Guilty Crown

The story takes place in the near future in Japan. On December 24, 2029 a virus hits Japan leaving the country in a state of emergency. This event becomes known as “Lost Christmas,” this event leads Japan to rely on aid from GHQ.  GHQ a multi-national organization takes control of Japan and Japan becomes a colony instead of an independent nation.

Ten years later a shy high school student Shu Ouma goes from regular teen to possessing a great power that everyone wants. Shu Ouma often goes off alone to an abandon building where he likes to hang out. It’s there that he meets Inori, an internet idol who is the lead singer of Egoist. She is on the run from GHQ because she is a member of a terrorist organization known as Funeral Parlor and has stolen a weapon from GHQ. Inori enlist Shu’s help to get the weapon to Funeral Parlor’s leader Gai. Of course things go wrong and Shu Ouma comes into possession of the mystical weapon instead of Gai. The weapon fuses with Shu’s hand and now gives Shu the power to extract voids from people. These voids are manifestations of peoples’ hearts, so every void is different. It’s because Shu is now in control of this weapon that GHQ and Gai try to talk Shu into joining one side or the other.

The first and most amazing thing about Guilty Crown is the animation, it’s beautiful. I’d watch this show just for that one reason. The action sequences are beautiful, exciting, fast paced and pleasing to watch. Another reason that this show is so amazing to me is the soundtrack, the vocalist for the Inori character is one of the most mesmerizing singers I’ve heard in ages. I found the placement of the singing at times strange but I still love the songs so it didn’t bother me too much. The series itself has a lot of clichés and recycled characters from other series, even the story line isn’t very original. Overall, I very much enjoyed the series and recommend it.

 The first half of this series is quite fast with lots of action and very little down time. The story progresses at a good pace and you learn a lot about the main characters. The first half of the series also leaves you with many questions though and at times it’s a little confusing if you aren’t paying attention. The second half of the series starts off slow and takes some time to get back to the pace of the first half. A lot of the characters show off some more interesting personality traits. The last few episodes finally answer all the questions and ends the series without leaving you hanging. Everything is wrapped up and get closure, something that many anime series don’t do because they are following a manga. In the end I was very happy I finally got around to watching this series.  If your a fan of action, sci-fi, and mecha anime I think you'll enjoy this show.