help understand why things happened the way they did. It is just something else to watch.

For all who enjoyed the guilty crown series this 15 min ova is for you. This story is short but its worth it. It has a big potental to becoming a series. My only problem with this is that its too short. Overall it was great with amazing art characters and story line