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An anime that had potential to be outstanding - but ended at very good.

I think most of us can agree that when we read the synopsis of Guilty Crown, we all set our hopes high. What doesn't sound cool about a teen being able to extract people's hearts and use them as weapons, to defend Japan against the the apocalypse "Lost Christmas" ?

The story, or rather the plot, has great potential as stated before. And it reaches up to it a lot of times, but fails to stay at the top level for most of the episodes. It's sad, thinking back on how they ... could have done things better, to make this an even more memorable anime. Because it is definitely memorable. The story is very emotionally strong, as well as it tackles some of the problems of today's society. Another thing that is unfortunately pulling the story down, is due to the potential. You have mecha's, different void weapons, the year is 2029 with amazing technology, but unfortunately they don't take full advantage of this considering some of the big fights that are happening. They could do a lot more out of it. I am not saying there are no awesome fights, because there definitely is, but after watching Gurren Lagann I sadly have an amazing mecha anime to compare with.

(Some minor spoilers in this section, if you haven't watched the anime please just skip this section.)
While watching this anime, and especially in the second arc (or the final 10 episodes) I had many questions. While being spoiled by anime such as Angel Beats and Gurren Lagann, I expected an explaination of everything. That moment when you go "Ah! So that's why." This is something I have to put as a weakness for Guilty Crown. There were still a lot of questions to be answered when it ended, and this was not because the ending was open, but more like a lot of stuff was not explained well enough. But the ending was great though. After watching quite a bit of anime, you get more used to endings that are not all fairytails. And you actually start to like these type of endings better. The ending was beautiful and touching, and I will leave it at that.

When it comes to the characters, they are well developed with strong personalities. You have the all sensetive, sympatic, strong and at times pityfull protagonist, (Shu) you have the funny cute girl that always stays positive (Tsugumi) and the passionate supporter that stays next to the protagonist no matter when. (Inori). (These are just selected few. Ayase, Hare and Yahiro are also very well made characters that I could have written a chapter about each, but I feel like I should keep these reviews a bit read-friendly.) But I must also note that the character I feel that is lacking this good development is Gai. It might not be the personality development, but rather how his story is told in the anime. As said before, there are some questions in this anime that could have been answered better, or rather visualised better, and Gai's story is one of them.

The artwork in Guilty Crown is outstanding. One of the better artworks I've seen in anime. The characters look amazing, the visuals are awesome, and the environment is detailed and well definied. Absolutely nothing that pulls this anime down, rather way up.

The sound is very good. And there is specifically two songs/soundtracks that pulls this up. The first opening song, which went straight into my playlist and will go as one of my favorites, and Inori's singing. Inori's singing brings chills all over my body. But, I think that the second opening a long with soundtracks while fights are going on and other happenings could be better. But, when it comes to soundtracks it really depends on each and every person on how they interpret the soundtracks.

Overall, this anime will stay a memorable anime for me. The story is very good, the art is amazing, the first opening is outstanding, the characters are memorable, and I really did enjoy it. The final episodes are strong with a lot of awesome fight-scenes and emotions. I would definitely recommend this anime, as it will stay a memorable anime for me, that I will remember a long time.

How an anime goes from good to very good.

I rated the previous seasons as following:
Season 1: 6
Season 2 and 3: 7

The main reasoning behind this, being that especially season 1, had insanely rushed material, and the plot felt lacking.

Season 4 is a whole different thing, and I am going to explain why.

The plot/story in this season starts off well made, and interesting. I rushed through this season faster then any of the others. I kinda feel that the whole plot and storytelling style grows on you. You kinda realize that this anime was never ment for slow-paced plot with huge details in how the ... world works (Log Horizon is a grand example of this). It's also not all about the realization of the style, it's about the presentation of the style in this season, that makes it better then the others.

For one of the few times in this anime, I have actually understood most of Louise's actions. I have understood when she got mad at him. (Because, be honest, who didn't hate the guts out of that girl in the first 1-2 seasons? Atleast I did. I was actually so mad at her at times I was hitting my PC.) The example here comes from when Saito kissed someone he shouldn't have. And there was no explaining against it. After all, it's a harem anime, so stuff like this will happen, but I felt that the way Louise and Saito handled it felt rushed and left them both with a weakened relationship. This did not show at all, as their relationship is basically rising every single episode in season 4.

Many people are giving this season a -1 for lackluster episodes. I am mainly thinking about the mid-episodes where Louise, Saito, Tabitha, and last but not least Siesta is at their mansion. These episodes, are episodes I really like. For me, a person who really falls in love with characters, these are golden. I really enjoy just watching the characters enjoy themselves, and I really enjoy watching Saito and Louise getting together. I personally give more positives due to the season having time for relaxed pure good-feel episodes with lots of HILARIOUS harem.

In this season, I believe everything improved. Especially the humour. I was actually laughing quite a lot. If you have already finished the season, I am especially thinking of when Tifa enters the room and can't fit her dress on, Louise goes to help, and her dress just falls off whipping her boobs out. Saito's face really got me.

Not just this, but now that Louise treating Saito as a dog became more rarely, it got humourus when she actually did. And as the season progressed in many ways, I also had the feeling that he deserved it. Not like he did in the first seasons, where in my opinion wished Saito to dump Louise and go away with Siesta.

Siesta is one of the best developed characters in the anime if you ask me. Her personality is so easy to spot and is really amazingly developed in a way that you feel like you really, really know her. She is a very humourus character. I can't count how many times she made me laugh this season, and each laugh made me love her more. This one scene, when Louise and Siesta is talking about what I remember as potentional enemies, and Siesta brings up Tabitha's dragon. When Siesta impersonates the dragon, is the best Siesta moment in my opinion. (If anyone has a YT clip or gif from this, please PM me as I really wanna see this again.)

As it goes for the op song in this season, I have to say I am a bit disappointed. It did not live up to it's previous season 3 op, and of course First kiss from season 1. FIRST KISS KARA HAJIMARU!

The ending was for me, settling. I love endings that leave you fed up (not in a bad way) with the anime. There are no questions to be answered, and everything went as you had hoped. This ending had that, and I loved every second of the last couple of episodes.

As an ending to my review, I thank the developers of this anime for an amazing ride. I am very glad I picked this anime up, and I am very glad I continued watching after a lackluster season 1. This anime and especially season 4, have given me tons of laughs and tears. Tears of sadness and joy from the last episode.

Saito... Louise.... Saito.... Louise...

The anime's genre itself really suits me. I am a huge fan of Fantasy, Magic, Romance, Adventure, Harem and *cough* Ecchi *cough*. This is why I picked it up. And honestly, I don't know what makes me enjoy this anime, but I do.

The Saito and Louise relationship is a relationship that I really like, but at the same time really hate. If I were Saito, I wouldn't put up with being treated the way Louise is treating him. He still does, and to be fair, Saito isn't the perfect guy either, considering the harem going on and him not really understanding ... what Louise wants.

Nonetheless, the relationship progresses in a good way throughout the season, and even more in the next one. And there are really some touching moments throughout the season, which I must say I really enjoy.

Now, it comes to the plot/story. Here I must say I am not too impressed. Suddenly, a big problem erupts, and I am thinking: Ok, this will take some time to fix. 10 minutes later: Oh wow it's done already.
This is pretty much how much of this anime goes. And for some parts, it can be good, but for others, you wish you would see more epic fighting/magic then you already see.

I can understand why this anime isn't liked by everyone. By some, it might be dull, boring and not entertaining, but for people like me, who really enjoys watching just a goodfeel anime that makes you go aww and yay, with a huge touch of fantasy/harem and some ecchi and some small touches of magic/fighting, I would recommend the anime.

It doesn't really live up to it's genres the way to be expected, but I am still watching episode after episode of this, mostly to see how the relationship of Saito and Louise is going to develop, and the story is at times also very exciting.

I will give this anime a 6 purely because I am enjoying it, but it's far from amazing.

Angel Beats. What an Anime, what a story. A short story considering some of the Anime out there, but is far from a weakness.

In this review, I would like to convince everyone questioning if they should watch this anime or not, to watch it. The review will be spoiler-free up until the last part where I will be reviewing the end in detail (I will tag a spoiler there, so just stop reading when you get that far).

The first episodes of the anime I was kinda questioning everything. Who is this "Angel" why is everyone in this world? Why are they rebelling against this ... "Angel", how did everyone get there? And do not worry. All these questions will be answered during the show. I am not gonna lie. The first episodes were indeed a bit hard to understand, which made it kinda questionable if I enjoyed it or not. But I kept watching, and it became more and more awesome.

Everything becomes so well explained, and everything goes so well together. I promise you that you will enjoy one of the best Anime I have watched, with the best ending I've ever seen in ANY movie/show/anime EVER. (I will discuss the ending further down). The last episode will leave you with the feeling as you have been hungry for days and you just ate the best meal of your life. As if you have been thirsty for days and just drank your favorite refreshment. As if you have been wanting nicotine for a long time and finally get it. You will be finished. You will be fed up, unthirsty and satisfied.

When it comes to the soundtracks. Oh the soundtracks. I am listening to them as I am writing this review, as the soundtracks are so emotional and well made. They complete the anime. Everything from the band to the op and the outro song plays its part in the story.

The only reasoning for giving 9/10 instead of a full score of 10/10 is due to that the plot might be weak at times in the early/mid episodes. For the score of the ending, I give 100/10.


ENDING/SPOILERISH REVIEW COMES NOW. IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE ANIME YET, STOP READING HERE AND GO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW. COME BACK TO READ THIS ONCE YOU'VE FINISHED.

How I cried. How I fucking cried. I cried to the point of no longer feeling like a man, rather a baby that had his candy stolen. I have never been more amazed of a ending like this in my entire 19-year old life. Yokatta mi to. Happy for them. (op song). The tears of pure happiness and satisfaction is what I would describe them as. Everyone, leaving the world feeling so satisfied with everything. How Yuzuru confronted Kanade with his love. How Kanade couldn't say I love you back because she would disappear. (Many people are calling this romance uncalled for and I will come to this a bit further down). How Yurippe said good bye. (Jaa ne, an informal friendly, will definitely see you later. )

There is no easy way of describing the questions I had in my head after watching this anime. Just the whole feel around everything after the end totally changed. When we saw how Yuzuru died and came to this world by donating his organs I got goosebumps. When Kanade said she was the one who got Yuzuru's heart I swear I got goosebumps from my toes to my hair. I swear that even the inside of my eyeball got goosebumps. This is the strongest moment I have witnessed in my entire life. And it goes over a lot of IRL stuff I've seen.

It can't be put to words, simple as that. How all of these people had an unfulfilling life before they came there and had a blast. It can really compare to a lot of stuff in the real world. The track "My song" from Masami Iwasawa made a lot more impact after knowing she would disappear to a happier life. How she lost her voice and couldn't sing in the real world no matter how much she loved it, and now coming to this world, she can sing as much as she want. It's too beautiful to put to words, as much of this anime is.

Regarding Yuzuru (Otonashi) and Kanade's romance in the end. A lot of people said they "cringed" when Yuzuru confessed to Kanade, as it was "uncalled for". For me, this is a questionable way of describing it. Yuzuru was the guy who always questioned why they attacked her. He was the one who saw straight through her and realized she is actually a human-being with a lot of feelings held up inside her. Yuzuru was the one to make Kanade open up.

To me, I always believed that Yuzuru had something for Kanade. He loved her. Yes, it is a relationship built over a very little period of time, but how can this affect how strong it is? Kanade is carrying Yuzuru's heart, and even before Yuzuru knowing this, he loved her. How can this not be bound by faith? To me, how fast a relationship progresses doesn't matter as long as it is STRONG. Which is exactly what Yuzuru and Kanade's releationship is.

I could go on, and on, and on about this anime. But I am gonna leave it at these final words:

If there is something this anime has taught me, it is this: Some people are struggling. Some people are having problems some of us can't imagine exists. But it doesn't stop them from having a big heart, and it doesn't stop them from fighting on. So whenever you are facing some uphill battles, continue. As you never know what the reward will be for finally getting up that hill and letting go of the past, thus accepting your problems and struggles to move on.