Episode 16 –
Ugh, Thursdays really aren’t turning out to be a good day of anime for me. As I had feared, this episode took Shu’s personality, and radically changed it from his personality from last week. The shift is far too extreme, which is pretty much an indicator of poor writing on the creator’s part. To be fair, Shu having a darker personality and outlook is more interesting to watch (especially with Inori showing signs of becoming exactly like Mana). What really made me despise this episode was the one thing that I had feared might happen; the revival of Tsutsugami Gai.
If you can get over the extreme personality changes in both Shu and Inori, this episode was actually somewhat interesting. The situation unfolding probably closely resembles something very close to anarchy, with the cast desperately banding together for a last ditch attempt to prepare against the impending chaos. This show has taken a much darker tone and atmosphere, one that I actually kind of appreciate when you consider the situation.
But that’s where my admiration for this episode ends. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those that like Shu and Inori’s extreme personality changes. The transition was far too fast, and there’s no way that a single death, no matter how important, could create such a drastic change in personality and outlook. Shu’s treatment of other characters is far too different for to be believable, which really killed any good impressions I had left for this show. I was originally thrilled that the show was going to actually try and develop Shu as a leader. It’s a shame that it probably won’t happen.
On top of that, the storywriters were really lazy and decided that reviving Tsutsugami Gai would be a good way to spice up the show. Not only does reviving him completely destroy the significance of his death a few episodes ago, but provides an extremely forced way of inciting a major conflict in the future. Exactly what the heck is the point in reviving him at this stage in the story?
In the end, this is probably the first episode that has genuinely gotten me to debate about dropping Guilty Crown. The writing is atrocious, laughable at best. Any form of sensible character development pretty much no longer exists. The plot is being twisted around with no solid rationale in mind. So yea, Guilty Crown has officially turned into a trainwreck in my book. And this is coming from a guy who didn’t really mind the craziness of Code Geass R2.
Overall Enjoyment: 2.1/5
Screenshots are later in the post.
Distant Paradise 
i still like guilty crown but i agree that inori and shu had a very fast personality change and bringing gai back wasnt the greatest idea from the author. i wonder what happends next i hope it doesnt turn into another code geass but has a good ending
The thing is, at this point in time, Code Geass had a much more likable and well-developed set of characters than Guilty Crown. Thus, the same plot twists in Guilty Crown were FAR more effective in Code Geass.
All this makes me think of is how much time the creators wasted with this series; all those filler episodes in the first half could have been completely cut out, which would’ve left more time for some proper character development.
But instead, the creators are relying on plot twists to get some extremely rapid (and forced) development. NOT the way to go…
Dropped last week from blog coverage. It’s so sad…:P
I guess it was Hare’s death that did it for ya. Totally understandable, she was one of the better characters in the series.
And certainly didn’t deserve to die.
To be honest, I completely see where you’re coming from. I think I’m a sucker for beautiful artwork and music because that’s one of the only strengths of Guilty Crown when it comes down to it. I think the concept of Voids would have been better crafted if the storyline wasn’t so cliche in its pace. That being said though, I think bringing back Gai could make the series interesting to play out. I’m not saying it’ll be completely original but it’s obvious why they’re doing it because of the parallels between Gai and Shu and Inori and Mana. Whether that will make the series a decent one, at least toward the end, I have no idea but I think I’ll just keep watching it because I want to know what Gai’s role will be (Inori and Shu have obviously lost it and Gai is probably the only character anyone likes). Plus, I want some answers because I’m rather confused…
same here! Maybe because of the animation of the OST, I’m pretty neutral about Guilty Crown compared to many…
But why they have to bring Gai back to life? I don’t hate him at all, but I really don’t see the point of his revival. They should not abuse the concept of revival. A good reason behind the revival is always great in anime but when it just something that comes out of nowhere it’s bad… Especially when GC revived like… 3 characters? Oh maybe because of Mana? No, it won’t make it more interesting to me. -.-
At first, I really don’t see the similarity between Code Geass and Guilty Crown, after entering the second half, I can see how it’s somehow alike. I like CG, but GC does not impress me as much as CG did, or it doesn’t make me more engaging than I did with CG.
@Counie
Funny that you mention the concept of voids. I actually was debating about writing about the void system, and how it is fundamentally similar to concepts from Buddhism. The Void system also has strong similarities with concepts from the Type-Moon universe if you think about it in a particular manner.
It’s a surprisingly well-thought out concept in some regards, which is why I agree when you say how it’s disappointing that the story is so mediocre. The concept and ideas are sound, but the story is not really taking full advantage of it.
@Kurini
If it was just animation and music, yea I’d agree. Guilty Crown is strongest in those two departments, after all. I can’t really say it’s awesome in those two aspects anymore, but it’s fairly decent.
It’s the poorly written story that’s really getting to me. But heck, at this point, I think it’ll be impossible to salvage the story. Time to just watch this trainwreck unfold :3
i really liked the change, it doesn’t matter to me how fast it was as long as they make it sticks. omg Gai coming back yay but i hope it make sense how if not I’m going to be disappointed and Inori change because Shu and her are one so he changes and she does. but i hate how all of a sudden hes in love hare and go’s crazy after her death.