Ep 1- 22.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mecha, Romance
The Kings Power, produced by the Void Genome is stolen by a young girl who happens to be a famous singer in Tokyo. On the run, she runs into high school student, Ouma Shu (rom. Shu Ouma) who has been feeling rather lost in his life. In an attempt to help the girl he meets, as tragedy strikes, he takes the void genome to a band of outlaws known as 葬儀社 (lit. Undertakers, officially Funeral Parlor) and accidentally acquires the Power of Kings, the ability to use the tools of the hearts of others.
This Sci-Fi drama was promising to start with, and I have not been so moved by a series in a long time. There is much debate on what this anime was trying to be, and it saddens me to see so many people say it's a Geass wannabe ripoff with a shit-ending. It's not. If anything, I liken it to Eureka seveN but apparently, no one watches anime from 2005 that wasn't over-hyped like an over-watered water balloon. I must say... I am disappointed in everyone.
A lot of the complaints were from Geass fanboys when some user on anidb likened it to Geass on steroids, and calling it better of the two. I agree, Guilty Crown is better than Geass, but it's not a ripoff... It's better as a romance, as a drama and as a sci-fi anime. It has some significant elements of mecha but I wouldn't say that's what it focused on. The characters and the plots were also significantly different, so even comparing the two on a deep level is near impossible because there IS NOT FUCKING comparisons to make. They're too different.
Guilty Crown has made some imperative steps in finding its own voice. Questions like "What is strength", "What is love", "What is loyalty", "What is fear" and even "What is Right?" And these questions are driven towards answers and left open to thought. Finally, a lot of people are sad by how Guilty Crown ended. It is sad. Very sad. But it gave the characters closure, and made me proud to have supported the story of Ouma Shu and Yuzuriha Inori. The writing was superb and I was looking forward to it every week.
This anime isn't for everyone, but if you liked Eureka seveN (as I have said) or Macross Frontier or even, dare-I-say-it, liked Code Geass - I will guarantee, it may not be the best thing on your shelf, but you will definitely love this anime.
P.S. It's the second best thing on my shelf now.
