「王国 the tyrant」 (Oukoku)
“Kingdom”

Hmm, where do I start? While I can understand Shuu’s decision to become a tyrant, maintain order with an iron fist, and try to save everyone that way, I really don’t understand the king-like treatment that Yahiro’s making everyone give him. It was very irksome to watch because I figure more people would have enough dignity in the face of death to not resign to becoming a slave in hopes of potentially being saved, which is why Argo was my hero this week. He basically flipped Shuu the middle finger and told him to take his right hand and shove it up his own ass, and said just about everything that I was thinking, including how Shuu was actually cooler when he was lacking confidence and looking for a place to belong.

For the record, I’d just like to say that I was not one of the people who kept clamoring over how Shuu had better grow a spine or the hell with this series, as my biggest qualm wasn’t with his character but with how the story was so poorly put together in the first half that it was hard to see him in a consistent light, let alone a positive one. And now, it’s almost as if the writers feel like they can just do whatever the heck they want with little to no concern for how the series got to where it is now. “Oh, you don’t like a wishy-washy main character? Well let us fix that in the second half of the series.” Well, I hope you guys who were complaining are happy now, because I find the current Shuu — who just had to dress up like a preppy boy with a long coat, scarf, and armband to match his loyal followers — so much more disagreeable than the one who never wanted the Void Genome and got stuck with it.

The shock value from Hare’s death and Shuu’s drastic change in character only lasted for about five minutes for me last episode, as I didn’t really like the antihero direction things were headed. It just comes off really messy and fairly forced, as if the storyboard keeps changing from week to week. The addition of some new female characters — Takarada Ritsu (Tsuda Minami, Phryne in FRACTALE), Herikawa Miyabi (Watanabe Akeno), and a nameless girl — acting as Shuu’s “elite” bodyguards and following a strict command structure was just silly, as was all the lower Void-ranked students who were being discriminated working tirelessly for them in hopes of getting some vaccinations. I just can’t see students — high school students mind you — putting up with that kind of crap even if it looks like the GHQ plans to execute everyone in the quarantined area. (Like what are Shuu and his guards going to do if a large group of them just got up and left? Kill them all with their Voids? Because I’d sure like to see that.) What’s more, his attempt to maintain the status quo for prioritizing resources and handing down punishments felt like self-imposed drama, much like how he was going to make an example of Souta. While Yahiro was clearly manipulating Shuu by lying to him about Hare’s death — likely in an attempt to just use his Void Genome to save himself — some responsibility still falls on Shuu for letting himself be used. This does not look like someone who has any plans of taking responsibility and redeeming himself, which goes back to the problem with how the writers aren’t making his character relatable or even respectable so that I can give him the benefit of the doubt. It’s never a good sign when I’m happy to see Ayase slap him and wish she used her Void to kick him nuts too.

Where things do get intriguing are the plot devices that continue cropping up yet don’t seem entirely connected to what we saw in the first half of the series. For one, there’s still no talk about why Shuuichirou is still alive or why he’s working with Segai again, even though Yuu finally made a reappearance again. Then there is Yuu’s talk about Mana, who appears to be awakening in Inori as Shuu gathers more powerful Voids — something that is being made out as “the plan all along” with this quarantined area after they failed miserably with their first attempt. Throw in some overseas countries that are probably thinking of ridding the world of Japan and being done with all their messed up genome research, Haruka willingly cooperating with Shuuichirou after trying to flee for her life, “Inori” pointing at Arisa and seemingly kill her off (but not really killing her off), and now Gai getting resurrected/cloned (probably to push Shuu over the genomic edge if I had to make a guess), and we just have a lot of big developments that are really good but feel terribly out of place considering everything that’s happened up to this point. Messy, messy stuff.

On the plus side, there is one thing that I can say feels like it’s been a long time coming — confirmation that a person dies if their Void is destroyed. It verified my suspicion from all the way back in episode two and kind of supports the other theory I had about how Voids and the Apocalyptic Virus are closely related. It seems like a good manifestation of a genomic resonance is a Void, whereas the out-of-control manifestation is the virus. The perfect manifestation would presumably be a Void Genome that can draw out Voids, which I suspect Shuu’s father and Shuuichirou went to great lengths to create. The so-called “rock that started it all” is probably key to its creation, as is Mana for coming into contact with it and spreading the effects of the virus when she went out of control and caused the first Lost Christmas. Or at least, that’s my best-fit understanding of the plot before the writers decide to improvise some new developments.

* Highlights of the episode were Ayase slapping Shuu, Argo punching Shuu, and of course Tsugumi tying up Ayase in that off-the-shoulder one piece.
* Go for broke! This might be a new record for the most number of full-length images in a single post at 14.
* Full-length images: 02, 05, 06, 08, 09, 10, 12, 17, 19, 20, 22, 25, 30, 35.

 

Preview

Watch the Preview!: Streaming ▼

End Card

308 Comments

  1. ^LOL
    A sign of how insignificant this show has become?

    Question: I stopped watching this more than 10 eps ago, but what’s the point of tying up the wheelchair chick? Wouldn’t putting a bike lock on her wheelchair have the same effect?

    Litho
    1. Cause this wheelchair chick had military like training and experience. With that kind of training, you can be resourceful. You can even use a knife to cut a chain if you know how to. You can also twist the steel chain to stress it up then use something heavy and hard to destroy it. There are lots of ways.

      1. Since this is a fiction anime, I could just trick someone with a void to coming in pretending to be nuts, died, killing someone, or a person that needs help(hey, I’m crippled). If it wasn’t the right void, I would just hide them in the corner, under the bed, cover them with clothes, sheet, paper or anything that cover the person.

        @Litho

      2. Affirmative, look how easily Argo defeated Void-armed Shu. I almost shouted to him to just push the blade into Shu’s neck and end his pathethic little kingdom (and the series with it).
        But then it seems the writers would just resurrect him… (Kyon facepalm)

        ewok40k
      3. @Croos

        I think you’d find it’s hard to hide someone under a bed when you can’t move your legs. Heck, Ayase _and_ Tsugumi got captured, _despite_ their ‘military’ training by those random goons a few episodes back, _because_ Ayase couldn’t move her legs. Even throws require leverage and a steady stance.

        And a knife to cut the chains? It’s easier to use that same knife to cut those ropes.

        Hell, how many movies/series have we all seen where the tied-up protagonist escapes using a _key_ or somethiing similar to saw through their ropes.

        Hoh’s right; that shot was purely fanservice XD

        Beedle
  2. @Litho:

    I’m tempted to delete your comment because you’re being all smug about not watching “10 episodes ago”. What’s the point of even leaving a comment other than to troll? Please give me a good reason why I shouldn’t.

      1. You know you can just GTFO and hang yourself from some rusty bridge than make trouble here.

        How do you know that it “…isn’t noitaminA worthy…” anyway when you have not watched for 10 episodes. Some here had already changed their mind about it and say that “it’s improving”. So where the hell were you when they were watching? Reading this blog? Even Da5id knows that you need to watch the show to make serious comments about it.

        The Moondoggie
  3. Oh Shu you’re such a moron. You sucked as a leader and you still suck as an evil tyrant.”YOU MEAN PEOPLE DIE WHEN THEY EMPLOY VOIDS AS WEAPONS TO FIGHT!? I WAS SO NOT PREPARED FOR THIS EVEN THOUGH I USED F-RANKS FOR SLAVE LABOR UNDER THE THREAT OF DEATH! NOW ALLOW ME TO LAUGH LIKE A MANIAC BEACAUSE THIS REVELATION DRIVES ME INSANE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE FEEL BAD FOR ME!” This is our protagonist ladies and gentlemen.

    Shu has dissapointed me. It was nice to see him strut around like he owns the place and have gushing fangirls (The latter being so implausible I just had to laugh). And then it turns out he’s STILL a wuss, letting Yahiro do the dirty work, getting slapped by Ayase and retiring to Inori to cry. Not to mention he somehow still lets Yahiro lead him on despite the fact that he admited to hiding information from him and is no longer trustworthy. Would have been awesome if actually imprisoned him but that didn’t happen.

    And remember Argo who was being the moral center of the Undertakers and someone who understood Shu? Because I don’t. He got no screentime and this characterization comes out of nowhere and I don’t give a rats ass whether he lives or die. Gotta love how this show for making not give a f*** about poorly developed characters. Speaking of stupid characters, why is Shu employing those school bullies as enforcers? Those guys were a bunch of spineless cowards and it annoys me that they got more screentime. At least it was nice to see Inori go insane though, just so she can display ANY sort of personality.

    This second half of Guilty Crown can somehow be both stupidly awesome and just plain stupid. And all this time I wonder why the series should have been like this instead of wasting our time with the terrible first half of the series. And then just when I can enjoy this show for being both stupid and awesome they bring Gai back. What a great way to ruin my opinion for this episode.

    fragb85
    1. All I can think of is that the writers are forcefully making us hate Shu and Inori, turning them into anti-heroes then pulling off a code geass ending. Come on, they can do better than that, can they?

      The Story You Don't Know
    2. The thing that bugs me most about this is the inconsistency of his portrayal. Last week Shuu was all “I don’t know what to do” then Hare dies and he turns into a hate filled tyrant (which is at least understandable in the context). But then this week he is suddenly like “it’s not my fault, I don’t want to have to do this – please pity me as I make people work like slaves and surround my self with followers”. Also I saw a lot of abuse of power for the sake of having some kind of order but no real actual plan for escape from the red zone. So much for the hope that the pain of losing Hare could be channelled into some actual leadership

      Then at the end within the space of two mins he flips between ‘zomg people die if their void breaks’ to a smirky ‘your life is in the palm of my hand’ attitude.

      – Is he supposed to be the reluctant hero who you feel sorry for?
      – Is he supposed to be someone you feel is being lead astray?
      – Is he supposed to be the tyrant you don’t like but can at least understand?
      – Is he supposed to be anti-hero you root for because of what he’s been through?

      Who is Ouma Shuu supposed to be? Does he even know? – because 16 episodes in, rather than seeing him gain some kind of focus from losing Hare, he ironically comes across as being more lost than ever.

      – do the writers even understand who Shuu is supposed to be (and if they don’t, then how is the viewer supposed to?)

      tmt12718
      1. Might that be another goal of the writers: to make Shu seems lost? Given how he’s trying to cope with Hare’s death it seems the logical reaction that accompanies shock. Add that Shu is a mental wreck before, and he just got over Mana.

        Sheesh, can’t they give him a break?

        The Moondoggie
    3. To me this show just “Jumped The Shark”. I absolutely hated this plot development with Shu. Its just damn crazy that he would turn so heartless these last 2 episodes. Inori killing the former president is another WTF moment. Pisses me off that the anime makers did something so blatantly stupid. Its like they are trying to troll the anime fans. Makes me want to just drop the series.

      Karmafan
      1. Not really seeing as we’re 99.9% sure it’s not Inori but Mana. With Mana and Gai coming back it really shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone, especially with how they were offed so quickly. If they left it like that then boy was that anti-climatic.

        Every one hates Gai’s resurrection, cause its seems convenient, but I like to think of the good that does come with it. First they showed us a visual of how someone dead could be brought back to life, see Inori. I was questioning if they were going to address her possible origins before watching so the timing was amusing for me. And also you never know what could go wrong with the “cloning”, see crazy f***ed up Mana-like Inori. I wonder what will become of resurrected Gai.

        A part of me wants Hare resurrected lol. But it’d be bad for the story with all the angst its built from that death.

        qwerty
    4. This reminds me of Lelouch in a sense. I mean “power of kings” is some common theme with Code Geass. Shu even did his own maniacal laugh. Sadly, “void” is the only power he has. He doesn’t have a good mind like Lelouch so we can expect to see a lot of lives lost soon. Though there is something of interest to me, unlike Zero, Shu was able to get people to respect him – seeing how the glasses boy, who pointed a gun at Shu, seems to be another loyal dog for Shu.

      Sad that we didn’t see that A rank girl’s void. I was so interested in that void.

      I can’t believe that Shu is going to attack next episode. I sense another “Black Rebelion” that would be a GOOD sight to watch. Void of each of their own powers, much like bleach and Zampuktos.

      L002
  4. Personally I just thought the virus was essentially the death of your “heart” persay as the void is suppose to be the representation of your heart and thus it’s breaking causes you to go crystal. Well whatever.

    KoroshiyaKi
  5. guilty crown
    so bad yet so good
    usually i watch it just for lol
    but before i realised it I always waiting fot it every week
    its been a while I felt this rage just because watching an anime
    Yahiro is the worst but I must admit “Shu pancen Asu!!” ( javanese joke )

  6. Yeah, wow. Wonder when producers will finally realize that you need decent writing to make a series enjoyable. Hell, some shows are awesome riding solely on the writers’ ability (Cross Game comes to mind, production values were meh but the series was amazing). This is like Code Geass R2 all over again… good concept, poor execution. Hope they can get this back on track. Feels like they’re just making it up as they go instead of writing a script out beforehand like they should have done.

    disgradius
    1. R2 wasn’t that bad. It had a lot of epic moments, and there weren’t really any facepalm worthy moments. I mean, sure there were some things that weren’t that great, and it did not go the way the writer wanted it to go, but it still had Lelouch being awesome and still had a great ending. The reason why people think its bad is because they are comparing it to season 1 and there was that whole CG Train Wreck bandwagon. It’s still better than ever other anime of the year.

      Suppa Tenko
  7. I’m not gonna lie. I wasn’t so satisfied about this episode. I’ve been fairly ok with everything. Maybe I’ll need other future episodes to compliment this one, but it just didn’t leave me with a good impression. I’m with argo, bring back old shu.Or at least, shu from just and ep or 2 ago when he was somewhat stabilizing. Still watching til the end, but this ep didn’t really make me antsy about the next episode like some of the previous ones did. Here’s hoping Gai pushes the drama envelope so much, Shu snaps out of it ^^;

  8. Shu has gone crazy. One moment ago he was about to abolish the Void System after learning the truth that the destruction of voids can cause the owner’s death, then another second later he’s about to destroy Argo’s void and kill him while laughing hysterically. And I don’t like that evil Inori possessed by Mana. Also, I find it sweet when Shu and Inori were alone when Shu told Inori that she’s all he needs… but then she turns into Mana and gives him an evil grin -.-

    While it made more twists and turns, I hope they’ll be able to close them all out at the end and not leave any more plot holes. I really hate how they just kill off the major characters one by one. This is turning out to be like The Lord of the Flies.

    The Story You Don't Know
  9. Messy.. that was the word I was looking for!
    I still like the art and music… Plot devices are good but the plot development is going to a place I’m not even sure the writers knows right now. Messy! :\

    MrRei
    1. I bet even Ryo/Supercell(Music) and Redjuice(Character Designs) were quite disappointed with how the show went. Their works were really good, but were paired with bad writers.

      The Story You Don't Know
  10. i think i lost the pace of this already
    so much happened in one episode i felt like i watched an entire movie
    and just when i thought this week was so long to wait to see baddas Shuu in action ,the episode ended with a cliche much bigger than the last one
    ahhh that’s why i hate watching ongoing series maybe i should put it on hold till a few episode will air tha patience is killing me to much ,that;s why i watched CG after it was aired
    and ok everything good and nice but what the hell is wrong with the ending ? Here i was oooh since Haruka said she will not be forgiven by Shuu by doing this i though they revived Mana but no it just has to be Show Spoiler ▼

    so it’s safe to assume they somehow will become enemies in the future
    ohhh that will be terrific to watch
    i swear i really don’t know what to expect from this show anymore
    so reviewing everything:
    Argo and Arisa dies (supposely)maybe Arisa not because hse is in the preview
    Inori is more than she pretends to be so i guess Mana still has a big influence which means she’s not completely asleep :Are you sure I’m the one that you want?” Now now that sound wierd Inori ooh right it;s MAna whose speaking
    Shuu become more crazier than ever after was being tricked/lied by Yahiro
    We yet have to find out what Dr ouma wish was which Haruka was refering to.I bet everything was planned by him . (well that i expected to happen since he is strongly linked to everything)
    WTH why is Daark is there as well?Does that mean he is traped ther as well ?hmm slightly impossible
    Ohh and i still expect to know more about Gai as well in i-forgot-what-episode Arisa grandfather mentioned that he is the son of that person and that;s pretty much we know about t him
    I still believe he is strongly linked with Shuu as well (maybe as his half brother of something )
    Putting everything i think this become more twisted than CG

    pocky.chii
  11. i never though shu will broke down that much, and inori became mana is why too obvious with her almost make into bride and nothing happen at her , its just impossiblle,
    this my guess shu is actually test subject like yuu/death grave keeper and that stone is one of shu void /or something like that
    and he actually know that inori slowly changing and he just pretending killing argo
    p.s next ep title is exodus any though whats it mean?
    -ifeel bad about the girl that died because he just keep abused
    -arisa is not dead, she make apperance in preview
    -shu please dont let me down with calling inori all you need, she IS using you

    βios
      1. Er…what? Im dead serious.

        Ok, maybe my post sounded bad or offensive to someone, so i’ll put this next way:

        1) Show is actually improving, starting from episode 11, since they’ve added some exposition and decent twists (and i didn’t like first ten, too messy). Plot holes are still here, but if they’ll keep this pacing, show overall will be epic beyond it.

        2) Resurrection card is…meh. But ok, we’ll see what they will get out of it.

        ——

        On a sidenote: this show got GODLIKE OST.

        Schmell
      2. This is Guilty Crown. Say anything positive that is, against majority opinion, you should expect downvotes.

        What? Just sayin’. I didn’t think your post was offensive AT ALL. But that might just be me not being easily offended.

        I also think that it’s kind of sad that in order for your opinion to be validated, people always need to specifically point out what dislike about the show as well. A comment can never just focus on the positives. Lighten up people.

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Anon
      3. Schmell: Besides the tons of broken english, I completely agree that the OST is amazing. I listened to it in a loop about 15 times for the past few days.

        The rest of it I genuinely disagree with based on my own opinion, not the majority’s, Anon. And I don’t think I’ve even touched this comment yet.

        Da5id
      4. Is it necessary to attack someone’s english? The comment still got the point across. Not everyone here has english as their first language. No need to be rude.

        Wasn’t saying that you were downvoting to go along with the majority. Let me make it clearer. A lot of people dislike GC. Say something positive about it, as insignificant as it is, they’re going to downvote it. Honestly I don’t see what was so wrong for Schmell saying that he thinks the show is improving and implied that he didn’t mind Gai being brought back (as bad as it sounds on the surface) because of that. That he probably has some hope for the direction of the series. It’s his own opinion anyway and it doesn’t affect or diss any of yours. Why does it deserve to be downvoted? It’s not like he said “OMFG GC IZ THE BEST ANIME EVARR. YOU PEOPLE ARE IDIOTZ FOR NOT LYKING IT”.

        Anon
      5. I was actually talking about the broken english IN THE OST ITSELF, which you would know if you actually listened to it.

        So clearly you’re being far too sensitive about this issue. Down voting isn’t meant to be something you do after hours of thought. It’s an impulse: do I like this comment or don’t I? Whether or not someone clicks the thumb up or down, it doesn’t change the validity of their opinion. It just means some people don’t like it, and who cares if they don’t?

        Da5id
      6. Sorry about that then. Well it did happen below in this very thread, so I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I have heard the OST though so now I get what you mean.

        Perhaps. I guess I just apply the downvoting system differently to the rest of you then. I really don’t bother to downvote everything I disagree with unless that disagreement is pretty strong. To me its just an easy way of saying “screw your opinion, I think you’re wrong” without need to confront the person. That is why, like I was trying to say before I didn’t think Schmell’s comment really warranted 10+ downvotes. He only really typed a few lines and nothing too ‘controversial’ either. It was a positive opinion, but stated in a pretty neutral way. But eh, like you said I’m probably just being too sensitive about it.

        Anon
    1. I totally agree. I still think this, morally ambiguous Shuu is way better than the spineless coward he was the first 10 episodes. I actually rather like the way his personality has been portrayed as of late. It’s much better than an unrealistic cookie-cutter Shounen hero interpretation all these other series this season are going with. It’s not that hard to see for me his descent into his current character. He had a low-key personality to begin with. He’s then forced into a leadership role he certainly seemed like he didn’t want. Whilst trying to be as low-key and not step on anyone’s toes, you could tell he was being stressed to nearly a breaking point with one of his few anchors grounding him being Hare. The loss of Hare pushed him over the edge, and like most people, he looked for someone to vent his emotions on and blame. That being the F-ranks, of which you could tell he was having a hard time dealing with the lack of supplies. As heartless as it may be, his decision of using the ranking system is not an unreasonable one. If you’re starving on an island with a group of people, who would you prioritize feeding? The ones who’ll be able to be productive and helpful to the group or the ones who won’t? Especially since they may be potentially going up against multiple military forces at this point.

      stei
  12. GC Producer: So EP 15/16 Writer you really killed cannon fodder here and there and even added a healthy amount of Tsugumi and Ayase. I’m quite satisfied. But what’s up with emo Shuu and yandere Inori?
    EP 15/16 Writer: Uhm, we need to keep it fresh right?
    GC Producer: Riiight, fresh.

    0927123
  13. So I’ll just get this out of the way now:

    It’s as if Shu’s character was a car that has been pushed down the road for the majority of the ride (both metaphorically and literally), and then he goes from Zero to HITLER in one episode. And then you realize that you just went downhill for a couple seconds when you soon notice (about 5-6 minutes into the episode) that Shu’s still getting pushed along, except this time it’s by Yahiro, the guy who has lied to his face and betrayed him twice in a row now (once when he sent him to jail, and twice when he lied about Hare dying from a bio-weapon instead of from her void getting destroyed). If Shu weren’t at the uttermost absolute rock bottom of protagonists to ever be in anime, I’d think this was a bad thing. But I am honestly impressed with how long and effectively Yahiro has managed to not only managed to jump from drug dealer to mastermind, but also control the only fighting power that has any sort of chance of taking down GHQ. Of course there’s always a chance he “always wanted the best for everyone and that’s why he did these things his friend’s and classmate’s expense”, in which case you can completely forget any of those respectful comments I made earlier.

    Other than that I think I covered the rest in a post I made right before Divine posted this:

    OH GOD WTF JUST HAPPENED HERE.

    Looks we skipped all the way from R2 Ep 13 to R2 Ep 22!

    So basically, they substituted one dictatorship with secret police that have mechs, with one that’s only made up of one high school and the secret police have super weapons. And some how it got this bad in “JUST A FEW DAYS”?! Goebbels Yahiro is clearly the one pulling the strings and Adolf’s Shu’s just a manic mental case at this point! Meanwhile It’s the end of WW2 all over again!

    And Eva Braun is just…lost it along with the rest of them. You know why I’m not gonna strike that one? BECAUSE HER NAME IS EVA.

    Da5id
    1. The “few days” thing bugged me too! It seems kinda farfetched that the school was able to go from zero to well-oiled POLICE STATE in just a few days. Until Yahiro said that I’d assumed it had been at least a week or so, which would’ve made more sense.

      Ridia
      1. A month or two would have made more sense. There’s no plausible way a high school kid and his drug dealer friend could get this sort of “government” to work in just a few days. Not even in anime.

        Da5id
      2. There’s still no way everyone could have organized this fast in a few days.

        Implementing the Void Ranking System and putting everyone in it: 2 days AT LEAST
        Employing Secret Police and quelling any further resistance: 2 days AT LEAST
        Fine tuning the system to be the new status quo: 2 weeks AT LEAST

        Da5id
  14. quote Throw in some overseas countries that are probably thinking of ridding the world of Japan and being done with all their messed up genome research, /endquote
    Raccoon City solution anyone?

    ewok40k
  15. This anime is bittersweet. I can see its potential, but why must the writers keep this show so messy with so many unanswered questions and new stuff added on top of other things that hasn’t even been dealt with. But anyway, thanks for the episode review, I do have a question though. Is Inori acting the way she is because she is devoted to Shu? and that she has to follow his mannerisms? or is it because Mana is being awakened? And YES ARGO is my hero as well. He portrays what the viewers feel about Shu, the “wtf happened to you” reaction. It’s as if the writers are doing this on purpose. -_____-

    cheers.

    End3rr
  16. I completely agree that Shu is so much more disagreeable now than before and the story is now feel like forced and disconnected . Episode 15 is great but this episode plot is so so but i think GC it’s improving overall. Honestly, normal Shu is more likable for me. Oh and Gai….. You should be dead. Just stay dead
    It felt like GC directors and staffs had been trolling us in a bad way.

    Alex
    1. The writers were like:

      Writers: They hate Gai, we should kill him off!
      *Kills Gai*

      A few weeks later…
      Writers: They hate Shu! They think Gai is a better leader!
      *Resurrects/Clones Gai*

      Writers: They hate the wimpy Shu, make him a badass!
      *Makes Shu a badass*

      Writers: They say Inori is emotionless! Give her emotions!
      *Makes Inori possessed by Mana*
      Writers: Now she has emotions! (She’s now crazy)

      The Story You Don't Know
  17. Welcome to the Dark Side Shu!!
    I will add you to my list of cool and awesome characters that made being bad look so good.
    You will be in line with Light, Legato, Lelouch, Ladd Russo, Liebert Johan errrr….nah just GTFO SHU!!

    And where is that guy, who has a fridge as his void. Because I will be needing it to store a lot of beer for the upcoming cheesy Shounen drama between Gai and Shu.

  18. @Litho true, but lest we forget, this is Ayase we’re talking about, so she’d probably find some batshit crazy way. Also, go wash off that fucking pretentiousness.

    …*sigh*
    honestly I kind of liked this, what Divine said pretty much what I felt about this episode, enjoyed Shuu getting punched/bitch-slapped/told off by Argo and Ayase respectively.

    But also was pretty intrigued at how Mana is looking to make a comeback, albeit a nasty one it seems. same goes for bringing back Gai (admit, some of you probably saw it coming a mile away. *chuckle*)

    also: I call bullshit/shenanigans on Arisa getting killed by “Inori,” no no I’m being a troll. Look at the preview, she’s LITERALLY standing with the rest of Shuu’s Third Rei- I mean, Kingdom.

    and finally: Yahiro, you are a sneaky backstabbing motherfucker. You (used to) deal drugs under the alias “Sugar.” You sold out Shuu to Segai, wanted to kill off your own younger brother, created the ranking system, and NOW you pretty much made everyone forced to respect Shuu as some twisted totalitarian “King.”

    ….and yet I’m still curious how his end will play out. Y’know I’m SORT OF reminded of Metal Gear Solid. Yahiro = Major Zero, Big Boss= Shuu.
    (emphasis on the SORT OF, in that they’re two guys who were once *good* friends are now at odds, with the former trying make the latter as an idol of sorts.)
    actually now that I think about it, Shuu will probably (if hopefully at all) wise up and acknowledge Yahiro as a problem, which might in turn revive their conflict.

    Acario
  19. Such a delicious trainwreck. I can’t even stop because I’ve watched too much. Now I need to see where the crash happens.

    Dear god. At the risk of pulling a Godwin, Shu’s gone in MAXIMUM HITLER mode.

    Pandorakun
  20. Yep, Arisa is still alive. Maybe maimed a bit, who knows if she still has a second arm under that poncho in the preview. The amount of blood splatter seemed non-trivial in this episode.

    And, really, Shu’s characterization is all over the place. I have found the story pretty enjoyable, but the problem with the show turned out that it is centered around Shu, and the guy is just behaving like a schizophrenic.

    He’s just like “I’m a wimp! Wait, no, I’m a bad-ass! No, I hate Gai! No, I love Gai! No, I am a wimp again! No, now I am a dictator! Oh, wait, I am just being used! Bwahahaha!”.

    I care more about the side characters than the main cast at this point. How sad is that?

    magnuskn
      1. I just clicked Divine’s link to his episode 2 post. Damn, we sure loved Guilty Crown back then because of the endless potential it had. Too bad it didn’t turn out like it’s supposed to be.

        The Story You Don't Know
      2. @ The Story You Don’t Know

        Don’t get me wrong, I liked your previous posts. This is a response to this: “Too bad it didn’t turn out like it’s supposed to be.” Only the writers get to decide where the story’s going. It’s their story.

        Not every story follows the “how it’s supposed to be logic.” Shit happens. (i.e. Hare Menjou. I was disappointed when she died.) Our role is to observe and enjoy (or not.) That is all.

        “I just clicked Divine’s link to his episode 2 post. Damn, we sure loved Guilty Crown back then because of the endless potential it had. Too bad it didn’t turn out like it’s supposed to be.”

        Sintrino
  21. So Argo is 17 or below? I just realized it when Shuu pulled out his void…. lol…

    And why are there like tons of s-rank or a-rank void weapons? I guess a lot of people in school are violent one way or another…. but so drilled up in violence that they own a weapon that is high rank? (Which I suppose the Mana personality–very violent and a psychopath– contributed to Inori’s over-2000 void) There must be something wrong with the school. 7 void weapons in school(8 including the new girl who died, and more including the guards for each classroom), all at least worthy to the rank system…. But I guess the messed up state of Japan sorta contributes to that…?

    And can’t tsugumi create clones to do all the dirty work? Does it have to be f-ranked people who risks their lives while getting infected and risk infecting other people when they return to school ??

    One logical thing explained in this episode: there are other students/people out roaming rouge trying to get vaccines… But adults are still nowhere to be seen… Uh… This is Tokyo right?? -.-

    RainbowIslands
    1. And can’t tsugumi create clones to do all the dirty work? Does it have to be f-ranked people who risks their lives while getting infected and risk infecting other people when they return to school ??

      I also just realized it after reading your post, another plot hole -.-
      The writers sure are lazy.

      The Story You Don't Know
      1. There were plenty of adults in episode 15…. that were gunned down by the Anti-Bodies. There were some adult civilian refugees shown inside the school in episode 16….that were completely forgotten by the writers.

        fragb85
    2. Yeah they explained it back in ep 6.

      You’re right about tsugumi, maybe they have limitations on how many she can control I dunno. I wish we could see how she exactly controls them.

      High School anime doesn’t care about adults (unless they’re cast characters). They did show adults back in the school festival. But this ep the point of them running into those students was to get the high school girl. That’s all. Want pointless scenes with random insignificant voidless adults? Request it on the blu-ray, though I doubt that request will be heard.

      qwerty
  22. On a side note – anyone notice that the room Gai awakens in looks like the temple (the room the pre-cogs are in) in Minority Report? (I really doubt that means anything I just thought it was visually similar)

    And I had a feeling Gai would be back, it would have been too lame for them to deus ex resurrect Shinchiro + Mana in Inori and Gai be the only dead guy

    tmt12718
      1. But his death won’t even redeem himself. Zero on the other hand had a plan from start to finish and that’s to channel all the hate to himself and achieve world peace. Meanwhile Shuu has no plan, no goal, no direction.

        0927123
  23. @Divine
    lol. Although it is a difference in opinion, i like the tyrant Shuu better than the wishy-washy Shuu. Maybe it is just me but i prefer to see the evil Shuu getting killed than a crying Shuu screaming at my ears.

    banzemanga
  24. Well, I guess Shu’s not really known for his brains or leadership capabilities, so that part is consistent.

    I’ll get around to watching this ep later tonight, though I do have to agree with Litho about a bike lock holding Ayase down.

    And GC writers, seriously? The resurrection card? Ah well, Gai will probably swoop in, convince Shu about the error of his ways, both will bring down GHQ and Shuuichiro, then Gai will shoot Shu in the head for being a waste of space. Mananori will try to intercept the shot with her body, but the bullet goes through her and still hits Shu.

    Cue epic/sad/heart wrenching music a la Code Geass-style when Lelouch died.

    Oh, and Yahiro will die somewhere along the way. Segai,too. Just because.

    Beedle
  25. Shu seems to be going crazy since Hare’s death, the thing that caught my attention was the madness that was in the school, but more importantly, when Souta was stuck underwater, he said something along the line of “he must figure out how to save himself, its important for him” that actually gives me the feeling that Shu wasn’t really a tyrant but rather forcing himself to be a tyrant, that was confirmed at the end.

    Whatsht
    1. shu have compassion to his friends and mate, he just dont wants to show his ‘weak’ side to others, as in this series ,
      1) he is glad that no one is with so he wont have to punish aya
      2) he sort of ‘informing’ souta is dangerous go on by tighten the rope and behave in the cruel way
      3) he tried to save girl from collapse building.
      if he is tyrant why bother do such meaningless stuff. i beat yahiro know it too that y he is always with shu

      shinkirou
  26. “I just can’t see students — high school students mind you — putting up with that kind of crap even if it looks like the GHQ plans to execute everyone in the quarantined area.”
    For one, you’re coming from a Western perspective (i.e. very individualistic), compared to the Eastern setting (i.e. very collectivist).
    Secondly, it’s one thing to say you wouldn’t take crap from ‘authority’ and another thing altogether to actually remain independent and disobedient in the face of power (especially when the power is something like the Void, which has been demonstrated in front of the students to be quite powerful, not to mention it’s something ‘unknown’, which just increases the fear factor). See Milgram Experiment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
    That’s not to say it’s completely believable, but I’m just saying it’s not that unbelievable.

    sinkingmist
    1. I get the feeling that the GHQ goal for this quarantine is to test/experiment on Shu and his abilities. They are not or the resulting qualities as they have declared the area a deadzone.

      Ani_BEE
  27. Yo I thought I’d never say this about any cartoon let alone Guilty Crown but after this last episode. I think it’s getting too hardcore for me… Yeah that didn’t sound right. Probably not used to the show being so good all at once.

  28. I quite liked this episode quite a bit. For once I didn’t find myself questioning the characterization or logic behind the scenes. Shu didn’t go Alpha like everyone was hoping but this new beta tyrant him makes more sense and could turn out quite nicely story-wise. Hope that Gai is just a clone and not really him. If anything’s going to put Shu on the offensive it’s mocking him with someone close to him.

    UnFear
  29. hm shu being lied by his “friend” that the girl died by the some kind of weapon and when he finds out that died due the void being broken he wen’t even crazy?

    though i doubt he broke the void to arugo but liked his laugh

    so hm it seems gai is back but i think he will die again in the last episode

    inori goes crazy 😀

    dany1908
  30. tbh i was one of those who were complaining about shuu being weak/wishy washy… and i was hoping for a change in him, be it good or evil.. they took the evil route, ok… i have no problem with that.. even now the way he behaves i would still see it as passable… its just the way people treat him like god that’s out of place…

    n0216332
  31. Argo is such a condescending prick.

    “He’s just Shu! How dare he try to act like a leader!?”

    Well looking down on him and saying he’s “just” Shu bit him in the ass. Shu did more than Argo could ever hope to achieve. Argo can just die and make no difference to anyone in the world. Shu dying would affect all of Tokyo.

    Jack
  32. I only got a “meh” to say on the episode. Though the new OP has really grown on me and I find myself happily humming to it 🙂

    On a completely unrelated note: Why the hell Inu X Boku SS isn’t covered?!!? Last episode almost made me pee my pants laughing. For me it’s the best comedy this season.

    lucci
  33. Whoa. Shu’s angst + hate = something along the lines of a Deathseeking Hitler.

    From the post I made before:

    Shu = Lelouch + Gai + The Fuhrer
    Inori = Mana (Total Yandere) + Eva Braun
    Yahiro = Martin Bormann + Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger(coming soon) + Goebbels
    Gai = Jesus(preview! look at the preview!)

    @Da5id:

    So I was reading up about Goebbels. You’re right: He was in the Fuhrer’s inner circle.

    @Jack:

    Like Croos said, she’s trained. She could kick your ass with her hands only.

    @ewok40k

    To idiots, the final solution is the only solution.

    7/10

    P.S. God I miss Hare…

    The Moondoggie
  34. What did they do to INORI??!! Why did she suddenly become eviiiil? Could it be she’s being possessed by the virus just like Mana did? Nooo I don’t want Inori to become evil!! And Shu open your eyes dammit in the end he’s just being used again!! So now to me it seems like Gai might become the hero that’s going to defeat the demon king Shu, What the heck???! I can see the ending!!! And it is a bad ending, time to load back from the previous save point… no! There’s no save poooooint!!! *faint*

    (I also have this feeling that Shu might kill Inori in the end….)

    kurochan
  35. Shu is definitely the next Lelouch. With Shirley/Hare killed, Lelouch/Shu go off the moral deep end and try to rule everything by throwing themselves away. Are we sure these aren’t the writers from Code Geass?

    Jeremy
  36. Before this episode Shuu was a weak, annoying pussy who can’t do shit. Now that they supposedly made him “badass”, he’s now a tyrant who does what he wants and pisses me off.

    WHY CAN’T THEY SETTLE FOR SOMETHING IN THE GODDAMNED MIDDLE OF THE SPECTRUM?

    Rakkyo
  37. Here’s my take for what’s happened this episode:

    Seeing how Gai was resurrected, it makes me wonder whether Shuuichirou and Haruka were actually dead and brought back to life in a similar fashion and placed under Segai’s control. This could probably explain their emotionlessness in the past 2-3 episodes. And I wonder what Haruka’s helmet is for other than to frame her face.

    1. I think that’s just for all comments related/reply connected to Litho’s post. Divine is sleeping right now so he probably did that for easy deleting later… Don’t worry about it.

      MrRei
  38. I completely agree with everything Divine said. Looking back I almost feel sorry for Shut. Almost. Look back at everything bad that he has experienced over the course of this show:

    – Watching people die numerous times
    – Killing people himself numerous times
    – Being forced (relatively) to join a terrorist/counter-terrorist group
    – Stabbing his good child hood friend through the chest with a sword
    – Watching a girl he came to like tell him she lied about liking him
    – Holding a girl, who purely loves him, while she dies after having saved him
    – Watching a girl he likes being taken and forced to marry an old dude in order to end the world or something
    – Realizing he is weak and pathetic
    – Realizing he sucks as a leader and is pathetic
    – Realizing he sucks as a tyrant and is pathetic
    – Having your only sanctuary in your world become your bro-con sister who will try to rape you then kill everyone she can
    – Having a ‘mom’ who actively works against him in ways that could lead to his death and acts flippant about the whole thing
    – Probably having to stab your childhood friend through the chest AGAIN
    – Probably having to kill your love(?) interest before she destroys everything

    Talk about a bad end. I’m not sure what Shu will have left after all this – maybe it will end with Shu gaining a pyrrhic victory. That would be a win for everyone IMO.

    7godeohs
    1. well… at least he met Ayase 😛

      The real problem lies with the plot/story. A good plot can somehow salvage all the characters. Look at Steins;Gate, though I’d hate to admit it, everyone else besides Hououin Kyoma have generic personalities, yet because the plot was very interesting the characters were able to blend in and become interesting as well.

      I feel very sorry for redjuice though, the very great character designs he created will forever be remembered by people as lame characters because of the writers of Guilty Crown.

      The Story You Don't Know
  39. I have a feeling the writers are confused. It seems they were trying to make to plot unpredictable with a lot of plot twists. Turns out they overdid it and the plot just became messy. That is the best way to describe it right now.

    Hey, we can see Arisa in the preview of the next episode right? That means she wasn’t killed off.

    Ohh, how I sometimes wish Gai got the Void Genome instead…

    Djalaal
  40. i dunno what is wrong with your guys, first all of you hate the wimpy shu ( which i also hate) , then writer to ‘manned’ him up, but that also you dislike him, then what type ‘ character’ that all you want shu to be to be liking?

    shinkirou
    1. The thing is he DIDN’T man up. That’s the problem. We expected a darker, serious Shu to do awesome anti-hero stuff. What we got is the same wussy Shu TRYING to be a tyrant and sucking at it. Its so obvious that Yahiro is pulling the strings and Shu is letting him do it.

      fragb85
    2. I didn’t have a problem with him being a wimp. What I did have a problem with was how his wimpiness was handled so poorly, so arbitrarily, that it felt forced on the viewer. It’s only used to stall the plot or provide lame comic relief, and sometimes, it’s used as a base for character development. And sometimes, the story confuses him being confident for character development when it’s really inconsistent writing. Say what you will about Shinji, but at least the writers consistently made him wimpy. They didn’t try to make him something he wasn’t.

      I never agreed with people wishing he would man up, because manning up does NOT change the fact that you’re boring. You need hobbies, you need a personality, you need better dialogue. But no, he just transitions to badass, and a boring badass at that. The only thing I give the story credit for is keeping him a tool, because there’s no way he could have changed THAT fast in a few days. Other than that, Shu sucks as a character.

      Flawfinder
      1. @Flawnalyst

        I think you are just at odds that Shu is really just a simple character. If we give him too much description that isn’t relevant with the plot the character would somehow feel off. They did tell us Shu is a fan of Inori before. But as you can see, him being a fan was overshadowed by how he was dragged along due to the Void Genome.

        The Moondoggie
      2. @The Moondoggie I said he was an inconsistent character. That’s really far from being simple. And no matter how simple a character is, they shouldn’t be a tool of the plot. I can’t think of one character that isn’t a tool in this show. The characters should be in control of the plot, not the other way around. Now this is a debatable trait, but that’s how I see it. It also doesn’t help that the show itself seems to think the characters are complex. Maybe you don’t see it that way. Maybe the creators don’t. But that’s what I see.

        Flawfinder
      3. The characters should be in control of the plot, not the other way around.

        Hmm… I don’t really get what you are trying to say with this. Isn’t the plot be the one in control of the cast? Like IRL, we don’t control what can happen around us. We can plan a lunch with a girl, but then your boss gives you a job that forces you to cancel it. I couldn’t think of any reason why a character would be in control of the plot. Is he God?

        The Moondoggie
  41. Series makes no sense, but art and music still awesome. Maybe we’ll understand it all at the end (tho there’s no way they’ll make up for all this fail, but still…)

    Trying to stay positive, quite hard…

    Shrubbery
    1. *raises hands*

      I want gifs of Ayase tied up! *gives cookie*

      LOL joking aside, I personally want, this is serious here people, I want Shu to end it all. Go berserk after learning everything, after seeing everything around him destroyed. I want him to bring about the next Apocalypse. The parents of the children and everyone in Tokyo seems useless. What are they doing while their loved ones are being killed inside. Did they just accept GHQ’s reason that “everyone’s infected”? If they did out of fear they all deserve to be destroyed.

      The Moondoggie
  42. Evil!Shu continues to be as poor a protagnist as Good!Shu. I like how now we can tell he’s evil and conflicted because he’s wearing the Black Clothes of Angst. Anime: where being evil means automatic wardrobe upgrade. Unfortunately with the way the show’s been going I do not at all trust the writers to take this development anywhere interesting and expect it will somehow turn out that this really is all for the greater good, Shu will cry a little and then the show will promptly absolve him of all responsibility. This is the series that’s apparently trying to redeem Daryl “Kills mothers in front of their kids,” after all.

    Crazy Inori at the end would’ve been so much more effective if Arisa wasn’t clearly visible in the next episode preview. Once again, the show refuses to commit to the more interesting choice and goes for the easy out. After all, if Inori kills a named character rather than random unnamed thugs we can’t magically absolve her of all sins when she hooks up with Shu at the end!

    And when Ayase slapped Shu I was really hoping she’d go for a full on Kallen-pounds-Suzaku-style beatdown. Would’ve been so satisfying.

    Ridia
    1. Even if the show is terribly written, I’m really curious what happened prior to the start of Lost Christmas, which will be answered by the VN.

      So for now, if it hasn’t already, just keep watching it for the eventual train wreck it’ll become?

      Yukipon
  43. I don’t know what to make of Yahiro. Is he meant to be good or bad? Whatever. Can Shu stop listening to him and off him already? I’m going to be really pissed if he kills Argo, that will be in no way redeemable.

    qwerty
  44. Arisa may show up in the preview but she may be dead, remember Tsugumi’s void.

    This show really lacks any sort of build up in their character development, once again a little bit of time spent building up to emo Shu and he’d feel like a believable character. If Shu had gone completly crazy it’d have made more sense, compared to this pseudo-evil Shu.

    TipQ
    1. That explanation still has its problems. First, does the scanner replicate void as well? Secondly, why replicate Arisa (all right, they need the void), and why did Tsugumi help Shuu on this matter? Tsugumi doesn’t seem to like Shuu’s new way of doing things either and helped Argo escape.

      My other explanation is that Arisa that went to the radio station was an replica. If that is the case how did Tsugumi pulled out her own void and how did Arisa decide to turn back to Shuu’s side?

      My 3rd theory show cased the failure of this show: there is a major script change and Arisa wasn’t supposed to be dead in the old script. By some mistake they just put on this preview which was drawn before the script change with an alive Arisa in it.

      hoh
  45. “For one, there’s still no talk about why Shuuichirou is still alive”

    -watched episode 12 again-
    Funny, I don’t really remember HIM GETTING KILLED. Looks he just got kicked to the real world.

    zomglazerpewpewew
  46. I still try to watch this show until the last episodes. Maybe this show won’t be The Angel Beats of 2012. I don’t say this show is bad, just like what Divine said, I want to know how far the writer can make a new development in the remaining 6 episodes. Ganbaru! 🙂

    vrr4141
  47. 04:08 – Someone said these were adults? I was under the impression they were F-Ranked students in PE uniforms doing slave labor or something like that.

    I had a rant in the last episode about how the writers just forgot about all the surviving civilians and whatnot but I’m over that now. I merely added it to the list of growing failures that this show churns out.

    I, like much of the face-palming audience, should have dropped this by now. And yet I haven’t. What did I like about the show?

    Premise. Supernatural powers. Rebellion against oppression. Boy meets girl. etc. It had the typical elements that I liked and seemed like it had potential to develop into an epic story. In fact, even though I know it’s far too late, I’m still clinging onto the hope that the story will make a comeback. And this is probably the driving factor in me continuing to watch this.

    Art? I suppose I do appreciate the detail they place into backgrounds and whatnot but my attention is usually focused on the character faces/body anyway. Not really a big attractor to me.

    Music? Rather highly praised by most of you but I only liked Euterpe and βios. The OPs and EDs are above average to me but not *spectacular*. The BGM is rather forgettable and I don’t remember any tunes apart from βios off the top of my head. But music is highly subjective.

    What did you like about the show?

    Out of it
  48. The story is finally moving at a good paste. Before i was worried, cause there was only 8 or so ep left, but now seeing how fast the story is going, i think they will have enough time to wrap everything up in the next couple ep and redeem themselves for the horrible pacing in the first season.

    Just A Random Guy
  49. I actually enjoyed this episode quite a lot and I felt like the plot is finally heading to the right direction. My thoughts:
    #1 It’s good to know that the writers explained why Hare crystallized from episode 15
    #2 With the whole Souta incident, part of me felt like Shu ‘ignored’ him because he still hates him for what happen to Hare, the other part of me felt that deep down, Shu believed in Souta and thought he could make it on his own.
    #2 I think Argo is ‘the brainless idiot’ in every series and I’d be happy if he died; he was probably more upset over the fact that Shu was in charge rather than the whole ranked system.
    #4 I don’t get why Shu’s changing into the antihero is so ‘far-fetched’ or so hated. People in real life are traumatized by death so its more than possible in an anime. To me, Shu is clouded by hatred/regret, that he simply accepts Yahiro’s ideas as the only option while Yahiro is aware of this. In honesty I’d prefer ‘preppy’ Shu stayed and the anime ended in a tragedy, not because I disliked the old Shu, but “Guilty Crown” will finally make sense.
    #5 It’s strange that after Shu forced Inori’s voice, Inori would still be so willing to help Shu, even to the extent of kill the former class president. I also wonder what she meant when she said “am I the one you need?”
    #6 Lastly, unlike most people, I will hold back on my disbeliefs and my judgment of the series until it is all said and done. I’m still puzzled why people feel that the writers have to close every plot hole or explain everything twist & turn in every episode? Where is fun in that? Because limited info is given out, it allows the viewers to guess and speculate.. I’m not saying this because I’m a total fanboy, but because there are numerous animes where the writers did a crappy job throughout but everything was explained at the end (Darker than Black, Tengen Toppa, Ao no Exorcist off the top of my head)

    ybaby
  50. OH MY SHOE…..

    The death of your GF is not the reason tht you can turn into Hitler. And ppl don realised they just did somethin bad then act lk “F@#K this I am psycho so tht why I don’t bloody care”. Do we really need another Gambit pileup….. I think I should stop this rant 4 some respect 4 tis show.

    Note to self: pink haired girl are the worst.

    End Card: Suzuhito-san, its not lk the art is bad but seeing Inori faces go….off model is a bit weird. Who tht chick next to her?

    D-LaN
  51. What in the legitimate fuck is this show trying to do, I don’t even know anymore. If this show manages to wrap up and tie things together in a neat enough way it could be salvaged, but honestly the way things have been going I don’t see it happening.

    Freddeh
  52. So, destroying someone’s void kills that person, enveloping them in a hypercrystallized state that leaves virtually no trace of said person?

    That’s a really convenient power Shu has…

    For killing people.

    Yukipon
      1. Yeah, I ended up double posting since I thought it didn’t go through the first time.

        Divine probably did something like “sticky-ing” Litho’s comment to the bottom or it’s just a random bug.

        Out of it
  53. The way I see it is that this anti-hero Shu was planned even before the first season started. Then again, if season one had been better organized with itself, this might just not have felt as forced as it did, nor had the change felt it’s still not right enough.
    The thing about Mana awakening in Inori, could merely be either that, or Inori is going through what Mana did back then.
    One thought is that the writers just couldn’t come upon common agreements as to which path must they put Shu through to show how he’s to switch from A to E. They either did not pick the right formula to add up the numbers or messed-up with the calculations, for in my opinion, this show could have given a very high-ranking in the scale.

    Ine
  54. While I still don’t like the thought of Shu being a dictator of any kind, this episode actually handled it a lot better than I expected it would. I was expecting them have Shu go full Evil-Overlord this week, killing off people left and right. But to my relief, he’s instead been thrust somewhat into Gai’s old role: a leader who has to come across as harsh and demanding in public but then feels guilty and conflicted about it in private, propelling himself forward with the notion that “this is what we have to do to survive”. In some ways, the old, kind-hearted Shu that Hare loved isn’t gone, he’s just suppressing his kindness out what he feels is necessity.

    Personally, I’ve never had much of an issue with Shu as a character. Like someone said above, he’s a simple character, and to that I add that he’s unusually “normal” for a lead character. Most leads have a strong motviation that stands out about them from the very beginning. Lelouch had his overarching drive for vengeance, Alto dreamt of flying in a real sky, Shinji was seeking the approval of others. Shu didn’t start with any such thing, he was an truly average high school student who was content with maintaining his life’s status quo. Yeah, I can see how some people will find that boring. But for me, it actually made him a little *more* relatable and thus I do feel sorry for him when all the crazy events of this series are dragging him around all over the place and wrecking havoc on his psyche.

    As for this episode. As several have noted, Yahiro is the one pulling the strings in this new regime. And that’s starting to make me think that he’s a plant for the GHQ. Notice how people like Segai and Yuu seem VERY well informed about what’s going on inside the quarantine zone and are pleased that things are going according to plan? Well, Yahiro’s the one who’s been driving Shu in this direction. The Void Ranking System, getting Shu elected president, keeping information from him to keep him motivated. Particularly, when Argo was confronting Shu; Shu had just challenged Argo with coming up with a better solution than what they had going on in the school. Getting Arisa out and thereby gaining some potential outside help might very well be an alternative but before Argo could say anything, Yahiro interrupts. For whatever reason (maybe he was promised the resurrection of his little brother?) I think he’s collaborating with the enemy, something we’ve actually seen him do before.

    As for Gai coming back? It’s too soon to say for sure but I think this is just a physical copy or clone, not the real Gai, simply a puppet to be used by the GHQ. Haruka said something along the lines of Shu never forgiving her for this. Bringing back his friend doesn’t seem all that unforgivable but mocking Gai’s existence by making a tool wearing his face fits the bill better.

    Vile1285
  55. Why do so many people bash on Shu? Look, We all know his character isn’t consistent. But this is old knowledge. Instead of constantly complain about how indecisive Shu is. You should try digging a little deeper into what made Shu this way. First of all,His parents are both Mad Scientist With littler remorse for their own actions. Shu constantly Said at the beginning of the series that he wasn’t good at anything. He had no Role Model, Know one to learn from until Gai came. Who Died. And then Hare Came and took there Role of Mother Mary. Absorbing Shu’s Doubts and Pain. She’s Also Dead.

    So before We continue making a billion of the same comments about how Shu is inconsistent, Poorly developed, and a horrible character.
    We should first acknowledge that he’s Heart Broken, Lost, and Guilty.

  56. Why the fck, everyone is still watching this? i only read bad comments, but is the anime right now with more comments, doesnt have any sense, i watch it because i like it, even with the stupidity and the loopholes, but i got the feeling people watch it just to bitch.

    Felix
  57. Honestly Shu hasn’t done anything Gai wouldn’t have done in the situation, and has done before, but Gai was just more charming about the whole using your people as pawns thing. I don’t really think Shu has done anything that warrants him needing to be redeemed, at least not yet. I’m not sure why people are shocked by anything considering the whole thing was an act, and not a very good one in the first place.

    Everyone is very inconsistent from week to week. Last week Ayase seemed to support the void plan and put pressure on Shu to do something since the wall is coming. Tsugumi has said more than once kindness is a weakness. Now suddenly Shu enforcing things in a mean way is too much for them. And would Ayase be happy for someone tell her to “just get over” Gai’s death when she was having her hissy fit about it? Eh… Argo? Am I supposed to know or care about this guy? The good thing about this show is I’m not attached to the character so I can’t really say I care how it ends up.

    I also get the feeling the end is a complete troll and Shu isn’t that crazy and Inori/Mana didn’t actually hurt the prez all that much. I guess we’ll see.

    elle
  58. Argo should used shu has bait/hostage. No one want him dead and shu needs to facing the person head on to get the void out.

    Secondly, my earlier remarks about Gai.
    If Inori is a Clone then I know it is stupid to mention in front of all you commentators that Gai is also a Clone.

    And Last but not least what the hell is going on with Inori? Could her other self be coming out?

    And what is the deal with Shu’s dad why is he so important.

    To many question AND NOT ENOUGH ANSWERS

    Dragonite88
  59. Man I am really hating the direction that Shu is going right now. I agree with divine and argo that Shu was a much more likable character when he was just trying his hardest to be accepted and to make Inori like him. I am really hoping that he comes to his senses sooner than later because he is not the person that Hare fell for anymore and would be disappointed with these new developments and for a spectacular ending he ends up with Ayase because she’s just so awesomly adorable!

    Zero
  60. The series really is at a making it or breaking point with this episode. If they are going to make it, someone in the series (preferably Ayase) needs to tell Shuu in the face that a lot of his “order keeping business” is, as divine rightly pointed out, “self imposed drama”.

    Shuu didn’t go to all these extreme measures because he wanted to save everybody (he literally abandoned all those F ranks already) but because he likes things that way and it feels good to be at the epic of power and he is offically corrupted by power. From that point of view, Shuu is consistently being wimpy: he is not man enough to admit that he enjoys power so he fools himself using the “saving other people” excuse and just float with whatever ideas Yahiro came up with.

    If they actually get Shuu to admit that he is drunken in power in series, then they really did an excellent job analysing the wired effect a “crown has on the head beneath it”. And the title “Guilty Crown” would actually stand as it express how power corrupts people (in Shuu’s case it’s the power to draw void).

    Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t be where the series is going. They tried very hard to push on us that “Shuu had to be tough to ensure the survive of the group” and same argument would probably be used to redeem him later. If they did unfortunately going down that route then they really ruined it.

    Because the needing to be tough to survive scenario doesn’t really stand: come on, they even had enough supply to do a culture festival and then the next day everything just dries up? How come Shuu & Yahiro (now it makes sense if Yahiro is actually working for anti-bodies) never thought about scavenge resources outside until Soute and all the F grade group went out for it? Also, they seem to legitimate Shuu’s slave driving on his plan to get everybody out through that toppled Naval ship (now that could be another of Yahiro’s plan to push Shuu towards Tyranny). Yet they don’t care to gave us any detail of that plan and the likelihood of its success. Meanwhile, Shuu could easily use Inori’s void to destroy any ghost unit in their way and use Souto’s gate opening camera to blast open the red wall.

    hoh
  61. I really can’t buy this sudden transformation from helpless loser to… well, the Shuu they have now. Maybe if they hadn’t established Shuu as such a pansy, I might buy it more.

    I also rolled my eyes at how the school got turned into the Third Reich overnight, complete with Nazi-esque arm bands, and leader worship. Seriously, it’s been like what? a few days tops? Reminds me of that South Park episode where the parents leave and it turns into a dystopia in two days.

    Random
  62. It seems that I am the only one in the world who actually enjoy watching Guilty Crown! Ever since Shuu killed Yahiro’s brother this has been so exciting to watch really.
    And I like this anti-hero thing, it really is something fresh and not used in a lot of series, whit good reason.
    And while Shuu isn’t the super hero we all anticipated, I can certainly understand why Shuu has become the person he is now. He hasn’t had a easy life, he has lost many loved ones. And he has always been alone.
    While this can’t be any excuse for what he has done, it certainly can explain why he has become like this

    Pera
  63. Just some random thoughts after looking at the above comments…

    1) This series can’t be THAT bad from an entertainment point of view – after all, all of you are still watching it and writing about it!

    2) The sudden progression from spineless Shu to fascist Shu took a a week, which is well, pretty sudden. Given what’s happened to him and what he’s always wanted (e.g., to be accepted, to protect his friends around him), I for one am not surprised he’s become this way, nor do I find it as implausible or annoying as the rest of everyone here. Plus he’s being basically manipulated by Yahiro, who was always a bit of a tool to begin with. A flashforward of a year or two would have made this much more believable. BTW, he never said he wanted to save EVERYONE – I think the goal is to save as many as possible (minus Souta, cuz he’s still pissed as hell at him). The constantly flip-flopping personality-wise really sums up Shu – he doesn’t know what he wants to be and he’s always trying to live up to the expectations of others.

    3) Student’s becoming slave-like – I think we’d all be surprised (not to say I really do know) at people are willing to do in the face of almost certain death. Although I find it funny how they developed this societal system in the span of a few days. Again, if only the writers employed a flashforward device.

    4) The rest of the characterisations aren’t that bad – everyone’s been pretty consistent!
    – Inori: mindless doll created from Mana, who wakes up and eventually turns into a homicidal maniac
    – School bullies: as enforcers of the regime, it’s a perfect job for them, but I think they got this because they had decent Voids, no?
    – Arisa / Ayase etc: Idealist + typical good guys

    5) What I don’t understand is the logic of some of these people – Even if you knew you would die if your void broke, so what? Its better to die fighting for your life then to cower in fear no? I don’t see why all the “good guys” were so shocked – other than for the fact that the users themselves didn’t know. Then again, if you are charging into battle with your void, what’s to stop a bullet from entering your skull? Void don’t generally protect you from harm.

    beepers
  64. Gsi. Yeah sure…Gai…

    The good thing in this episode? Ayase slapping Shu and Inori. And Shu, you better fix that attitude sometime or you’ll just end up acting like a certain someone from Code Geass and would untimely lead to his death.

    First half of the series was way better. It seemed like the second half is the darker version of the series.

      1. Plus, Episode 9 showed that consciousness can move through cancer crystals, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for particles of them to maintain people’s souls.

        It’s incredibly cheesy, which leads me to believe the show’s gonna end with Shu talking to all the dead characters at once and using all their voids at once. Just like the whiny Stu he is.

        Da5id
    1. Well for one, it’s a highly discussed series so it only makes sense to blog about it. The main reason why I’m watching it is because I want to see how it turns out. I’m not going to judge it harshly until I’ve seen it all. I still think the series is salvageable, so I’m still holding onto a little bit of hope that it’ll end on a positive note.

  65. The preview with Arisa could be a flashback, right? Regardless, I just don’t see the point in having a climactic scene during which Inori something‘s her that ends in a bloodied, broken mirror, only to have her show up in the preview for the next episode.

    R
    1. A flashback showing the TWO DAYS inbetween episode 15 and 16? Why couldn’t they have just shown that before THIS episode so we could have half an explanation as to how things got so fucked up so fast?!

      Da5id
      1. Not saying it makes sense (lol Guilty Crown, make sense?), was just throwing it out there as a possibility. I agree with your sentiment entirely, but I wouldn’t put it past the Guilty Crown committee with their grand storytelling and all.

        R
    2. It’s the wtf factor that keeps you coming back. I really doubt it’s a flashback, the preview look like an full scene just before they make their escape and Shu’s discussing the plans with them.

      qwerty
  66. http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz768kEEmI1qbz7v4o1_500.jpg

    Hello ladies. Look at your Void. Now back to me. Now back at your Void. Now back at me. Luckily, it isn’t mine. But if you started lying for sake of vanity and did extremely rash and foolish decisions you could be as much of a useless piece of shit as me. Look down. Back up. Where are you? You’re in a wartorn street with the man whose Void can only open cans. What’s in your hand? Back at me. I have it. It’s that sweet and adorable girl with that Void everybody needs. Look again. The girl is now diamonds! Anything is possible when your Void is only good for an addict of Heinz baked beans. I’m on death row.

    Da5id
  67. >I really don’t understand the king-like treatment that Yahiro’s making everyone give him.

    I think this is necessary in a meritocracy to show preferential treatment to create a driving force of people wanting to move up the ladder.

    I agree with a lot of people that Shuu is just like a puppet king and Yahiro running everything behind the scenes. I could understand if Shuu took up reigns and actually had the conviction to walk the talk, but it seems like its all fake bravado once again.

    shin
  68. I didnt really see Shu doing anything actually evil until the end. Based on the explanation all of the F-Ranks will survive, they just dont have the resources to prioritize them ahead of everyone else. What he did to Souta was sort of a evil thing but if you figure that he still blames him for Hare’s death than you can see him more as an exception than a rule. I guess the realisation at the end that he killed Hare made him finally completely snap at Argo.

    One of the weirder things to me is why Souta is even F-Rank in the first place. Wasn’t he the guy in episode 7 who had the void to open any door or anything that was locked. That seems like an obscenely useful void when at some point you wanna get the people back thru the barrier into the safe part of the city.

    Adreme
  69. This show is really pissing me off, not gonna lie. Primarily because the second half is showing a lot of signs that this show COULD have been great, if it had writers who know what the hell they were doing and hadn’t completely stuffed it in the first half. Most of the problems in this show can be directly traced back to the first half. Characters that weren’t developed then and are suddenly like “OH HI I’M IMPORTANT NOW PLEASE CARE ABOUT ME LOTS!”. Abilities and situations that were not foreshadowed AT ALL and appear to have been pulled directly from someone’s ass to try and paint themselves out of a corner. A main character who appears to be written by a new person every week (or every 5 seconds in some cases). It’s very frustrating, the good ship SS Guilty Crown can see Good Show Island from where they are but is instead being piloted right into the Great Failure Reef by a writing staff that appears to have the combined intellect of a below-average laboratory rat.

    Beckett
  70. I’m excited about next week’s episode! I wonder how they’re going to fuck with Shu next?

    Most likely, Gai will show up.

    He’ll take Ayase, Tsugumi, and Argo away from Shu (If the latter isn’t dead). The rest of the students will die in an ill-fated attempt at escaping the quarantine zone.

    In the end, Shu will only have Inori. Yay.

    Jared Drake
      1. How would you handle the situation as Shu? Being the leader of all these people? He asked the same question to Argo and I found myself agreeing with Shu on the situation.

        I don’t think he’s beyond help.

        Jared Drake
      1. Really?! That’s the contributing factor after all this time? He likes her music?

        If I got trapped in a blockade with Natalie Portman, I’d thank her for the acting, but I wouldn’t make her queen of my evil army.

        But then again…

        Da5id
      2. I got the vibes that Shu was first attracted when Inori says she likes him(the episode before he got NTR’ed). Then after the NTR episode he respects Gai a bit more then and MIGHT still like Inori, even after all that.

        Which makes me ask: What does Shu think of Inori exactly…?

        The Moondoggie
    1. Agree with Moondoggie.

      Right now I don’t think of Inori as anything romantic, more of a companion to Shu. She’s just been a person by his side the whole time, isn’t in natural for him to turn to her? She knows what he’s been through, his real personality and probably one of the few willing to support him and his actions. Who says they need to be mutually attracted to each other to do that? Shu’s probably still more hung over on Hare than thinking about being in romantic relationship with Inori right now.

      Initially he liked her cause she was his idol but kind of dwindled away after, you know. I think traces of her feelings were sparked from Mana. As for what both feel right now, its still a bit away from you being able to call it a romance. We’re not even sure if both like each other that way. Even though Shu was the one with the crush, I’m actually more unsure about his feelings.

      Chuam
      1. Then explain all of the scenes in the opening of them almost kissing. I’m not saying I like that they’re leading them to hooking up eventually, I’m asking why. Why the hell would they do that? It literally makes no sense.

        And even as a companion, his reliance on Inori is completely baseless. Been by his side the entire time? His friends, even the ones have screwed him over numerous times, have been with him longer. She’s done nothing special for him besides letting him use her void, and now he’s doing that with the whole damn school. So far Inori’s pushed him into joining FP (“Take this. Shu Ouma, are you a coward?” Episode 1), lied to him about her belonging to him (Episode 2), told him to screw off (Episode 5), sit around his house and eat his food (Episode 7), and then expect him to save her (Episode 11). She was lucky he was stupid enough to do that much. “All I need is you, Inori. As long as you’re with me…”

        Speaking of which, Shu’s no better. Hung over on Hare? He was more hung over about Inori leaving in Episode 10, and tried to rape Hare out of desperation. So basically what we’ve established about Shu at this point in the series is that when he loses someone, his near immediate reaction is rape the nearest female character. If Inori’s become anything to him at this point, she’s become his slave. And HE was lucky she’s so emotionless that she would go along with that.

        I pray to god the opening is just a giant troll. Don’t you do it, I.G. Don’t you effing dare.

        Da5id
      2. Just because that’s most likely going to happen doesn’t mean it’s happened yet. 😐 The opening foreshadows the future, don’t expect all those details to be thrown at you at once. When they showed us evil Shu, did he appear straight away? No he didn’t. You never know what could happen during the course of events. And with the “romantic scenes” in the OP, as hot as they were, you realize that Shu’s face is the angsty kind of blank in each shot, another reason why it seems hard to read his feelings.

        But do his friends know everything that happened when he was with the undertakers as well as Inori? And like you said they haven’t been the most reliable of friends with Yahiro screwing him over. Souta being a dumbass and getting Hare killed. Only person from that group he had truly was Hare. You know what happened to her. He has Ayase I guess, but unlike Inori she’s more up front, never hesitates telling Shu off just like she did this episode. And in that way I guess she’s more intimidating than Inori.

        You make it sound like Hare is of no importance in comparison to Inori. lol okay. He totally didn’t have a breakdown and change in personality.

        Chuam
      3. The point is they’re there. And if emo Shu showed up, you can bet the incest will as well. As much as I hope it won’t.

        And my point in THIS paragraph was that Inori’s just as unreliable, if not more so, especially with her behavior this episode.

        Also, it’s funny that you mention Ayase look at what happened to her. She speaks her mind and it’s “IF MY GOONS WERE HERE I WOULD SO KICK YOUR ASS” to the crippled girl. So he rapes the submissive ones, and retreats from the ones who are actually upfront with him about how much of a douche he’s become. Even Shinji wasn’t this bad.

        And I’m saying it could have been anyone from that group, even Souta, and he would’ve turned out like this. Hell, the whole personality change should’ve come after he killed Yahiro’s brother. THEN it would have been realistic.

        Da5id
      4. Rape, incest, rape, incest. You sure like using those words a lot.

        What about Inori is so unreliable? She doesn’t really need to do anything she just listens, her only job is to be a person that Shu confides in though that’s a bit exaggerated. Right now, I only think of her as a replacement for Hare. Yes, because Shu is CLEARLY aware that Inori has gonna batshit crazy.

        Depends on how you read that scene. He said he was glad no one else was around otherwise they might have retaliated or expected Shu to retaliate.

        For the record he hasn’t actually raped anyone.

        Yeah any one of his friends could have died and he would have been upset though we’ll never know to what degree. I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue here though…The point is that he lost Hare who the only one who never did him wrong, believed in him and stayed by his side even when she saw his really bad sides. I do think that plays some factor compared to his other friends cause he lost a lot of emotional support when he lost her. Also it wasn’t until the series started that Shu started looking at Souta and Yahiro more as real friends than just people to blend in with. But yah know, they still screwed him over. He might have cared for them and trusted them, but perhaps not on the same level.

        There was a bit of a breakdown after Yahiro’s brother, people were even complaining it. Oh no MORE WUSSY SHU! But Shu doesn’t know the kid. What’s going to hurt more? The death of someone you don’t know or the death of a friend.I don’t know about you but I feel like that latter would affect me much more.

        Chuam
      5. Rape, assault, molest, SAME THING. And I will point out the incest as long as it’s there.

        Did you forget the unreliable things I listed her doing BEFORE she started going crazy? She hasn’t even been a good person to confide in considering how things have ended up. She sits, listens, looks cute, and waits for Shu to pull her sword out. That’s about all she’s good for.

        So what about when he has to kill Gai, the person he’s known longer than any of the other living characters, by stabbing through him to kill his own resurrected sister, who’s trying to kill everyone? HE’S EXACTLY THE SAME EVEN TWO WEEKS LATER. Then a helicopter kills Hare, a school chum who’s been there for him, telling him to be a kind person. MASSIVE PERSONALITY SHIFT. This show’s so full of inconsistencies, it’s ridiculous…

        Da5id
      6. To be technically correct, not really. To call rape, he would have actually have had to done the deed. What you’re referring to is closer to attempted molestation. lol. It’s not good, but you keep saying rape. It’s just a really vile word. About the incest, I’m still not sure enough about the characters’ origins or relationships to call it on Inori and Shu. But from Mana’s perspective, yes. She still doesn’t look like a real sister to me though even though there hasn’t been any indication otherwise. They should have designed them with more similar traits if they’re blood related.

        Yet he still does and that is pretty much fact. But like I said before I think Inori is only a replacement for Hare. Shu’s only using her to vent BECAUSE she’ll just listen, she won’t retaliate and she just sits there. I doubt he expects her to give him advice or anything. When I said confiding might be an exaggeration I meant just that.

        How long has Hare been dead for? I forgot. I dislike that they did the skip two weeks later because we didn’t get to see the peak of their sadness. They just showed him crying. Well all I can say is that Gai’s death was pretty much inevitable, with him dying from the virus, being wounded. But when he died, as sad as it was or whatever, it didn’t require a change in personality for Shu.

        Shu wasn’t assigned as the leader back then, he had no responsibility to uphold. Compare that to Hare’s death who really just died in vain at the fault of some kids who didn’t think. If Shu is to maintain order that’s more of a reason for him to change his personality and you couple that with the remorse he felt with losing Hare and just all the shit he’s gone through in the long run. Although the change is more on the surface, then deep inside. Inside I still think he’s a person who’s weak and insecure and I think that has been more or less consistent compared to some of the other things in GC.

        Chuam
  71. Well I guess one thing is now made clear, you cant cure an idiot.

    Yes I was one of the people who always complaind about how completely obnoxious Shuu was to watch and was very happy to see him become less of a pansy from last week’s episode. But then it turns out, as Divine said, that he doesnt even have a plan, gets manipulated by Yahiro easily, and just goes about doing everything the WRONG way. I was really hoping Shuu could redeem his crappy character with Hare’s death, but apparently he became even MORE crappy and unredeemable. So congratulations. Guilty Crown is now the owner of the crappiest main lead award in anime history.

    I mean another thing that irks me even more how instead of getting angry at Yahiro for lying to him about the cause of Hare’s death (voids being destroyed), after that new girl died, normally you’d think Shuu would have a reality check, but nah, he takes Argo’s void and pretty much holds him hostage, implying that he’ll break his void if he disobeys him. Like what the fuck was that? Seriously? Did he really just do that to his own comrade RIGHT AFTER he failed to save a girl, again?

    I’m sorry, but Shuu is completely not redeemable at this point. He’s fallen too far. I hope this series concludes with him killed off. He’s beyond redemption now. I hope clone/revived Gai kills his ass in later episodes along with Funeral Parlors.

    YanDaMan
  72. Heh. I just remembered something. Back in the first few episodes; Gai mentioned that there were three vials with the “serum” that gives people the power to draw out voids. We’ve seen two people with that power…

    Guess who’s number three? 😀

    Shu vs Gai.

    Void vs Void.

    It’s gonna be an eeeppppiiicccc… takedown of Shu. Maybe?

    Jared Drake
  73. Hn, looking at the pic with Gai in the tank made me realise that he’s probably not a clone- that’s the real Gai because of the blingbling! Though, the cynic in me wonders why the heck you’d let someone where their metal necklace in that tank.

    In any case, Gai will probably get an upgrade and become…

    Superguy!

    Beedle
  74. Yeah, I was one of those people who were like, “It’s one of those heroes that start out wimpy then turn great right..”
    But really? I like the creativity of this series. I would have never thought of an idea of using a weapon that materializes out of your ‘heart’ to fight with other people. I’m kinda waiting to see what happened to Daryl, only because that was a loose end they never really elaborated on.
    Still, I love Guilty Crown. Love or hate this opinion, deal with it.

    blahblah0625
  75. its messy and confusing and interesting nevertheless. I do have to disagree about Shu – he might pretend to be a tyrant, but that’s still the old Shu that relies on his Void for everything (can’t even have a decent fistfight…) and the the way I see it it will only make him stronger (which is what’s needed anyways…) at the end of it. Its all just an act to power him up with him choosing the less evil option at the very end

    dimasok
  76. Well, I hope you guys who were complaining are happy now, because I find the current Shuu — who just had to dress up like a preppy boy with a long coat, scarf, and armband to match his loyal followers — so much more disagreeable than the one who never wanted the Void Genome and got stuck with it.

    @Divine: People should have really been careful for what they wish for, right? I can see a lot of people agreeing with you that he’s more disagreeable right now.

    Don’t get me wrong: I got what I wish for and I am in content. I actually saw this development possible a mile off because he’s an unwilling Hero from the get go. It isn’t really good forcing woobies to do something they don’t like. It’s fun watching them poke Shu and make him do stuff. Whether Shu will bite back at all of them successfully remains to be seen. But if Shu keeps spiraling down, he most likely will.

    The Moondoggie
  77. Ugh…how can a show redeem itself ever so slightly the last few epsiodes, and then completely go to crap in just one…sigh.

    Yahiro is the main culprit for this I think. He should have died or been written off long ago. Why does Shu even listen to his manipulations after everything horrible he has caused Shu? (ie. sell him off to Segai, sell out the Undertakers, suggest the completely screwed up Void rankings) I face-palmed when Kanon said “everybody changed.” I’d say Yahiro is the same dislikable bastard since the beginning.

    Ptolemaios00
      1. Well…I guess you could say that, though it makes me sound like I’m kind of a troll. Which when you think about it, I kind of am, but I really do want to understand how this show is planning to explain itself. To me, the whole thing is just one huge absurdity after the next, and it…FASCINATES MEEEEEE.

        Da5id
      2. I mean, I’m not doing this just for the sake of argument or pissing people off. I’d prefer to not piss anyone off, but I guess that’s just how these conversations go sometimes, depending on who you talk to.

        Da5id
      3. @Da5id

        It’s episode 16. Shouldn’t you have given up by now. Don’t be the same type as the people at ANN who is just nitpick and troll, no intellect. More than half of the community hates their comments. >.>

        The Moondoggie
      4. I’m thinking that even if he ever did change his mind and start liking the show just a little, he’s spent too much time and effort mocking it that it’d be a waste to turn back now. His identity in RC is basically revolves being our local GC hateboy, doubt he’s going to give up that title. Especially when he’s got all the other whiny bitches just to troll and complaining, eating out of his hand.

        And Analytical and Challenging. Pffffffftttttttt.

        @Jared
      5. Oh shit, we’re still doing this, huh?

        Look I made the “analytical and challenging” comment when I was had just gotten up from a nap. I know, I know, not a very good excuse, but that’s what happened.

        And since when has this been about my “RC Identity”? I already listed that I liked certain aspects of the show and you’re still trying to accuse me of hating absolutely everything. You know that’s not true. Stop making this a black and white issue of simply liking it or hating it. I don’t care about my “thumb record”, I don’t care about my “internet popularity”. I’m just making an opinion. Although, I’m surprised that my opinion matters to you so much that you have to resort to insulting me personally. It’s not cool, bro. It’s not cool.

        Now are we gonna keep doing this for six more weeks or what?

        Da5id
      6. lol stop trying to put yourself on such a high pedestal. No one cares about your opinion, it’s the way you ‘express’ it and ever so persistently might I add.

        I’m going to refrain from breaking down the rest of your post including that so called list, you know in case I hurt your feelings, but I’ll give you one thing to think about. Why of all the people on RC with negative opinions (except for the most obvious trolls obviously) are people calling you out? There are reasons.

        Don’t try to paint it like I’m only thinking of it like black & white, I do know how to differentiate between a troll and someone with a negative opinion. You tend to fluctuate between the two.

        Anyway I’m done with this. I don’t want to be arguing with you for the next six weeks either. 🙂

        ...
      7. If that’s the case, then we’re both clearly misinterpreting each other here. We’ve pretty much all become trolls at this point.

        Well good then. I’d rather discuss the show than feed your notions that I’m trying to be superior.

        Da5id
      1. Let me make this clear for you. There is nothing analytical or challenging about any of your post. Most of them are just picking insults to the show. Trying to understand? I cannot understand which of your post is a sign that you’re trying to understand.

        It has been 16 episodes, any yet you still don’t understand. You get bored and you try to troll and post things like “STOP LIKING WHAT I DON’T LIIIIIIIIKE Q_Q”…

        The Moondoggie
      2. Besides, I’ve made it clear I like certain aspects of the show. Namely:

        -The animation
        -The OST
        -The characters that can keep a consistent record of behavior, as few as they are
        -The incredibly zany and off the wall ridiculousness of the plot’s attempt at direction

        I would love it if this show to inevitably reach a logical and conclusive ending. If it doesn’t, I’ll love it too. If it completely falls flat on it’s face and pulls the most awful, absurd and contrived ending possible, I’ll love it all the same. But you can be damn sure I’m going to comment on how awful, absurd and contrived it is. If this show had horrible animation and character design, I wouldn’t bother. If it were boring, I wouldn’t bother. But it’s exciting in the areas I like and the plot is increasingly hilarious, and I want to see how it ends with only 6 episodes left. This is only affecting you as much as you’re going to let it.

        Da5id
      3. First of all you have no idea how crazy you sound when you said you like “The incredibly zany and off the wall ridiculousness of the plot’s attempt at direction.” The comment is ridiculous, the idea is ridiculous. The only thing that keeps me from saying you yourself is ridiculous is that because I believe that everyone here has more intellect than the people at ANN. But clearly you haven’t shown that behavior with your antics.

        IF you have been a bit light in the insults I would have overlooked them and pass it off as you just clowning around as usual. But I say you have gone too far this time.

        The Moondoggie
      4. *sigh*

        Dude, I’m not doing this anymore. If you can’t understand the psychology behind “So Bad It’s Good”, that’s one thing. But now it’s like you’re completely blocking out every other negative comment every other person has been saying about this show and attacking me for it.

        I now see a very clear pattern to our interactions, so you will be sure I will not be replying to them in the near future. You take care now.

        Da5id
  78. Guilty Crown has officially become the crack cocaine of anime: everyone knows how horrible it is, and yet we just can’t seem to quit it. There’s just something about those short, momentary highs that just keep us coming.

    Stranger
    1. at last, some pros of the show are finally showing-up little by little; and I agree that this is refreshing to see… I asked similar question like this with one of the previous episodes, and all I got was just downvotes and some negative replies…

      Summer Mist
  79. Okay, so Shu’s officially turned into a raving asshat (imo) and has taken the unneeded drama and unlikability of recent events and his character up to eleven. The emotionless Inori is taking a turn for the yandere, and there’s a good chance more Funeral Parlor members wil die in the near future.

    My best hope for the remainder of this show is that, seeing Gai come back – either by way of Super Special Future Medicine or good ol’ fashion cloning – will mean he mercy kills Shu and/or fixes the little dumbass with a much-needed beatdown, retakes control over this debacle and utterly owns the melting pot of chaos that Tokyo has become.

    I agree that while irritating and/or pathetic at times, the Shu who was a normal highschooler struggling to fit in and find courage enough to do dangerous things for the sake of a greater good was far preferrable to this antihero, overdramatic jerkwad who is STILL being manipulated like a damn marionette.
    I wouldn’t be at all surprised if in time Yahiro reveals he did all this to completely screw Shu over as revenge for killing his little brother. His “reason” for converting to Shu-ism just felt so shallow and fake to me.

    God help me, I’ve still got a tiny kernal of hope for this anime turning out good. Not great, mind you, as that would be taken as a whole, but the second half might still pull out all the stops and quit with the inconsistencies and heavy-handed, hammy angst and drama.

    In closing: Gai is back, thus my hope is rekindled.

    1. This show has been too much of an incoherent trainwreck to be considered good, having one of the crappiest main lead ever doesnt help it either.

      I’m just watching for the sake of seeing how it concludes, watched too much of it to just flat out drop it.

      I can already see Guilty Crown getting the “Biggest Disappointment” award from Random Curiosity for 2012.

      YanDaMan
  80. D’oh. Forgot to add: Now where the fsck if Kenji? Y’know, the convicted murderer Funeral Parlor risked life, limb and loyalty to set free? Who possesses a gravity controlling Void and is perfectly capaple of slaughtering his enemies? i.e. THE GUY YOU’D WANT IN A BATSH** CRAZY SITUATION LIKE THIS?!

    1. Why would you want an anti-gravity gun at a time like this? The best one to use right now would be a time-machine(unlikely) or a city-wide EMP device(a more realistic approach since Voids don’t run on electricity like Endlaves).

      The Moondoggie
  81. Finally got around to watching this episode (lulz yeah, I’m late to the party) and I realised… this episode isn’t that bad o_o well, if you ignore everything that happened in the previous episodes, anyways.

    I mean, and I’m not being sarcastic here, if I can watch Aquarion Evol’s Mugen Punch, etc and take it as it is, not looking too deeply how such feats are possible, then this episode isn’t bad, and Shu became quite likeable o_0 odd, right?

    Argo came off as an idealistic ass though. Still, at least at the moment, I don’t think Shu has the balls to kill off Argo in cold blood, so I’m at least hoping that our heavily disliked protagonist has a decent scheme up his sleeves…

    As far as this episode is concerned, I pity Shu. He’s going to get mindraped so badly in the coming episodes, what with how everyone is playing him!

    btw, where can I get myself that scarf?

    Beedle

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *