Guilty Crown – 13

Ayase has always been underdeveloped as a character despite playing substantial roles in the main story, the various skirmishes we’ve seen, and interacting with the trio of main characters regularly.  Ayase has shared significant duties throughout, including playing essential roles during missions and training Shu first joined Funeral Parlor, so the lack of character development for someone this important is somewhat unexpected.  Accordingly, with Gai now gone and Ayase rattled and depressed, it’s time we finally examine one of the best characters in Guilty Crown.

Guilty Crown – 12

After a two week absence, Guilty Crown returns with a substantial character-driven, story-heavy twelfth episode that you would figure be better placed to end the Autumn season than start the Winter one (I bet they missed the memo that noitaminA anime are 11 episodes per season and had this one planned to end the first half, or at least it seemed that way).  I came away from the episode, again, with ambivalence realizing the series performed well in some areas but continues to struggle in others.  That’s been my issue with Guilty Crown in that there’s always some good and some bad.  But one area of the anime has consistently exceeded my initial expectations, is generally overlooked, and has been a delight throughout the series.  And that’s a topic I want to highlight from this episode.

Autumn 2011 – Season Review

With the calendar of 2011 crowning our comically overfilled garbage bin following the holiday celebrations, there’s no better time than the present to take a moment (or however long it takes you to get through this mammoth of a post) and reflect on the anime from this previous Autumn, the final anime season of 2011.

Guilty Crown – 11

Guilty Crown is a dumb but fun action anime that doesn’t know it’s a dumb but fun action anime and instead fantasizes itself to be a renowned stroke of genius driven by its pivotal characters and enthralling story.  It isn’t.  Until it realizes what it is and acts like it should, Guilty Crown won’t improve as an anime.  But there’s an obstacle it must overcome first before it can begin to solve this problem.

Guilty Crown – 10

So do we just forget about the whole plot in the first half of Guilty Crown now since we’ve got a new story now?  Well, after this episode, I think I’ll do just that but not before I take a step back and recount what the first half of Guilty Crown was able to accomplish.

Guilty Crown – 9

The most unfamiliar component of Guilty Crown thus far has been the underdeveloped setting.  The anime is situated in the years following the Apocalypse Virus (Apoc Virus) epidemic, an event that devastated Japan and which lead to the current timeline in which the GHQ governs the recovering nation, the Funeral Parlor retaliates against their oppression, and Voids are the physical manifestations of people’s hearts.  But the series has done little to clarify these crucial matters that structure the world and the plot of this anime, and that has left us in the dark regarding many issues with the setting.  Fortunately, episode 9 provides some answers on these issues in addition to expanding on essential matters like the Apoc Virus and its relationship with Voids.

Guilty Crown – 8

Of all the people in Funeral Parlor, it’s clear that Inori has, without a doubt, the worst job of all of them.  Think about it for a sec.  Whenever she’s not endangering her life on another abstruse mission of Gai’s, she’s busy needing to keep Shu happy so that he (well, mainly his Void ability) will actively participate in their missions.  Everyone else has it much easier, much safer, and much more enjoyable.  When looking at it that way, you can’t help but feel sorry for Inori.