
a review by lightforest

a review by lightforest
Alright, this is my first review on this site. Idk why, but I felt like writing a review for Guilty Crown. Watched it a year ago, haven't rewatched it. So I’m not gonna point out plot holes or dig deep into the characters’ psyches like some armchair psychologists love to do. Let’s go.
Overall, I liked Guilty Crown. It was one of the first anime I watched, and back then it seemed unique and interesting. Well, "interesting" might be a stretch but whatever. CERTAIN characters are interesting, and the "main mystery" kept the suspense up through the first half, so overall it’s great. BUT, aside from a few characters, the rest are annoying as hell.
You’ve got this wannabe-generic high school MC (I’ve got nothing against generic MCs), his childish girlfriend, the blond wannabe-villain playboy, and all the rest. And the MC’s sister is total cringe. "I love you bro, but I’m gonna... kiss... I mean, give CPR to this guy in front of you, just to make out with you later and confess my love and then I’ll die... I mean vanish, just to come back as the main antagonist and kill you because I love you and you don’t love me back." Absolute garbage motivation.
And that fake, showy connection between the blond guy and the MC’s girl was just irritating. Why do that when she was ready to die for the MC just a couple of episodes ago? Makes no sense.
Anyway, if you want to (or already did) drop the title because of this, don't rush. That shit goes away later and the main girl commits fully to the MC (I also hate it when they tie the main girl to some tough side character and make the MC look annoying). Because of characters like that, I wanted to drop it at episode 17, but I followed the path of Thorfinn and ENDURED. Didn't regret it. Even though the show is VERY controversial in places I definitely got some feels out of it. Satisfied, basically.
honestly, I spent a long time deciding whether to give it an 6 or a 7. But this anime brings up interesting themes, just like the anime beatless. There’s actually a lot that’s similar between the two. beatless was about AI and dealt with very timely issues. This one also tackles an actual topic -society and leadership within it.
The music is quite good too although in my opinion it lacks a bit of variety. There is some fan service in the anime but in my opinion it’s mostly represented by about one and a half characters - mainly Tsugumi and just a tiny bit of Ayase.
I also want to point out the hacking part. The cat-girl literally hacked the BS system with her ass?! HOW?! As someone with programming experience , this completely blew my mind. I could maybe accept something like that in an anime like Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu but here? I’m supposedly watching a serious drama.
Oh yeah the ending is a happy end, btw. Some might disagree, but for me, it’s definitely a happy ending. I recommend it (I recommend watching the first few episodes at 1.5x speed so you don't get too annoyed. It gets really good later).
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