Gatchaman Crowds is a horribly jumbled show. It's a Sentai, but also chooses to dismiss the concept of them. It praises human society in one scene then demonizes it the next. When it's all over, nothing really remains as a theme or meaning.
For what it's worth, the first two or so episodes were fairly good, and despite the steep decline in quality as it went on, it was always at least watchable. But after an incredibly underwhelming finale, and the pointlessness I mentioned above, Gatchaman Crowds is going to remain a very annoying series to me for quite a while.
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The story, as set up initially, is a regular Sentai plot. Bizarrely though, the opponents, the MESS, are retired almost immediately. Their non-threat is barely even addressed later, and the Gatchamen are left wandering aimlessly for most of the first half. The subplot takes precedence here, but that's its own can of worms, as I'll get to below. This in itself is annoying enough, but what's worse is that the new plot, the CROWDS, come barreling in with little to no connection. It feels almost like 2 different seasons jammed together and compacted to fit. I don't think this requires much explanation for why this doesn't work.
Next are the characters, and I'm going to have to use "that" term. Hajime Ichinose, the protagonist, is a Mary Sue, by practically any definition. If it's a terrible idea, it turns out it was actually a good one when she does it. If a character doesn't like her, their arc will be realising they should. I can't even say it's saved by her personality, since she's unbearable. The rest of the Gatchamen are much more interesting, but only in so far as for their stories to still revolve around Hajime, of course. I can't say I'm particularly drawn to any of them, but Joe, Paiman and O.D. have some decent moments on their own.
As for the antagonists, Rui is somewhat interesting for the bulk of the show, namely when they don't interact with Hajime. When they meet, a lot of the intrigue Rui had dissipates. Berg Katze, the final villain, isn't much better. Though they have an incredibly over-the-top performance, that really works actually, there's practically no story to them. It's alluded to briefly, but nothing comes of it. The side characters aren't too bad though, and I'd direct towards Prime Minister Suguyama and Kouichi Umeda, who are both neat in their sparse scenes.
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On the technical front, Gatchaman Crowds is a tad above average. The art and animation isn't too spectacular, but there are good designs amongst the characters, both in and out of their Henshin. The music is equally good, with the OP and main Insert being very memorable. The OP sequence itself is nice, and I do appreciate it updating as more and more Henshin are revealed, though this backfires on the final episode by revealing a form that hasn't yet shown up in the series, lessening the impact somewhat. The artstyle is a little bit different, but not too noticeable on most of the characters.
The set design, particularly at the Gatchaman Headquarters, is quite bizarre, and doesn't really land. While colourful and full of intricate details, these are never used in an interesting manner and come off as pointless. The MESS designs are great, the CROWDS are passable and the show does manage to hold a reasonable tone throughout, even through the falling quality.
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I normally try to give my thoughts on improvement, but Gatchaman Crowds would require a serious overhaul. The main character, opponents, story and themes would have to be altered into unrecognisability, by which point Gatchaman Crowds loses its identity, one of the few things it had going for it.
Altogether, Gatchaman Crowds was really disappointing, and if it had begun as bad as it ended I'd have walked away. I may still check the Director's Cut of the final episode, but I probably won't venture into the sequel until I've forgotten the series almost completely.
