First Impressions / Guilty Crown

「革命 exodus」 (Kakumei)
“Revolution”

Well if there’s one thing about Guilty Crown that never disappoints, it would be its ability to surprise. Granted, that’s largely because I can’t see where the writers are going with a story that has a severe identity crisis, but hey, I can’t say I’m opposed to the idea that we have a new antihero protagonist and a new heroine to go with him. I jest of course, though I do have to question the necessity of Arisa’s bed favors with Nanba (voiced by Sakaguchi Shuuhei and deserves a proper mention now), other than the obvious objectification of her body for viewers to fantasize about. While it did fit within the context of the story given her traumatic encounter with “Inori” and not having anyone she could turn to, I just couldn’t help but see it as a blatant “sex grab” considering the “subjectively dire” state of the series itself. Whatever the case, seeing Arisa fall from being the supportive ex-president to the ringleader behind the coup d’état did bring about the situation that I was hoping to see, where the students got fed up with Shuu and told him to go to hell with his arrogant king crap.

Admittedly, I was even getting somewhat annoyed by how Shuu was so full of himself, after hearing him try to comfort Inori by saying he’s the king, and then later scream out about his power of kings when Gai came strolling in all white-haired and red-eyed and put Shuu in his place by cutting off his arm. “My arm!!!” I can understand. “My power of kings!!!” on the other hand made me want to kick Shuu over if he didn’t fall over himself. I can’t say I feel much of any sympathy for him, even though it’s pretty clear that Shuuichirou, Yuu, and Gai are up to no good either and will probably seize control of the Leukocyte satellite weaponry and turn on the United Nations (judging from the preview). The writers have just made it so hard to like any of the characters in this series, simply because there’s no consistency behind their behavior. Just take Yahiro for example, who was all on Shuu’s case last time about how he has no choice but to hide that fact that people die when their Void is destroyed, and then tell him here that he’s getting too carried away. Somehow Yahiro then gets kicked to the curb and is potentially the character to start supporting? Yeah… I’m not getting on that bandwagon. Even Tsugumi’s rubbed me the wrong way, leaving only Argo and Ayase as my last two glimmers of hope. I sometimes wonder if the producers themselves are undecided about whom to develop into a character that everyone can get behind and in the process have left us with no one — no one that’s alive anymore anyway (*sniff*).

As for the plot twist involving Gai’s return, I’m fairly apprehensive on getting too worked up about anything at this point and mainly taking a wait-and-see approach on whether the series can redeem itself in some way, so aside from some decent shock value that dwindled fairly quickly, I’ll reserve judgement on everything else until I see where it leads us. I can’t really see Shuu regaining his power now that Gai’s finally taken it (rather conveniently at that), so I’d be really surprised if the writers are ballsy enough to write him off as the main protagonist from hereon in. Otherwise, I’m more or less expecting Shuu and Inori to dig their way out of their rut and back into the main spotlight later on to heavily impact the ending in some way. For now, I will say that I’m liking an evil Gai and an evil Arisa much more than an evil Shuu, simply because I do feel somewhat sympathetic toward them. The same goes for Souta, whom I agree did nothing by turning on Shuu.

* Full-length images: 05, 06, 07, 08, 18, 20, 22, 26, 27, 30, 35, 38.

 

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440 Comments

      1. so many things I could say about this ep, but I think I’ll just focus on the Arisa thing as she seems to be getting a lot of unfair commentary.

        If anyone should be commenting on anything, its that throughout all of this – that Nanba guy has pretty much been free to do as he pleased and has not really got any punishment whatsoever — even after he and the other dude were planning on violating Ayase (and who knows how many other girls in between the episodes?).

        As for Arisa herself, I am as uncomfortable about seeing her having to do that as anyone else who watched it, but I knew what I saw when it happened;

        – This was a girl who was struggling to lead and keep the school population from breaking when they were quarantined
        – This was a girl who lost whatever support she had when the red zone activated and Nanba opportunistically made use of most of the school population’s panic
        – This was a girl who quietly took a step back when everyone chose Shuu to lead (thinking it was for the best) only to eventually be held prisoner by him and he put Nanba of all people as her guard.
        – Then when she finds out that the way Shuu has been maintaining power over everyone is probably gonna get them all killed and tries to warn everyone she is attacked by her “King’s” love interest.

        She was a victim as much as anyone else was with no support and no real options other than what she did – If seeing all of what happened in the last few episodes didn’t clue people in to her desperation at that moment then the tears in her eyes should have.

        I’ve seen a few of “whore of bablyon” (and similar) comments further into the thread and I’m disappointed by this – it speaks a lot to the imbalance of peoples views on sex/violence in media — here is a show where so many people can die or be killed in many episodes and no-one bats an eyelid – but a girl stuck in a shitty situation with only one way out makes use of it (and it isn’t even graphically depicted in the ep) and the reactions to it border on character assassinations.

        – Manipulative assholes like him are always the first to try and take advantage of others in a crises and I really hope in the next few episodes Nanba gets whats coming to him (hopefully at Arisa’s hands).

        but yeh whatever – “hurr durr Arisa, what a slut”

        tmt12718
        Reply

      3. You know, I will forgive Arisa a little bit if she slept with Yahiro instead that Nanba guy. It irks me that the guy who always backstabbing and sexually harrasing girls gets luckier in every episode. Where’s the karmic justice for them?!

        Neurogal
        Reply

      4. The whole situation they are in is unreasonable,

        even if she wasn’t already being held prisoner – who could she go to for help when the abuses are coming from the top down? From Shuu himself and his cronies and when Shuu’s love interest personally made her way to “shut her up”.

        the only option she had is to get a message and get information to people to get them to see Shuu and the whole situation for what it really was.

        The immediate barrier to her doing any of that was the guy who tried to take advantage of her on stage to get everyone to turn on her and was still trying to take advantage of her when Shuu let him be the guy who has complete control over how and when she can even get in or out of her room.

        – even if she killed him and ran away she wouldn’t have got any support without him giving her information or him using his own followers to spread it around.

        so she had to make a deal with him and the only thing she had to trade in her desperation was to let him abuse his power over her and sleep with her.

        – but like I said whatever “whore of babylon”

        tmt12718
        Reply

      5. Arisa was backed into a corner with the ruling body putting her under arrest and no one doing anything about the pinked haired homicidal waif trying to silence her. She did sell herself out, though not nearly to the degree that Shuu has done after he threw his little bitch fit about that dead girl. Given the situation it’s understandable as to why Arisa did it.

        Seriously, you guys need to get out more. Are you guys Amish or something?

        schwegburt
        Reply

      6. @tmt12718:
        While I understand why she did what she did, I’m of the opinion that there are always other options before turning to sleeping with the enemy. Yes, they might not be nearly as effective or fast in getting you what you want, they are at least admirable and without the cost of losing your self-dignity. If she can set a coup d’état in motion, she should certainly have the brains to do it without having to resort to using her body.

        She wanted someone else to save her, but she couldn’t even stand up to one lone guard. I don’t care how traumatised she was by Inori, her depiction in this episode just points to an even weaker character than we’ve previously been shown. That is what bothers me the most. I liked Arisa before, whereby I never liked Nanbaーis the audience even supposed to like him?

        Never mind that this episode aired on Endou Aya’s birthday, which is just sad, sad timing…

        Regardless, I do hope that karmic justice rains down upon Nanba.

        R
        Reply

      7. @R
        I don’t agree with you. We can reason when we are looking at the third person perspective. But when things are happening; no matter how reasonable we try to be, we all humans do stupid things.

        banzemanga
        Reply

      9. @R

        I agree there are other options. But she was running out of time, and the quickest way to get Namba’s attention and agreement was to use what tools she had with her at the time. She obviously decided to survive today, then deal with the repurcussions of her actions later.

        pagan poor
        Reply

  2. Only thing I liked about this episode was that it gave me new found hope. Hope that the bomber will make it to his destination and just wipe all these jerks out in one fell swoop. Pretty much the best ending that can be hoped for from this train wreck at this point.

    Beckett
    Reply

      1. Because Noitamina has had such a good track record before this and the production values for Guilty definitely lend some interest. They also try to hard to do a lot of things with the story and characters but just fail on all fronts. A show like Rinne succeeds so well because despite lacking some ambition it executes everything exceedingly well.

        schwegburt
        Reply

      2. @schwegburt

        That… Has to be the most shallow reason I have ever heard. So just because a show you don’t like is in Noitamin A you troll it? Is your brain dry? It’s not even a studio, it a Japanese TV channel’s schedule block.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      3. @ Moondoggie – Uh oh so I incorrectly said noitaminA’s a studio. So anyways, the studio noitaminA has had a pretty solid evening block of anime and one of the few 2 cour series to get put up by them has proven to be very underwhelming.

        Right now the series is like a Michael Bay film where you watch it for the sweet effects and pray nothing too cringe worry pops up. Since I’m an atheist praying obviously hasn’t worked cause I manage to cringe quite frequently while watching this show.

        The sad part about Guilty Crown stems from how I expected more of a Ridley Scott style of series. You know, one where you watch a big budget film/anime and along the way you find it actually has a solid story which entertains you thoroughly.

        schwegburt
        Reply

      4. @schwegburt

        I didn’t say you said that… But you act like it.

        “So x show is aired in channel a’s primetime block and I don’t like it. Let’s troll it!” Really smart…/sarc

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      5. Actually you did say “It’s not even a studio, it a Japanese TV channel’s schedule block.” And I didn’t even bother denying it.

        In any case . . . You actually think I’m trolling?

        Shit son, I initially thought you used hyperbole there. Amusingly enough, most of my comments fall in line with the attitudes of a lot of other posters. Sorry buddy, but even Divine talks about the poor ass execution of Guilty’s plot and crappy characterizations.

        schwegburt
        Reply

      6. @schwegburt

        …And then you guys facepalm, bitch, threaten to quit, then comeback here. Rinse. Repeat.

        Are you sure you’re not the one that doesn’t make any sense? I see Litho’s back, and he’s not even watching.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      7. What schwegburt’s saying is that it’s quite basic logic for people to look up to something or someone with a good reputation. Noitamina do have a good record before Guilty Crown so it’s not surprising that people will expect good things from GC, especially how hyped it was from its teasers and advertisements.

        It’s like when Microsoft releases a new OS, since it’s pretty mainstream, no matter how bad Windows Vista and 7 turned out to be, it will still sell. Call it stereotyping but it’s a human’s natural way of thinking.

        The Story You Don't Know
        Reply

      9. With that last comment you posted, it seems as if you’re seeing others inferior to you, or did I just misinterpreted your message?

        I wouldn’t say the the human race has fallen so low. Like what I said, following mainstream is logical and what I mean by logical is that it is be the natural way of thinking given a situation.

        Guilty Crown aired in Noitamina. The name Noitamina itself is already a huge factor.
        Guilty Crown characters are designed by the famous redjuice, OST is composed by Supercell/Ryo
        Guilty Crown is produced by Production I.G. Another big name.
        The advertisements looked pretty good, or rather really great.
        The screenwriters have done other famous works.

        These facts alone are logical enough to convince a person to watch Guilty Crown.

        The Story You Don't Know
        Reply

      10. @The Story You Don’t Know

        You misinterpreted. I was referring to the seems-to-be forgotten etiquette of the anime fandom, which was you-hate-it-don’t-watch-it.

        I could still remember when it was still observed, back when this is still in Animebloggers. ANY hater that comes here is said to GTFO instead of posting hate post. Haters of Negima(by Shaft) and Strike Witches(where fans were called “Goddamn Lolicons”) were told to get out….

        ~Good Old Days….

        But now? It’s okay to say shit about any show! With plus points if trolling!?!

        Yeah, it’s logical to follow a well advertised show. But I kinda have this impression that you don’t like it. That you hate every second of watching it.

        So I really don’t know what to think about you guys right now.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

    2. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if this show wasn’t on noitaminA. Air it on the same slot as Kamen Rider or Zero no Tsukimi and people probably wouldn’t be so miffed.

      I’m just waiting for this drivel to end. Creating something with no character and a drab plot is one thing, but having a protagonist that succeeds in annoying you from just the screencaps is a whole new level of fail, seriously.

      Hopefully Watanabe’s upcoming Sakamichi no Apollon will restore some credibility to the noitamina slot (and the anime industry in general).

      Litho
      Reply

    1. Well if you look at the OP, I think this was foreshadowed. In the OP there was a part which Shu was kneeling on the floor, holding his right arm… then Inori approached him and hugged him. After that there is a shot of someone’s right arm (probably Shu’s) with circuits. So probably Shu will get a new arm and get his power back.

      I am almost certainly convinced that his return of power will have to do with Shu’s own Void. He is pretty much the LAST CHARACTER WHOSE VOID WE HAVE NOT SEEN YET. Without his power of king, I think it may be possible that his Void can be extracted now.

      suff
      Reply

      1. You saw that too huh? What I’m really worried about is the end of the OP. Where Inori is just staring at the ruins of the city(The ruins is much bigger than last time maybe because of warheads?)… IT’S CODE GEASS ALL OVER AGAIN.

        tokwa
        Reply

  4. So they thought turning Arisa to a slut will make things interesting? I really don’t get it but it really seems that the producers want us to hate all the characters. Even Tsugumi betrayed Shu which leaves his Inori and Ayase as his only real allies.

    Well, we all sww it coming that Shu will get betrayed yet again, sooner and later, but other than that, I like the surprise of cutting Shu’s arms thus removing his power of the kings. What leaves me wondering now is what really happens to the people GHQ cloned/resurrected. Were they given fake memories or do their memories continue on from where they died? What made Gai act that way.

    Honestly speaking I was thinking of at least skipping the rest of the episodes of GC after they turned Arisa to a slut, but that cliffhanger did a good job of wanting me to continue it.

    The Story You Don't Know
    Reply

    1. >want us to hate all the characters
      For some reason this reminds me of School Days. You can feel the hatred oozing off the producers toward their characters, that or Yoshino is just being a huge @)#($ … and this is just from looking at screencaps.

      stuopidget
      Reply

      1. Wow the only show that pissed me of as much as this one was school days. I really don’t know if the writers just want to imitate evangelion in some way or fashion with this ridiculous developments and just showing the darkest side of every character, but someone should tell them that they’re just making a ball of shit with all the crap they are mixing together. Is like when you try to make a new color by mixing all the colors in the rainbow but just getting a filthy black. I believe this is a new line to compare other series with as how messy and out of context a anime could be driven by bad writing and mixing to much inconsistent and self exclusive ideas

        projectnoa
        Reply

      2. Never thought I would say this, but I’m glad they killed Hare. At least that way they spared her the Fate of having her Character ruined by the writers like they are apparently doing with everyone else

        Riliane
        Reply

      1. You’d have to look pretty hard to find a bigger I.G. fanboy than me (any studio that can generate Seirei no Moribito and Ghost Hound in the same year is truly epic). But I’m forced to admit their output in the last few years has been disappointing for the most part. Full credit for Usagi Drop, but that’s been the exception rather than the rule for them lately. Brains Base has exceeded them as a reliable quality machine, at the very least.

        Guardian Enzo
        Reply

      2. In the history of “Wildly Inappropriate Lines” Titanic had one that made everyone shudder and groan in the audience. For a series like Guilty Crown also spew out something like it to make everyone shudder at the horrible nature of a single in the face of a horrible plot is impressive actually.

        I don’t think anyone going to forget it… O___o

        Ani_BEE
        Reply

    4. yay… finally a proper badass shu with new arm, btw shu void is xxxx how he can make it out?
      oh….. there still mana…. inside inori?
      so rejoice shu , inori will wear a new outfit like in OP…. and you will have that cold expression on OP too , he will REBORN and fight againts the wolrd like lelouch in CG
      and destroy the world and rebuild it again just like lelouch……
      ummmmmmmm….. theres too many ripoff……

      White Rock Shooter
      Reply

  7. What exactly happened to Inori there at the end? She was running towards Shu and was suddenly impaled with a void weapon, in a non-lethal manner. Was it her own? Did Gai somehow bring it halfway out of her or something?

    UnknownSoldier
    Reply

    1. Somehow Gai managed to pull out his own void. Using his void, he pulled out Inori’s void. As his level of void control is not like Shu’s, Inori got unconscious with her own sword sticking out of her.

      deafvader
      Reply

  8. It occurs to me now what would have been a far better way of handling these last five episodes. They should have started with a flash-forward to the events of Episode 16, where Argo is parachuting into the remains of Tokyo. Go through the first half of the episode, (up until Shu has Argo imprisoned) and reintroduce every character from the first half who has made a major change to their attire and/or personality. If started here, the viewer and Argo learn about the major changes to the setting at the same time, with Argo basically reflecting the viewer’s astonishment at how the city, the tone of the series, and some of the characters, like Shu for instance, have changed drastically. Take out the 2 second flashback of Hare dying, and then Yahiro’s mention of a genomic weapon sounds credible, because no one has any reason to think he’s lying. After that, they should have worked episodes 13-15 into a flashback thing, then used the other half of Ep 16 to make a whole other episode, which would act as helping the viewer adapt to the “Shu Republik” as the story’s new status quo, then ending with Argo escaping and Shu learning how voids being destroyed kills people. It would one more episode than what was planned, but the unusually short length of this show has always been problem for pacing.

    If done this way, the audience would me more intrigued with the fates of characters they didn’t see, rather than come into the episode raging at Souta. Woah, what the hell happened here?! I guess it makes sense that Shu would try to emulate Gai right after his death. Wait, a student was killed? And where’s Hare?! These questions would be going through the viewer’s head throughout that episode and the three flashback following. Oh yeah, and they’d have to make the skip at least a month. That way it’s more believable than the three weeks 13-15 make up, story-wise.

    Now as for this episode: +5 points for Shu, -20 for Yahiro, +10 to Arisa, and +100 to Evilclone!Gai.

    Yahiro…I am disappoint. It would have been soooooo much more satisfying for you to spring a trap on Shu after building him up as a leader and then turning on him. The beginning of the episode was a good indication of where you were going. “Hey, Shu, I don’t like how you’re carrying out those orders I gave you the entire time you were leader.” When he was checking the message boards, my first thought was “He’s finally doing it!” But it turns out he was just trying to be friends with Shu in the absolute most sketchy way possible. God dammit, man. I thought you were different.

    Arisa, meanwhile finally seen a hole in her usurper’s forces and, at the cost of prostitution and her sanity, she has ripped it wide open. The truth about the voids and Inori’s assault has exposed how little control Shu really has over the situation with all his big talk. I know people are saying they’ve lost all respect for her, and frankly, so have I, but she at least managed to come back with a vengeance.

    Gai, it is good to have you back. Your replacement sucked ass. Now get this story on the right track. You don’t have a lot of time. Unless this is just another ploy for Shu to become leader again…

    And finally, Shu. You did well to finally take control of your own army, even if it was for just one day. But next time, try not to go for the “Do what I say or I’ll fucking kill you” tactic. That’s pretty much the only good thing I have to say about him at this point. It just makes me so happy to see him fail. You drove it here, man. You brought all of this on yourself.

    Oh, and FUCK YOU SOUTA. There, I said it.

    Da5id
    Reply

    1. TL;DR – Aside from the usual leaps in logic, in this episode, everyone got what they deserved. Besides Clone Gai, Ayase, Argo and Kenji (he can’t be OOC if he doesn’t show up, right?!), there really isn’t a single person left who’s still alive that I am rooting for. It’s almost like they couldn’t stand that people didn’t like Inori, so they made the entire cast worse and worse until she looked like a saint while they all looked like scum. But the action was nice, and I wouldn’t mind at all if the story just up and ended right here.

      But we can’t do that because there’s so many things left unanswered. So here’s 5 things I’d like to be answered in the show’s last 5 episodes.

      1. How Gai formed/got into Funeral Parlor, which they can do now that he’s back.
      2. Inori’s past (How she met Gai, how she was made, why her void is a sword, etc)
      3. The hell is the deal with Yuu (Who is he, why’s he with GHQ, why does he have void powers, etc)
      4. “The Rock That Started It All” AKA The Origin of The Apocalypse Virus (What is it, where did it come from, how did Mana get involved, etc)
      5. Shu’s dad (why is he so important, how did he die, what did he do, etc)

      …so yeah. Keep it up with the Shu abuse, GC. I’ve never been happier than with this episode.

      And where the hell is Kenji?! Also Daryl.

      AND it also occurs to me that Ayase and Tsugumi’s voids would have been incredibly useful in this sort of battle. Nice going using all your forces, Shu.

      Da5id
      Reply

      1. One more thing. Since Arisa clearly doesn’t fit the personality of her void anymore, (she went from an insecure girl with too much responsibility wanting to shield herself to a slut who fucking organized a coup d’état) Shouldn’t her void be a dildo or something now?

        Soiyeruda
        Reply

      5. What, you don’t know? I DIRECTED EPISODE THREEEEEEEEE.

        That’s right, the man who has been complaining about Guilty Crown the most out of anyone on this blog is actually the one who drove it to this point! You never would’ve noticed me being right under your noses! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

        Da5id
        Reply

  9. Should I be laughing? Was this show trying to be unintentionally funny? Because I can’t hate GC anymore when this episode is full of contrivance and stupid that its just hilarious. Its like that GC writers gave up on proofreading the script.

    Where are these characterizations coming from? How did Arisa suddenly turn into a manipulative seductress when she didn’t have the balls to keep order among rioting students before? Why is Yahiro suddenly questioning Shu’s tyranny when he was the one ENCOURAGING IT before!? The only good thing to come out is Shu suddenly stop being a dumbass and calling Yahiro out on his hypocrisy. Sadly, Shu spends the rest of the episode with the “Idiot Virus” again.

    Speaking of idiocy, the students seem to be infected with this “Idiot Virus”. They were like “Shu didn’t tell us that we die when our Void breaks!? That bastard! Let us show our discontent by FOLLOWING HIS PLAN OF RUNNING STRAIGHT INTO ENEMY GUNFIRE! We’re so glad we found out about our Voids because getting shot anywhere other than our Voids won’t lead to horrible deaths!”

    And Shu is like “OMG I used people as cannon fodder! Its not as if I could use Tsugumi’s void to create decoys! DURRR!!! Speaking of which, allow me to destroy the Tokyo Tower practically on my own now. Its almost like I didn’t need to sacrifice people!”

    At this point I have no more sympathy with any of these idiots. Don’t like Shu, Inori or Gai. Don’t like any of the idiot students. Don’t like GHQ. I’m actually rooting for the UN to nuke Japan to oblivion.

    fragb85
    Reply

    1. More coldly, the only betrays I don’t really understand are Arisa’s, only partial since she got attacked by Inori but I don’t understand why she would betray Shuu becuase of that, and Yahiro, he is only a backstabbing scumbag. Even I understand Souta’s behavior, he is almost dead and suffered a lot because of Shuu, or Tsugumi, wich she never had anything to do with Shuu’s decisions so she probably was against him since Hare’s death, but Arisa and Yahiro?

      If things were logical, the students should have throw away Arisa and Yahiro along with Shuu, they were the ones who came up with void ranking system and gave him the nazi ideas. Probably students think it was all set by Shuu, but it would be interesting to see what would happen if they found out the truth. But I doubt writers are going to give us that pleasure, probably Shuu will come back giving love and peace to all, like usually happens.

      LoL
      Reply

      2. I was talking in plural, Yahiro came with the void system and Arisa with the vaccine distribution, that’s what I meant. All blame Shuu for firing, but Yahiro gave him the gun and Arisa the ammunition.

        LoL
        Reply

    2. Didn’t Shu frequently jump off air in episode 4 while using Inoni’s void towards the end? Great, instead of just “flying” to the tower he decides to sacrifice students. Great going Shu.

      Sekai
      Reply

    3. The biggest problem with all this is that they actually made the biggest wimp in school the leader. It would’ve been fine if it was revealed that Yahiro was only supporting Shu so that he can use Shu’s void powers to get out, then betray him at the end to reveal that the tyrant path that Yahiro led Shu on was just a ploy to stage a coup. And of course, I expected too much out of this anime.

      And if you’re going to be a fascist, at least do it well. Any half-assed dictator knows that censorship is the foundation of a state without free will, so why do all the students still have cell phones that could be used to express slander against Fuhrer Shu.

      Honestly, Shu can’t be blamed for any of this. Arisa and Yahiro led him on the path of darkness, and he actually succeeded with the goal to get out of the red zone. If anything, those idiot students should be blamed for letting a stupid, wimpy kid become a leader when he obviously was not up for the job.

      Moeronic
      Reply

    1. If Shu didn’t listen to Yahiro everyone would be dead. Yes he was a douche about the whole thing but he had the right idea. They needed structure. If people knew the truth about the Voids they wouldn’t fight and they’d all get squashed by the wall. It’s ruthless and cruel, but it really was the only way. Yahiro is Guilty Crown’s Rossiu. Right and logical but no one will like him because he goes against what people want to see: Idiocy. Not that Guilty Crown isn’t delivering it in spades. But I’m entertained and that’s enough for me.

      EmD
      Reply

      1. If Shu had balls instead of Yahiro they could have destroyed this ridiculous “walled in” situation a few days after it began with a bit of planning, Tsugumi distraction and Shu with Inori void taking Tokyo Tower out alone. A simple and fast plan would have also made it much harder for anyone to plan a coup d’etat while it was still being planned.

        HakumeiJin
        Reply

  12. Right, thats it. I give up. This is too far gone, even for me.

    I’ll still watch this, but only for the shock value and entertaining lolplotdeviceswtf. Oh, and the hope that Shuu will die. Painfully too.

    Rakkyo
    Reply

  13. I really don’t see why anybody would be angry at shu he not the greatest guy\leader but he still save all there asses.
    He did not have to save anyone in the school , they bunch of bitches they angry with him but still need his power to save there self .
    I have no problem with people telling shu get off his high horse but if going to do it at least don’t depend on that person to save you .
    Any way Shu will get back his power when look at the intro you can see it .

    andy
    Reply

  14. Shu will get his power back. Its in the preview, it shows a glowing green arm for a split second. Also this was all planed out to bring out his true powers out. Considering that his mother said he would never forgive her for you know going along cutting to his arm fiasco.

    Akumetsu
    Reply

  16. I thought it was a contraception device when Nanba threw that capsule to Arisa. Wtf are you going to do now Shu?! Who gives a shit if you lose your kings power? You just lost your fapping arm man.

    ComM3
    Reply

  17. Is it just me or is Guilty Crown bearing a striking resemblance to the last few episodes of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series. Characters whom you thought you knew, Arisa, Tsugumi, Yahiro, doing a whole 360. The fact that Shu gets betrayed by practically everyone seems like a welcome surprise and more importantly, the extent of their betrayal, caught me absolutely off-guard. It just feels that Guilty Crown is finally loosening up all it’s shackles in season 2. I for one am excited about how the writers will move the story forwards!

    Jugipru
    Reply

      2. I guess I thought that Arisa would be dead, from last week’s episode. Tsugumi would be in Shu’s camp (I saw no reason why she would betray Shu for GHQ and everyone else would still fear Shu, since he could just cut them down like the Endlaves in this episode. All of them betraying him right after he leads them out the the red zone seems a bit harsh.

        Jugipru
        Reply

      3. To be honest, it came to my mind that it would have been better if Arisa did die in episode 16… but that would turn Inori to a murderer though… well, a friend murderer

        The Story You Don't Know
        Reply

      1. Yes! The writers can’t make up their mind for some reason. GAH I feel so bad for the hard work that the production team has put into this show, it’s the only thing carrying this show. BUT! BUT BUT! there are still 5 episodes left.

        End3rr
        Reply

  19. I swear. I just about lost it in 10 different ways when Shuu screamed “NNOOOO THE POWER OF KINGS!!!”. It was so overly hilarious and yet pissed me off so much that I wish Gai just killed off Shuu completely. Based off the OP though, Shuu will probably get some magical artificial hand that mimics the power of kings and then proceeds to save the world (or Japan, at least). Regardless of what happens in the next 5 episodes, Shuu is beyond redemption now.

    Soiyeruda
    Reply

      2. @0927123
        fyi,when lelouch defeat the charles, that time, he also dont plan, goal and direction as ‘nununally ‘ is really then after one month mia then only he come out the plan . so is the same….

        shinkirou
        Reply

      3. Then what do you call him defeating Charles? Isn’t that a fulfillment to his goal?
        Avenging his mother? Isn’t that a direction to his life?
        Zero Requiem? Isn’t that a plan?

        If you’re whining about Lelouch being m.i.a, then let me see Shuu come up with plan as brilliant as the Zero Requiem after being m.i.a.

        0927123
        Reply

  20. I can’t seem to like anyone anymore -____- When is the void the is supposed to rewind time/resurrect everyone going to pop up? ;D There’s bound to be a monster, series changing void somewhere XD

    Ryuunosuke808
    Reply

  21. Hah! Shu really didn’t have the balls to kill off Argo!

    Arisa was really annoying in this episode, and funny how, whenever Shu does man up, Gai comes in to steal his thunder. This time, literally!

    Anyways, I’m guessing Shu’s “redemption” party will consist of Mananori, Argo, Ayase, Yahiro, Tsugumi and, loathe as I am to admit, Daryl…

    which begs the question, how does Mana feel about this turn of events? XD

    Beedle
    Reply

    1. Oh! One more thing I forgot to mention…

      I predict that the entirety of the surviving students are going to get screwed over badly soon, setting up the stage for Shu’s redemption.

      Yuu’s comment: “The index variation is 281. Honestly…you’ve done well collecting them…”

      index variation -?-> variety of voids (students) to choose from? as in, all the strongest voids (ranking system, anyone?), gathered in one spot, available for the taking?

      I’m now waiting for a “Just as planned” by Segai or Shuuichiro.

      Beedle
      Reply

  22. I gotta admit. Shu should’ve seen this reversal coming. But damn. Was it just me or the art quality took a jump UP in some of the scenes? Damn. Especially the last shot of Shu. That just freaked me out.

    Seriously, I was scared. The Agony on that kid’s face.

    Also, I agree with what Divine wrote. I think this show has a case of severe identity crisis. I feel like feeling sorry for Shu, while at the same time I was thinking “What is wrong with this kid?!” He needs a good shaking to wake him up. Thankfully, I think Gai just did that.

    Maybe that’s the plan of the writers all along? Making the audience feel both ways?

    On another note, HEY! Inori actually has facial expressions now! Wow. Took fucking long enough.

    All Hail King Gai! Down to the Usurper! All Hail King Gai! Down to the Usurper! …and his Bitch, the Whore of Babylon.

    @Da5id – I know Shu isn’t dead but… I bet you’re giddy aren’t you? 😛 He just lost his right arm in a spectacularly BLOODY fashion.

    Jared Drake
    Reply

    1. Pretty much. He screwed himself and everyone around him tremendously and he deserved what he got.

      Now, I’m not saying anyone else around him is any better (except for maybe Gai, Argo and Ayase), just that Shu got what was coming to him.

      Da5id
      Reply

      1. I agree with you. As much as I want Shu to succeed, his pseudo-sociopathic behavior had to be stopped. He definitely had this coming.

        Now, time for him to properly man up. Hare would be ashamed of him, right now.

        Jared Drake
        Reply

      2. You know, I wouldn’t mind him manning up in the final stretch, actually. It wouldn’t change my overall opinion of the show by any means, but if the guy can just get it right once, JUST ONCE, that’ll raise my opinion, if ever so slightly.

        Da5id
        Reply

      3. @Jared Drake: If Hare were here, Shu never would have gone to the Dark Side in the first place, you know. -_- I guess everybody forgot that having a close friend die in your arms like that tends to drastically change a person, both in real life and anime.

        Of course, there’s the whole problem where the writers and staff have been trying WAY to hard from day 1 to ridicule Shu and make him look “pathetic,” which really only makes me feel more sympathetic for him. They keep coming up with such incrdibly exaggerated ways to make Shu into a wuss and an ass, and it’s REALLY annoying. >.>

        Shinji103
        Reply

      4. Shuu is so much more of a writer’s puppet then a fleshed out character. The overdo everything in his actions and in particular words when they clearing illustrate things in the animation. Train wreck of two season(s)!!! At lest BLOOD C was over in 13 episodes.

        Ani_BEE
        Reply

      1. Totally got it. Honestly, at this point, my complaints about Inori being flat and cardboard and the like are actually compliments. I kind of hope she never gains a personality so she doesn’t become an awful person like everyone else, including who she was cloned from.

        Da5id
        Reply

  23. i had such high hopes for this series since the first episode. my feelings for this series went like this:

    “omfg, that was an awesome first episode. now that was an awakening!”

    “wtf, shu is such a punkass little shit.”

    “his sister went apeshit crazy, gai sacrificed himself, shu and his friends lead a heroic struggle to save the city. very uplifting episode.”

    “dust is settling. shu starts to become respectable and starts to think about saving his friends and schoolmates.”

    “wow. shu is a badass.”

    “hare! no! that was one of the best death scenes i’ve ever seen.”

    “shu…you’re fucked up. that’s just fucked up. inori…what the fuck did you do to arisa?”
    “arisa’s a slut and a traitor. souta turned on shu. the whole school turned against shu. poor inori. gai is…what? shu’s arm? ughhhh—.”

    i can’t watch this shit anymore. it’s far too gone to be saved.

    TehJonel
    Reply

    1. Turning any “decent” character into a slut is a good enough reason for any anime/manga. Really, I think writers should just leave out the idea of turning characters into sluts.

      The Story You Don't Know
      Reply

      1. Oops, missed out two words.


        Turning any “decent” character into a slut is a good enough reason to hate any anime/manga. Really, I think writers should just leave out the idea of turning characters into sluts.

        I should really use that preview comment button more

        The Story You Don't Know
        Reply

  25. It’s as if this was written by the George Lucas who wrote the Star Wars prequels… Now I feel like watching Mr. Plinkett’s reviews all over again while thinking of Guilty Crown.

    Enraged Faggot
    Reply

  26. @Da5id
    I don’t see how Shu screw up i mean i really dislike him the first part of the series .
    During the second part he has done allot to help the others and save there asses many times.
    Yeah he turn kind of mess up after one of his close friends die but he still try save them.

    andy
    Reply

    1. I get ya. I’d love to think his heart was in the right place when he did all that, but…I’m actually having a harder time determining who I should be more mad/disappointed at. Shu’s definitely in the top 3 though.

      Da5id
      Reply

    2. He was an jerk, lied, and treated the students unfair (compare how he wanted to let Souta die in the previous episode and how he protected Inori despite her being guilty of attacking Arisa). He was an ignorant tyrant, and not the benevolent dictator.
      In the end, almost nobody was willing to trust him.

      Golos
      Reply

      1. If he as actually a tyrant he would have sliced everyone as soon as they pulled the guns out. But he didn’t. I’m just hoping shu gets back in the game quickly and stabs everyone and paint the town red enough for a nice boat at the end.

        Ramen
        Reply

  27. Sigh.. This series could’ve been a lot better if they didn’t make us ‘hate’ so many characters by this time!

    ;__; The only characters I genuinely *still* feel for are Ayase and Inori (and maybe Argo). @__@

    Skye
    Reply

  30. Wild Jesus Gai appears…

    …and screws Shu over. Wow. Yahiro actually played his cards out and got booted in the process. And I thought it would be somewhere two episodes before the end. I also expected him to succeed. Instead he really is trying to play as Shu’s right hand man.

    Screwing Shu and everything is not something I was expecting to see this episode. Granted I did expect Gai to do it, but not until next week. I also didn’t expect Arisa to be well enough to play the harlot and stage a coup in one episode.

    If the OP is any indication however, Shu will get back on his feet. But screwing Gai, Arisa, GHQ, the students and FP is a task seems impossible without, I don’t know…, something like the third Leukocyte kill-sat or the Voids.

    If he does get back his power, though, I expect him to do a genocide on par with those in, say, Space Runaway Ideon. Or Gundam. Or even Evangelion. Just enough to do a dark show justice. They kick Shu around, and after he gets back up, they kick him down again. They are getting over their heads. Someone need to teach these traitors a lesson about pain, blood and death.

    The Moondoggie
    Reply

  31. I have to say, GC has been one of the most memorable trainwreck in recent history, it has been such a spectacular failure thus far in almost every aspect it’s mind-boggling, especially considering it’s a noitamina show.

    Mike
    Reply

  32. Hahaha oh man, I smiled watching Guilty Crown for probably….the very first time in this episode, when Gai came and pwnd Shu’s arm. He got what he deserved.

    Everyone seems to be hating on Arisa a lot after this episode, but come on, look at the freaking situation she’s in. She’s practically a prisoner to a tyrant, and shes the only one who knows the truth about voids besides Yahiro, she had to find a way to let everyone know. The “guard” overheard her leak the info, she had to do something to shut him up and make things work her way. She did what she had to do, nothing more. If you wanna keep calling her a slut, whatever. I consider it intelligent to reverse her whole situation by seducing the guard, which allowed her to relay the information to every student.

    And so can you blame the students for being angry? Most of them were being fed up with Shuu’s crap this episode, so finding out that they were simply being used as tools was the last straw for all of them.

    Anyway, glad Shuu got what was coming to him. So far we still dont know what Gai’s and Arisa’s plans are, but I’d infinitely rather watch them than that worthless failure of a main character named Shuu any longer.

    YanDaMan
    Reply

    2. Time to play the devil’s advocate~

      Everyone seems to be hating on Arisa Shu a lot after throughout this episode series, but come on, look at the freaking situation she’s in.

      While I’m not a fan of Shu’s character myself, when you do take his history into account, you can sympathize with him.

      Bear in mind, post (and I’m even assuming pre, because Shu doesn’t seem to have a picture of his father, and Haruka’s known to be always busy with work) Lost Christmas, Shu doesn’t have a normal childhood, and the only stable figure in his life, Mana, turned out to be a complete psycho.

      Throw in being used as FP’s slave (heck, didn’t Argo even say something along the lines of “you were better as our bitch!”), Inori wordlessly following Gai’s manipulations to mindrape Shu, Shu’s own self-esteem issues, among all the death paving his way, and you have one unstable due to overuse shoe as a protagonist.

      But hey, Shu’s never one for brains, so it took him this long to realise he’ll never amount to anything by copying other people!

      Beedle
      Reply

      1. My 0.02$:

        If I can hate on Shu for being an idiot with an inferiority complex the size of the moon, then I can sure as hell hate on Arisa for being a weak-willed poser trying to man up by whoring herself out.

        Oh wait, she wasn’t even taking charge, since she was following someone else’s orders….

        Whore of Babylon!

        Seriously, what GC needs is a better director!

        Beedle
        Reply

    1. It’s a shame Inori didn’t kill her when deep down inside (Mana), she knew Arisa was up to no good. Yet, she just had to stop halfway because of realizing she wasn’t herself.

      Can you imagine if Inori would’ve went through with it? None of this would’ve happened let alone Arisa sleeping with Nanba. (which seems to be irritating Arisa fanboys/girls.)

      Now we, the GC audience, are forced to feel pity for the MC because of what he’s endured now and sympathize with him from the beginning when he was (and still is) a struggling protagonist. And we’re also left to some “what the hell am I supposed to think” moments. Bar none: I have no idea what to think or say of this anime, its characters, and its plot right now. But alas, the ending will decide it once and for all, and we shall be the ones to judge.

      Let’s see it to the end, troops!

      UJelly
      Reply

  35. I think I can see how this trainwreck is going to finish, but first, a brief summary of what HAVE happened
    (and everything will be in point form)…
    and since Divine stopped the summary a while back, here’s my version of an epicly-spoilerish summary:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    my thoughts:
    -Shu’s trying to enforce the lie on himself now – GOSH, he gets bent over way too easily (ya, that comment should’ve been for ep 15, but I don’t care)
    -Arisa falling for Gai enough to use her body….disturbing? yup
    -and the other students…they look like sheeps heading to the shepard with the better voice, first Shu, then Arisa (who is following someone else’s advice too *rolles eyes*
    -the big slow body of UN council finally moved … by dropping another nuke? (via a B-2, no less)
    talk about overkill nah, I personally think it’s appropriate…

    the prediction:
    – the “governor”/Yuu/Neo-Gai’s going to stop the UN forces in a heartbeat unless those said forces are as slow as heck and appear in the last 2 episodes
    – Argo, Tsugumi, and Ayase isn’t happy about Neo-Gai being here, seeing how they’re angry @ his image, at least I still have faith in those 3 (unlike most of the viewers here and in the AnimeSuki forum)
    – Mana’s going to help Shu, I just know it…on second though, anyone would do actually…seeing how Shu’s been kicked to the curb about 6 times already

    info600
    Reply

    1. Well, i get the feeling Gai is not evil. His objective still lies on Mana. Mana will definitely help Shuu. I am sure they are going to portray Mana as evil only because of Inori’s existence. I mean, she might be infected by the virus and love her brother too much. But deep inside, she might not care anything other than Shuu. Meaning that she would not care that the world is in peace neither, as long as she is with Shuu.

      banzemanga
      Reply

    2. just as the plot of the story that hare told about the the kind king,
      the king is kind to everyone = she concern with everyone feeling thus no action is taken
      the king give out everything he has to the ppl = shu lead the students out of the red zone as he promise
      at the end the kind king got nothing to give , he was torch by his ppl= shu lead the student out of the red zone but still he was back stab by the rest , although he have give everything to them.
      so basically even after hare death, shu is till acting as kind king (inside) but on the outside he just try to act ‘tough’ to prevent other seeing his own weakness. but after this episode, is safe to say the ‘kind king’ is now fully becoming “tyrant king”

      shinkirou
      Reply

    1. Oh heck no, you’re not the only one. Another viewer stated it quite nicely; the students only VALIDATED Shu’s methods by using his plan to SUCCEED in escaping the zone. So they didn’t revolt against a traitor; they backstabbed the guy who got them the hell out of there.

      Shinji103
      Reply

  38. This show is getting crazier by the moment, now Arisa fucks that douche just for her goals… I have no problem with that, I like characters that are mean or manipulative enough to do what is necessary and just don’t give a fuck, but was Arisa one of those characters? Since when was Arisa’s goal to rule the whole thing? Up to this point, she only wanted to help people so what the hell happened to her to become the next evil queen? Its as if something flipped a switch and then she became a completely different person.

    Anyway, she is probably going to die at some point, cause a woman selling her body is sadly a death flag in every show, audience is not ready to forgive such act, as its generally seen as something worse than killing an innocent. I would be gladly surprised if she didn’t die for this.

    My rant goes against the general character inconsistencies in the whole anime from one episode to another. Not just Arisa, everyone is going nuts and switching personalities as if they were shoes.

    O.O
    Reply

    2. I would have to disagree with your comment about Arisa dying like every other show. Sadly, this isn’t like any other show, instead of giving us, the viewers, that satisfaction, I’m sure the writers have something distasteful for us…

      End3rr
      Reply

      1. Remember the blond psycho boy killing his father and his father’s lover in the airport? this show is no exception to that rule.

        Arisa’s death would not satisfy me really, I can’t hate her for what she did, I can hate the show for being inconsistent tho, I just think that her death wouldn’t fix the damage done to her character.

        This is probably one of the few shows in which I wish the protagonist woke up in the end with an “It was all a fucked up dream” ending. Then I could say: “NOW it all makes sense”.

        O.O
        Reply

  40. Arisa turned out to be very disappointing, I’ve had such high hopes for her. I mean the CRUISE SHIP EPISODE! LOOK AT HER GDAMN VOID. It’s a shield not a lady toy.. sorry for the rude remark. but smh.

    End3rr
    Reply

  41. The thing is these are the same people that were about to kill each other a short while ago and Arisa was useless to stop it .
    Now they back stab Shu when he still save there lives when they had no other way to get out and she was useless again .
    okay if your void break you are going to die but there much easier way for them to die before that happens.

    andy
    Reply

  43. …I can’t believe the ridiculous shit that’s going on in this series… it’s like trying to find the most excruciating way to die while trying to look pretty while doing it… this show had so much potential with their character designs by redjuice, songs by supercell, good cast of seiyuus, and the perfect storywriting team with the director of death note and the screenwriter of code geass… I remember in the fall preview when Divine put up the double guarantee on this series and I thought that this series would be the series of the year… now I’m just insanely depressed by this show but for the sake of it I’m still following it every week hoping for this anime to show some small glimmer of hope or redemption.

    Azure
    Reply

  45. lol Gai, he said that he’s the real king? Mana the original “queen” choose Shu as her partner not Gai and Inori also choose Shu instead of Gai, so who’s the real king? But this anime really surprised me, most anime now days always have theme “friendship”, like with friendship we have “unlimited powers” “I can do anything because my friends is with me” or so. But GC is the opposite, they show how human can change really easily when crisis occur that even your best friend will betray you which is nice for a change of pace imo (even though it’s still a little bit sad). But what really surprise me in this episode is that Arisa sold herself for the coup d’etat and Tsugumi for actually participating in the coup d’etat as well (why Tsugumi…? even though I thought you are different from the other bastards… I believe in you! But you…!). But Thank goodness that Ayase didn’t participate in the coup d’etat because she doesn’t seem to know what is going on.

    Anyway can’t wait for the next episode, what will happen to Shu now he’s short one hand lol. And I’m sure that Gai will take Inori away to make her his queen or something. And did anyone else notice that when Gai cut off Shu’s hand he materialize a sword out of nowhere? Is that a void or something else?

    kurochan
    Reply

    1. That void was Inori’s. Remember, Gai’s void was to force other people’s voids out, and Inori’s was out already, anyways.

      This does make me wonder though, now that Gai has his own void extractor or whatever it’s called, does this mean he doesn’t have a void anymore to draw out?

      Beedle
      Reply

      3. > Jesus Gai(fuck him) didn’t kill him. WHEN HE CAN. Why?

        > Also Inori and Ayase is still with him, if ever they get out of this.

        > I don’t think he’s out of commission just because of a right arm cut off. He still has the Genome inside him.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

    3. Lol I know. I have no fucking idea what I think of this show. I really, really don’t. I hate it, I love it, it’s a trainwreck, it’s entertaining, I can’t even go beyond that to say what this show makes me think.

      lol
      Reply

  51. GC Producer: Uhh what’s up with everyone? And why’s Arisa like that?
    EP 17 Writer: Sir I heard Shuu’s a prick, so I put prick on everyone so the audience can hate while they hate.
    GC Producer: Uhm, what? I’m really confused.
    EP 17 Writer: Exactly. *wink*

    0927123
    Reply

    2. I also love evil Arisa, my problem is that they didn’t really build up the story for that personality change, it was just too sudden, like with everyone else in this anime. They think they can justify every sudden change just by putting characters in a shock. While its possible, that is just no way of making a story or developing a character, and doing it to everyone only makes it worse.

      Also, in a show where voids clearly define a person, you can’t really fool anyone with personality based twists. Arisa’s void says she is a very defensive shy girl, and the last thing you’d expect her to do is opening her body to douches to dethrone someone.

      As much as I like evil Arisa, I just don’t believe her character now.

      O.O
      Reply

  57. Funnily enough, ive just read through code geass r2 reviews, and the trainwreck etc. comments are generally the same. But in the end ppl still liked code geass r2. I most definitely do.

    Speaking of CG, i guess GC is really the opposite, in terms of the main character. Lulu was everything that Shu is not: a leader, smart, motivated, while Shu was a wuss, gullible, and not motivated. However the way the story is going is generally similar. Shirley died/ Hare died. Lelouch got exposed by Schneizel, abandoned by Black Knights/ Shu got exposed by Arisa the slut, abandoned by the students.

    By the way,isn’t the director of GC the same as CG? Maybe he’s just trying to prove that he can make an anime thats as great as CG even with a main character who spent 3/4 of the series being next to useless =_=

    Anyway, my prediction according to CG storyline:
    1. Shu now has nothing to lose. And everything to gain.(Like when Lelouch had no allies at all, he still managed to get rid of his parents in the world of C solo- Suzaku and C.C were just watching at the sidelines)
    2. He gets back his power or finds a new power(new hand)somehow in the process.
    3. He realizes his mother was involved in all the shit that happened to him, and kills her, Eyebrows,and Clownface,with all the GHQ and along the way, stops the UN from destroying Japan.
    4. Mass killing + killing his mother finally sends Shu off the deep end. He makes a plan to become a real tyrant king, concentrate all hate on him, no matter how many more ppl he has to kill.
    5. Vampire Gai/ Revived Mana = final boss, also the root of all the apocalypse virus.
    6. Vampire Gai/ Revived Mana is defeated by Shu, because somehow Inori develops her own personality and resists Mana, allowing him to deal a fatal blow. Oh and apocalyspe virus is gone too, coz they are defeated.
    7. Shu is the winner! Says/Kisses goodbye to Inori. Then he commits suicide. Or he used his power so much that he dies due to apocalypse virus (last guy to die to it). And since the tyrant is dead, all hate on him gone, WORLD PEACE. -The End-

    Wow i can be the new director of GC. And if all these really happens, i think my overall impression of this show maybe quite good. Taking into account the amazing quality of animation, music and style. Though, this show should have had 1 more season to develop things at a slower, better pace.

    And seriously, i find Inori damn cute when she actually shows some emotion. Except insanity. Oh and lets not forget, leaving a cliffhangar right at the end. Remember the OP? where Inori lies down on a field of grass apparently alone. I can already imagine it. She does a monologue blah blah, then at the end, says something that hints that Shu is alive.

    -Insert fanrage here-

    Zephyr
    Reply

    1. Code Geass (1) was definitely not much of my cup of tea. But they did Code Geas R2 differently. They really new how to make every scene worth watching. And not to mention all those cliffhangers.

      One last thing is that Lulu was never a wimp to begin with. The only complain i had was how could Lulu be so heartless. But they kept developing on him and show how his past trauma developed his personality. And more importantly, they made him grow up a heart.

      banzemanga
      Reply

    2. “And since the tyrant is dead, all hate on him gone, WORLD PEACE. -The End-”

      Yesh, I can see that coming . . .

      But I say Lulu is mush better like Banzemanga said. They develop his character perfectly especially in the R2 and ofcourse no emotional inconsistency (there are but not “hate-able” like Shu’s).

      TheTroll
      Reply

    3. I’m only still watching GC as I keep hoping it will get better. With CGR2 I didn’t like how something were panned out but I still could felling it was building towards something and the journey their still made sense.

      This Shuu the tyrant king only lasted what 2 episodes just so that we can hate him more and have a Zombie/Mana Gai show up and usurp him after he was going to leave the school group leadership position.

      Would you trust a resurrected Gai with MANA’S powers any better.

      Ani_BEE
      Reply

  58. Good. Shuu’s retribution just started. Now i want to see what happens to the following characters:

    -The trio student who boss around everyone. Specially how Arisa will get her revenge on the guy on with the glasses.
    -The doctor militant who works with Shuu’s mother. He is not finished trying to be King. And i am sure he won’t let Shuu’s mother take action if it is not advantageous to him.
    -Shuu’s mother, what the heck is she up to? She says that she is doing it for Shuu. But i can’t see she could be doing something to help him if the other doctor is around.
    -Gai, Inori and Arisa. It is obvious that Gai will take Inori hostage from now on. And Arisa will become a jealous and bitchy. But Shuu’s sister is inside Inori and i am sure Gai is aware of it. Gai’s objective is definately related to Shuu’s sister.
    -The militant commander with shark teeth. He has been sitting back on the sidelines all this time. I get the feeling he is the final boss.
    -The other guy who has the King’s power. I get the feeling he is up to something but i am also quite sure they won’t explain anything of who he is and what is his objective. He migh just disappear altogether once Shuu becomes the final protagonist.

    banzemanga
    Reply

  59. I really not sure should I be happy happy tht Shoe lost his arm (definitely intended) on the situation… Hopefully this should at least make him open his eyes…

    And the most important thing: Yay Gai return!!!!! with POWERS!!!!!!

    D-LaN
    Reply

  61. i dont know why despite the awfull comment and critics of this show , i see this show the most commented show in RC at this 2 season?
    why? can anyone tell me? why r u commenting thi show?
    a. because its so bad that u want to protest on someone?
    b. because its so good but have too many weakness?
    c. because u feel like it
    d. just participate
    e. because u r dissapointed in the world?
    p.s dont mind my bad english

    White Rock Shooter
    Reply

      2. B

        Like D Lan said the characters don’t have depth as much as their characterization is schizophrenic. Guilty Crown stumbles at the foreshadowing that make a character’s revelation or change in behavior come across as palatable.

        It’s a show you want to like and you can tell they’re trying damn hard to create something compelling . But they just. Can’t. Get. It. Right.

        schwegburt
        Reply

    5. Because a show with this kind of production value SHOULD have turned out good, but didnt.

      Plot holes everywhere, inconsistent writing, inconsistent character personalities, inconsistent plot. Nothing makes sense, every episode goes from good to bad like a see-saw. To top it all off, one of the most unlikeable male leads in anime history.

      Most people want to like this show because it did have the potential to be good. Except at this point, its been too much of an inconsistent trainwreck to redeem itself.

      YanDaMan
      Reply

  62. “I can’t really see Shuu regaining his power now that Gai’s finally taken it ”
    The foreshadowing in the OP with Shoe holding his arm makes a lot more sense now. I’d say there’s a 99.9% chance that glowing “Trace-on” arm we cut to after that bit is gonna grant shoe his power again.

    “I sometimes wonder if the producers themselves are undecided about whom to develop into a character that everyone can get behind and in the process have left us with no one — no one that’s alive anymore anyway (*sniff*)”
    I’m gonna give my opinion on this one at the risk of being flamed:
    I totally agree that this episode highlighted how utterly unlikable and wishy-washy this cast is.
    It also made me realize why Daryl is the only character left that I’m a fan of; he’s not developed better than any of the other characters per se (none of them have been handled with much tact though) but he’s really the only one who appears to be undergoing a positive change while the rest of the cast is boarding the train to douchebagville.

    Oh Mah Shoe
    Reply

      1. Starting out near the bottom of the barrel doesn’t necessarily mean the only thing the writers could’ve done with him was telegraph a heel face turn
        They could have easily had him remain the cheesily evil character we saw in episode 2 and used him as a tool to provide the show with some more shock value via gratuitously heinous acts
        But instead they’ve chosen to provide him some growth, which I can appreciate

        Oh Mah Shoe
        Reply

  64. I picked this back up around episode 13 because it sounded great. It was fun to watch in a trainwreck kind of way.

    But 16 and 17 were just god awful. If the next episode isn’t better I will drop this and marathon it when it’s finished (I don’t like dropping things completely when I’m already this invested)

    But seriously. Destroying Gai’s death (it’s pretty meaningless now). The Deus Ex Machina of “LOLOL CUTTING OF THE ARM GRANTS THE POWER NO ONE THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE”.

    Uggggh. They really could have saved this series with the second arc. The first arc’s finale was pretty good (considering this series’ track record) but this… Just no. ;_;

    Kamion
    Reply

    1. That would have made this the perfect show for me. Supercell x Urobochi. I don’t hate the show in fact I like it. Which if funny because I did brace myself before episode 1 in assuming that the writers would be it’s weakest point. But yeah its pretty undeniable that Urobochi would have improved it. It would have made more sense if he did it too considering the game.

      Jin Hagenaya and Urobochi, that is, my two favourites from Nitro+? Okay this show seriously needs a remake with more cours too. lol I can see you all commiting seppaku right now! Hey if the blu-rays and merchandise do well (and they look like they might) such things may happen in the future and I kind of hope for it. You call it milking, I call it possible improvement over some of that wasted potential. but please if there ever is a next time with GC or any other show like this, hire the right writers.

      Kana
      Reply

  67. Now I am beginning to feel Yahiro was not bad. He just went overboard with the militaristic rule and advice in dealing with situations which in turn led Shuu to go overboard. I am pretty sure Ayase, Argo, and Tsugami are still on Shuu’s side but staying in the background due to the situation and why Tsugami stopped Ayase from going out because Ayase would obviously rush out to save Shuu and cause more problems for them. Shuu’s mom is obviously upto something to help him but requires drastic measures.

    RS456
    Reply

  69. Ha, everyone is talking about how the show is a trainwreck but you can’t wait to watch the next episode and that means the show is succeeding at what its supposed to do, entertain. I can imagine the writters checking the various anime boards exploding with comments about this show and going “All according to keikaku”. As Zephyr mentioned, everyone called Code Geass a trainwreck when it was coming out and Gundam Seed Destiny before that and Gundam Seed before that and so on. And while they all may be a mess, they’re fun as hell.

    On topic, glad Shu is out of half-assed tyrant mode. I don’t dislike him as much as everyone here does so I can’t wait for his comeback. I really dislike almost all the rest of the characters though, maybe with the exception of Ayase, Inori and maybe Gai. Can’t help but feel that Gai is either being controlled or has his reasons. He could have killed Shu but didn’t. Tsugumi really pissed me off though and Haruka can make all the sad faces she can under her Vader helmet but still doesn’t change the fact she’s putting her son through hell for some twisted wish her hubby had (or has if the eyebrows guy is actually Shu’s dad ala Star Driver). Hope she gets her just desserts.

    tl;dr Can’t wait for the next episode.

    Sirius
    Reply

  70. This episode was so over-the-top screwed up in terms of plot and charackterization that nobody seems to care or remember that shuu also got a new power this episode!
    he can now summon voids from a mile away <.< (or is this something I just dont remember because of bad writing? O.o

    Either way…. I´ll still watch the series but just for the utter trainwreck (in my opinion bigger as code geass R2) and the laughs of hopefully seeing the whole world of GC burn in an atomic explosion

    BTW what are RM-warheads mentioned at the end? is it some new super-weapon? Why can´t they just nuke the hell out of them with "normal" H-Bombs or atomic warheads?!? or why not just burn the whole city to the ground with napalm from the beginning instead of building a fucking wall?????

    sincerely
    an amused anime-watcher

    DragonChris
    Reply

  71. Ayase needs more screentime than this… :/

    As for the episode… yeah, I think the main problem of this show is the characters’ inconsistency. One episode they can have this personality and then bam! They just flip without much development, which make them quite hard to follow and to like…

    Serapita
    Reply

  75. I don’t necessarly agree.
    I felt really sorry for Shuu. He did get a bit carried away but only because everyone was taking advantage of his kindness and in the end everyone just used him and discard him anyways. All of them just passivly watched him being reduced to nothing when he gave them the power to survive. If it weren’t for Shuu they would have never cross that red line and they would have probably all died. Also the students were the ones who put him in that position of power in the first place when he was nothing but reluctant.
    I especially feel dissapointed in the ones who called themselves his friend.. They knew about his suffering but instead of trying to help him realize his mistake they went along with Arisa’s plan (who just went nuts and all lovey dovey puppy with Gai. She was a bit WTF this episode). Especially you Tsugumi! I used to like you. i think Ayase is the best though.
    Now for Shuu… If I were him I’d just want to curl up and wait for death to come and get me. How can he live mentally stable after this?
    If he survives by the end of the story and doesn’t lose his memory like in the past the only thing remaining is for him to be coocoo.

    CarolV
    Reply

    1. Agreed. Its easy to get pissed at Shu but he could have easily escaped with Inori as he can pretty much fly with that Void but he stuck with those kids, was thrown into a position of power he didn’t wanted, lost one of his best friends BECAUSE he was being too nice and then resolved to get his hands dirty to save all those punks. And after he saves them he gets betrayed, jeered at and looked down upon. Hell, I got annoyed at Shu all time during the last episodes but I sure hell wouldn’t like to be in his shoes.

      Can’t wait for the comeback.

      Sirius
      Reply

  76. A plot twist in every single episode; It’s driving me crazy, there’s no clear plot line in GC, which is why no-one will remember the story. I’m strugling to remember what happened 2 episodes ago. GC doesn’t fail to surprise, but I don’t think that’s a good thing in this case.

    Shrubbery
    Reply

  77. ok… I am not going to bash Shu that hard… this show has problems, the MC has problems, but I got to say, I almost feel sorry for him… betrayed by all his friends (except 1 Inori with some questionable quirks of hers), lost power, lost arm, being used then disposed… it is like he is not the MC but some random guy that deserve to be like this… (not that I have much love for him anymore though)
    Arisa’s change was abrupt and strange, and it shatters her character quite a bit… it has been hinted that she might one day do this kind of things (her grandfather wants her to take care of the dark business after all), but I just can’t see her doing it with the guy…
    Funny how I had hoped that Gai would kill all the students (including Arisa) when he showed up with his robots… that would have made me so much happier… and for some reason, the cocky attitude of his rub me the wrong way…
    ps. if the writer doesn’t come up with some quirky excuses soon, Shu will die from blood loss… (the ONE person that could HEAL him and us, Hare, is forever lost…), Hare, you will be remembered 🙁

    jrj
    Reply

    1. You know, despite the hilarity of the situation from a general perspective, you ought to feel bad for Shuu for getting all the blame and hate he gets despite his efforts in trying to actually help out everyone (as misguided as he can be).

      ronri
      Reply

  78. At this point of the story I had no idea how could there be so many people bashing on this show. Personally this show is amazing. I also couldn’t stand all those cliche parts. But think about the title, the purpose of the show.

    From my perspective it was obvious that Shuu was aiming for the best for everybody, just the wrong method. If everyone did cooperate with him, the casualties would’ve obviously be a lot less. Those students that were shot and raped by those ghost units could be easily protected by Arisa’s shield. Sadly due to her coup she decided to just stay put.

    It was clear that Shuu himself isn’t really a tyrant. He was doubting himself most of the time, and had to force himself to be that cruel just to make people follow him. The scene where he said he’s king to Inori is prolly just to calm her up, again with the wrong approach.

    Now that he had saved everyone, everyone backstabbed him. He forced himself to be guilty to save everybody, and now everybody just turned on him. I think this is the main charm of this anime. To show how heavy a burden a “guilty crown” really is.

    Boo
    Reply

    1. Call it bashing if you will, but it certainly shows that most of us, somewhere deep inside us, still believes that it can still they can repair this trainwreck even if not 100%. I agree with everything else you said, Shu really isn’t a tyrant but he has been doubting himself all the time.

      Anyway, I think somehow Yahiro would redeem himself as a friend in someway and I think this would end up like Code Geass, where after saving the world (Japan), they suddenly disappear (or die).

      P.S.

      AND STILL NO F*CKING ADULT IN LOOP 7!!!!

      The Story You Don't Know
      Reply

      1. Why do you people want to see adults so much? What is the point of random adults coming into the story now? Just to constantly remind you that they exist somewhere even though they’ve been shown to you before? No, that is not a waste of screentime at all.

        qwerty
        Reply

  80. I don’t know about anyone else but I got mad Code Geass vibes while watching the ending of this episode. Just like Lelouch was betrayed his followers because everyone thought that he was evil when he just trying to get protected, Shu as well gets abandoned by his followers and loses an arm in the process…. but still, if the OP is hinting at what I am thinking it is, then Shu is not out of the picture just yet, in fact I consider this loss of his arm as a sacrifice for his time as a Dark Hero.

    SnipingAllTargets
    Reply

  82. Hm…thinking back on things, I believe that one of the themes of this show may be that: no matter how good your intentions are originally, a little trauma, a little losing sight of your goal, and/or being willing to use any means to accomplish your goal will cause a right mess of things and quite possibly make you as much of a monster as you’ve been fighting against. Shu had wanted to save everyone but the loss of Hare and the corruption of having so much power turned him into a tyrant that in the end was betrayed. Yahiro may be a “good guy” in the broader sense that he seems to want to help people but his willingness to do whatever it takes to accomplish that mission has tainted his credibility with a history of manipulation and betrayal. And I imagine that Arisa was a perfectly fine student president when life was still normal and peaceful but I think this episode shows pretty well how far she’s fallen.

    In fact, I think that this series has shown just how messed up such circumstances can make people. In another universe, these characters fulfill most of the standard archetypes for a typical slice-of-life high school romantic comedy where they’d be just a normal bunch of teenagers. But throw them into the world of Guilty Crown where death is always hovering close at hand and you have to struggle to survive and I don’t blame them for becoming twisted wrecks of their former selves. That doesn’t mean I like how some of the characters have changed but I can at least understand how they got here.

    Anyways, on to the episode itself. Now that Shu has a gotten a a rather rough wake-up call, maybe he’ll be able to shed the mantle of “tyrant” and reforge himself as someone better, hopefully regain the kindness that some of the other characters seemed to like him more for. Several people have pointed out the arm with Tron-esque lines from the OP and I’m also throwing my vote in for that being his replacement limb.
    In regards to the “return of Gai” I’m more than a little hesitant to celebrate. When we last saw him properly, he parted on relatively, if not outright, good terms with Shu. But now he’s on his “I’m the real king” high horse and cutting off Shu’s arm, something he didn’t do before even when he had the chance. Best case scenario, he’s just been brainwashed by the GHQ and someone will snap him out of it. Worst case scenario, it’s a programmed tool of the GHQ that just looks like Gai and needs to be eliminated.

    Vile1285
    Reply

    1. Yeah Gai definitely doesn’t seem like the real Gai, either he’s being brainwashed or he’s just a clone of the original Gai like Inori. But he does seem to have Gai’s memories…

      kurochan
      Reply

  85. Kinda makes you wonder if the power could be that easily removed from Shu, why didn’t Gai do it at the start of episode 1 and make himself the main character. Seems like he is brainwashed

    Still, decent attempt to make this series try to have a comeback.

    Saangi
    Reply

  87. Just to backtrack a bit, Gai mentioned that there were 3 void genomes at the very beginning of Guilty Crown. We know that Shu was in possession of one while Yuu had the other one. Therefore, one more void genome remains to be found right? If Gai has the second void genome now then the only way for Shu to come back is to find this last genome. However, I think that Shu’s void is the void genome itself, that he had it built into himself (probably by his dad). If this is true, silly Shu holding on to two void genomes at once!

    SnipingAllTargets
    Reply

  88. The thing that bother me about this episode (last couple of episodes really) is that Shuu hasn’t really been consistent as a character. Sure he pissed me off with all of his king crap, but it seemed forced that he was all “bad” after Hare died because the writers kept giving him that touchy side that he had in the first half of the series. It never felt like he had really become the king out of the trauma from Hare’s death, but he was merely doing it because he was forced into it like whenever he was forced into doing things with the Funeral Parlor. If there’s anything that’s consistent about his character is that he gets pushed around too easily and is ultimately indecisive, which makes Shuu losing his arm unsatisfying. Not because Shuu’s actions didn’t make him deserve his arm being cut off, but because it still feels like that same cowardly Shuu from the first half of the series was the one who got his arm cut off. That’s what bothers me because I never thought that Shuu ever transformed into some evil king, but was just his usual dumb and naive self. Good job at making consistent characters, writers – #sarcasm

    Annmys
    Reply

    1. Um…his transformation into King was meant to seem forced. You don’t go being and insecure kid to a “King” overpowered with charisma literally the next day. That IS what was so consistent about his character and actually I feel like you’re arguing that case more than him being inconsistent…

      Kana
      Reply

  90. I think I’m one of the few who doesn’t hate the show… but I do pity it. I think the producer’s expectations as an audience are for us to remember every single character interaction and development.

    I think Shu is supposed to come off as a character we can pity…. Even if it was horribly done. They want us to remember: anti-social Shu from the beginning who doesn’t want his power, to the Shu who is with Funeral Parlor but still lost, to slowly finding his place by stumbling, to the random episodes with Gai, to the middle with Gai’s death and Mana, and then from being elected to president, working with everyone as a’kind king’, and finally Hare’s death.

    Shu never really understood people and no one tried to understand him, except for Hare. I’d include Inori, but she is still wishy-washy and currently being possessed by/reawakening as Mana. Hare was his single supporting pillar while everyone else gathered around to use him for their own goals- Funeral Parlor, Yahiro- and those who got close to him because of his connections- Arisa (for his connections with Gai) and Souta (for Inori).

    Hare was the one who snapped him out of his depression-whatever you wanna call it- right before they all left to save funeral parlor, and it was Hare’s death that put him back into the desperation; however, this time he had ‘friends’ to steer him down their own course.

    I think of Shu’s development as a pendulum with his ‘crowning’ as the upper most arc. Once the pendulum comes down, it starts to mirror the previous issues Shu had to deal with.
    Betrayal due to finding (Yahiro’s) secret – Betrayal due to (death by void) secret

    Shu is currently back to the point in his ‘development’ when he isn’t sure with how to deal with people. I see the whole ‘I’m king’ stuff as someone with low self-esteem trying to make himself feel better.

    The writer’s probably have everything planned out and are working it into the plot… without actually telling us. That is probably the reason a good portion of people find everything inconsistent and no longer a fan of it.

    Other random thoughts. This is the second episode in a row where Tsugumi stopped Ayane from interacting with Shu. Not sure if this means Ayane is on Shu’s ‘side’ or not.

    Avalanche
    Reply

    1. Methinks Ayase’s finally on Shu’s side, now that she realized that all everybody did was put Shu on a pedestal simply because he gained the Void Genome, and hate/beat on him when the real Shu surfaces.

      “You read into other’s hearts real easily, huh?”

      Shu’s so easy to dislike and abuse~

      Beedle
      Reply

    2. well, the fact that Ayase is in a wheelchair does not help either of the situation, and for the second one, both Tsugumi and Ayase are unarmed. I highly doubt they can do anything about it without getting shot (as I have mentioned almost 24 hours previously above).

      info600
      Reply

    3. put it this way
      – Sister goes insane, causing Shu to accidentally trigger Lost Christmas
      – *Knows* he caused Lost Christmas by accident
      – Lost sister, best friend, and (apparently) father during Lost Christmas
      – Represses memories of Lost Christmas
      – Trauma causes him to lose all self-confidence and ability to relate to people
      – Is repeatedly condemned, by himself and others, for being unable to save Inori from soldiers with assault rifles while completely unarmed
      – Is given superpowers he doesn’t want that make him a wanted man
      – Friend betrays him to GHQ after explicit promise not to
      – Despite joining Funeral Parlor to protect and stay with Inori, it turns out that she was lying to him
      – Has his rebuilding confidence shattered by being forced to mercy-kill a friend’s little brother
      – Is forced to participate in combat operation while in the middle of a mental breakdown and blamed for poor performance afterward
      – Has a grand total of one person willing to stand by him while he’s in the middle of a breakdown
      – Is called a pathetic coward and abandoned by allies due to said breakdown
      – Manages to pull self together in a crisis and stop Lost Christmas 2: Crystal Boogaloo, but regains all repressed memories, discovers jerkass leader of rebellion was actually best friend, and has to kill his best friend and his sister *again*
      – GHQ quarantines area and prepares to exterminate everyone in it, including Shu, remaining terrorists, and
      – Despite all of this, manages to deal with stress pretty well until he’s appointed president due to superpowers, despite being completely unsuited for the job
      – People do incredibly stupid thing due to friend’s sloppiness with important paperwork; primary means of emotional support dies horrible, horrible death
      – Has breakdown number 3 in-series and decides to do whatever he has to in order to keep people safe
      – Is hated by self and others for incredibly cruel things like making people peel potatoes (the horror) and rationing supplies that are actually limited
      – It turns out that his trusted advisor and former traitor was lying to him about incredibly important fact related to the superpowers that are currently central to his plans; if fact gets out, everything is likely to fall apart
      – Fact gets out
      – Only remaining means of emotional support is gradually being overwritten by crazy dead virus sister
      – ‘Trusted’ advisor tries to convince him to get rid of said emotional support; this reignites Shu’s trust issues and strips him of yet another source of assistance
      – GHQ is, all the while, conspiring to break him down; his stepmother is working with them
      – During plan, things go wrong, enemy attacks ahead of schedule, people die
      – Executes plan, saves everyone, is promptly betrayed
      – Dead best friend chops arm off and steals his superpowers, then leaves him to die

      Not in there but he also nearly died to save Souta’s group. Shu really needs a break badly.
      thus shu is deserve to pity , afterall if not for the genome void , he will undergo normal school kid life

      shinkirou
      Reply

      1. Shu really caused Lost Christmas due to his sister’s insanity, then repressed these memories?

        That would be an amazing twist that ties together everything about Shu. His disagreeableness, helplessness, and most importantly, his social and psychological volatility.

        hoiut
        Reply

  93. Translation of Preview:

    >Was I able to live this long because I could make a difference?
    >What am I able to do now?
    >Gai and the 24 wards declare war against the world
    >Inori and I need to escape from Tokyo, which is under martial law.
    >Inori makes a decision in order to save me, while Arisa Kuhouin and Ghost Unit begin to surround us.
    >Next episode: Wandering Exile
    >The Guilty Crown will test me.

    Crown Clown
    Reply

  94. I’m actually surprised you’re of the opinion that “Shu won’t get his powers back” when a look at the opening will tell you right away that he will. In the scenes where he draws out Inori’s void he has a mechanical arm with light blue glowing stripes (the one we also see him stretch to the heavens).

    It’s probably something like an artificial genome or whatever. Maybe it’s what Haruka’s working on.

    Well, I don’t know if I’m keen on finding out. I’m SO close to dropping this. Again.

    Kamion
    Reply

  95. I really, really like the shounen vibes the show gave us at the beginning. It gave me the chills, giving me high hopes for the series, which I only watched for the much-needed supercell music (the character designs were a nice bonus.)

    As of now… the plots, the characters, is extremely questionable… to the extreme.

    Now the only redeeming things GC has for me is the music and… Inori’s void. It’s better than every single character the show has to offer right now, and it’s only a sword. (cuz’ it’s an overpowered one. And it needs no questionable object developments.)

    2606
    Reply

  98. I’m a lover of this anime, and I haven’t had a huge problem with Shu’s crazy actions but his arrogance and pointless insanity has annoyed me. But I feel there has to be a reason, he wasn’t prepared for any of it and Yahiro kept pushing at him the whole time. All the hate comments have been bugging me, because I feel there must be underlying reasons for these crazy decisions the creators are making.

    I’m not sure about anyone else, but I really think Yahiro might have killed Hare…
    I don’t think the Helicopter’s gun could have been so accurate to hit that thin slivering void. Plus, Yahiro was standing there with his gun, not looking at all shocked (more nervous). My idea probably has very little logic, and probably has already been discussed… but I really think it could’ve happened. He has reason, he probably still blames Shu for killing his brother, he hasn’t really showed any concern for the well being of others? It also explains why he’s driven Shu to do the things he has; he could’ve been the main reason Shu has acted so ridiculously, and maybe he’ll reveal it at some point.

    As for Arisa, I loved her in this episode, and I don’t think her actions were at all slutty with Nanba. She was in a state of shock with Inori quite clearly, though her ‘Pull out my void’ phrase confused me… But the way she slept with Nanba had an obvious reason. She wanted the information he had and that was clearly his only way of reasoning with her. He’s wanted it for long enough. She gave it to him but got something out of it, information and an ally to revolt against the ‘King’.
    I have a feeling all of the ridiculous actions will be explained in future episodes, but I’m hoping Shu’s arrogance will be gone with his arm =/ Maybe he’ll change to some sort of reasonably sensible guy who thinks things out for himself without being pressured by others. And I really hope something bad happens to Yahiro ¬_¬ But yay for epic clone Gai and his King’s Power, and Arisa revolting!

    Zero Godspell
    Reply

  101. I can openly admit I took tremendous, almost sadistic glee in seeing everyone turn on Shu and Inori, especially when Arisa outted herself as the instigator. But best of all was Gai’s ominous return and his utter domination of “King Ouma.” I was practically cheering when he positively owned Shu by slicing off the latter’s arm and reclaming what was “always meant” for the leader of Funeral Parlor. Too cool, man. Just too cool.

    I’m definitely behind this new deadly tagteam of Arisa/Gai, and while I know there’s next to zero chance of this – as you said – a part of me is hoping the writers grow a spine and keep Shu and Annoyri from “redeeming” themselves and stealing the spotlight by the end. It would be a stellar turnaround if the wide-eyed Everyman and his Emotionless Fetish Girlfriend became the tragic corrupted “sacrifices of war,” while the fellow infected by the Apocalypse Virus and the sheltered (and now traumatized) princess turn out to be the saviors of the world and ‘complete’ people as a result. Uwaaah! Be still, my delicate heart!

    Ashen
    Reply

  102. I feel sorry for Shu. How did he deserve any of this? The entire story has been about pounding Shu down, to the point of almost being mean-spirited about it. There’s a laser focus on making him suffer.

    I mean, let’s go down the list during this series.

    – Sister goes insane, causing Shu to accidentally trigger Lost Christmas
    – *Knows* he caused Lost Christmas by accident
    – Lost sister, best friend, and (apparently) father during Lost Christmas
    – Represses memories of Lost Christmas
    – Trauma causes him to lose all self-confidence and ability to relate to people
    – Is repeatedly condemned, by himself and others, for being unable to save Inori from soldiers with assault rifles while completely unarmed
    – Is given superpowers he doesn’t want that make him a wanted man
    – Friend betrays him to GHQ after explicit promise not to
    – Despite joining Funeral Parlor to protect and stay with Inori, it turns out that she was lying to him
    – Has his rebuilding confidence shattered by being forced to mercy-kill a friend’s little brother
    – Is forced to participate in combat operation while in the middle of a mental breakdown and blamed for poor performance afterward
    – Has a grand total of one person willing to stand by him while he’s in the middle of a breakdown
    – Is called a pathetic coward and abandoned by allies due to said breakdown
    – Manages to pull self together in a crisis and stop Lost Christmas 2: Crystal Boogaloo, but regains all repressed memories, discovers jerkass leader of rebellion was actually best friend, and has to kill his best friend and his sister *again*
    – GHQ quarantines area and prepares to exterminate everyone in it, including Shu, remaining terrorists, and
    – Despite all of this, manages to deal with stress pretty well until he’s appointed president due to superpowers, despite being completely unsuited for the job
    – People do incredibly stupid thing due to friend’s sloppiness with important paperwork; primary means of emotional support dies horrible, horrible death
    – Has breakdown number 3 in-series and decides to do whatever he has to in order to keep people safe
    – Is hated by self and others for incredibly cruel things like making people peel potatoes (the horror) and rationing supplies that are actually limited
    – It turns out that his trusted advisor and former traitor was lying to him about incredibly important fact related to the superpowers that are currently central to his plans; if fact gets out, everything is likely to fall apart
    – Fact gets out
    – Only remaining means of emotional support is gradually being overwritten by crazy dead virus sister
    – ‘Trusted’ advisor tries to convince him to get rid of said emotional support; this reignites Shu’s trust issues and strips him of yet another source of assistance
    – GHQ is, all the while, conspiring to break him down; his stepmother is working with them
    – During plan, things go wrong, enemy attacks ahead of schedule, people die
    – Executes plan, saves everyone, is promptly betrayed
    – Dead best friend chops arm off and steals his superpowers, then leaves him to die

    Throughout, he’s had two people be genuinely supportive: Hare, who is completely powerless and then dies, and Inori, who has been equally loyal to Gai for two-thirds of this time and has been gradually going insane the other third. Ayase would count after 13 if she was actually allowed to help, but Tsugumi has been consistently blocking her there. He is aware of his issues, unable to deal with them, and repeatedly forced into situations where they actively cripple his ability to perform.

    And he deserves this. People seriously say this is his fault, and he deserves this? What the fuck, guys? He could be the incarnation of all the evils in the world and he wouldn’t deserve this.

    Einander
    Reply

    1. I’m glad I’m not the only one who pities him. I wonder if “My Dearest” could be seen as foreshadowing?

      “One day someone will call you a liar,
      if they try to hurt you with those heartless words,
      if the world won’t even believe in you,
      if they try to put on a crown of thorns,
      I’ll be your one and only ally…
      I know that loneliness and pain…”

      Avalanche
      Reply

    2. The incompetent writers can make Shuu a sponge for punishment all they want, but without proper execution it’s nothing. For the most part, Shuu and every other character have been complete and utter slaves to the plot, so the “tragedies” which befall Shuu have much less effect, as his characterization is very, very poor. Since Shuu and his allies all have quite some rather inconsistent behavior and since the plot is definitely not doing any favors for their likability at all, the characters appear much less sympathetic towards the audience, especially since it’s so hard to relate to such completely inhuman, robot-like characters. There has been no event in the entire span of Guilty Crown so far which has been well executed. Even with Guilty Crown’s numerous cliches, if the story was executed properly with relatable characters and a sensible plot, most viewers would able to watch without feelings of nauseousness each time the drama rolls along. Proper execution is everything, and Guilty Crown can’t even establish likable, sensible characters for the audience to sympathize with. That’s why so many people hate Shuu despite him being “tortured,” and that’s why so many say he deserves all of this.

      Plus, he’s like indirectly killed tons of students, brah.

      Click
      Reply

      1. The point that is trying to get across is don’t get pissed at Shuu for the writer’s incompetence at conveying whatever the hell they are trying to convey. Yes, the plot is abstract, and we have very little character development. We still don’t know why Ayane is in a wheel chair, or what reasons the members of Funeral Parlor had for joining. We already passed the point where those things can be added into the story.

        It is obvious that the viewers who loathe the show outnumber those who don’t, but getting angry something out of our control is kinda petty. What is the point of making it uncomfortable for those who don’t dislike the show. There is probably a better way to word that

        Also, what else was he supposed to do? People were going to die regardless. Yes, they could have executed it better like have all of the long distance Voids attack first before the melee types attacked. He did save a few by taking out a couple of mechs before going through with the operation.

        Avalanche
        Reply

      2. Unrelatable characters are hard to empathize with though, no matter how much torture has been thrown their way. So it’s not really surprising that so many people are pissed off at Shuu, especially with his actions as of late, no, the entire series.

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Also, if people are getting pissed off at the characters, just brush them off. Pay them heed if it really bothers you :P. Or uh, get mad at them or something if they’re really worth it, lol (seriously though). Expressing rage at a poor character is the same as expressing feelings of admiration or joy for a character who is worthy of it. Most people are completely anal about people being anal about things they like, but really, they’re the same kind of people: they’re just expressing their feelings on whether something is either praise-worthy or rage-inducing. And this going to sound ultra-pretentious, but crap is just as inspirational as perfection; while perfection brings forth feelings of contentedness and delight, crap can draw in feelings of disgust, or better yet, blinding red hot fury. Viewers wouldn’t come back week after week if they felt completely neutral.

        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        And oh yeah, nice catch with song. Seriously, I can’t believe that I didn’t even recognize that.

        Click
        Reply

    3. Excellent summary of the events Einander! All of the events you described are what I’ve been telling my own friends about Shuu who don’t feel anything for him. The guy has been victimized and betrayed constantly by pretty much everyone save for Hare (who’s KIA) and Ayase (who gets blocked to no end thanks to her wheelchair not being powered enough to run people over who stand in her way), starting even before the series began with the Lost Christmas incident itself. I really can’t believe that so many people hate him on these boards too. It doesn’t seem like they think about the points you’ve listed. Let’s see if any of us could even handle these compounding events when your life is in such a mess and continues spiraling downwards. Placed in his situations with a personality like his where he’s just trying to be accepted and do what should lead to the highest majority of his friends/students surviving, I don’t really see better alternatives to his actions seeing how unruly his stupid school ended up being. Like yes, one can argue as to why he’d put those two retards as special service who tried to strip Ayase but think that there may may have been motivation to keep everyone else in check with fear when faced with a lack of ‘disciplinary figures’ (a stretch, but still a possibility). One may also argue that he shouldn’t have implemented the distinction system (I wish he didn’t either in the current state) and instead organized them all into squads like the military in the sense that there would be teams for special operations (i.e. assault, medic, support, defence, communications, etc. <- someone in a previous GC post mentioned this point and I completely agree). But then you'd require everyone to not be panicking and have good, charismatic leaders that you trust, can create order, and also maintain it. And well, this doesn't really exist for Ouma Shuu because of his situation and circle of 'friends' and lack of support/resources. He was never the type to lead in the first place as well, and hey, even he knows that already! Why people can just assume that he can become an amazing leader overnight given his trackrecord in those grave event situations listed when most of us in real life cave in if there's a major calamity is beyond me. Just because you have power doesn't give you infinite confidence. He isn't invincible as you all just saw with his arm being cut off, so why would you even think he'd magically gain an infinite amount of leadership qualities and confidence? He never even started off with the intrinsic drive to do anything short of existing as a boring person, but was forced into his situation and did what he did out of necessity. And we know that not being motivated reduces your efficiency and chances for success in virtually all real-life cases, and that equally applies here.

      Also, for anyone who says (including Divine) "I can't believe he didn't say "MY ARM!" instead of "MY POWER OF THE KINGS!", if you understand his situation, you'll know why he said that and why it fits well. The man feels completely useless to the fact that he couldn't get or maintain any respect or trust from anyone, regardless of what he did. Be nice? Get pissed on (recall Argo saying "We liked you when you were trying so hard and were a weakling (paraphrased)". Be 'evil' and get betrayed and hated anyway(not really evil as you know he was wavering when he talked to Inori in that indoor garden, and knowing that he was just doing what he needed to do to ensure most of them lived, which they did BTW, as even Souta's still alive and the escape operation was a 'success'). So now that his last ounce of power to gain any respect and trust is gone(that isn't all powerful as we know) is stripped from him, what's he now? That's right. Less than when he started, because now he doesn't even have his whole right arm. Oh, and he's dying most likely from blood loss with insane pain.

      Tl;dr: For the Shuu haters, think about the events surrounding him as Einander pointed out. Then think about if the hate towards him is justified and if you can do any better without still making enemies, pleasing everyone, and getting everyone out alive. If you still want to hate him, feel free to do so. We know that he is not perfect and made some very questionable decisions, acted in certain ways that are not black and white good or evil, but all had underlying motivations. Even with the poor execution of the story by the scriptwriters, do understand that the plot's core events have not changed and can be viewed independently from the execution.

      As an end-note, this has been a ridiculous series I do agree, and I'm hanging on to see this through for what I really hope to be a satisfying conclusion. I really want Shuu to regain his power and go nuclear on absolutely everyone. That's probably the only thing that would put me at some ease.

      BR_Impulse
      Reply

  103. So much fail during the first half with Shu being a complete idiot. Yes, he finally told off Yahiro, but waaaaay too late. I mean where was that rage at “Sugar” last episode when choosing between Argo and Yahiro.

    So much WIN in the last few minutes. Gai is the true main character!
    I know Shu is probably going to get back in somehow, but I can dream…

    Ptolemaios00
    Reply

  107. good thing i stop watching GC, based from the comments here and on last week everything is such a mess.. I don’t want to waste my time watching, guess i’ll wait for it to end and watch it again from ep 1.

    Bobet01
    Reply

  108. Did anyone go back and listen to the OST recently? There’s two songs that are all about friendship and rebelling with friends and stuff. One of them is the song that goes with every preview.

    Now, whenever I listen to them, I’ll be thinking of this episode. Forever.

    Da5id
    Reply

  112. I have little to no grasp on my own feelings toward this show.
    Do I like it? Do I not like it? I’m still watching it, but I don’t feel happy or anything. And I want to watch the next episode alot, but I’m not really looking forward to it.

    But I do know one thing. I pity Shu. Not hate(maybe hate), not sympathy(maybe sympathy), not annoyance(maybe a little, I really don’t fucking know), but pity for this guy and his sorry ass life.

    DarkRyter
    Reply

  115. I am fairly interested in where did the idea of Sugar came from. It seems really out of place. Needless to say, “Sugar” isn’t going to around much since it seems Inori next episode is comforting Shuu.

    https://randomc.net/image/Guilty%20Crown/Guilty%20Crown%20-%2017%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
    I am fairly disappointed with how this episode showed us the arm of void users. While it did indeed look cool in how they all fight like that, frozen screen and all, they didn’t showed us any new abilities. As we saw so far, we know that some voids have the power of distorting gravity, making copies, healing, and more, we barely saw a single new ability despite the army shown to us. Not to mention had Shuu not destroyed that tower they may have all died.

    Needless to say, it seems Gai is going to do something. I am wondering if Funeral Parlor is going to be resurrected or not.

    L002
    Reply

    1. Sugar? Sugar was Yahiro’s code name when he was a drug dealer the time that he sold out Shu. Shu called him that to show how little trust he has for Yahiro, unless you were confused about something else?

      Kana
      Reply

  116. God, I hope Souta dies soon in a horrible manner.

    He’s been an idiot throughout the entire show, and was the main cause for Hare’s death. But since his body is starting to crystalize, it seems like he wont be around for much longer.

    HungryKoala
    Reply

  119. Wow, this episode really took it up a notch in dreadful plot evolution, terrible script, and telegraphed action. Dreadful, even by it’s standards. About the only thing it has going for it, is that is tries to display many sides of a truly awful situation; not a single soul among the main kara get out of this untainted or unscathed. This would be a good, tense programme to watch, if the kara were dreadful horrible people to begin with. They really aren’t. So we are left with watching bad things happen to some people we feel anything from a mild interest to a loathing hate for. My only hope is that they will pull something positive out of this; that someone gets thru as intact as possible. Otherwise, it’s a dreadful show about dreadful things. They could have handled it better.

    skylion
    Reply

  121. Come on, celebrate all you want on Gai’s stupid return. When Shu gets his new void it would be comparable to Ideon Gun.

    @Shinji, who suggested me to watch SR Ideon: Thank you.

    The Moondoggie
    Reply

  122. Anyone else find it extremely convenient that just cutting off Shuu’s arm makes the “Power of the King” transfer? wtf? hy didn’t they just try to do that before? Also the “My power of kings” exclamation made me pray that Shuu would just get killed right there and we find a new protagonist. Next week it’s probably back to Shuu the bitch again…all depressed and shit. Ayase will probably be like, “It’s not the power that made you the leader, it’s something inside you” or some BS. They are making this series so cliched.

    MMBinNC
    Reply

  123. Looking at all these comments I have to wonder if most of you decide the quality of a show depending on how likeable the characters are instead of the entertainment value and emotional rises it gets out of you. GC definitely has its flaws, all too many cringe-worthy ones in the first half, but lately it’s been a pretty solid show all around.

    Many of the comments decry how characters seem to flip-flop in terms of personality but to me they’ve actually done a decent job developing the characters into who they turned out to be. Arisa was afraid for her life and couldn’t trust Shu who seemed to have gone mad with power, Yahiro was trying to keep everyone alive and make it up to Shu by supporting him and Souta’s an idiot who earned Shu’s wrath and felt he had gone too far venting it all out on him.

    Shu was never cut out to be a leader but everyone forced him into the role and despite not doing the job perfectly, he did his best to make sure as many people got out alive. He’s lost WAY more than his fair share, has had far more reason to be afraid of his actions and was quite aware of how badly he was treating everyone to keep them alive. He got them out, it was a miracle more of them didn’t die and there wasn’t anyone else who could have done better for them. I can’t condemn the guy for what he did and I certainly can’t say that he deserved the betrayal at the end regardless how justified their anger at him was.

    As for the angry mob, I’d like to believe that people wouldn’t act as stupid and as ungrateful as that in real life but when you’re dealing with that sort of mob mentality and all that pent up anger, it’s not so hard to see that humans can be so ugly. Everyone pretty much snapped under pressure and just couldn’t see past their own problems. I really hope they at least show some nameless character who had enough sense to not turn on Shu.

    UnFear
    Reply

    1. IMHO the characters are what makes the story. So having annoying asshole characters makes me feel that the show is annoying and a pain in the ass to watch. That, or maybe this is what the production team is aiming for.

      Rakkyo
      Reply

    2. Entertainment value and emotional rises? Well, I don’t really get entertained when I’m following a plot that is over the place and feels really, I said REALLY, amateur, with characters that now are reacting in a completely unrealistic and retarded away. There only one word that can describe the present state of Guilty Crown’s story: irrational.

      The only emotional rise that I get from the last 3 episodes of Guilty Crown is a sensation of being impressed; impressed with how bad a plot can get in just 3 episodes, with this last episode being worst of them – showing all the students going against Shuu and Gai appearing in the last scene; this is not a surprise like Divine said, this is just a cheap trick used by authors who don’t really know how lead a story anymore.

      Guilty Crown started as mediocre anime, then it got somewhat decent and, now, well, now it just had one of the shittiest episodes that I’ve ever seen since 1994, when I started watching anime.

      I’m pretty much done with Guilty Crown. I’m not watching it anymore.

      André
      Reply

      1. >unrealistic
        If you’re referring to the backstab ,there have been plenty of instances in history where people acted irrationally out of fear and anger. Shu’s sudden king treatment however does seem to skip several bouts of logic since he doesn’t have anywhere near enough charisma to bring that. Worst case imo wasn’t anywhere recent but when Shu convinced everyone to help him rescue a terrorist organization because they made him feel good about himself. That’s when you should have had enough of Guilty Crown’s bad writing.

        >retarded
        I had a comment for this but it’d invite too much unwanted natter.

        >bad plot
        The backstab was only irrational on the students’ part, it still makes sense plotwise. Gai’s revival/clone… I’m waiting on seeing why they revived him before I pass out judgment.

        UnFear
        Reply

    3. So basically, everyone was in the wrong place and wrong position at the wrong time? I agree with that much, which makes me wonder: was the point of this series to make clear that people are awful, stupid and will betray you at every turn?

      At this point, my biggest peeve is how fast it took for things to get this bad. This episode spans about a week, and added with last week’s comes to about two weeks under Shu as leader, which is about the same time between Episodes 12 and 13. And the biggest thing that was the cause of this bi-weekly downward spiral wasn’t the implementation of the Void Ranking System, but saying that a Void meant the value of the person. There were so many other ways to go about it that wouldn’t have to end in that, but Yahiro was just way too dumb or sketchy to look for one. Thus, Shu having no leader qualifications and completely dependent on other people’s orders went along with it the moment it became clear that people’s lives were in danger.

      You’re right in saying that it’s caused a huge emotional reaction, but not so much of one that the scene makes any sense afterwards. By the end of this episode I hated almost everyone there. Shu was idiotic for forcing fear into his subordinates to do work and not making full use of his resources to save lives (Tsugumi’s decoy making Void would have saved tons), the subordinates were awful for turning on the guy who managed to keep them in line and alive (no matter how poorly), Arisa was deplorable for relying on Gai and GHQ to save them and organizing the coup, Souta was pretty much brain dead for everything he did since episode 13, and so on.

      So when I look at Shu now, I don’t see the absolute worst person in the world. I actually never did. It’s just he was a stupid guy who was pushed into a leader position by stupid masses, then handled it stupidly, and then was turned on by the same stupid people. Again, I don’t know who to be more disappointed with. So I’ll just be disappointed with all of them.

      Da5id
      Reply

      1. I think they’re just trying to sell a story. Think Hamlet; everyone dies, everyone’s a dick, the main character is terribly unlikeable and yet it’s a classic that lasted hundreds of years and still sells shows. Maybe they do have something of a social commentary going on but I wouldn’t peg that as their main focus.

        As for their situation, I couldn’t have laid it out any better. Best person for the job just wasn’t good enough for everyone and his support couldn’t make up for the slack. I myself don’t feel anything for the characters but pity for Shu. They really don’t make much of an impression as characters really.

        UnFear
        Reply

      2. Guilty Crown: So Bad It’s Hamlet?

        I mean, I haven’t read or watched Hamlet in almost a year, so I can’t say if I can compare the characters in terms of situations. I’m pretty sure (and this is just my interpretation), Hamlet entered the story with a reason to be crazy and vengeful (his uncle killed his father and married his mother), and a goal to get out of it (become king) and the story mainly revolved how obsession with revenge can drive a man insane, while Shu just wanted to do something with his life to stop hating himself, and so far the story’s been about how people (and the fans) expect way too much of him and act rashly when he doesn’t preform to their expectations. That said, the standards of a pop anime and a hundreds year old play are pretty different, as well as the standards of material. That’s not to say that obscure and “out-there” stories in anime are bad. On the contrary, they’re usually praised nowadays. In fact this was the first complaint this series got: it was too similar. I just think there could have been an easier and less cringe-worthy way to get the point across that didn’t make us just want everyone to die from a tactical nuke. Like making some of the character’s motives a little more clear, so you know what everyone’s trying to accomplish, or making characters look better instead of just making them look good by comparison.

        Now, if this was an intentional move by the creators to get a huge negative reaction out of people watching it, (which I highly highly doubt, but we’ll see) then that’s probably the biggest and most meta mindfuck accomplishment in anime history. If this was an complete accident, well…I’ll let the rest of the comments on this page speak for themselves.

        Da5id
        Reply

    4. It all boils down to pacing. The idea of tragic character rising to power and then falling from grace is a good one but a kind of story like this requires emotional investment to its characters. That requires actual build up to feel the characters what they are going through. How they ended up like that is the most interesting part of such a story.

      That’s the problem, Shu rise to power, tragic turn to a tyrant, and fall-from-grace happened in three 24-minute episodes. They basically just jumped to Shu being evil like an on/off switch and we’re supposed to accept that. I don’t feel anything. I have no empathy because all we see is the result and the barest of handwaves of how the ended up like that.

      GC shot itself in the foot by wasting time in its first half. Look back on the first 12 episodes and ask what did it really do for the second half of the story? Even now after 17 episodes the actual plot is still vague.

      fragb85
      Reply

    5. Arisa was afraid for her life and couldn’t trust Shu who seemed to have gone mad with power, Yahiro was trying to keep everyone alive and make it up to Shu by supporting him and Souta’s an idiot who earned Shu’s wrath and felt he had gone too far venting it all out on him.

      This is why I don’t get “the plot is forced” comments: They all acted the way they should be.

      The Moondoggie
      Reply

      3. This level of trolling and character hate exists because the emotional wreck Shu did not live to the viewer’s expectations when the series started out with the typical setup of its genre o/

        Beedle
        Reply

      4. He lived with mine. He has done what I expected of him. The dark crazy evil part is what I have seen of him, long before this arc. And he had done well.

        That reason is enough for me to like this. And to believe that he doesn’t deserve this level of trolling.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

  124. I always think there will be a greater amount of people who dislike Gai.

    But then I read comments on this show, and I quickly realize just how much people enjoy following others instead of leading themselves.

    Tre
    Reply

  126. To anyone trying to make sense of the characters’ actions, here’s what I was feeling like by the end of the episode.

    LOOK, EVERYONE’S GONE NUTS! WOOOHOOOOO! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    Rakkyo
    Reply

  128. Well, since no one has said it from what I can see. I shall then say it.
    Shu can’t draw voids off people who are above 17.
    Episode 17 comes and at the end, he most likely wouldn’t be able to draw voids for the next episode.
    COINCIDENCE?

    Never
    Reply

  129. Reading the comments, I was surprised by all the Shu-hatred, because while everyone was pissed at him from the beginning (myself included at times) considering the situations he’s been put into his behavior doesn’t really surprise me.

    Think about it this way, here we have a high school kid who randomly one day finds a chick in his den (or whatever the hell that thing is) and ends up getting guns pointed at him. He didn’t play the hero, he did what any high school kid who had a peaceful life would have done-he got freaking terrified.

    Then he gets onto a battle field, gets some ridiculously weird powers, and gets used as an awkward tool by a terrorist group, gets betrayed and sent to prison, finds out Inori was manipulating him on behalf of Gai for the sake of using his power, Promises to save a kid after maturing and finally gaining some confidence in himself who then asks to be killed, goes through withdrawals, finally regains the horrible memories he’s been repressing for years, watches one of the few people who sincerely supports him get kidnapped, and then watches Gai die and his entire city get destroyed.

    Then he ended up trapped in his school, His mom totally abandons him, he realises how stupid his classmates are being and calms them down, they end up pushing him into a leadership position he never wanted, he ends up just being a puppet AGAIN and gets pressured to implement a system he doesn’t like, his dumbass classmates do something wreckless, he loses the person who sincerely cared about him and liked him from the very start of all this because of it, He becomes stricter to make sure the students are in his control and dont do anything stupid again because of Hare’s death, he puts on the act of an asshole in order to protect everyone (yes, it was an act, we all know Shu is really a puss), he ends up being successful in breaking through, he gets betrayed after risking his life, and then his former best friend who’s back from the dead cuts off his arm.

    This entire is show is just Shu getting fucked over and over and over and over. It’s like the creators just want to him to suffer as much as possible. I dont think he’s as horrible a character as people say. Yes, it’s very inconsistent for his personality to change so much, but then again he was unstable even before the series began with his memory repression. In the end, he’s the guy who wants to be the person everyone likes, tries to be and fails, then he realises it wont work and tries to take the iniative himself, but that fails too. In the end his problem is he puts too much value in other people’s perceptions of him or who other people are. As cliche as it is, he needs to just be Shuu, and stop trying to be Gai. Who just cut off his arm, so I dont think Shuu is too happy about Gai being back.

    Tveryah
    Reply

  130. I have to agree with some of the more moderate opinion of the show. It is true that the execution warrants some criticism, but the perspective I adopt is to treat the development in somewhat the abstract. As others have noted up thread, you can draw an understandable trend of why Shu is acting as he is right from the beginning of the show. Is it outlandish? Sure, but on a coarse resolution, I think the writers’ have achieved the objective of instilling a potent mixture of hatred and loathesome pity towards Shu despite the desperate, sloppy attempt at maintaining an ecosystem that analogously combine the sheer insanity of Battle Royale with the psychological dynamics of something say Lord of Flies. The entire first arc, I found, was just to really undermine Shu as a protagonist but also to underscore a pathos of incredulity and hatred towards him who is not only extremely pathetic but by all accounts, a person whose characterization should not be anywhere near the archetype of a sympathetic protagonist, even on the anti-hero level.

    But thanks to the topsy turvy writing, the unintended consequence was an amplification of that irrationality and imbue it in almost every aspect of the character setting and interaction. What was supposed to be a pretty straightforward “mico-macro” exposition in the “Red Line” arc, that is, the psychological downfall in Shu reflected in the societal breakdown of his “kingdom,” became a inexplicable maelstrom of hysteria, comical zaniness, and off-the-wall mass psychosis. Thus, that entire breakdown as a supposed means of driving the plot became a caricature of itself.

    All of it becomes one big messy projection of irrationality beyond the design of the story. It is almost as if though everyone, writers, audience, and characters are just all being thrown in the chaos and being compelled to bring any sort of sensibleness to this series. And understandably, that should really tick people off, but that reaction itself to the sheer incredulity and irrationality of it all is part and parcel with the entire experience. In many ways, that is why I don’t mind sitting through some these series because I just hold on to my hat and laugh my way down the rabbit hole even it means I wind up in “It’s so bad, it is good”-Land.

    With regards to Biblical reference of The Whore of Babylon with respect to Arisa, I was thinking more along the lines of Judith and stories of her from the book after her name in the Old Testament.

    Soren
    Reply

      1. 300+ comments in a day; was Code Geass even like this? Not even Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari were like this D:

        Man, I wonder what the DVD/BD sales are like for this anime. Assuming every unique post here is by someone that watched each episode instead of trolling around with a mob mentality, GC’s done an amazing job in capturing the audience, whether it be “because it’s pretty!” or “because the music is awesome!”, so this has to be a success from a business standpoint, right?

        Beedle
        Reply

      2. Oh, no question. As the saying goes, “all news is good news.” And whether people are talking about the show because of it’s animation, music, characters, plot, whether positively or negatively, the point is it is getting out there. If anything good can be said about this show, it’s that it’s certainly made itself relevant during its original run. Only time will tell what it’s known for though, as the biggest moments have yet to come.

        One thing’s for sure, I am definitely picking up the English Dub when it comes out this year. It may be a bad show, but it is a gem amongst bad shows.

        Da5id
        Reply

      3. You one confusing human being. You’re even PAYING for the show you’ve been trolling now? YOU REALLY DON’T LIKE IT? REALLY? REALLY?! You’re really willing to throw approximately $80 for each volume, assuming you get blu-ray? But even if you don’t, you’re willing to throw away money?

        I’m sorry am I the only one that thinks this man is crazy?

        You sir, are even stupider than I ever gave you credit for. So well done.

        But whatever, by all means please support the creators and encourage them to make more shows like this. Just don’t start bitching when GC season 2/the MOVIE is announced lol.

        Dear Idiot,
        Reply

      4. Didn’t we all establish that Da5id was tsundere (and I don’t mean that insultingly) for this show?

        In my opinion, trolling is like trading weightless insults with your mates; it’s just meaningless words with very little ground, meant to just be humorous banter.

        Being maliciously insulting is different, as is bashing.

        Your calling him an idiot for choosing to spend his money for something he wants is insulting, and, really, it’s not crazy or stupid at all. Sure, it may potentially be a waste of his money that will sit on his shelf for the rest of its life, but so frickin’ what?

        His money, his choice.

        Beedle
        Reply

      5. Well, if you don’t get it by now, you won’t later, so you might as well give up. But by all means, please continue trolling ME for what I do want to do with my own money! Totally helping your image as crusader of show justice.

        Also, it’s like 20-30 per part, and I don’t have a blu-ray player. At least on amazon.

        Da5id
        Reply

      6. @Beedle

        Thanks for the defense, man. I don’t really consider myself tsundere, since my enjoyment of the show comes from it being bad, but what good tsundere would actually admit it, right?

        Da5id
        Reply

      8. And no I still don’t know why you would want to support a bad show. It’s not my business how you spend your money, but if you have any to give away then go ahead. I welcome it.

        Okay I'm sorry, Dear person who I think has a very illogical thought process
        Reply

      9. @Dear Idiot

        Just my 2 cents:

        You will never get rid of trolls while there are two conditions present:

        1. He has a reason, no matter how stupid it is.

        2. People who is stupid enough to go along with it.

        I’m not saying you should give up. But there are moments you have to let it go for now. Besides, it’s not our loss if we didn’t buy his reasons, or if we aren’t one of the imbeciles behind him. We know the truth. We stand for what we believe.

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      11. Nah I don’t care what you do. Like I have already said, you spend your money the way you want. Not my business as irrational and wasteful as I think it is. I was more or less curious how you would try to justify it.

        Dear person who I think has a very illogical thought process
        Reply

      13. @Beedle

        Because he is a troll. That reason is enough for you. You will never understand and it will be a waste to explain to you.

        @Da5id

        I don’t care what you do from now on. Mostly because I am tired of trying to point out how stupid you look. You play the fool, troll, do whatever. You do notice except for this note that I had not responded to any of your trolling?

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      14. Yes, he does, Beedle. One can only speculate which of us is more troll than man.

        The biggest disappointment? It’ll all be over in 5 weeks, when this glorious train-wreck finally reaches the station.

        …wait, do wrecked trains go to stations?

        Da5id
        Reply

      15. @Moondoggie:

        Now I am genuinely curious; why did you respond to his trolling by trolling him with baiting remarks? What’s that old saying…”don’t feed the troll”?

        Anyways, this is already getting off-topic (though I admit I played some part in that xD)

        Beedle
        Reply

  132. I officially hate every single character in the anime – HARE was the most consistent one. Everyone else is expendable and changes faster than the cells are replaced in a human body.

    At this point, I feel everyone should just die and I wouldn’t bat an eyelid..

    dimasok
    Reply

  133. Everyone is going to die. Not that I’d be surprised by anything with this train wreck of a plot. Shu will get power back, viewers get death and what they perceive as karmatic justice, everyone’s happy, we can all watch Another. Sounds nice.

    KRILL
    Reply

  135. …And then Shu died, Inori became an Idol, Gai is still rebelling against something, Tsugami and Gai got together, all the students reunited with their parents and Totoro, Shu’s Mom bought pants, and the end card is “This is how NOT to make an anime.”

    I swear that’s the only possible ending I can think of at this point.

    On another note, I thought this series would get BETTER after 12. Nope.

    Nikku
    Reply

  136. Omg Flay Allster whored herself out to Kira Jesus Yamato in Seed like omg, this happened a decade ago but you never saw such ignorant comments like this back then.

    NOOOO MY KINGS POWER!!!

    Lol shuu is a funny guy.

    exia
    Reply

    1. Because Flay was an unstable whore from the get-go? Her character was meant to be a racist, vindictive and manipulative bitch that earns her redemption at the very end.

      We’ve seen Arisa’s heart- she had a frickin’ episode based on her- and her void was not a pointy dildo.

      Beedle
      Reply

    3. If you didn’t see the comments where everyone called Fllay a whore, I don’t know what communities you were participating in. She is practically THE most disliked character (except maybe Shinn) in the Gundam SEED universe. But even then, her character portrayal was still executed better than almost all of the characters in Guilty Crown.

      R
      Reply

    1. Shuuichirou/Gai called, most likely telling her to gather the students and isolate Shu ASAP and do whatever means necessary.

      As for who gave her the phone, I dunno. I’m guessing it’s her phone and GHQ hacked her number or something.

      Beedle
      Reply

    2. I think Gai would be the nearest guess of the majority because Arisa will do everything for Gai, even getting too far such as surrendering her “ultimate void” to other men…

      Summer Mist
      Reply

  139. Ok, it’s my hunch but… at this point,
    shuu will probably become much more likable in the remaining eps, and GC might deliver a very good ending O_o
    This ep (still a horrid one) got my hopes up a lot.

    Whee
    Reply

    1. To be honest I think Yahiro will somehow help Shu as well. If I remember it correctly, he wasn’t part of the coup d’etat at the very least. Ironically it might be Yahiro, the very first person to betray Shu, who will give him back his faith on his friends.

      Just a wild guess though, no need to flame.

      The Story You Don't Know
      Reply

      1. he definitely will:
        rolo yahiro will sacrifice himself to bail out lelouch shoe. then after he escapes, lelouch shoe mourns and thinks about all he’s done. since he has nothing to lose, he goes to confront his father mother, charles haruka who made this happen.

        amado
        Reply

  141. I prefered the ‘weak and indecisive” Shu to the dark side Shu anyway… The level of trainwreck is: “Hi watchers! Writers here! We can kill off and raise anyone via deus ex machina BECAUSE WE CAN!”
    And of course band of teenagers with varia of tools/weapons will take not only on GHQ but on the US Pacific Fleet and win… via the power of the competence zone (x<17):P
    Oh, and we have been fed lies, his name is not Gai but GAR 😛
    Or maybe Gaidalf the White?
    Also, I was right about Raccoon City solution being implemented. I assume the shield of Arisa will be put to use on a nation wide scale or something. Who need BMD with Voids around? 😛
    As much as people will be hating Arisa it was her political acumen coupled with use of womanly charms that got us the student uprising. Yeah I know otaku like their 2d idols pure and unspoiled but I endorse strong females who don't hold on to the morality crutches when greater things are at stake.
    I wonder what kind of "King" will Gai make? Probably better than Shu, but that is a really low threshold to make…
    Luckily, we have only few episodes of this trainwreck yet.

    ewok40k
    Reply

  142. Is this series receiving so much hate because of its high expectations and hype before it even started showing? It isn’t that bad since it is still entertaining. Not making much sense or plot but entertaining nonetheless.

    Solosis
    Reply

  143. After seeing the preview of the next episode does any one get the feeling Inori might sacrifice herself to save Shuu and give him a fighting chance. She does after all have a void that can’t be measured. Maybe she can also restore something that is lostlike Shuu’s arm like Hare.

    RS456
    Reply

  144. Why is the “good”, and “well-written show” in this season didn’t get as many responses/comments as Guilty Crown every week. It don’t even make any sense. I am disappointed, humanity.

    noobite
    Reply

  150. I don’t what to think about this show anymore. At this point I’m just along for the ride. When it Premiered I had such grand hopes for this show and it did start hopeful especially with the A-1 animation quality and themes. But then the show got P**sy like Shu and I was mad! Then it did a 180 and has gotten ridiculously hardcore in tone and feel. I don’t know what to think. Other than I miss Code Geass. Which got it right on all levels and now I’m sad Bandai has stopped development on the New Geass Manga. It makes me long for Un-Go or to re-watch the whole series. I dunno. The one thing I do know. Once this series IS over. I’m never watching it again. :-\

    Seishowmeu
    Reply

  151. I know why it is titled Guilty Crown,cause the writers and producers of this dumb show are
    going to feel so much guilt & regret as no one is going to buy its BD Release.I mean how can anyone be so stupid to even produce such a spineless show with almost no script considering all the characters are so much of a mess and no one knows who or what is going to pop up out of nowhere.I hope that bomber drops the nuke and end everyone’s misery including ours.

    shiki999
    Reply

  152. Divine I think you are just a Shu hater, not saying that I’m a fanboy myself. Feeling no sympathy for Evil Shu well having sympathy for Evil Gai and Arisa? lol? If anything Shu should be more traumatized since he was forced the role of king and lost Hare, while Arisa just got stabbed in the hand… As for the series, either the writers planned to mind blow the views with something amazing at the end or they realized the only reason people are watching are for the shock value; either way though, I’m embracing myself for my mind to be blown next week.

    ybaby
    Reply

    1. As someone who legitimately enjoys this show, I still find Shu very difficult to like. I thought a few episodes back that he would take on the moral challenge of assessing how much people are worth, not just to him, but to a greater “societal interest.” Turns out, he doesn’t do this at all – after losing Hare, he completely loses his marbles as well, complaining to Inori about how lonely he feels while he’s trying to protect everybody, but at the same time not hesitating at all to kill someone should they step out of line. Shu’s actions may or may not be completely random, but there seems to be little “compelling” continuity behind his rationale.

      He’s sticking to the story that he’s lonely and hates losing people who believe in him. But none of this really holds any water in light of his actions. He just seems impulsive, emotional, and as of late, drunk off power. I wish they would’ve built something likeable about him. He lacks the sensitivity that makes us want to empathize with him, the decisiveness that makes characters like LL badasses… and well, that’s pretty bad right there.

      Jif
      Reply

  155. Shame really the UN is still looked as evil in the anime. Whether it is with the Majority or just Veto the UN sucks. I dont know how many times I seen a Nighthawk in all apocalyptic animes. Strange really they seem to the only plane used to destory.

    Oh yes The Ghost Technology could be a reality. Scientist at Honda have I believe made contact through brain power all thanks to the Asimo.

    Lastly, Is it safe to assume Mana is alive aswell. Because she was the Key. Or could Gai Red eye have something in store for us.

    Well great episode and cant wait.

    Dragonite88
    Reply

  156. Characterization in this episode was rather strange. Did Argo and Tsugumi really agree to not only betray, but to kill Shuu? Argo clearly knows that Shuu had been fooled by Yahiro all along, and Shuu even let him live. I assume Tsugumi should also know about this by staying in contact with Argo. That doesn’t seem consistent with how these two characters were portrayed in the previous 16 episodes.

    Also, this wasn’t even a rebellion. It was more like “after we tear down that wall, let’s get our revenge on Shuu for being a jerk”. It really served no purpose other than revenge as people were already escaping through the destroyed wall. Maybe I’m just missing something.

    SJin
    Reply

  157. I read Random Curiosity and the comments all the time but I never leave a reply. But after reading all these replies I felt the urge to write something. I know most people hate the show or the execution or the writers because of the events from either this episode or the past couple of episodes, but personally I think this show is great and realistic.

    Shuu in the first half of the season lacks initiative and is portrayed so weak. People I assume continue watching the show to see him grow to be a reliable, strong leader. But in real life when you aren’t doing something right do you just drastically change and get the right answer immediately? It may be obvious to us what Shuu needs to do but for his situation it’s understandable and human to make mistakes. He doesn’t understand why he can’t be a good leader but still searches for a way to be a good leader. He ends up down the dictator route to try to control everyone but we see glimpses of him revealing his feelings and hate for having to act like this. He hesitates when he finds out Souta might possibly die but he continues down this evil path because he wants to save as many people as possible. It’s realistic how his thinking evolves because he doesn’t know what works and what doesn’t, he believed his “leadership” would work but it still had flaws.

    This is where it gets interesting. How will Shuu’s thinking evolve now. It’s boring when the main character has a flaw, then realize he has one, then change himself and ends up great. That’s really linear. In Guilty Crown however he goes from a weak personality to an even worst personality. He literary hits rock bottom after being betrayed. What’s even worst is that the people he doubts (Yahiro) were people that wanted to help him and people he trusted (pretty much everyone) betrayed him. And I believe he thought everyone trusted him but just really hated him. Did you see the look on Shuu’s face when pushed by Souta? So Shuu hits rock bottom and you feel he’s gone even farther past rock bottom because of the emotions you feel from watching the scenes of Souta pushing Shuu, Arisa betraying Shuu, Argo allowing Shuu’s betrayal and potentially death and Tsugumi also forsaking Shuu, but it doesn’t stop. The writers barrage you with wtfs. Gai? Gai is evil?! Inori got stabbed?!?! GAI DID IT?! WTF THAT’S SHUU’S ARM BRO?!?!?! THIS is low. Think about it from Shuu’s mind. This is past rock bottom. As long as writers execute it properly now they have so much potential to make Shuu great and this show great, though in 5 episodes is cutting it really close. Why can it be great? Because if Shuu’s thinking is developed properly and he becomes the kind king that saves everyone then things can’t possibly turn out better. This is the opposite of a tragedy. Why is the story of Satan so tragic? Because he was once an angel but fell to the pits of hell. Falling from the very top (an angel) to the very bottom (the devil) is what makes it tragic. Shuu can be the opposite. Climbing from the very very very bottom to the very top. If done well.

    I love this show because though I’m in pain right now from a lot of things that I don’t like (not just about Shuu) I hope and believe this show will be great starting from the evolution of Shuu.

    On another note I don’t know what will happen but I believe people will follow Gai, Gai will betray them, Shuu will come back with a new way of thinking and a rocking new power to boot, everyone though betrayed by Gai will also not like Shuu, Shuu will not seek to explain why he was such an asshole but instead earn back the trust of everyone unintentionally (by helping everyone and not demanding anything from them and telling them not to follow him but for some reason they will be compelled to follow him and he’ll be all like thank you guys), then he will face Gai and pass him and from there it will probably get complicated. Gai will either be evil and Shuu will seek to save him. Gai is evil because he is being controlled and Shuu will release him. Gai was deliberately being evil to drive Shuu into a corner where he knew Shuu would return powerful and it was all an elaborate plan to develop Shuu. Shuu will defeat Gai and Gai was just always evil (not that likely I don’t think). So many good possibilities.

    It would be great if there was a second season because it takes a lot to make Shuu great, get everyone to like him again, get Gai to change in whatever way is best and even toss in Mana in there. Holy Crap. I hope instead of bashing this show people wait and see how it turns out because nothing is more annoying than a bunch of viewers going from flaming on every character as well as the writers to omg omg omg Guilty Crown is great. If Guilty Crown ends up awesome, I wouldn’t want to see that. If not… then I will probably cry from the loss of so much potential and feel like I wasted an hour of my time typing this. Also try to put yourself in the characters shoes. A lot of them do a lot of dark or twisted things but they are all in stressful situations. There would be no such thing as ethics if everyone did the right thing all the time. Again that’s what makes this show realistic. I heart Hare just as much as the next guy and hate childish asshole Shuu but… it’s life people can die just as easily as Hare and people can let emotions control them (Shuu) and become power crazy losing sight of the goal they are trying to achieve. Besides anyways I bet Shuu will discover some sort of crap that sucks out the virus from people and will probably cure Gai and a bunch of other people and maybe even revive Hare (though I sure this would piss off a lot of people too…? Maybe?). Continue the story writers *fingers crossed*.

    I Love This Show.
    Reply

    2. You are a breath of fresh air. While some, if not most of the criticisms are reasonable IMO, the whole comments section reeks of negativity in contrast to your optimism.

      A second season? Maybe…why not? But judging from how things are turning out, I can only see more deaths of the characters closer to Shuu and at best a bittersweet ending.

      It is, though, an interesting scenario to contemplate and think of the ‘What Ifs’. Fanfiction could be the way to go. Heck, a good amateur writer might even excavate a diamond from all the supposed mud most people think they are watching.

      Owaranai
      Reply

  158. Im hoping for a turn around, CG S2 was not too terrible but was a little rushed at times but still managed to mind fuck the hell outta all of us. Maybe GC can do this too. Shu definately acted way outta place for his character and became the exact opposite of what Hare loved but it has happened in other animes as well Case in point Sasuke in Naruto. He finds out Itachi killed his own kin to save the village and his dumb ass goes herp derp lets go blow it up. this series has a hell of a lot of errors but it is still enjoyable in some aspects and if you dont think so the stop watching it. There are alot of other awesome ones like Rinne no Lagrange and Ano Natsu De Matteru

    Zero
    Reply

    1. i have the same idea as you. just realized it after ep 17. i used to think it was just shuu’s arm raised but in closer inspection, it will strike more as a mech arm or prosthetic rather than a human arm. im guessing haruka will help him with that

      seiten
      Reply

  162. Well,the ending is quite clear for me…Shu gets a new arm with new powers then goes to save every1 and kills Gai then Shu understands that this was Gai’s plan all along,defeats the eyebrow kid then Inori goes berserk(don’t know why yet) and Shu saves her somehow but dies in the process then we get a Code Geass ending with a hint that Shu is still alive.

    Diabolikul
    Reply

  166. From the preview and little bit of Japanese I konw Inori/Mana is going to sacrifice herself to save the life of Shue as he is bleeding to death and has been betrayed by each and every ungrateful bastard that he came across in his life so there is no one is going to help him,he is again going to snap out not finding Inori around and going to kill each and everyone and the first will be Arisa as she is the one responsible, there is word mentioned relating Arisa which means “I am going to beat the hell out of her.”
    I think there were only three people who truly cared and loved him Inori,Mana and Hare,everyone else is a Backstabber including his stepmother,he should stop being a wuss and stand for himself for once in his life probably help that bomber where exactly to drop that nuke and with his new found power he should escape from Japan.
    that would be good ending.

    shiki999
    Reply

  168. AHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Holy fuck just when I thought this shit couldn’t get any worse! Shu surprised that the students turned against him after he acted like an asshole? Second scene where he;s with Inori going “Oh woe is me! I’m such an asshole! Feel sorry for me!”? Gai clone out of fucking nowhere who turns out to be a bad guy and cuts off Shu’s arm and somehow takes his powers? Holy fuck I’m laughing so hard! Oh god my sides! Seriously! Someone fucking help me! I think I might seriously die laughing!

    LaughingMan
    Reply

    1. Not to mention the blatant fanservice for Arisa with forced character development. Seriously, have the writers of this show ever fucking heard of pacing? This is by far the most laughably stupid anime series that I have seen in my life. Normally I would have dropped a bad anime series, but this is just too fucking funny to drop. Can somebody photoshop Tommy Wiseau’s face on Shoe please? For those who don’t know who I’m talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plz-bhcHryc

      LaughingMan
      Reply

  169. This show is just a series of disappointing events piled on top of each other in rapid succession. I already know the end. Inori dies so Shou gets an even longer scarf. Then everyone dies in the end anyway in an unbelievably angsty way, but it’s cool, cus Shou has a scarf and god-like apathy. Then Gai and Shou become lovers except Gai is dead, so it’s all necrophilic and shit, but it’s cool, cus Shou only has one arm. And that’s why Will Smith made the Men In Black.

    Aotsuki
    Reply

  170. IMO Shou has proven himself to be a much better leader than half ass Gai,Shuu delivered what he promised to all students that he would get them out of that barricaded area no matter what and he planned and executed it with 100% success rate with in a short time whereas Gai has been fucking around half of the series being the leader of a rebellion group and accomplished nothing, if you have seen the series all his plans either backfired or failed resulting in causalities of his subordinates,Shou may be indecisive and little bit reserved but when the situation calls for it he does his job even Gai has said that he wanted to become stronger like him before parting.and remember when that old fossil who is Arisa’s Grandfather asked Gai for his motivation behind his actions as rebellion leader and that Gai(Jerk) told him that it was to get a hold of a woman referring to Mana.(man what an honest reason to build a rebellion army and throwing them in the war just to satisfy your own libido),compared to him Shuu could have escaped safely with Inori if he wanted to with his power but he stayed with all those backstabbing,selfish and ungrateful school kids out of humanity wanting to help them with his power which he did,and he is of course not a tyrant as he has been questioning his own actions as telling Inori”I am not doing this to become a leader or popular I just want them to get out of Tokyo safely.” I’d say a much better answer compared to Gai.I have only one complaint,when his arm was hacked
    by Gai he shouldn’t have yelled”My power of Kings”instead “My Arm” or a scream out of pain should have been sufficient.I am only watching this series because of its artwork and its almost going to conclude with 5 episodes so not gonna drop it at this point though it has provento be a Train wreck indeed and will be remembered for how horribly it has been executed.

    shiki999
    Reply

  171. Just got to watching this episode, and while I’d say this show really sucks in terms of lifting up a person’s mood, I’m forced to reevaluate my opinion that the series is no good.

    I think the scenario that Shuu is faced with here is relatively interesting. Dug the hole by himself after going off on a tangent different from that of Hare’s, went batshit crazy and drunk with authority at some point, only to have it all crumble on him with betrayal after betrayal. The very fact that every tragedy that is happening to and around him slowly backs him into a corner one step at a time until there’s total despair is the mood that the writers could be looking for.

    I gather that most people make fun of Shuu’s scream about his power of kings being taken, but it does make some sense when this guy is sincere BUT sincerely wrong in wanting to save the student body after the death of one of his closest friends, the one who he feels truly believes in him. The supposed symbolism of ruling through kindness is thus taken, and this teenager who finds it hard to make decisions allows Hare’s death to make the decision for him – Since Kindness dies, therefore the opposite, the Iron Fist should be the way to go. the rest is history, and with Shuu backing himself into a corner then having everyone turn their backs on him (Never have I ever felt such hatred for a character. DIE NANBA and CRONY #1), with the last spirit-shattering events the ‘skewering’ of Inori, the one last person who would still be with him and his last security and identity in himself – The power of kings taken away – I can understand why he screamed the way he did there.

    While I can’t vouch for how well they wrote the entire series thus far, I thought this was at least something positive to take from the episode – How events culminate to the point where we see the protagonist hit rock bottom. It’s actually one of the most fundamental processes that a hero/heroine goes through in a story. How it has been executed so far, though, doesn’t seem to sit right with me as well.

    Regarding Arisa: Being judgmental, we tend to pick out that negative aspect of an event like that and ruthlessly slap a “whore” label on her. I beg to differ simply because of the situations and madness coming to her at every bend. While it is certainly true that more of Arisa could have been portrayed to tell us viewers just what is going on in her mind…Anyone noticed that she looked like she was going to break any moment? That’s one ‘subtle’ hint that most people fail to catch. I don’t approve of what she did, of course, but I can accept it.

    On the whole, however, GC still reeks badly of terrible writing and character development. One can argue that the writers are trying to show something here or convey some kind of message about human nature and whatnot but whatever it is, it clearly isn’t working.

    I don’t know how they can ever hope to salvage this and still make it decent, but I’m not completely giving up on seeing better developments and perhaps a bittersweet ending.

    Even if that doesn’t happen…At least the OP and ED are good.

    Owaranai
    Reply

    1. Code geass is Epic and Lulu have willpower. this episode make me think of Nisemonogatari ep 7 when araragi told his sister about she doesn’t have her own will and she is just a fake but she realise and that and become almost a real hero. Shu is suck he is a fake who imitate Gai. SO give Inori to me and die yup

      pokpokza
      Reply

  173. I hate Shu, he is the most stupid protagonist ever after “black hair guy” in gundum seed destiny.
    This anime really piss me with their stupid scenario I think the Top 3 anime for this serie is Mirai nikki , Moretsu pirate and Nisemonogatari + Black Rock shooter too for yuri lover.

    pokpokza
    Reply

  174. I think… Episode 17 killed this show for me. I loved watching, even as asanine as Shu was all along, I thought great things could come of this. But episode 17 ruined it. I made the smart decision of reading that his arm was cut off… I never bothered to watch the episode and I won’t bother watching another one again. The kid has been too pussy all along, and he FINALLY went crazy…and the next episode he’s made into a bigger pussy than episode 1. This is not a shounen. Its a failure. I refuse to believe intelligable people wrote this show.

    Rebric
    Reply

      2. But we can at least agree it was cool to see Gai give those enforcers their comeuppance, right? I mean, I didn’t understand what their Voids were besides the scythe, and I’m not sure how putting them all together makes a missile, but they did at least get what they deserved.

        Da5id
        Reply

      3. >.>

        I Guess. I was actually expecting there will be students who will side with Shu after this.

        Anyway I supposed you still have things to rage on this(I’m not saying this to offend). I supposed you raging for 17 episodes, there IS something I’m not seeing that you can see.

        And I supposed I should accept it now.

        What’s unacceptable this week is people raging on BRS instead, just because it airs in NoitaminA. >.>

        The Moondoggie
        Reply

      4. Well, I haven’t seen the whole episode or the subs yet, but based on the last few episodes, this one will likely be rage-worthy. I did still hate Arisa, especially when she killed her grandfather, who was pretty damn badass. I also wish Inori would go one episode without saying Shu’s name more than five times…and yada yada stuff like that.

        And I thank you for your acceptance. Did you read that article I linked about So Bad It’s Good?

        I’m pretty sure that rage comes from noitamina’s reputation for having the “non-mainstream” shows. I don’t really get it either. One complaint I’ve heard about that show is that the school drama is kind of exaggerated, but I’m not watching it till it finishes, so I wouldn’t know.

        Da5id
        Reply

  179. I feel seriously sad for Shou. No one truly deserves what he has gone through. Everyone acts as if they could pull this off without shaking or even breaking down from the stress. There’s a lot of realism in this, since they bring lots of emotional problems into the anime to show that they aren’t perfect human beings. They’ve got feelings.
    People don’t like Shou? Alright. Do you have to argue about it and force people to agree with you? Not cool dude. Yes opinions matter, but coercing people to join you is not something everybody wants to do.

    hibari
    Reply

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