Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「My Dearest」 by supercell
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼
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「適者 survival of the fittest」 (Tekisha)
The Power of Kings along with a gorgeous singer saying she’s mine and all I have to do is help liberate my country in return? Where do I sign up for that? I’ll take two please. It never hurts to have a backup ability when changing the world, or another beautiful girl as support.
If it wasn’t apparent from my earlier post, I consider Guilty Crown’s type of fan-service some of the most enticing anime has to offer. Rather than shoving boobs in our face or getting the male lead to “accidentally” grope them, the series goes for an arguably more tasteful approach where our reasonably proportioned heroines happen to wear skin-tight outfits in their quest to free Japan. In the process, they happen to flaunt us with their curves, both while piloting a neurally controlled Endlave mechs and managing a virtual control room. It’s all very alluring but doesn’t terribly detract from the story, so this is by far and large the type of fan-service that I’d like to see more of in anime. There’s no denying that it’s there to promote the sexual appeal of the characters — since there’s no real reason for Tsugumi to be pressing buttons with her butt, nor for Inori to be climbing through a shaft ahead of Shuu — but at least it’s not in a typical anime scenario where the intention is clear from the get-go (e.g. a beach episode). Also, when we have awesome character designs by redjuice, bought to life in beautiful animation by Production I.G, it would be a waste to not tease viewers a bit with this kind of stuff. The only awkward thing is how it’s making me develop an interest in submissive soft-spoken girls, which is just asking for trouble. It’s a trap I tell you — the kind that will land someone in prison. (Damn you anime, stop trying to corrupt me.)
As for the story itself, I don’t see any point in making constant comparisons to other series, nor do I plan on knocking Guilty Crown because it features some rehashed ideas. I realize some people feel very strongly about originality and perceive it as a fundamental flaw if a premise doesn’t offer anything new, but I fall into the group that likes to look at every new show individually to see what it has to offer with its own version of an existing idea. After all, “original” is all relative. If we were to shun every new show because it features something that’s been done before, we would never have another show with robots, zombies, and whatnot, which may be fine for those who have seen their fill, but would completely neglect those who are just getting into them (i.e. younger generations). They’re classified as tropes for a reason, which is somewhat akin to genres except at a sub-series level. As far as Guilty Crown is concerned, it’s new to me to see a lot of tropes I enjoy mashed together and spun in a different way. I mean, what’s there not to like?
This isn’t to say that Guilty Crown is off the hook in every regard though. Looking solely at this series, I couldn’t help but question some of the developments in this second episode, like how Shuu just happened to be in the right wrong place at the wrong time, landing him the Void Genome power (and Inori) that was originally intended for Gai. While it’s debatable whether it’s better to have a main character who gets drawn into a conflict because he 1.) started with a special power or 2.) stumbled upon it, I find it really takes away from Shuu’s character to have the Power of Kings bestowed upon him by chance. Shuu isn’t someone the “Funeral Parlor” scouted for their cause, but merely a normal teenager who got in their way, forcing Gai to have him do what he probably would’ve done a million times better himself. I can’t see this boding well for Shuu’s character in viewers’ eyes, plus it throws into question why Gai even encouraged him to rescue Inori, so it probably would’ve been better to make Shuu special to begin with. To make matters worse, Gai actually relied on Shuu to execute the most critical part of his plan against the Anti Bodies division led by Major Guin (Shimura Tomoyuki), where he put his life in Shuu’s hands. No matter how I look at it, that was completely idiotic on Gai’s part — staking his life as the Funeral Parlor leader on a complete rookie — so it took some real suspension of disbelief common sense to overlook that part of his plan. It’s easy to say that Gai’s an absolute genius after the fact, but there were way too many variables with Shuu for me to buy into idea just yet. For now, I think Gai’s crazy.
Aside from those two irksome developments, the rest of the episode was pretty good in establishing GHQ’s cruelty, particularly with the introduction of the GHQ commander’s seventeen-year-old narcissistic son, Daryl Yan, whose Void Weapon is the beam-reflecting Kaleidoscope (i.e. Mangekyou). It was a bit odd hearing Uchiyama Kouki (Ichika in Infinite Stratos) voice him it at first, since I’ve never heard him play an antagonist before and find it hard to perceive him as one, but Daryl quickly established himself as an unforgivable villain with the way he mercilessly stomped on a mother and executed some prisoners. His custom Endlave also sets him up as the ultimate antagonist, so it’ll be interesting to see Shuu, Gai, and Inori clash heads with him later on. I can already picture him doing really terrible things to Inori if she were to get captured (damn you again anime), so hopefully Shuu can protect her properly. I presume she’s transferred to his school because Gai hasn’t given up on getting him to join Funeral Parlor, which I find refreshing because it’s all too common for the main protagonist to quickly get on board with something that turned their world completely upside-down. Shuu didn’t try to play hero and actually turned Gai down. He’s not swayed by the “Inori Effect” like me it seems. That fool. 😛
Other thoughts:
Preview
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Watch the Preview!: Streaming ▼
End Card
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i kinda confuse here.. it means shu have the power to materialize a weapon form anyone he wish or only certain people are able to materialize by shuu ; power of king /genow void ?
I’m pretty sure he can materialise the weapon from anyone – willing (i.e. Inori) or unwilling (Daryl). The only downside it seems is that the person must physically be there in order for Shuu to summon the weapon, because he extracts the introns (i.e. non-coding regions of a gene) and materialises it into a weapon, which appears to be unique for each person.
I’m sure it’s anyone because Daryl wasnt willing.
@Kurisu
Nah, you’re only partially right.
Daryl was only unwilling at the beginning.
He quickly experienced the pleasure of Shuu’s fist plunging into him, and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Didn’t you see his ahegao face? (#29).
I just threw up a little.
lol
I think he can pull a weapon/void from anyone (the op hints on this) and it’s seems Gai knows what Shu can pull out! as he called that Daryl guy “Kaleidoscope” and what did Shu call the Void he pulled out from him? exactly.
Aside from Gai and his complete reliance on a rookie, the fact that he somehow knew exactly what would appear from Daryl, and exactly how it could be used, whilst also managing to predict exactly what the enemy would do (if they’d just opened fire before the alotted time had passed, he’d be dead) whilst also managing to time everything so perfectly, all suggests to me that either;
A. Gai is psychic, he can see the future, either that, or he has some sort of mad luck power that hasn’t been revealed yet.
or
B. That whole part of the episode was just terribly written.
Still though, I personally won’t hold it against the series (too much) if this kind of thing is a one-off, as we all know what Code Geass could be like sometimes (even if it did usually follow common sense, there was a hell of a lot of luck involved too) so as long as they keep the school scenes to a minimum, at least the school scenes without Inori, then I’ll be happy!
Or
C. They will explain it later. 🙂
Guilty Crown is probably just going to be one of those series that kind of throw a lot of crap like that at you so that they can connect/explain it all in later episodes. I honestly don’t think the writers are dumb enough to overlook something that nearly everyone in the audience noticed when watching it, especially since they’ve been developing it for 2 years.
Yeah this kind of turned me off at that end “battle”. It just seems too sudden or bogus as to how Shuu would pull that one weapon that could completely save Gai and win
Well the way i thought of Gai’s knowledge of the Kaleidoscope is that Gai has seen Daryl’s void before. After all Gai mentioned 3 Void Genoms being produced. Gai might’ve seen Daryl materialized before by someone else. Gai does seem to know an awful lot about a top secret item that not even GHQ’s supreme commander can know about, so we can assume he knows a lot about Void Genoms.
Gai being able to predict the future does explain a lot of things. It wasn’t by accident that he got to keep the genome as we see them carefully note that he still has it and still lets him keep it.
lol, its funny that I know this.
A couple of friends and I were at the premiere at comic con for episode 1-2 (well technically 2, since 1 had already released) The director, the guy behind ghost in the shell, and the producer were all there for a Q&A
Someone brought up two questions, one, why did gai not use the genon or better yet how did it get in Shu’s pocket, and the second question was how did they know what weapon Daryl contained.
They started whispering to each other in Japanese, 1minute later they said “That’s a very good question (and the latter one, that’s also a very good question xD)” then they started whispering again. We finally were brought to a very unsatisfying answer. “That will be answered in the latter episodes.”
They wouldn’t have spent so much time discussing that if it was a spoiler, so I assume it was literally a hole in the story
Also 22 episodes are set to release, they did not say if that would be the end of the series or just a season (like CG R1, R2). They did however state that although its short, they mentioned something (The guy speaking had some issues with coherency in the English language, it was hard to follow) about how they’d like to spend that time to focus on an ova, sequel, or movie. So I can only hope that 22 eps is just an R1 kinda thing.
Interesting Khaos. But I don’t quite agree with your conclusions. Them conferring gives me the impression that they considered if they should reveal an important spoiler or not. If it had been something unimportant or something they hadn’t thought about, then I am sure they would just have given some evasive answer right away or joked about it.
Think that suggests that shuu being picked wasn’t that much an accident. Just that Gai likes to keep him thinking so.
You had to hear the tone of his voice when he said it.
The first question, about how the genom ended up in shu’s pocket, and then them responding it will be answered in future episodes…that’s just stupid.
I’m pretty sure gai had no intention with shu, doesn’t make any clear sense.
You feel they were discussing to reveal it or not, I think they were discussing an excuse and couldn’t come up with one.
Trust me, the tone of voice when he said “That will also be answered in later episodes”. The people around me started laughing, they all knew what it meant. It was a hole. Again, only time will tell, but think about the current position of the story. You really think questions such as “How did you know what daryl contained?” or “Why didn’t you just use the genon when he brought it initially?” are gonna be answered? I can’t even see them being brought up at all. We are in a position where the story is going to move forward, and the only thing that will be discussed in the past would back-stories and possibly more history on what happened to japan. My 2 cents.
Gai mentioned that there were 3 void genome. He did not say they all do the same thing. I also noticed his eyes look different. Im wondering if he got a previous genome that gave him a special type of sight.
True Feik, Didn’t think of that possibility
I simply view the void weapon as withdrawing the person’s soul. Soul is an essence. Each person is unique depending on their essence. It will probably be explain later why each person have a distinct weapon and how to predict what it can be. The real question is what is Gai’s void weapon, and by the end of the series, what is Shuu’s void weapon?
Ok, best intro of 2011. Period. Give them the prize. Wait, give them two…
The episode wasn’t bad (still a little to confusing) but the protagonist wielding that sword/gun is like Gatsu vs a teletubbie… too much and too early.
Love the OP with the animation at the start with Inori singing in English.
I liked this episode but I didn’t like how they stated that kid was the sharpest ‘fang’ that the army had and then missed the chance to kill the guy and instead just used him to kill some idiots. (Hopefully he’s dead)
What the hell is it with the Power Of The Kings? Is it just my bad Japanese or didn’t they refer to it as the King’s Ability?
If it really is Ou No Chikara then where is his Geass?!
I’m not liking Inori’s personality unfortunately =/ I’m liking the 2 resistance girls better than her atm.
Same here.
I think the 2 other girls are not as hot, but they certainly make up for it with their vibrant personalities 🙂
Inori? A personality? What personality? She’s a singing robot!!! A sexy, soft spoken, singing robot… but a robot nonetheless. Maybe an Android? Yeah, that works.
Ayase <3 … it's just sad that she has a crush on Lelouch version 2.0; Brilliant tactical & strategic knowledge of the old Lelouch Ver. 1.0 with… Suzaku's kickass martial skills!
Personally I think the other two look better than Inori, but I agree that they are more likable than her.
Inori is too mysterious, yet intriguing in my eyes. Maybe if we get to know her more and what she’s like, maybe we’ll like her. Tsumugi looks like the fun-type who you’d call your little sister. So right now, I’m on the Ayase bandwagon 🙂
i have to agree that inori is misterious but if you take into acount what happend when Shu used his power for the first time. i think that all of the things he was seing was memories of inori’s past and if i am right then it wasn’t a very nice past which would explain her personalaty a bit.
Even still that is just my opinion
Those ain’t Inori’s memories…
They were Shuu’s memories. From what I can speculate, they know each other in the past. Just like the typical protagonists, he is dense as a rock and need to be reminded of his past. In addition, it also have something to do with shuu’s family. Inori could be Shuu’s long lost childhood friend. Or she could be his sister, talk about incest. For Inori, I would break a sin or two for her. 😛
I also thought that the girl in his memories must have been his sister, but didn’t make the connection that it might also be Inori. And I still don’t think that it’s her but a different person, but who knows.
It’s just the start of the series she’ll most likely open up alittle more. But right now I like all 3 girls Tsugumi Ayase and Inori. Tsugumi is my age exactly 14 and I have a small anime crush on her she actually reminds me of me. Very outgoing. Ayase is cute when she blushes and Inori has had mostly a blank, sad, or stressed expression from the times I’ve seen her in theses 2 episodes. And episode 3 looks no different. But it also looks like we can take a small break from the Mecha and Object Materialization for 1 episode and check out the school life and how it develops with Inori in it lol I think I’ll love the next episode
The episode was really good, action-packed and the OP was amazing as well, BUT I wasn’t very happy to see the typical “the protagonist refused to shake hands so lets introduce a new foreign student to class” scenario… it reeks of “school-rumble” type of animes (which I don’t mind at all IF the whole anime is supposed to be a comedy) which kinda ruined the episode for me.
I hope they don’t linger too long on the school part or at least make it as serious as the one in Evangelion…
All a matter of opinion really. Too be honest i was shocked when Shu didn’t shake his hand, I find it’s more stereotypical for the protagonist to do something amazing (i.e. make a difference) and then refuse an offer to continue being amazing. Depends on the type of anime you watch really.
As for the school part, also opinion. I personally loved how Code Geass mixed in school with well, the world and war. For me it was like taking two awesome slices instead of one.
I will agree that Code Geass mixed them well and I hope Guilty Crown follows in its footsteps and not focus too much on it to the detriment of the other elements.
Its just that I’ve seen so many animes mess up on the school part that I hope Guilty Crown pulls it off wel.
I actually liked how Shu reject Gai. IT certainly a step away from the generic. Its pretty obvious he will be back into dangerous stuff soon though.
I don’t trust Gai. He’s like Lelouch with his “plans out of his ass” clairvoyance but without Lelouch’s hammy, fabulous charisma. How did he even know that Shu would extract a shield device form Daryl’s void? And he treated Inori like crap, the bastard.
Speaking of Inori, she’s HOT. But that’s all she has going for her, because she doesn’t have a personality and she’s rather bland. I hope they can give her something more to make her interesting. But damn she is HOT.
And yes the other woman are hot too. Between Inori, Ayase and Tsugumi, this show knows how to keep a great fanservice quota. Oh and giant robots of course.
I agree. It’s pretty stupid to agree to what is obviously a life endangering cause just like that. It’s nice with a main character with his feet a bit more firmly on the ground.
Inori may be a bit flat, but she have said a sentence or two each episode so have hardly had time to show much personality. But as it looks like we will have some school time with the couple getting to know each other so would I expect us to hear more from her. But from the little we have seen so do I think she is a rather straightforward type.
Agree, I really liked that too even though it’s obvious it’ll change later, but it made more sense for him not to besides it being the less common route. I kind wanna see how he rejected Gai though, I would have expected Gai to have forced him into joining whether he liked it or not. Maybe that’s why Inori ransferred in, so she could seduce him. 😛
They are trying to show that Gai is completely insane AND a complete genius at the same time. They say there is a thin line between genius and insanity.
As for Inori, she SO remind me of a pink-hair version of Rei Ayanami from Evangelion. She seem bland on the surface, but there is much too her personality in term of depth. She is hot by appearance, cool and calm in the face of dangers, sing like a goddess, and mysterious as a shadow. Oh, did I forgot to mention, she is straight-forward and to the point about her intention with her “use me” and “I belong to you”. Those phrases will make any guy drool to death (*cough* Divine *cough*). AKA Rei.
Hope to see more Ayase moments. I never thought she would have a crush on Gai, but I think that’s nice. A cute girl embarrassed by her crush and voiced by HanaKana is a win 🙂
In my case, it would be “Tsugumi effect”.
I was captivated by her Bejewelled with dance moves.
I really liked episode 2 but one little scene irked me. How in hell did Gai knew that the weapon they would get from the enemy guy (forgot his name) would be a wall that would protect them all and win the battle for them?
That will be explained next episode. Word of God.
Maybe he’ll smirk as he says, “That happened all according to my plan.” ala Aizen.
Some people were complaining about this episode because of the fanservice. I was already ready for Tsugumi butt I didn’t mind it since it seemed to fit her character. Shu staring at Inori’s ass is what I consider good fan service, because it serves the girls as well. I find it so adorable when guys act all embarrassed like that. :3 Show Spoiler ▼
Is that a spoiler?…oh come on you guys must have guessed it by now.
Funny I didn’t consciously realize Gai was crazy, for now I’m assuming there’s a reason why Gai trusts Shu so much that will be revealed later. Man I can’t wait to see how this series unravels and how everything connects.
I agree it looked off to have Inori animated to sing with Koeda’s voice, since they sound so different. I love it when she sings “I’m yours…” though and I love the song, can’t wait to hear a full version. God why do music releases have to be so far away all the time. The ending animation also changed, I wonder if they’ll do that for every episode.
I can’t wait to see them in the high school setting I always like seeing the contrast between it and the mecha action. And hopefully it’ll be a more character development-based episode.
I’ll be rolling my eyes if detractors will keep harping on how unoriginal this show is. And continue to watch it. It’s a popcorn flick. Just enjoy the pretty girls and explosions.
Actually, Koeda sings the whole song regardless of the lip sync in the OP with Inori.
Hopefully it doesn’t turn into another comparison thread.
Don’t know if that was directed at me, but just to confirm yeah I know that. I was talking about how Koeda’s voice sounds so different from Kayano Ai’s voice and off for my image of Inori. That’s why it felt weird watching Inori animated with Koeda’s voice, especially at the start of the song with the English.
Nah, wasn’t directed at you. Just the “other thoughts” that Divine had put up. I think Chelly’s vocals are a bit more controlled than Koeda’s.
It’s less that Koeda doesn’t sound like Inori, and more that Inori already has a singing voice ,Chelly, who sounds closer to Ai Kayano than Koeda.
Either way, I can’t believe the OP is sung by a 15-year old. So much potential in her.
haha yes that too is obvious.
Claris were the same, but yeah so much potential. Hopefully both Chelly and Koeda can fill the gap nagi has left.
Errm, okay, I admit that I like Chelly’s voice, Koeda, hmm, but it will be very hard for them to replace nagi esp. for us loyalists. :3
Well yes Nagi is a Goddess :3 so it’ll be difficult to match her. I was upset when I found out Ryo decided to audition new singers (that being an understatement)…but I really think they’re both doing pretty well so far, putting my biases aside.
Don’t you think Nagi would have been perfect for “Euterpe” and Inori’s soft-spoken voice? 😛
Though I don’t mind any more cause I think Chelly did a stunning job with it, I have no complaints.
With Koeda I wasn’t as impressed when hearing her NND covers but with professional guidance I think she’s also done a great job singing “My Dearest”.
I know right! The first time I heard Euterpe and Departures, Nagi first came to my mind. Ah, we can only hope she does a cover of both songs, maybe I’d cry while listening to those. Oh nagi~ :3
Was actually complaining about My Dearest a few notches below, I don’t know why but I did not “feel” her, or maybe the song does not suit her voice (I personally don’t like the arrangement of the song, a first from supercell. hmm..)
Please Nagi, grant our wishes and provide us covers~ I kind of doubt she would though in respect to the new singers, she wouldn’t want to upstage them 😛
Ah I see, when I was actually watching the episode I wasn’t so enthusiastic with opening especially the english, I really loved the “I’m yours…” though. Like I thought it was good, but definitely not the best from supercell. After a couple of more listens then I started to really like it, even the english bit.
I think there’s just something about Koeda’s voice that is just generally weaker to my ears than the other two. I also prefer Chelly’s voice over hers. I guess the arrangement is just a matter of taste too.
Yeah people gotta stop chirping about it being unoriginal. I’ve got to say I’ve watched dozens of romance anime that all walked along a similar path. The only reason why Guilty is being complained about more is because Code Geass was popular and well-known. But really having only several anime with some similarities is nothing to complain about, I’ve watched the same things happen in romance anime all to often.
Anyways the protagonists are completely different, the strange disease is original, and the void Genom is also new, and these are all the big factors of this anime.
Hmm, you may have misunderstood my comment. I know Koeda sings the whole song. That’s why it’s weird to hear her voice coming out of Inori when it should be Chelly’s.
It’s getting quite confusing for me on who sings what. So, Koeda did the OP, Chelly did the ED, but both are using Inori’s face? Hmm, that’s why the OP sounds… odd. (Am I the only one who did not like the OP, btw?)
I’m bewildered by both Ayase and Tsugumi
and Gai XD.Kidding aside, another beautiful episode, and we get to see how strong Undertaker/Funeral Parlor really is. Even I was a bit fearful when the lasers were about to hit Gai. Turns out there was a shield around him. EPIC. /o/
And it seems like it, that Void Weapons are the life of those who own it. Inori is unconscious when Shu uses the Void Weapon that she has, so which means it’s completely her soul.
A psycopath named Daryl is fine too. XD
Good thing I’m not the only one who noticed how cute Ayase was when she was blushing while talking to Gai. Seems like the latter knows that she likes him, judging from his response =))
Yeah. It almost seemed to me like he knows about her feelings and uses those to manipulate her. Maybe I’m just a little paranoid cause Gai seems a little crazy and seems like the type that’d do anything to get what he wants. But who knows I could be wrong, there have only been 2 episodes.
well it fell like i am watching dantolin no shoka again each time i watch materialize weapon scene
Reaching into girls chests.
New meme being born.
Already used waaaay back in Utena.
“I mean, what’s there not to like?
– Post-apocalyptic world in a sci-fi setting? Good.
– Unique power that can change the world? Good.
– Military action with mechs? Good.
– Beautiful soft-spoken songstress with perfect curves in a revealing outfit? Gooooood.”
^this 😀 😀 😀
And also laughing @ Guin’s face when the lasers came rebounding straight back at him.
Even though i was thinking that Shuu must be an idiot to not accept Gai’s invitation, its actually quite a nice change to have him reject it. Generic route woulda been to get the main character to jump straight in. But it figures that Gai wont back down that easily by sending Inori to monitor/convince Shuu. Don’t really think Shuu should be complaining though since it is Inori we’re talking about 😀
I think Divine forgot about the other two soldiers in Gai’s crew that got a bit of spotlight in this episode. I am sure they have some significant role too.
Do they wear skin-tight suits? Nope. Do they have great breast and/or well-shaped asses? Nope.
WE’RE NOT INTERESTED!
Co-sign.
LMAO
I’ll mention them and their respective seiyuu in the upcoming episodes. There’s plenty of time for that later on.
I already had too much to talk about this episode; character introductions would’ve made the post even longer than it already is.
How can one not be swayed by the “Inori Effect”? I would almost go as far as to say that she is beauty and cuteness incarnate, as far as an anime character can be such.
That aside, great episode if you ask me. I actually don’t mind the fact that Shuu gets the “Power of Kings” by coincidence. Of course we follow the person who happens to obtain this power, as it wouldn’t be a very interesting story otherwise. The reason why I like this is that it signifies that Shuu is just a normal person. He’s nothing special but gets pulled in from the sidelines by pure coincidence and gets a real chance to change something.
As for Gai’s admittedly risky gamble, I suppose he did know something about what the “Power of Kings” does to people, as he did see Shuu’s performance before and he probably knew about the power of the Void Genome beforehand, which was why he wanted it.
“Inori Effect…”
LOL! Oh, Divine. You have called it the “Inori Fever”. It is so contagious AND there is no cure for it. Like the SNL sketch, “I have a fever…and the only cure is more Inori!”
The true Apocalypse Virus is Inori. 🙂
Well I see where you’re coming from, but the fact that he got it by accident, no not my accident by a mistake, makes Shu seem like a mistake. Seeing Gai easily beat up people and stand helplessly on enemy lines shows that he probably would’ve done much better with the Void Genom, making Shu only satisfactory not amazing.
In the end, I just feels it makes Shu seem inferior/a mistake, and I’d rather have the protagonist be impressive in an anime about saving a nation.
“beauty and cuteness incarnate”
…She’s not even that attractive. She’s bland and compared to the other girls, she’s not even that cute.
I wonder if Gai knew that Daryls void would be a Dome gun, I pretty sure they’re unable to predict what weapons going to manifest right?
IMO i’d prefer it if they didn’t know what weapon manifests from each person but they must do because he just risked his life on that extremely impossible gamble.
For all he knew, a bow and arrow coulda come out that kids chest.
IMO, he knew about it before hand because he planned the strategy perfectly. He even knew about the name of the weapon (Kaleidoscope according to the fansubs) so he must knew about the effect. The question is, how did he know about all of those?
And I refuse to believe he didn’t plan for Shu to get the power. For some reasons, I believe Gai has some interior move of his own. Maybe he’ll even be the so-called ‘last boss’ of the series.
I rewatched the episode and it seems to me that Gai waited for the civilians to be executed before making a move, just to get Shu motivated. I really don’t trust that guy.
Well in episode one we saw that not even the GHQ’s supreme commander was allowed to know about the Void Genom. And well, Gai knows a lot about it. This must mean that Gai has a lot of information about the Genom.
He also mentioned that there are 3 in existence, meaning that there are two others who can use the Power of Kings. So it’s a possibility Gai has seen someone else pull the Kaleidoscope out of Daryl, and that’s how he knew.
Either way, Gai knows a lot, just how much, I guess we’ll see later.
So far Inori’s personality is really bland :\ She seems like a lifeless puppet and tbh quite boring a main protagonist. Also, dat OP. Is that really from that new 15 year old supercell recruited? Or is it the other girl?
Now, I wonder why Yan, Daryl is the only antagonist to appear in the opening- at the end, with the rest of the protagonists, no less… Perhaps he’ll eventually become one of the main cast? I’ve seen more “antagonisticy” characters eventually stray from “the dark side”- Accelerator from TOMNI, for example…
He should be a recurring character so in that way he is “main cast”. I really don’t like him though, it’ll be hard if not impossible to justify his actions seeing what he did to that family and those hostages.
Have to agree with Divine. Inori biting that onigiri ftw
There was some serious plot hax this episode haha
I ask of thee mankind, nay I am the world.
Wrong anime?
I’m pretty sure Gai is crazy. He’ll die when one of his hair-brained schemes goes wrong, Shu takes charge of Undertaker, Gai is alive again via Deus Ex Machina, Gai now works for GHQ, he has the other power of the king and an epic battle between Gai and Shu.
haha i was thinking the same thing except i though that Gai would eventually defect to GHQ.
Nah. My guess? Gai used to work for GHQ or the Anti-Bodies. It’s how he knew that Daryl had the “Mangekyou” (which sounds cooler than Kaleidoscope btw). Somehow, along the way, he lost someone import to him (judging by the brief shot of an angry Gai in the OP) and rebelled against them.
My Prediction: Shu and Gai aren’t going to be BFFs. (Judging from a brief SS in the OP, again) They’ll have an semi-antagonistic relationship that culminates with Gai obtaining a Void Genome later on and sending Shu off to die to save the “Funeral Parlor” from being overrun… but with Shu surviving and coming back with a vengeance. XD
Well, that’s why I hope anyway.
Wow, that’s one long post… the longest I’ve ever seen you post on single episode…
Anyway, I wish Shu took Gai hand and joined the gang right away. I know some people said it’s good to take a step away from the genre/cliche. But for me, sometimes the cliche isn’t so bad.
It was also a very entertaining post as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading every sentence. Personally, I agree with Divine’s stance on fan-service: not too much, but just enough to teasse the audience a little and keep them satisfied, yet hungry for more.
Yeah, I’m glad they’re keeping it to the minimum. Though, I’m still a little sad that when I recommended the series to my friends, first thing they mentioned was Inori’s breasts and her revealing outfit…
Haha well the last post (i.e. Guilty Crown episode 1) racked up a lot of posts, so maybe he’s writing more about Guilty because of the interest of the viewers. Or maybe he just likes this anime. Maybe he’ll answer these questions haha
Aside from the corny idol-esque music, was a decent episode overall.
Ok wait, What does the Kaleidoscope do again? Did it create the blast that hit the bunch of lasers and reflect back at the enemy. Did it also reflect the lasers too or was it the robots that created the reflecting dome?
Meanwhile, Either Gai is nuts or he knows something about the Void Genome that we don’t know. Still, the plan was nice!!!
The Kaleidoscope made that energy dome thing that reflected all the lasers back at the Anti Bodies. Gai definitely knew that was the weapon Shuu would extract from Daryl, so he probably does know more than he is letting on.
On another note, I really think Gai was semi-lying when he said he intended the Void Genome for himself. He said that there were 3 Void Genomes, which makes me think there are 3 designated people who can use them. Perhaps he knew this and was trying to take the genome for himself but wasn’t a designated person? So he originally planned to somehow use Shuu and transfer ownership Shuu’s Void Genome to himself. Unfortunately, it did not work out because Shuu fully activated the genome to save Inori? I might be putting to much hope into the plot of this anime but something like this would be very interesting.
Agreed
i am getting rather mixed up who sang what 0.0
my dearest – OP (supercell 15 year old singer)
egoist – song when the 1st episode started ( by supercell as well.. singer is ?)
ending song – am totally lost
“My Dearest”: 15 Year old Koeda
“Euterpe” and “Departures”: Are both 17 year old Chelly/EGOIST.
This was MUCH better than the generic first episode.
But the ending was kind of meh… After all that the guy is back to high school? C’mon!
Just based off the official website, this wasn’t much of a surprise considering a few of his classmates have small bios, and there’s even a yet-to-be-introduced student council president.
I liked the OP. I wish I could hear it live along with the other songs,especially Euterpe. I guess we’ll hear more great songs as the series progresses). As for the episode, yeah I know I have to wait for the 3rd episode to know how Gai knew about the kaleidoscope. He definitely knows more about the Void Genome. I want to see more flashbacks. Shu’s mom is still a mistery… guess i’ll have to wait.
If you want a valid point in comparison, then think Z Gundam: The Anti-Bodies are the Titans, just as Undertaker is AEUG. Thankfully, Shu has shown to have more balls than certain Camille Bidan.
I am almost certain, Gai purposely let those hostages die. Why? Either he does it to get Shu, who he knows is a wuss, to toughen up, or that, he does not prioritize human lives, like he’s the type to sacrifice others for the greater good. Right now, he’s probably not a secret last boss, but he’s not exactly Mr.Clean either.
Or rather, let the hostages die to provide the perfect excuse to go public in fighting against GHQ and it’s atrocities. Still, rather coldhearted indeed.
I’m pretty sure Gai has geass that can foresee the future. the ending of the show will be void vs geass. I can’t wait to see it.
Tsugumi FTW
“Divine: I mean, what’s there not to like?”
Erm.. i dunno, maybe the pussyass bitch protagonist?
Give him some time to develop maybe? If a resistance leader like Gai can give him a chance, I’m sure we can too. 🙂
Agreed. All things considered, Shu’s done a pretty admirable job adapting to a situation others would’ve failed larger than life at.
Let’s give him his fair shot to grow up a bit more and see how things develop from there.
@Ryan Ashlight
Who did i good job is Lelouch in Code Geass, all this guy does is be all scared and wants to run away
Lol that’s not fair, you’re comparing a genius who’s been wanting to overthrow Britannia most of his life to a high school student that’s sort of anti-social and only wants to spectate life, not destroy a nation.
I think his weak nature is the most realistic part of his personality. I personally don’t expect some random anti-social guy to stay calm when facing armed soldiers, mechs, and all the other stuff. Going along that line, it was great to see what I assume was him accidentally activating abilities in the first scene (randomly walking on the air when he tried to back away from the missiles). All of this is hopefully setting us up for his progression into a much stronger protagonist.
Yeah, I found Shu realistic and understandable(maybe even likeable), but I do NOT trust Gai. That’s the character that has something to prove to me. He just seems way too comfortable manipulating people and things going his way, wouldn’t surprise me at all if he turns traitor later on and leaves everyone for dead to further his own goals. At least, that’s my first impression.
Best thing about this episode was “My Dearest” another Supercell epic. Second best thing about this episode was Tsugumi.
…and we’re stepping into Geass territory. Hope they explain Gai’s tactical genious and intel or half the folks would stop watching this altogether.
on the other hand, I was partially right with the mechs and its interface.
…Oh, “the unlimited missile works…”
I got Geass vibes throughout the entire episode. Like Ayase is Kallen. Inori is CC. Gai is Lelouch. And random fodder #3 accidentally got the King’s Power.
We haven’t seen enough of Ayase to call it one way or the other just yet, but I haven’t the faintest idea how you can compare Inori to C.C.
The two are as different as night and day. Personality-wise, a song-spoken songstress (Must…suppress…inner otaku) like Inori is about as different from someone as abrasive and in-your-face as C.C. as you can get.
I agree with Ryan. Inori is a lot more soft spoken and straight forward.
C.C. was more of a tsundere and i don’t even know how many secrets she kept and toyed around with in relation to Lelouch. I’m sure Lelouch had a harder time figuring out C.C. than he did winning war battles.
Not to mention Kallen was a hard ass while Ayase seems to be more shy. Kallen was kick ass at fighting while Ayase seems like she couldn’t hurt a fly outside a mecha. The only similarity is that they pilot mechas, so to think of those two as parallels is just digging for ways to complain and chirp.
Ayase is officially my favorite character purely based on being voiced by Hanazawa Kana. =)
In the first few seconds of the first episode, when Inori was running on water, and you see the splashes accurately. I thought, only once I saw an anime that pays this careful attention to water splashes, and it’s Ghost in the Shell. Then I remembered that Guilty Crown is produced by studio IG, and said, that solves it all.
The view of a flock of birds/pigeons flying in an advanced city with skyscrapers, the perfect match of hair color with eye color (Inori’s red eyes and pink hair (like Motoko’s velvet eyes and purple hair), same goes to Shu, Gai, Tsugumi, and every other character). The disproportion between Inori’s breasts and body, can only remind of Motoko’s. And the list goes on (can’t get into all the details in a single post). But still it’s must different than GITS.
That said, I believe comparing the show to Code Geass is just poor taste (which many people criticized the show for). I for one, couldn’t handle to watch Code Geass for more than 3 episodes (and it’s just my opinion). On the contrary I re-watch Guilty Crown on a daily basis until the new episode comes out.
“The only really awkward thing is how it’s making me develop an interest in submissive soft-spoken girls, which is just asking for trouble. It’s a trap I tell you — the kind that will land someone in prison. (Damn you anime, stop trying to corrupt me.)” -Divine
LOL! You know, males are naturally attracted to females by submission. In fact, females use a ton of it during an encounter. Vice versa is also true. Female like guys who are dominant. Submissive shows nonthreatening and the ability to follow when led. 99% of guys find this attractive unless your an outliner, the 1% (aka gay or masochist). So don’t blame anime, blame biology.
Let me see if I understand this correctly. You’re saying that a straight man can’t find a woman attractive unless she’s submissive to him, is that it?
If this is indeed the case, that is completely open to interpretation, one which I couldn’t disagree with more. Let me assure you that I’m as attracted to women as much as the next guy and one of the biggest turnoffs for me is a woman that doesn’t know how to stand up for herself.
I much prefer a strong-willed woman who knows how to put up a fight and can stand alongside me as an equal, not the humanized equivalent of a dog who can only do as she’s told.
That is pure BS, there are a ton of guys out there that like a strong personality in women, to be honest it’s creepy to want a girl who uses lines like “use me” or “I belong to you” Inori in general is in my opinion not a good character for simply being made as a wet dream to Otakus who want a Rei clone.
Lol not to be mean but you can’t just pull statistics out of your ass. “males are naturally attracted to females by submission,” where’s the evidence for this? And also “99% of guys find this attractive unless your an outliner, the 1% (aka gay or masochist).”
Anyone can make up statistics and support an idea. But you need real evidence to make the idea more true.
The evidences that you seek lies in thousands and thousands of pages of textbooks and encyclopedias. You are more than welcome to read them all as well as all the empirical studies that were done from the history of humankind. The most noticeable was Darwin’s theory of evolution. I merely summarized it in a few sentences for you.
Scientists find that to understand humans, they must study human in its most basic form: a child. Because an adult human is too complex and understood to be corrupted. Later scientists realize they can understand people better by going farther and studying a simplier form of a child: another primate. As the line progress, human was trace back to its origin:
Adult human => Child human => Primate => Mammal => Animal => Reptile => Cellular micro-organisms
The idea of domination and submission exist as far back as micro-organisms. Thus, the idea may seem new to humans, but it has a long history dating back 4 billions years ago. THAT is your proof.
Do you realize how many species of animals with so many different forms of sexual behaviors you’re mixing in? Female peacocks are attracted to male peacocks by the feathers on their back. The Blue footed booby bird tries to impress girls by dancing with its blue feet.
You’re statement about evolution is so broad and large that submissiveness as a form of mating is probably less than 1% of all organisms. And my original statement was don’t make up statistics (i.e. the 99% comment). And you’re reply had nothing to do with statistics. It was just fancy writing to make it seem like evolution supports submissive mating when it doesn’t.
I actually prefer the strong-willed type with a soft side that will rely on those she trusts — somewhat similar to a tsundere but without all the violent tendencies.
When I said taking interest in overly submissive girls is just asking for trouble, that was in reference to have it makes me feel like a creep with a slave girl. I don’t think Inori will remain like that forever, but that is the image she’s giving off at the moment.
Though to be frank, I found nothing in her behavior to indicate that she is the submissive type. On the contrary, I think she is self centered, and you will probably find Shu always following her in the next episodes. An example is when they first met and he asked her if she is the Egoist Vocal, she listened but didn’t bother to answer. But when he talked of a topic that interested her, she offered him a choice (which didn’t answer his question by the way).
She have a case that she believes in it. And it seems that she view herself as a weapon to be used by one. So it’s not mean that she submits to the other. It’s just in the context of fight, she to be used.
well, we can only hope Inori would show a bit more spunk next week
Actually chaos, its not biology at all, its 100% socialization. We are shown these images and ideas (submission and domination) through our lives ard are socialized into the male/ female gender roles we have today. There is absolutely nothing that accounts for the expectations people place on others due to their gender in biology. Yes men want submissive women/women want dominating men, but that is because that is how we are indoctrinated from birth from media, our parents, etc. . . That is just claiming socialization as “natural” when in fact it is not.
I know for certain that you are wrong there. Here is the proof. Humans have only “become” intelligent in the last 20,000 with the beginning of civilization as homo sapien, 500,000 years with emotions during our time as primates, and beyond that we were mere another animal with basic instincts. In short, most if not the vast majority of animals, males are dominate and female are submissive.
It contradicts your statement that people are indoctrined by society. Mainly because animals do it, too. Animals paint a past image of humans; therefore, anything an animal does, a human do as well, but vary to a certain degree due to the development of emotion and logic brain.
(If you haven’t already knew, humans have 3 brains. One built on to of the others. The lower brain control the upper brain. Thus, the order are: Instinctual Brain, Emotional Brain, and Logical Brain. Instinctual Brain was develop during our times are reptiles to deal with the environment, predators, and survival. Emotional Brain was developed when we became mammals due to interaction with other humans. Logical Brain was developed for understand the world around us as well as communication between humans. Our logic brain is the main reason that separate a human from just another animal.)
I have to say I prefered the opening from episode 1 on a purely musical note. However this one feel more like an opening.
Definitely the best OP song of the year. The animation is pretty good too.
I really enjoyed the episode! Am I the only one who is getting massive Eureka Seven vibes from this show? Eureka=Inori, Holland=Gai, Renton=Shu, Gekko State=The Undertakers, the Gov. = GHQ… I mean there are so many comparison points, at least right now. Not that this is a bad thing, since I loved Eureka Seven to bits.
Have to say though, I’m not very happy about the fanservice. It just doesn’t fit and it feels objectifying to women. I mean, Gai is pretty sexy I guess, but you don’t see them showing off his abs. Its only the girls. I know this isn’t exactly a new concept, but I guess I expected better of a show like this 🙁
As crazy as it is to believe, a girl can be alluring without looking like she’s constantly having sex i.e. https://randomc.net/image/Guilty%20Crown/Guilty%20Crown%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
Like, what is this? What real person has a reaction like this??
But I suppose it’s minor in the grand scheme of things. Can’t wait for next week.
Well i believe in that photo she was experiencing major pain in the middle of a war battle. Gotta cut her some slack. And maybe Tsumugi pressing the button with her butt was a little over the top, but Inori’s almost natural fan service I don’t feel is too bad.
There was a guy running around in an equally skin tight suit as the girls, so it wasn’t totally unequal. We even have male pilots having similar pain reactions when hit.
But blushing?? I mean, if that’s not meant to put the viewers in mind of something else, I’m not sure what is.
And I forgot Anemone=Daryl. So many comparisons!
I REALLY hope Guilty Crown doesn’t turn into Eureka Seven. The latter suffered from bad pacing, really unlikeable characters and cheesy shounen ending. Shu may turn very unlikeable like Renton, but i doubt that Inori will be as dull as her E7 counterpart and her vocal background is more Akin to Lacus Clyne from GS/D or Sheryl Nome from Macross F. Hopefully Gai can be as epic as Holland (loved Holland, detested the rest of the cast except for Anemone), but it’s too soon to tell. Daryl as Anemone? No, Daryl’s already proven to be the biggest anime dickwad of the year. True Anemone treated Dominic like crap, but it’s nowhere near that level of total asshole-ness from Daryl.
Shu may be the only one likely to turn into an annoying Shinji Ikari character (damn, i can’t stop saying “Shion!” (No.6) when i hear Shu’s voice)
If they dont stop with the brain control stuff in this anime i will drop it… to much to filter out all of it in 20 min.
Love love love Ayase, Gai, and Tsugumi!
Especially Ayase- hell, I already like the idea of her and Gai.
I also liked Daryl a lot. He’s definitely caught my interest.
I wonder what would’ve happened if Daryl’s void would’ve been something else… Hmm
wait a moment…. how does Gai know that Daryl’s void was the kaleidoscope? seems to me that Gai isn’t your natural human being….
If it weren’t for the beautiful animation and stunning musical score, Guilty Crown’s first two episodes would be fairly average at best. The director earlier stated that Shuu’s bond with the person would influence the weapon pulled out from the subject, so I find it fairly irksome that Shuu managed to pull out an absurdly powerful defensive weapon. Even worse was that the Resistance had based their whole plan on Shuu getting a certain type of weapon. And to be frank, I feel that the reason that I.G. is using so much fanservice is to keep viewers distracted from flaws in the plot. The huge amounts of fanservice make it really hard for me to take this seriously.
So far it’s just brainless fun. It’s not nearly as epic as I thought it would be, but I’m still rather entertained. Still though,
Oh and by the way, good job to Shuu for refusing to take part in Undertaker. Toootally didn’t see that coming.
I don’t get the ending.
How can a person labelled a terrorist or criminal openly apply for and gain entry to a school. Does the governmental body just say “Oh no problem” or does the police go “Oh she looks exactly like that criminal but this ID can’t be fake so she definitely not” or do no one actually visit her youtube video thus allowing her total anonymity?
The incompetence required just boggles the mind.
I don’t think they have connected the terrorist with the singer. It’s also worth noting that this is a hostile occupation, so they most likely don’t have perfect control over everything. It’s not like the school would feel the need to report anything to the occupiers unlike to a peaceful police force.
well, there could be a tone of explanation for that: eg. the guy dealing with the issue (school admission) doesn’t have enough clearance to access the information.
I imagine the undertakers, especially the leads ain’t your average tourist and the specific agency dealing with them wouldn’t want one of the leaders falling into the hands of agencies unfamiliar with the matter.
Well, I’d prefer Gai being the main character, OTOH though then this show would feel even more like a Code Geass clone. Hmm.
i was thinking the same. gai is a lot more interesting given how he’s portrayed. shuu’s character is just bleh..DX
Hmmm.. distracting, distracting, very distracting, sexual harassment, man-handled.. Better not to watch this in 3D or it might blow you away!
Anyway, nice follow-up. Great tandem with the 1st episode for a 1hr series jump-boost. 🙂
It’s not sexual harassment if it’s the girl who places your hand there 😛
No, you have it in reverse. How would you feel if a guy suddenly puts your hand on his crotch? – Girls shouldn’t be exempted for sexual harassment! :p
Yeah, I question if Shuu really got into this situation entirely out of happenstance. The flashbacks he had in the last episode make it look like some larger power is at work here to bring him into the conflict.
Is it just me or this series is following code geass story? really similar 1st eps, strategic battle on 2 eps, and school life 1 eps, then another fight…..I bet in the end that Gai would betray them all and get the power of void or whatever for himself and Shu become the new leader of that GHQ organization with Inori on his side.
Very close, my friend. But by “that organization” you surely meant any organization in general. Then you’d be 100% correct.
i swear to god, strike witches episode 2 had less fanservice. guess it worked though since i fell in love with the catears-girl T.T
Gotta say, the music is wonderful. I enjoyed it in the first episode, but it just sounded amazing throughout the second. Especially in the action sequences. And the animation is splendid.
That being said, I’m moderately enjoying this series, but it’s hard for me to get past certain plot holes. The most blatant deal with Gai; for starters, how does he know Shinji’s name when they meet? And how could his plan be so flawless, and so precise? It all seemed a little too perfect for my tastes. And if the enemy commander decided to open fire on Gai, it would earn him a fiery grave, as the rebels had missiles locked on him as well. Furthermore, he treats Shinji with resounding trust, as Gai relies on him to rescue Inori (with no means of doing so) and extract Kaleidoscope from Daryl to save Gai’s own hide.
And is it just me, or does this series not have leering similarities with Code Geass? I know that the writer is the same, but still… imperialistic, post-apocalyptic overtones, an anti-military “liberation” group that fights its opposition with mechs, a mysterious young girl who (although in Guilty Crown, inadvertently) grants powers to a boy. All the while, this boy is thrust into the middle of a conflict with no real chance of escaping it. The only difference are the motives and persona of the main characters. Lelouch is a cold, calculating genius who enjoys his new found powers, while Shnji is… Shinji. There’s a difference between originality and completely reusing ideas from previous work.
I have some slight problems with Shinji’s character, but at the same time withhold my judgment. After seeing Shinji momentarily falter before rushing to save Inori, and later refuse Gai’s offer to join the Funeral Parlor, it’s clear to me the creators are taking a commonly used archetype and changing it into something different. Shinji is no hero, but he’s no coward either, he just doesn’t understand what meaning his life has, and what place he belongs. I respect that, but I won’t be able to bear if Shinji starts self-doubting himself in regularity, or if he becomes ridiculously over-protective of Inori (I swer I’ll protect you!). I’ll wait and see how the character develops.
I now wonder what the show would be like if Shiji didn’t exist, and Gai were the main character. It certainly would be turn from the direction many series tend to stray in, and it’d be refreshing to see a character who chooses to fight, rather than a character forced to fight . IMO, Gai would make for a great, interesting main character.
I also have a hunch someone planned for things to turn out the way they did, with Shiji obtaining the powers Gai was meant to have. It all seems way too coincidental. I mean, how could the Void possible end up in his pocket by happenstance? Inori definitely has some sort of past with Shinji, and this may just be why things have turned out the way they were. Sure, Gai tells him the powers were meant for him, but whose to say he wasn’t lying? It could be part of some greater scheme.
LOL. Who the hell is Shinji? Trolololol.
Honestly can’t stop calling him Shinji now. :/
Eh. There’s a reason why the “Archetypes” and the framework of the “Journey of the Hero” are still used to this day. If Gai got the Void Genome then there wouldn’t be a show to see. Gai would just be too powerful to be really interesting.
Like, say, if Lelouch could fight like Suzaku and still be a strategic genius. That would kinda cool for a few episodes but it wouldn’t be as good. That being said, giving Lelouch the physical abilities of an average soldier wouldn’t have be too bad. Really. He was just pathetic – even Milly would’ve been able to kick his ass.
So yeah. I am very happy that Gai got screwed over and Shu got the Void Genome (and Inori… XD)
Also – Shu/Ayase pairing please.
Agree with everything but the last sentence. Shu is for Inori and Inori only. Ayase can keep her adorable crush on Gai.
All just speculation, rest assured. Just not totally loving Shu’s character atm.
Man I love this episode
Love the opening
Love the quality
I have no question so far …cause I know what’s happening and what is this king power.. But of course all of them are just a theory.. Well better than asking a question..cause it’s only got 2 episode not 10 >.>…And If they didn’t give an answer to it… I will stick to my theory…
And for those who “STILL” compare CG to GC….. pls. get a life…seriously
The reasoning for comparing the two is somewhat stupid…(based on what I always read on any forum or blog)
“But of course all of them are just a theory.. ”
My bad not “ALL” but some
too bad I can’t edit my post XD
Surely there is this thing in Guilty Crown that gives a thrill. Watching certain scenes gives this God feeling, that anything can be done. The pace of the story is quite fast, and the pace of action is faster, but not at the price of quality. At certain moments you have about ten scenes in few seconds. So re-watching is always joyful.
And though I’m not an action lover.Guilty Crown brings some scenes that an action movie can’t ever reach, like in first episode when Shu uses the sword to redirect rockets, you see the speed as he turns his head, the speed of his body and hair movement, a scene like this simply can’t be done in a movie, but here you have it. This what makes action in anime beautiful, and the producers seem to care enough to provide it to us. Wouldn’t even get into the characters, as their interesting concepts, beautiful and consistent look forces you to demand having a scene time for them again and again. The story is not much consistent, but when you have everything else great then it’s forgivable.
Can’t wait for the next episode.
lol? You’re telling people who’s comparing CG to GC to get a life because our reason to do so is stupid? You must be the blindest person in the damn world to not see the similarities which are clear as day. Unless you never seen the lights of day.
@YanDaMan263
Businesses are not about the idea as much as they are about the execution. Anime is the same. I mentioned before in this thread that Guilty Crown and Code Geass are incomparable. And I said that I believe any one who compares the two has poor taste, because one can’t allow himself/herself to do so unless he can’t appreciate the execution aspect of an anime. The fact that the theme has similarities means nothing. Suzumiya Haruhi is not the first school/club anime.
If Guilty Crown could resemble anything for me, then it’s Ghost in the Shell, and GITS was the first thing to come to my mind after watching just 30 seconds of the show (take a look at the studio’s name).
@^ there
@YanDaMan263
Yup the reasoning is stupid….. all the aspect that you notice on GC are quite common on ALMOST EVERY ACTION ANIME… so yeah there you go …
I will not name this “amost every action anime”
i honestly like all the girls <<33 but inori's quite ahead of them. let 4 episodes pass before i can really choose. <<3
I’m sorry – I love the quality of the voice in the OP song – but she has a horrible time
with the English lyrics. Reminds me of an recent episode from another series…
As much as I enjoyed this episode, I couldn’t help the feeling that I’ve seen this sequence
before – 1st two episodes very powerful. Then suddenly, everybody’s a transfer student.
Ao no Exorcist, maybe?
I was actually surprised by the fan service and the fact that an effort was made to make the
viewer aware (him behind her). Obviously, I enjoyed the beautiful artwork, and its fan service,
but where is this headed, I wonder…?
Maybe I feel like I’m in adolescence with my interpretations on Anime – a little rebellious…
Koeda’s only real problem with English seems to be that she needs to practice her “th” sound, which is understandable since she’s 15 and the Japanese don’t really have a true “th” sound in their language. It’s otherwise easy to interpret and with enough practice, it will probably be perfected. I’ll admit though, I do hear “So everything that makes me whore” like 1/10 times. I’m a terrible person.
Hah. I actually cringed when I first heard the beginning of the OP but after 10+ repeats it’s grown on me.
I kinda look forward to hearing that line now =\.
It’s too bad that they didn’t end the song with “I’m yours~”, it sounds a bit incomplete as it is now.
Yeah. I’ve listened to it a few times again and I agree the “TH” are a challenge.
I’m no expert but when I listen to some of the better Japanese Anime singers (and
when I watch them speak in some of the interviews, etc.), it seems that most of
their language’s sounds begin at the start of the throat (i.e., back of the mouth).
The “TH” sound is kinda a tongue/roof of mouth – just behind the teeth sound;
Koeda’s “TH” has more of a “Zh” which is a little further back than the “TH”.
Don’t get me wrong, for her age, she has some amazing voicing and phrasing
skills along with a nice tonal quality – I especially love the gasps that
are performed so well. (I used to think those were accidents until I tried to
mimic the sound – it’s must be something that’s learned and practised, IMHO.)
It’s not clear to me what the 1st lyric had to be English – but, by using the
power of Google (who knows its accuracy) shows that in Japanese, there are
more syllables – too long? Also, “So” is unusually placed. This might be a
very clever emphasis on what follows – a good re-read might be like
“This is true, everything that makes me whole …
NowI givethatto you“.Who knows? Not me, it’s just some fun speculation…
“So everything that makes me whore”
^THIS. Oh Soiyeruda, you don’t know how I’m containing my laughter here in the office! You so made my day XD
never gonna listen to the song the same way again. ever. XD
“(Damn you anime, stop trying to corrupt me.)”
“Beautiful soft-spoken songstress with perfect curves in a revealing outfit? Gooooood.”
Sorry Divine, far too late for that. The way I see it, you’re already corrupted ^_-
Hmm, that’s some pretty damning evidence isn’t it? See what happens when you run an anime blog? Learn from my mistakes!
Divine – Why do you think we visit this site if only to learn from you :)!
I’mn surprised nobody here made the connection given the OP. Here goes.
Remember back in the first episode when the Void Genome breaks, sending Shuu a bunch of flashbacks accompanied by a female voice?
I was always bothered by the inclusion of a blonde boy in the flashbacks, and we know the old man in the flashbacks is the head researcher of the Void Genome who in episode 1 denied the GHQ commander of further information. But this episode’s OP definitely cleared things up. For one, the blonde boy is most definitely Gai as in the OP, you see Gai holding the cross necklace that the long, orange-haired girl was wearing. (Henceforth, her name will be LOHG)
Here, I’ll make my conclusions based on the flashback:
1. Both Gai and Shuu knew this LOGH character and vice versa, as LOGH speaks directly to Shuu in the power initialization process. Gai knows LOGH as he holds her necklace (on the assumption that the OP is factual), and perhaps the reason why he knows more than he should about Void Genome is because he was very close to LOGH and probably from a rich family. (Would also explain his vast amounts of resources that his terrorist organization holds and uses.)
2. Shuu states that the Apocalpyse virus happened 10 years ago. My guess, coupled with images of LOGH being crystalized and the head researcher, is that whatever that researcher did, he created the virus when experimenting it on LOGH to create the Void Genome. It might also explain the latter half of the images in the flashback as we see general destruction following LOGH’s crystalization.
3. Following conclusion 2, my guess is after the event with LOGH going crazy, Shuu lost his memory of those events. Some other things that reinforce that assumption is when Gai shouts out to Shuu in episode 1 when they get separated by a slab of concrete, “Show me that you can protect it this time!” (Kondo koso, mamotte misero!)
4. Inori might possibly be a clone (without most memories) of LOGH as they both say very similar things and do the same thing (the cat’s cradle mirroring DNA). It would also explain why Gai is fixated on Inori as she seems a bit empty or devoid of emotion. Using conclusion 3 as further evidence, both Gai and Inori say things as if they knew Shuu from a long time ago. ([Inori] Are you a coward? [Gai] Show me you can protect this time. [LOGH] Take it this time, Shuu.)
So those are my thoughts on the background of the story.
And another thing: awesome, awesome vocals and music.
Have to say, your analysis make a lot of sense. Pity no-one paid any attention.
XD
As long as someone read it, I’m satisfied.
Now whether or not any of my conclusions are correct, time will tell.
I’m impressed. Those are things one normally wouldn’t analyse and think about. Yes, it is certainly too early to make any concrete conclusions here, but it sounds very plausible. Kudos to you.
It’s kind of boring and uninspired. Not tuning in anymore.
Okay 1 or 2 is not a lost on GC 🙂
So bye bye ^_^
Do us a favor – Find a bridge and live underneath it.
I won’t be the last or the first to say it of course, but I think we can all agree that the plot in this show is not the reason why’ we’re watching this- it’s for the girls and the animation and music, because honestly, this plot is terrible generic-wise and there are WAY too many deus ex machinas, and too many plot holes to count, but whatever. Like someone said, it’s a popcorn flick- it’s a guilty pleasure (har har). So yeah, it’s going to be tough not going all critical on this show when clearly it has so many problems, but there’s always one show that people just watch for the pretty, no?
Couldn’t agree more. Still, this series has potential. The real drawback for me is the protagonist. He’s not interesting. It’s not enough that Shuu simply “grows a pair” and joins the rebels. I want a protagonist who makes the villains look simple minded. Not necessarily an antihero (though I wouldn’t mind). Just give me a protoganist that isn’t so easily read. Shuu is too innocent, but then so was Light Yagami and Lelouch until they received their powers.
Shit, I think I just want another Code Geass. It’s unoriginal but I don’t care, this series has most the ingredients. Entertain me Japan like 2006.
“this plot is terrible generic-wise and there are WAY too many deus ex machinas, and too many plot holes to count, but whatever.”
I will tell you this that the anime is for all not for just an OLD fans :/
I really hate fans saying this…. they making it like the anime created just for them =,=
Many plot holes… ah yeah for episode 2 yeah ….so GC ends on episode 2..didn’t know that
A series really can’t have plot holes when it hasn’t even finished much less when it has barely even started. If they don’t explain it by the end of the season then you can start screaming “Plot holes! Bad Writing!”.
First: Opening is disappointing. Was really hoping for a catchy and fun song, a la Code Geass (FLOW > All). The imagery and exposition in Code Geass’ opening really instills wars and rebellion, unlike this opening. This opening does nothing, and the lip sync in the opening is just weird with the voice (and overrated;too many openings/endings lately are doing this dumb lip syncing thing).
Second: Gai is definitely crazy, and I’ll go ahead and say he’ll be an antagonist by series end.
Frankly speaking your reasoning on the opening is pretty stupid
this is guilty crown not code geass :/
Basically you’re just trolling your self cause this is guilty crown
Preference. I hated most of the CG Openings. I absolutely love the GC Opening. The inclusion of that song in PV 2 got me interested in the series.
Opening was absolutely fantastic! I have also taken a liking to Daryl, hope to see him again soon.
P.S: Daryl’s Void (the Kaleidoscope) was AWESOME!!!
i dont care if this’s being compared to past shows and all but i must say that its thus far enjoyable and throw ayase and inori in the mix… makes its utterly nice to watch (eye candies of course)
Harsh reality
they love comparing new one from the old one
They don’t care about “execution”…. generic here generic there…
https://randomc.net/image/Guilty%20Crown/Guilty%20Crown%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
Glad to see you avoided taking the high road and gave us what we want. We are not so noble.
If I’m not mistaken, Tsugumi is voiced by Taketatsu Ayana, right? She sounds like Kirino.
Yup, and Ayase is voiced by Hanazawa(Kuroneko).
Heh, kinda funny how Ayana’s the kuroneko this go round- what with her hair and outfit with cat elements.
Is it me or it looks like the leader of the undertaker knew in advance the Kadesloscope weapon that Shu Ouma was using! Since Gai risks his own life he must have known what was the special effet of the weapon( Reflecting laser beam ).
Rewatch the scene where Gai gets informed of the situation at the underground parking lot. He KNEW of the Mangekyou. Btw, Mangekyou = Kaleidoscope iirc. Mangekyou just sounds so much more awesome.
Oh yeah also just a question. Why most of the lead character(s) in Japan are so young ( 15-18 )? If someone could answer to me please.
So that teenagers can relate?
A number of reasons. It could be:
– Young people are great for character growth stories.
– That’s the audience they’re targeting therefore they’re trying to make the characters more relatable, even for older audiences they can still somewhat relate since they’ve gone through that stage of their lives already.
– Young people are
probablyless depressing than those 30+ year olds you get in Korean Dramas that are still virgins/still haven’t had their first kiss.– Even if its an anime and the drawings are 2D they look more fresh-faced, perky and attractive.
– Etc.
Young people are probably less depressing than those 30+ year olds you get in Korean Dramas that are still virgins/still haven’t had their first kiss.
OMFG I lol’d so hard at this XD
Cos its an anime.
Ok Ok.
For me I just want one thing.
I want more episodes!!!!!!!!!
The 2nd episode is decent for me (aside from the fanservice… That is very smooth and even entertaining! And this is coming from a girl!!)
And damn it! Everything I want to comment on has been mentioned by everyone else! But I want to state it one more time:
1. Gai must have some kind of psychic power. At the least he must have been able to see someone’s future. The biggest gaping plothole in this episode is how the hell Gai knows the mc would pull a kaleidoscope out of Daryl. I sincerely hope that would be explained later.
2. I love Inori in the 1st episode, but in the 2nd episode she is really meh and bland. Expresionless, no character. On the other hand, I lovee Tsugumi and Ayase! They are really hot too! Inori is really beautiful, but without strong characteristics she would have nothing on the other 2.
3. They really did a good job on making the government hateable, even too good of a job. Daryl is so meh too, I actually expect a symphatetic antagonist. It would be unfair to make the other side completely bad IMHO.
4. Personal opinion, I nearly facepalm when they send Inori as a transfer student. The school setting will bekind of weird for me, but there is a huge chance I’m wrong on this one 🙂
Why facepalm? We knew it was coming a long time ago with the character designs/promotional images and even with the brief brief introductions of some of Shu’s high school friends last episode.
First time posting here, but I have been following since Madoka aired and have been enjoying this blog so keep up the good work guys.
Anyway I have a theory about how Gai knew exactly what void Daryl would have and it stems from the possibility that the 3 king’s powers are not all the same power. I believe Gai might havethe ability to “see” a persons void weapon.
Following this logic we would have the “kings sight” an the “kings idk weapon/strength” (not too sure what to call shuu’s power yet) and a 3rd unknown “kings” power.
Actually there’s a hint on episode 1 and opening of gai’s past well it’s not 100% though
But to sum it up…. It’s either gai has been involved/know someone on the experiment to create that power
After seeing the episode I feel as if Gai knows more than he lets on. Because of that my prediction is that he had a hand in the past events of the series and is probably up to no good. I feel as if he will turn out to be the antagonist in the end. Ot maybe im crazy?
I’m usually not a fan of pink hair but damn, I don’t think I can resist Inori’s charm as well
With his Void Weapon has been extracted, does that mean Daryl’s going to die? I certainly hope so.
Okay, having Gai committing the success of his entire plan on a boy that he just met required a little suspension of belief from me, but I guess it just might be because he is a very good judge of character. It certainly does seem that he has gathered a cast of people who can perform when the stakes are high. Anyway, I have enjoyed the first couple of episodes. Like Divine, I don’t really hold a high premium on originality making or breaking a show, as long as it is executed well.
As a side note, the character design for Inori reminds me a lot of the style of Hyung-Tae Kim.
Let’s see… never watched code geasee and seeing as how everyone’s comparing this to it, I don’t plan on watching it. Why? Just Cause I can choose not to?
Also… GC(Guilty Crown) CG(Code Geasee) See the similarity here? No? Look at the Abbreviations, that should be the only thing you should be mentioning about the two series. Anymore mention of Code Grease then your in the wrong place so GTFO?
@ the post about submissive girls. I find girls who balance their dominance(independence) and submissiveness(dependence) more attractive than any of the two’s extreme.
Anyway. Shu’s choice was great since it stayed within his personality(no matter how bland it is) if he was to accept that then i would have dropped this. If the character’s personality was different, like a adventurous, then the “genetic” route would be acceptable. So for me: Genetic or not as long as within the character’s personality then his action is acceptable.
I completely agree with you on how Gai was crazy enough to put himself in 20 laser beam’s path and counting on some random normal non-experienced rookie to do the most important part.
Anyway, this episode was a lot better than the first because of the action and a cool executed plan by the Funeral Parlors, but it still feels too Code Geass-like to me.
I realize its the same scriptwriter or wahtever from Code Geass who’s working on Guilty Crown, so similarities are imminent, but even so when you talk about originality, yes we can say mechs, zombies, or wahtever has been done a million times. But as far as Guilty Crown goes, its following almost the exact formula as Code Geass did. Sure the characters themselves may have different personalities, goals, and such, but as far as the plot progression and patterns goes, its almost identical to CG.
You got a post-apocalyptic Japan being ruled by tyrants (Brittania), you got a group of vigilante rebels fighting against them (Order of Black Knights). In Code Geass, that prince dude went and ordered the entire Shinjuku to be slaughtered cause they lost CC or something. In Guilty Crown, Antibodies ordered to find that capsule thingy Inori had and killed any civilian in the process…COME ON its the SAME pattern. Then oh hey in CG, Zero and his rebels comes and saves the day. IN GC, oh hey Funeral Parlors come and saves the day, both with masterful executed plans…yeah…
Anyway, I am still finding enjoyment in this show and will probably watch the entire series, because Code Geass was ingenious, and I see this show as a sort of spiritual parallel successor to that show, kinda like wanting to watch more Code Geass but settle for a different universe with different characters instead. I’m perfectly fine with that. Guilty Crown is still a good show for sure, but as I’ve said from episode 1, its certainly not WOWing me like Code Geass did when I first watched it.
What I found funny was that the mechs that caused them a problem are both white.
I remember Lelouch damning that White Machine!
Like the other episode, everything was great. It is still weird that Gai knows the ability of Daryl.
Still, the protagonist will never get into me. He lacks everything. Even the protagonist in Gundam Ages that little kid has more guts than this guy. Lame character.
Inori is a plain girl who likes to sing and gives the power to that teenager…the two girls that were introduced are already better than her.
Overall is still a great serie to look forward. Love the OSTs though.
At this point I will say with a reasonable degree of certainty that either Gai is already a Void Genome user, or will become one in the future, or acquire some other power that will rival Shu’s – unless the writers seriously screwed up.
Looking at this episode, Gai seems a bit way too smart, way too lucky, or a combination of both – above all else, he is too perfect. Granted, this may have been the characteristic of the plot for Code Geass as well, but typically the protagonists (in this case, Gai) are not seen as “perfect”. This is because this kind of stories lacks depth and development; and it is typically boring. When we watch what Lelouch does in Code Geass, we feel (in some aspects) that he is way too smart and way too lucky as well. However, Lelouch also has an obsession with Nanulli and various things he did to Suzaku he had to deal with.
What I think is going on is that Gai will eventually acquire or rival Shu’s power after a while and become an antagonist. I say this in part to what I said above about his “perfectness” he was introduced with to the viewers, and also by reflecting what happened in Code Geass.
I doubt Gai has a Void Genome already. If he did, he wouldn’t have been so disappointed with Inori for failing to get this one to him.
i think there is possibility where the anti virus develop another genom void, gai might steal it and rival with shu. seem his in this episode, he does not value life and trying any way to reach its goal
Perhaps, but from his perspective it probably doesn’t hurt to have two.
Anyways, maybe my claims about Gai owning a Void Genome is a little far-fetched. All I am trying to say is that the way they are depicting Gai in the first two episodes make him more like a good candidate for a future antagonist.
Tru, he doesn´t seem to have any special power but I wouldn´t rule him out as a possible host for another Void Genome, besides the does not seem trust worthy, there is something really strange about how he handled the situation, specially that line about the survival of the fittest. Anyone who aplies Darwinism to human society is not in my good book, he might the liberation of Japan but sure he looks susoicius about what he is capable of doing.
the way u put it seem like gai act like snizheal and vs shu (lelouch) in code geass
I really liked the opening lyrics when I watched this… so a friend asked me to transcribe and translate.
http://d.pr/lKy9 So I did.
You probably all watch it subbed anyway and know the translation – but now you can sing along as well 😉
Just try to ignore the wrong Kanji for “mikata”. I don’t know what happened there D:
Hmm… maybe because I already found out what to expect from this show, I find this episode much more enjoyable. Still, the characters (especially Gai) is still unbearably annoying for me. Character design and animation is still gorgeous though. Hope they can keep this up for 22(?) episodes.
Actually, the archetype persona of Inori is nothing new to the anime world. There are characters long before Guilty Crown creation. Here is the list:
Rei from Evangelion
Chi from Cobit
Yin from Darker than Black
Eureka from Eureka 7
Inori can be describe as an emotionless, objective personality. That is why she “appear” in many anime as a robot, a doll, a clone, or a reincarnation. The best word to describe her is void. She is void of everything including emotions and aloof. I only know of one other person that share that characteristic, only GOD himself.
Her character is intriguing because of how opposite she is to an average human who is constantly in an emotional state and rarely direct about his/her thoughts and intentions. They see our lives as questionable and trivial. The true irony is that humans themselves are robots pre-programmed by the true master of humanity and ensure its immortality and survival, our DNA. Thus, Inori, Chi, Rei, and Yin are the reflection of humans from a mirror.
Hi Khaos,
Regarding your doubt
—
You really think questions such as “How did you know what daryl contained?” or “Why didn’t you just use the genon when he brought it initially?” are gonna be answered?
—
I agree that the second question may never be answered, but I think the first question will be answered soon.
Because when Gai saw Daryl, he whisper to himself “Daryl, that Kaleidoscope?” it should means that Gai knows since the beginning, maybe he saw someone else extract from Daryl before. Because there are 3 genome for ‘King’s power’, right? as in the first episode said.
Regarding the event Khaos went to: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/convention/2011/new-york-comic-con/22 if anyone’s interested. Many have probably seen it already.
“When asked how Shu[And I guess Gai indirectly] knew what sort of weapon he’d draw from a stranger in the second episode, Oyama responded “Another good question. That’ll be explained in episode three.”
Seeing as he explicitly stated the episode it would be revealed it I don’t really doubt their answers. The articles been written so there may be some discrepancies between that and what happened in real life. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and think that most of the relevant questions will be revealed by series end or at least implied.
Code Geass wannabe, the only good thing was the animation.
So many plotholes that it totally shattered any belief in reality I had for this show from the first episode. I agree with a lot of your post Divine, particularly about Gai. However, my personal appeal is for realism, not fan-service, even if it is inserted in a more “natural” fashion. Not saying it is actually natural though. Teenage girls with baby voices and revealing skin-tight clothing in military-important positions will never go over me as worth the sex appeal, which I don’t value.
What particularly killed me inside though was Inori saying she was Shuu’s now. It was so cheesy and cliche that it bordered on parody. Same with the transfer student scene….
Anyway, overall, I’ll still probably keep on hating on this, or give up soon and leave it. I was hoping it would revive my expectations that it originally gave to me, then shattered again and again.
So here are my reasons for hating this episode in particular:
1. The plotholes. Why didn’t Shuu kill Daryl, they killed everyone else, so why not kill the cruelest and most important member there too? In addition to all of Divines thoughts on Gai. Why didn’t Gai just kill the division when he had a million lasers pointed at them, before they could even react by setting off the bomb? Why did Gai wait until a lot of the hostages were killed?
and
2. The hammy villains. Seriously, in a supposedly realistic setting, they sure do know how to make villains one-dimensional. It would add so much complexity if they acted like the actual good guys they say they are. Instead soldiers follow orders of murder without question and the lead guy that hates terrorist acts like a terrorist. And who the fuck let Daryl pass any emotional stability test?
I want to like this series, but this is just too much like a very dumbed-down fusion of Gundam 00 and Code Geass in terms of setting and characters. And yes, I did just make comparisons, because it’s simply true. Why have one product when two others are so much better with the same functions?
I actually think you are a bit naive. How do you think soldiers of an hostile occupation have to act? This doesn’t look very out of place if you changed the setting to WW2, Vietnam or Iraq. It’s also a bit ironic that you both complained about some being too ruthless and about others not being ruthless enough. But I don’t think it was only because of kindness that Gai tried to have them surrender at first as it would obviously have been quite a coup for him to capture all that hardware.
On the other hand, if you don’t like it then don’t watch it.
About Daryl:
I think Shu can draw items from other people, but the said person has to be alive to maintain it. This might be why Shu could not kill Daryl, because he needed his Kaleidoscope.
But you are right in the sense that we may have just found another plot hole. Shu probably hated Daryl, but why did he only use him for his ‘treasure’? Why didn’t Shu even consider harming him? A typical kind of character development should be: Shu thought about perhaps harming Daryl for what he did, then he decided that protecting Gai was probably more important, so he dismissed that idea.
Regarding your first reason…Well, how many normal high school students would fly into a rage and murder someone straight off? Was Shuu an impulsive brat and gave off that impression? Not on my watch. This guy here is hesitant and lacking in confidence. He’s not the typical type of main character who suddenly unleashes his raw, hidden anger from nowhere to kill a person simply because he can’t do it.
Secondly, a single moment’s hesitation will be all it needs for the operation to fail. I have no idea what Gai said to Shuu, but if Shuu was late for one second…Furthermore, there was this idea for Shuu that he cannot fail, which probably sets his mind on the track that the success of the operation takes precedence over whatever non-existent bloodlust he might have.
Why didn’t Gai destroy them straight off? Simple – He was following a PLAN. Terrorists don’t just go around destroying things. Gai wanted to make this HIS big stage – the Funeral Parlor’s big stage. Simply put, he just wants the world to know who he is, who they are and add in the last minute turnabout to show just what they are capable of. This will probably instill greater awe and hope in those who are looking for a way out of this terrible situation, and fear for those who are in charge.
For the second reason, soldiers were meant to follow orders. Never been in a military organisation before, have you? Some may question, certainly, but the majority of them would have followed it to the end. We have no idea what kind of information they were fed or what propaganda crap they went through, so we shouldn’t ever make conclusions like that.
Magekyou Sharingan.
Had to get that out of my system.
Bro the Endslave piloting system totally reminded me of the movie Surrogate with Bruce Willis.
When Gai offered his hand to Shu I was thinking ” Not this shit again” but when it turned out he turned him down it felt kinda idk new? Anyways when Shu goes ” you got to be joking?!” and Inori does the head bob and says “It’s the real thing” I totally jizzed myself.
Well, I noticed that Gai’s eyes were kinda changing….
https://randomc.net/image/Guilty%20Crown/Guilty%20Crown%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2012.jpg
I do think that dude got some powers [maybe that VOID powers thing]… you know…. to figure out what weapon is inside a person by just looking at them….. [it would be an interesting combo to have the ability to know what weapon is inside the person and have the ability to pull it out 😀
That could also explain why they sent Inori to steal that genetic weapon instead of someone else… cuz… she has an ANTI-MECHA SWORD in her….
Yeah I noticed his eyes too, which made me believe that each void genome grants a different power and seeing that it’s going to be collectivley called “the kings power” i’m guessing Gai would have “the kings sight” and Shuu “the kings strength” maybe?
AHAHHHAHAH!
YEP ep 3 did say that Gai can see void weapons inside people….
I feel like may I’m just getting old, because I see way too much style and not enough substance. I must be reaching an age where I actually prefer conversations over stuff getting blown up. 🙁
Shame too, because after watching so many animes I didn’t think I could actually think an anime character would look so “hot” as Inori does. Oh well. Probably will give it another episode. If it continues like this, I’ll actually drop it.
Amazing since from the preview, I thought this was one show I had no chance of dropping.
I was just watching the opening again (really, it is so helpful to have it in the sidebar like that!) and I was noticing how Shu seems to be scrolling through character’s faces (they look like icons) in his King’s power mode. I wonder if that’s just for effect in the opening or if he really will have access to that many people’s voids in the future. His classmates were in there too, so that would be very interesting.
OP (whether it be the song or the sequence, or both) just doesn’t fit perfectly, but is very good stand-alone… I guess that’s something unique;
For a second by the end, I thought the ED was going to be Euterpe in a major chord, which would’ve been very very very epic. but dammit -_-+
GC is doing a good job of bringing back tasteful fanservice, which I much prefer over the insanity that most production companies seem to be throwing out these days.
There’s a lot of bloom effect in this anime…..
I don’t know. I liked this episode well enough, but the term ‘style over substance’ does seem to apply rather well here. The plot pushed ahead just a tiny bit with us getting some new info.
Fanservice is still a bit much for my taste. The thing with the buttons wasn’t entirely bad since she comes across as rather playful and was sort of being a bit goofy there.
Inori still seems way too emotionless and passive so I do hope she has an actual personality aside from saying she belongs to Shu like she’s some object or something. Unless there’s a specific reason she is like this. Odd how no one seemed to recognize her since she is part of a band, though maybe they aren’t well known.
Gai still seems like someone they’re trying to make seem cool as much as possible. His behavior is certainly curious and he obviously has plenty of secrets for him to know so much about Void weaponry, which I would imagine is related to how he knew what Shu would get if he used Daryl. Want to see an explanation for that. He definitely is a bit too overconfident with how he relied on Shu who had just started using this power a little while ago. His anger towards Shu and Inori seems odd as well given that he could have just taken the genome himself when they were talking earlier so I have to wonder if perhaps he’s lying a bit, though there isn’t any reason that can be seen yet as to why he’d give it to someone like Shu.
Daryl just comes across as a spoiled brat who enjoys hurting people and possibly has some mental issues. Not really compelling for an antagonist.
Shu did alright here I guess, though he is being silly if he thinks they’ll just let him walk away when he has this extremely rare ability. I don’t think it will be hard to get him back in since they offer him a chance to actually make some sort of difference. I think he’s just in a state of mind right now thinking he just isn’t that sort of person yet.
I thought I saw for a moment one of the operators for the GHQ look a bit uneasy with what they were doing, which would be nice since then they would not all be completely evil bastards.
Curious as to what determines what is drawn with the Void. I think there was mention of it being the essence of a person so I wonder what that might say about characters like Daryl and Inori.
Not sure how the school setting is going to work with this aside from being used for light hearted comedy and eventual drama when bad things happen to Shu’s friends. Just as well have him leave at some point and not come back.
Going to keep watching in hopes more plot and substance with the characters starts coming through. This could end up a fun series to watch for action and nothing else though.
I took an interest in this mainly because the screenwriters of Code Geass were involved. Having only found out about Guilty Crown today, I would think the hype was not a factor in my disappointment. While it might be premature to drop this show, I’m a firm believer that a great series will hook you from the first episode (as was the case with CG and Evangelion, of which Guilty Crown is heavily derivative).
Some negative thoughts that may have already been brought up earlier (but I still want to voice them):
– Shu is not an engaging protagonist: he’s a generic everyboy dropped headfirst into a situation that’s way beyond him, forced to become the reluctant hero in spite of himself. I don’t find those characters original, or more importantly, likeable.
– Inori is not an engaging protagonist: quiet, submissive Rei-clone with zero personality. Compare to C.C. who I loved from the beginning: she was stoic and cold, but somehow also charming and seductive, and talkative!! I despise silent characters, they are just so flat – it’s lazy writing under the veil of mystique.
– Why did Gai let Shu run off with the vial when he could have just taken it from him when they met the very first time? Also, if Shu is just some random person, why did Gai know his name? Unless he IS psychic, which is a very cheap way to explain away things that would otherwise be plotholes.
– Why is there a sensory link between the mech and the pilot? In Evangelion, it was necessary, given their origins/operation. Here, it seems tacked on for the sake of upping the ante (you might die despite piloting it remotely!), but then why not just stick them directly in the cockpit? To keep the option of a last second bailout? Ugh.
POSITIVES:
– I will say that I appreciated the deaths of those hostages and the fact that Shu declined Gai’s offer initially. These events alone broke up the predictability of the plot thus far. But it’s not like Gai’s group are really just going to let Shu walk out the door with their trump card, so…
– Production values are fantastic, as expected.
– OP is perfect as well.
So the only things I liked were the superficial aspects, which aren’t enough to make a series. I might catch one more episode (as the exposition is over by now, and Madoka didn’t “heat up” til the infamous third episode) but this entire premise is wearing thin.
And wait – are they actually calling it the “Power of Kings”? Isn’t that EXACTLY what Geass was referred to? Seriously…
Didn’t know Code Geass’ screenwriters were involved. Surprised too, since the two shows could not have started off differently.
It’s pretty amazing if you contrast CG’s first episode with GC’s first episode. In Code Geass you knew the setting(Japan occupied by Brittania), the initial antagonist(Brittania), some of main character’s background, philosophies, his life, etc. All at the same time manage to be action-packed. Guilty Crown was just actoin-packed. You’d think the people who brought us Code Geass would be masters at melding story and action together.
You could consider the first couple of episodes as an introduction to the current state of Japan and some insight of Shuu´s mind. You shouldn´t made comparations with Code Geass just because of the writters; yes the context is similar but the whole ocupation of Japan and his consequences is totally different, for one Britania ocuppied Japan out of greed and brute force, GHQ used the fear of a pandemia to control the population out of the pretext of their own safety. Most important, the last guy who wielded the Power of King was not at all innocent and tame as Shuu, Leloch was more of a cunning demon (I think that role fits perfectly to Gai). There are still 23 episodes left, let´s see how it develops, at least that´s my opinion of the series so far.
randomc.net/image/Guilty%20Crown/Guilty%20Crown%20-%2002%20-%20Large%2029.jpg
well it was his ‘first time’ after all…
Incredible, I don´t have a single protest, the entire episode played beautifuly. Shu´s personality keeps giving hope for his development, doesn´t seem as your typical shonen hero and that´s good for now. Let´s see how long it pass before falling for real for Inori, that girl has some serious charms, specially that quiet personality. At first it seems he´s atrachted to her out of admiration, but that´s likely to change soon. Inori, sor the other hand, seems to know Shu from the past for what can be seem in the flashbacks.
Writing a story is like cooking. Ingredients, container, technique. Chicken, pot, boil. Just because a chicken burger and fried chicken, both contain chicken…you say they are the same thing. I think if you can’t tell the difference between two different dishes that use similar ingredients, then you either have no taste buds, or you lack the ability to differentiate between objects, as in, you have limited intelligence.
I don’t like to make fun of blind people, but if a blind person asked me what is the difference between red and green, and after my explanation, says, “I don’t know, I still think all colors are the same”, I would probably end up punching them in the face. This world cuddles people too much.
Are you saying people are comparing this with Code Geass too much? I think this is not what most people are complaining about. People here are mostly complaining about what Gai pulled off this episode was way too unrealistic.
The animation is really great- other than that so far I(m not liking the show at all. The characters seem paper thin so far (yes I realize it’s only been 2 episodes), there are already some plot-holes, and so far the story hasn’t engaged me at all. With Production IG and several notable staff and seiyu I had high hopes. Im glad some people seem to be liking it but it looks like the series is not for me.
is it just me or did anyone realize that the cylinder kinda just appeared in shuu’s pocket randomly in ep one. one minute its not there then all of a sudden its in his jacket pocket.
He must have grabbed it from Funnell in this scene: https://randomc.net/image/Guilty%20Crown/Guilty%20Crown%20-%2001%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
this is my Guilty pleasure…
I’m going to be honest I think this anime has the best animation I have ever seen for just a tv series like this. The music is still great and so far the story has been alright. All this show needs to do is be more plot driven and it could really become an outstanding show.
Well, comparisons are inevitable. Guilty Crown would easily lose a plagiarism law suite to Code Geass. Of course, it’s made by the same people, so that wouldn’t happen.
But the show by itself could use some work. Particularly the main characters. Some more exposition would be nice.
My real issue is with the villains. Bunch of Nazis that came out of nowhere?
Yeah, Code Geass Deja Vu total.
This is a very good second episode, as for the fan-service part, I found it very tasteful, the kind of fan-service that can easily be rated G (for general patronage) so I’m ok for it, since its something that I can easily recommend and have watched with my younger brother and sisters XD
So far, I really like the main character for being not an annoying male lead, despite the fact that it seems like he refuses the offer, I think it should not take long before he will be fighting again.
I lol to see a high school setting again, I always like those XD
I don’t know how one defines fanservice as being ‘tasteful’, nor do I know its standards, but it’s certainly better than those who goes with a ‘in-your-face’ approach.
One needs to realise that the story is still developing, so to call it paper-thin is kinda harsh. Furthermore, I do like what I see so far as well as how the producers are building up tension and excitement. Gai certainly draws sparse comparisons with Zero of Code Geass for me with his audacity alone, though he lacks the flair and tactical genius (since it wasn’t better elaborated).
Unfortunately, Inori doesn’t seem to be as interesting as I thought thus far, but things should get better once we touch on the characters’ backstories. FYI, I do like her quiet charm as well. =P
On the other hand, Shuu is proving to be what he’s supposed to be – A normal student. Normal students don’t think of joining rebellions and wielding Powers of the Kings, so I had no issue with him not joining the rebellion YET.
Moving on, Gai’s actions are rather puzzling, but like any story that looks promising all these apparently strange actions will probably be explained in the future.
I just got around to watching this episode today so everything’s probably been said already, but OMG–Are there seriously over 250 comments on this episode? I didn’t know there could even BE a second page of comments.
Me either. The last series I saw with over a hundred comments per episode was Steins;Gate. Well, it only shows how much this show is anticipated. And of course, there’ll be plenty of haters if this show doesn’t deliver.
Series finale of Code Geass had 1500+: https://randomc.net/2008/09/28/code-geass-r2-25-end/
Yeah, but the series has just started and it’s raking in this number of comments. Neither Steins;Gate nor CODE GEASS broke 100 comments in their first episodes. I think it’s really saying something about the expectations from this show (and also the viewership)
aren’t lots of characters basically clones of rei ayanami from Eva
Ruri hoshino
Eureka
Yuki Nagato
Kanade Tachibana
ninomai kisaragi
I thought fans found the “emotionless girl” persona interesting because it wasn’s like the typical nice girl persona since the characters so quiet we the viewers don’t know what they are thinking but now we are complaining, I don’t understand the contradiction.
Really a lack luster second episode… that tends to be common among series that have action packed premeires.. but while there was an enourmous amount of exposition i felt as if there wasn’t anything explained at all..
Spoiler.
dosent it seem a bit odd that the entire plan revolved on getting the weapon out of the guys chest, when there was no prior knolege about what the weapon would be?
it could of just been a confusion ray or somthing else that would not of helped at all.
Gorgeous animation. Intriguing plot. I’m hooked.
I’m really loving this show so far, but I do agree with you to an extent about Shu’s accidental inclusion in this little gorilla war against an oppressive superpower.
My theory is this: He’ll later be shown to be much more involved it’s thus far been suggested, such as having family or close friends who were involved in the creation/weaponization of the Void Weapons and that person/persons singled him out to be future catalyst all along. Somehow events didn’t go as planned (they never seem to) and this was abandoned/put off/unknown to those currently in power at GHQ, which would explain their bewilderment at Shu’s appearance now.
I’d have to agree about Gai. My thinking is either 1) he’s aware to some degree of the aforementioned theory I proposed, so he’s putting on an act for everyone but in truth knows Shu is more crucial than he’s let on and this is Gai’s roundabout strategy to get Shu to join their side. 2) He really is mad as a hatter, but is also simultaneously such a brilliant/self-assured guy that he has absolute faith in the people he employs for these missions, including Mr. Happenstance Shu. Gai appraised Shu’s character during the interactions he had with Inori, so Gai’s decision to include Shu in the later – vastly more risky and dangerous – operation to free the hostages wasn’t entirely “let’s randomly bet everyone on the untested new guy.” OR! 3) Gai’s battiness is attributed to a type of devote faith, believing everything his group does is linked to a ‘divine master plan’, so Shu’s part in this is deemed “destined,” thus he then assumes Shu possesses whatever luck/skill/qualities needed to aid Funeral Parlor (Awesome name, by the by) since Mr. newcomer was “always meant” to be.
Working theories, but there they are. Anyone agree? Disagree? I’m always up for in-depth discussions and theorizing.
When Gai’s operation was executed flawlessly, the image of Yagami Raito came into my mind.
Just as planned.
Was there no end card in this episode?
I added it just now. I didn’t include the end cards originally, but will from now on.