Thus, we come to Guilty Crown, a series with notable promise from the get go but ultimately one that turned into a giant mess.
This series is like the Jupiter Ascending of anime, where they end of following many standards of the genre but don't want to admit it, the story is a mess that tries to feel smarter than it actually is, and the characters feel more like tools to awkwardly more the story than characters
Story (3/10)
The story of this anime revolves around the main character Shu Ouma. And when I say "follows around" I mean in the most literal sense possible, because events seem to happen without proper buildup or feel off-putting in execution. He receives a power from a mysterious girl being chased by Mechs in a Japan filled with giant mecha. To top it off, there is also a resistance group called Funeral Parlor that wants to alter the establishment through force.
If this sounds familiar, that's because the show takes a lot of its foundation from Code Geass, even having that show's head writer on board. However, many of the aspects that made that show great are not present here, at least in a similar way.
Emotionally complex protagonist? Rival character with a meaningful story impact? Taking advantage of its high school setting for comic relief and serious moments? Morally ambiguous villains? Well established characters? This show tries this but sadly falls flat on its face in execution.
Admittedly, the power given to the main character Shu is actually decently creative, with him pulling Voids based on what's inside their hearts. Some of the show's best moments are seeing how these are used.
Sadly, the show prepares to run down the list of clichés, protagonist with no real personality or character, fan service for no real plot reason, not really adding anything with the mechas, training montage, having the heroes win through luck or brute force rather than strategy, not properly establishing the characters so we won't be able to care for them, villains so black on the moral scale that depth is non-existent, and trying to be meaningful and symbolic only to come off as ridiculous. Combine these with incredibly bad plot twists and confusing themes that block basic essentials of storytelling, and you have a story that is quite frankly, a mess. Either something is done better in another anime or their ideas don't follow through well. The first half had decent potential for story but the 2nd half sends it into a bad direction where many of these elements get worse. It's only in the last 4 episodes it felt like the main character truly grew at all. The ending didn't feel satisfying in the least.
Art (8/10)
The art for the show is fairly solid. Most of the character designs have a great degree of polish, and it's in the execution of the Voids where you see what the animation staff is really capable of. Some can range from weapons of mass destruction to a time slower to even a refrigerator, but seeing some of these are creative, and actions scenes look pretty solid. Only complaint is that the CG on the mecha themselves usually comes off as off-putting given everything else fits 2D. Although the locations don't really stand out, the art and animation is solid in the right moments.
Sound (9/10)
The soundtrack is easily the best part about this series. EGOIST provides some pretty great songs. The openings and endings are both pretty solid, but it's the background music that really shines, especially during the better action scenes. Overall really great score, probably worth checking out on its own.
Characters (4/10)
The characters are where the story really falls apart. Some of these characters are decent while others lack any real distinct traits. The problem here is that I ended up caring about very few of them because of the flaws in the writing, trying to sound big rather than feel big but not hard enough in the ones that really.
The lead, Shu Ouma, is not one of the ones I cared about.
His character is about as basic as Vaan from Final Fantasy XII, a blank faced moron with almost no character in comparison to a sidecast that accommodates much better. He has little to no individual arc or development at all in the 1st half, and in the 2nd half. he goes through an Edward Cullen phase for a while that makes it really hard to sympathize with him. On top of that, he's basically a complete tool by both the heroes and villains, only showing something of a character in the last four episodes.
The female lead, Inori, doesn't seem to have a consistent character, by which it seemingly changes from episode to episode without proper development on her part. Being a singer means some of the best songs are in story context, but it has you question why Funeral Parlor really needs her. She does have a decent internal conflict, but they rushed a resolution to her arc near the end, and she's a victim of ridiculous outfits and fan service butt shots. On top of that, the romance between Shu and Inori always felt distant, like one of them was always in a whole other world from the other, and it never really goes anywhere besides being a straw in a large haystack of jumbled plot points.
Guy is one of the better characters in the show given his ties to Shu and the backstory, but we never actually know how he formed Funeral Parlor and how many people support his ideals. This ends up hurting the characters of the Funeral Parlor members, especially Aya who apparently has a strong tie to Guy that is told rather than shown. Sadly, even his character becomes a victim of the unsure of itself plot in the 2nd half.
The villains are extremely one dimensional, with most people completely 100% evil, and another that tries to be symbolic but is so poorly established that you forget who the character was when he does appear. The other students at Shu's high school have little character, or even establishment of character. One nice girl and one glasses girl are basically interchangeable since their characters aren't well established, and I can't feel for them if I don't know a lick about them
Enjoyment (6/10)
I wanted to like this series. I really did. The production values are definitely there, and there are decent moments amidst the fluff, but after watching other anime before, most of this show's executions on their ideas tend to be mediocre by comparison, and it focuses on sounding big rather than feeling big, trying to throw so many ideas in our faces without developing basic essentials like story or characters. It's just a polished mess.
