XxZeroeZxX

This is my Guilty Crown

It breaks my heart not to rate this series higher. It honestly does. Most of the early reviews, wayy too harsh. So let's give a new perspective here. What you have here is a series with excellent production values, a brilliant soundtrack, and a fantastic 1st half. But the 2nd half lets the series down so badly and GC never becomes the epic it seemed destined to be. As I was watching the 2nd half of the series, the first few eps did seem promising. But slowly but surely I became less and less interested in the series as the 2nd half progressed. To the point that when it came to the last ep I didn't even care about the ending anymore. Why was this so? Ordinarily I'd say it's a combination of factors and elaborate into each little detail, but in this case the fundamental flaw was rather evident to me. I honestly think that the major issue with GC, the thing that trumps any other problems you all may have with the series, is just an overall lack of focus/ direction. Something so fundamental, but as evidenced by this series a very critical aspect. There was never a point in GC when I saw the endgame. And on the face of it you might think that's a good thing. However, there's a black-and-white distinction between keeping the viewer on their toes and just lacking direction. Without a doubt, GC seriously lacks direction in the 2nd half. It pulls you from one seemingly dramatic event to another to another and another. But by having so many of these events, it just dilutes their impact. Worse yet, the series is so intent on wowing you that it loses vital plot development and thus the more that goes on, the shallower everything feels. This is what leads to the whole not caring factor. And really it's a terrible shame. I wanted to care. I wanted this to be a great series. It had the bones. It just wasn't meant to be. But so I'm not being a complete downer, let's reiterate some of those positives I glossed over in the opening. The animation is beautiful and attentive. It draws you in no matter how you might feel about the series. The OP/EDs are very good. Supercell is always great. And I love the insert song Euterpe. But lest we forget the OST which is absolutely phenomenal. Don't even need to bother highlighting specific tracks cause they're all great. Moving on, it seems the failings of the ladder parts of the series have made people forget that the 1st half was indeed special. If GC were formally split up into season 1/ season 2, I may well have ventured to give season 1 an elite 9 out of 10. Great action, great plot progression. And while a lot of people weren't thrilled with the character cast, I was a big fan. I especially liked almost all the female characters (except for Arisa who should've died). I know Inori was the over-the-top melt-in-your-arms type, but I thought she played the role really well. I also liked Hare and Ayase a lot. I really wish Ayase was more involved throughout the series as she's brought into focus towards the end and has some compelling moments. As far as the male characters go: you have Gai for the ladies. And Shu has a lot of ups and downs, but I can say that his character progression was certainly engaging. Anyway, it's about time to wrap things up. In conclusion, I think Guilty Crown is a worthwhile series. It's a mostly enjoyable watching experience even if the 2nd half falls flat. My advice to those who have yet to watch would be to temper your expectations (don't go in thinking this is the next Geass) and just have fun with it. 7.5 out of 10.