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.
