Guilty Crown – 22 (Finale)

Guilty Crown was a catastrophe.  From its clichéd and generic origins to its illogical, unsatisfying, and mismanaged conclusion, Guilty Crown was an anime without a structured plot, a direction in which to explore, or a team capable of saving it from its numerous faults.  What began as an uninspired and derivative work ended here in headache and disappointment.  That is Guilty Crown.  And yet, despite all that, I watched the entire anime.  Despite frequent storytelling confusion, irrational actions by its characters, poorly explained details, and countless other gaffes, I watched Guilty Crown in its entirely and actually enjoyed most of the series.  Rather than continue to berate the beleaguered anime in its last post, let’s recall for what reasons I watched this anime.

Guilty Crown – 21

Seeing as Guilty Crown will reach its grand finale in the next episode, this is about the last time I can bring up a subject that has been present throughout Guilty Crown and irritated me throughout, too.  The constant biological theme in Guilty Crown, from naming conventions to story points, has been employed to link the magic of voids to real world concepts.  The problem here is that they’re using biological terms and ideas to explain plot holes and do so in an elegant way or use nomenclature in a nonsensical way.  Though I can understand how someone may be fine with such usage, especially in a story such as this, it feels like its bastardizing a science that is significant to me.

Guilty Crown – 20

Episodes like these always provide a ton of information for the viewer.  Not only did we start from the beginning of the story with the discovery of the Apocalypse Virus and the events that initiated Lost Christmas and the current setting of the series but we also learned more about prominent characters, their relationships, and they are the way they are now.  But it doesn’t stop there.  The knowledge gained from episodes like these, ones that are primarily flashbacks brimming with facts and developments, is that we can apply this information to areas there weren’t covered to answer questions the anime never directly answered.  Episodes like these are always some of my favorites since they’re intently focused on doing what’s right in storytelling.

Guilty Crown – 19

Though the writing in Guilty Crown dependably stays somewhere between atrocious and horrific, there are still aspects of this anime that create some genuine enjoyment for me.  This episode did well to magnify two of these elements to even greater degrees and thus, are worthy of comment and admiration this week.  One of these features is that Guilty Crown is usually entertaining, especially when spectacular action sequences dazzle with visual eye candy, vigorous energy, and hilarious circumstances.  The other is the generally likable (and attractive) cast of minor characters, specifically Haruka and Ayase this episode.

Guilty Crown – 18

While I could choose any topic or idea from this episode and rail against it in the form of an angry hellstorm of fire, I’ll select something specific and discuss it with a positive opinion.  Now, the material from which to use is quite limited due to the sheer chaos that was this episode but regardless of the quantity of selectable material, you can look no further than to Inori’s transformation to monster Inori or crystal Inori or whatever for the subject for today’s post.  Yes, let’s explore this topic in a positive manner.

Guilty Crown – 17

Ever wonder why Guilty Crown feels so random all the time?  Things seem to happen rather haphazardly, like the story is comprised entirely of separate and disjointed ideas.  There is a general absence of explanations or logic behind each event and it feels like they were strung together with little care to transitioning between each.  And while many of the ideas are fine on their own, they don’t necessarily match well with each other, especially when you try to connect recent episodes with more distant ones.  What remains is a disorganized story that is confused on its direction.  What could have caused such a calamity to happen?

Guilty Crown – 16

Everyone should be considered a failure for allowing the current events in Guilty Crown to transpire.  This totalitarian dictatorship developed through the pressure of the students during the miniature revolution, Shu’s lack of confidence and resolve, Yahiro’s hateful advice, and the fact no one ever tried to influence Shu or anyone in a positive way.  The result of everyone’s combined efforts has created an autocratic society founded on fear, prejudice, and inequality.