Guilty Crown [Anime Review]

Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose

To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude;
And in the calmest and most stillest night,
With all appliances and means to boot,
Deny it to a king? Then, happy low, lie down!
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. 

- Henry IV, part II. Act III, scene 1.

Welcome to Funeral Parlor.

Guilty Crown is a story about leadership, about responsibility, and sacrifice. It is a magnificent tale told across two seasons. It is beautifully animated, some of the best I've seen, and the beauty adds to the poignant tragedy that is Guilty Crown.

Funeral Parlor's main males, and a mecha.

However, before we go any further let me give a quick synopsis.

In the year 2022 an asteroid impacted Japan. From it came a new virus, the (badly) named Apocalypse Virus. On December 24, 2029, an event occurred that spread the infection across Japan instantaneously. The Japanese government was thrown in to absolute and utter chaos. Unable to respond to the crisis a UN sponsored NGO, the GHQ, steps in and in a short amount of time brings the virus under control. GHQ takes control of Japan.

Worst chat-up line ever.

The year is 2039, Japan, specifically Tokyo, is controlled by GHQ and their Anti-bodies squads. They patrol, seek the virus, and eliminate it. However there are those who oppose GHQ.

The year is 2039, Shu Ouma is a normal high school student. Well almost normal. He lives inside his own head far too much, questioning everything around him. He even wonders if he has any friends or if the guys he hangs out with just hang out with him because they have nothing better to do and he doesn't get in their way. He is a coward, frightened easily, and takes no risks.

Cat's Cradle.

He spends his time making music videos to the music of EGOIST.

Then one day he finds the lead singer of EGOIST, Inori, a cute pink-haired girl his age, injured in the run down building where he does his video editing. She is taken by anti-bodies right in front of him. He doesn't lift a finger... and he hates himself for it.

Also Ayase. The Enlave (mecha) pilot.

Ayase, a disabled girl. Pretty cute.

Inori from EGOIST.

That's it. That is the synopsis for now. That little snippet gets through about half the first episode.
 
This is a powerful series.

It begins slowly, building up over the course of many episodes. Story elements are constantly revealed, explained, and built into the grand tapestry.

I was constantly on the edge of my chair in suspense, wondering what will occur next, how that character will react, what the hell that new thing is. The show is filled with questions. 

But there is a lot more to it than simply the questions and wonderful animation that make Guilty Crown so awesome.

This is NOT what it looks like.

I have nothing funny or witty to say about this.

The whole series is actually a massive morality tale. A tragedy written along the same lines as Henry IV (parts I and II). There are many parallels.



The importance and responsibility of one person's actions are shown as well as the the importance and responsibility of the actions taken by leaders, rulers, and more.

Infighting inside of various groups, backstabbing, political intrigue. Guilty Crown has all of this, plus strange science and powerful characters. There is loss of life and loss of self. Madness and sadness. Love and hate and life and death and suffering. 

An underground garden, a place of peace, a place for a king to rest his head.

I highly recommend this series. It may not be the best of the best, but it is right up there. The music is utterly astounding, I even enjoy the fan covers redone in English (not a part of the BD, jsut something I stumbled across).

Here, listen to Euterpe. This is a song that gets interspersed through the series, sung by Inori. Or here, try the intro music: My Dearest. If you want to try the English fan covers, here is Eutrepe in English. Let me know what you think.

If you watch this series, you have to actually watch the intro credits and ending credits. They change. The intro credits are really hard to catch and only start changing around ep6. Prepare to wear out the pause button on your remote.

So we're at last down to the final rating. I really enjoyed the series, and am very glad I picked up the two BD sets together. I think waiting to watch season two after season one (only 23 episodes all total) would have been tough. If you watch this, do not stop after season one. Make sure you watch it all the way through.

4.5 Stars