Guilty Crown Episode 18 – The New Boss
Holy shit, another episode of this show that didn’t completely suck ass through a straw – I honestly can’t believe this happened. A ton of shit still doesn’t make sense and a lot of things still seem really stupid, but I guess I’ll give this show the benefit of the doubt and wait until it’s over to tear into it’s ass about all of the crazy stuff that it leaves unexplained. And once again, why the hell did this need to be twenty two episodes? So much of the first 3/4 of it was completely unnecessary. It was generic, cliched, sloppy, and stupid, but here we are now with this show trying to make an effort to not suck. Why the hell did the first half even need to exist?
First off, what the hell is up with Arisa? I don’t know about anyone else, but to me it seems that she lead a rebellion against Shu just to get into Gai’s pants. The whole time she’s all over Not-Gai like Kallen on Lelouch as if she’s expecting him to marry her or something. Exactly where did this sudden infatuation come from, why is she so vehemently supporting Not-Gai now? I’m calling bullshit if she’s this much into him due to the whole thing on the cruise ship or something stupid like that. She’s never given any reason as to why she is so crazy about him, and how the hell did she even know he was coming back in the first place? She’s really become a cunt for no reason whatsoever in these past few episode. But goddamn, what is up with anything anymore? I mean, Japan’s being bombed, the GHQ is being told to support Not-Gai, he stops the missiles, he has his own secret service with matching uniforms – where the fuck did all of this come from? And I think it’s pretty clear that Not-Gai isn’t really Gai, hell he even says it to Ayase and Tsugumi. But what exactly is he, why is he ruling over the world with a bunch of giant satellites, who’s helping him do this, why does he want Inori? Goddamnit, I want some explanation about this shit!
Damn, there’s so much unanswered and unexplained shit that I can’t really say too much about anything. Like what the hell is Inori? If we work in the Rei angle, she’s probably the clone of Mana or whatever, but why the fuck is that important? She’s obviously losing her grip on her “real” self and turning more and more into whatever she really is, but what exactly is she. Hell, where the hell did he crazy-ass evolved form come from, since when could she do that? That really didn’t make any sense to me. First, she tells Shu that she’s never going to leave him, then ten seconds later is outside digivolving into MetalInori, what the fuck was up with that? That sure as hell was not explained even in the slightest. That whole scene was really unbelievable, because I was simply incapable of sitting there and excepting that this random off-the-wall bullshit was real.
Shu’s really fucked too. I mean, everyone just left him for dead; Neither Tsugumi, Argo, nor Ayase even attempted to locate him, let alone try to save him. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Tsugumi – Really, show? Really? You’re really trying to sell me on Tsugumi x Daryl? Excuse me, but would you mind going to fuck yourself? Now back to Shu. He’s really fucked; he’s armless, even the people that still kind of liked him have abandoned him, and Inori probably isn’t coming back to him any time soon. Not to mention that it seems like his own mom was the reason behind him getting his arm cut off, even if it was to save him from the power it brings. So I’m kind of looking forward to whatever random plot device they throw in to give Shu the ability to go apeshit on everyone and take his badass revenge. He still doesn’t have his new crystal arm, but it’s coming and hopefully he’ll crush some skulls with it. However, Shu seems to be taking the fact that his arm has been lopped off, he has no power, and he has no friends pretty well. Hell, his morals are still intact enough to stop Inori from giving him a blowjob, because I guess giving blowjobs is evil or something. It’s probably bad writing, but he’s a pretty hardcore good guy to go through all of that stuff and still have the heart to give that kid his food and to still want to help Inori. If he’s really supposed to be a Shinji for the new generation, then he’s doing a hell of a lot better than his predecessor did in handling everything thrown at him.
Even though Shu was supposed to have changed a long time ago, he still seems pretty similar to how he was at the beginning of the show. Well, if it took the death of Asuka for Shinji to snap, maybe Inori’ll do the same for Shu. Even though this episode didn’t suck, it still wasn’t that great, because almost all of it was stuff that has yet to be explained. Not-Gai is now some kind of God-tier world leader, Inori could be badass a new X-men character, Arisa is still a bitch, and plenty of other stuff doesn’t make any sense. This show will have to have one hell of an ending to make up for how awful it was during it’s first half, but if it can just start explaining stuff and stop being sporadically stupid (which is a pretty tall order for this show to fill, I know) Then all my time watching this show might not have been spent in vain. But please either have a really awesome or a really horrible ending, don’t end up somewhere in the middle. I really want to either think that this show wasn’t complete shit, or be able to hate it with the fury of a thousand suns.
Posted on February 23, 2012, in Episodic, Guilty Crown and tagged Anime, Episode 18, Guilty Crown, Review. Bookmark the permalink. 23 Comments.
The Notaku Blog 
Everything makes sense if you think about it, seriously. First of all Inori is a vessel for Mana, the mother of the virus crap, which put the Pathogen people into the power. The Death group or whatever, basically wants to use the pathogens and the virus to do whatever the hell they want with the world. But they need the mother of the virus to control it, hence wanting Inori. Gai is just a huge tool. Anyways, Inori was almost fused with Mana before, but it was incomplete, obviously some of it affected her, hence her crazness. Shes manipulating virus for the “monster” form, similar to the abilities of Mana.
Its one thing to judge this series, for what it does wrong. Its another to judge it because your a dumbass who can’t figure shit out.
Okay, so how does the virus just “come from Mana”? Was it put into her or what? Why do they need Inori as a vessel – if they can bring people back to life, why don’t they just bring Mana back? What happened to Gai to make him how he is now, how was he revived?
I don’t understand it because it hasn’t been explained, and I already said that I’d give the show the benefit of the doubt (even though it doesn’t deserve it) and wait and see if it would explain stuff.
The show has highly advanced technology and while they can seemingly make “Clones” of dead people or supposedly resurrect them depending on how they feel like it at the time, they haven’t resurrect Mana like they did with Gai. Instead they supposedly had to have their way and create a clone to merge with Mana. Why bother with the 2 stage process when you can just res the dead girl in one go? What makes them so determined to get Mana back in full power? also what gives them the hope that they have in any way of “Controlling” Mana once she’s back in business? You think a walking plague/disease will just bow her head and follow orders like a good girl? What was that whole shaman ritual they were trying to perform with marriage type crap? How does something like that even begin to let some upstart take control of a humanoid disease? I mean I get that they become officially Husband and Wife but does that even make sense to you? They never explain any of the crap that goes on in this show. If we go by the logic Wife never betrays a Husband it’s already flawed cos they sometimes do in real life lol.
I’m willing to assume that you’re probably as clueless as the rest of us as to what exactly is going on and why. I mean sure anyone can blatantly shoot wild guesses like how everyone in Naruto fandom thought Pain = Naruto’s Dad cos he has the same hairstyle only to get a kick up their groin cos that wasn’t even the real Pain.
its one thing to deduce all that from this shit-load-of-a-show (and that’s saying something), its another when the scripting/accountancy is so fallible it has more holes that mass, like not accounting for arisa’s shift, or tangible manifestations of Inori/Mana. Oh wait, that explains why she killed those guys earlier at the stairway, and how she wiped those guys at the road, and why she wanted to blowjob Shu. yeah, fucking-lame-setup, with a blowjob to spice things up.
@Notaku, this is what happens when you deliberately suspend your disbelief when watching this show. anything goes, and you begin to rationalize things in your head when the writing is non-existent.
But alas, we’ve come this far. and I’m interested in investing the fury of a thousand suns….
I’m an amputee, and even I didn’t feel bad for Shu. I mean, it’s good he’s back to his old self, but that’s like being glad George Lucas didn’t make more Star Wars movies. I’m glad they didn’t make him worse, but now where back at the initial problem. That problem being Shu can’t do anything without someone telling him what to do. Hopefully, now that he LITERALLY HAS NO ONE TO TELL HIM ANYTHING, he can do something redeeming. Finally.
And Inori, you may want to rethink saying you’re own person when the majority of your lines this week was the main character’s name. “No, I am not crazy! I just have my love interest’s sister’s voice in my head telling me to rape him.” “I’ll stay be your side forever. Later!” And then there was that form which…I don’t really have anything to say about. Other than it didn’t really do much except take down the giant mechs that are only good for killing women and children and go down in one shot. Then she gets captured. Hey, look, she’s the damsel in distress again!
Meanwhile, we have Arisa still being a bitch and committing parricide, Argo, Tsugumi and Gai making a break for it, Daryl blaming Gai…for Daryl killing his own father.
I think this show has a vendetta against likable characters. Example: Arisa’s old man. He comes in and starts wrecking Gai’s group’s shit, and gets killed instantly. At least Kenji’s back. I don’t know why he’s back, but at least he’s doing something. Remember he’s a serial killer so…yeah, it still doesn’t make sense.
As for the preview: Look’s like Haruka’s gonna die, and Shu will recreate Episode 12.
you wrote what i am thinking…
that Arisa, in the start she looks respectfull, reasonable ppl as she is a student council president…and then suddenly after seeing ppl die due to their own void is destroyed, she change and then………arggghhhhhhhhhh, i juz dun get why arisa had became so stupid in a blink of an eye…is that LOVE MAKES ONE BLIND??? i thought so, but how arisa feel in love with Gai so much…dun tell me it’s love at first sight…..==………arisa was one of my favorite characters before this episode, i was hoping that her rebellion can bring something but not just love matters……
about tsugumi x daryl….erm, actually i think this pairing is quite…….suite my taste……><
and shu… he never change, but he needs to change for the sake of his own main protagonist position……i alrdy waited long enough to see him change
I agree with all of it! I used to love Arisa but now i feel like banging her head and shouting, ‘Snap out of it!’ I really hoped that she would be the one who would face the reality but instead she acted like a cunt.
As for tsugumi x daryl, i kinda love that angle. Would love to see this maniac get the better out of him.
I think time has come for him to change, besides the next episode is Rebirth, i hope that means good (for Arisa ,too please!)
Man, I must be all alone on the Tsugumi x Daryl thing. But come on, they’re spent a total of what, five minuets together? It’s a pretty random thing to throw in there in the last second of the show like they’ve been together for the entire series; Daryl didn’t even know that she existed until episode 14 or something.
How the fuck did GHQ build all those fucking 256 LOL invisible orbital cannons and sent them to the space without being noticed by the UN, let alone the world? srsly what the fuck? so much hax
But during the episode they were invisible or something, so I guess that’s the only explanation we’re going to get on that subject.
As for the rest of the show… Gai+256 Leukocytes+The world has fallen into my hands = Lelouch+Damocles at the end of R2.. ripping characters and scenes till the end.
Just that Lelouch+Damocles is more reasonable than this -_- Can’t wait for the end….
Right… so to recap on things that make no sense anymore.
Shu’s Mum is responsible for him losing his arm (fucking knew it), though she may not be a complete bitch since having the power in the long run means you’re going to be screwed over by it.
I hope.
It better not be just because people will choose to target or whatever. That power better make the user explode, or become a friggin psychopath or I’m calling the bull. (this show has enough of it already seriously).
A group called ‘The Da’at’ are who’re backing Not!Gai (with no bloody, decent foreshadowing- ah, fuck I give up, in this universe shit happens and there’s no particular reason for it. Stupid shitty writing, if they bother to explain some shit by the end of it… ok fine, I’ll give them until then, fine) who were or apart of GHQ, doing all the ominous monologing from the shadows to take over the world or turn the work to crystal, whatever. Arisa, whose character has been completely derailed at this point, from the Ojou to… God-dammit. I’m guessing whatever that phone call she took after whoring herself to Megane must of been a pretty mind-blowing conversation, cause that shit makes no sense. Especially committing patricide, though he was coming at her with a sword after assasinating through the the other guys like a boss (I agree they are killing all the likable characers, or what makes them likable). But it still doesn’t explain her sudden undying love for Gai- and it happened off-screen so who fucking knows.
Nice to see Kenji back… I guess? Since he disappeared and stuff and since I was rather fond of him. But seriously- WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO PUT SOMEONE WE’VE ESTABLISHED AS A SERIAL KILLER IN CHARGE OF HAAX ORBITAL NUKING DEVICES. I guess he’s loyal enough to Gai to warrant that trust [/shrugs] As for the pushing of DarylxTsugumi… I like it, purely because I have a fondness for crack pairings and that shit came outta nowhere… so it’s classified as crack in my mind (or at least it’s origins since it makes no sense whatsoever). Oh and Daryl blaming Gai for killing his Daddy… what ever floats you’re psychotic mind bro. I wouldn’t mind if he turned against them purely to to call them out on the shittiness of the plot. ‘Oh yeah, that person whose been the head of the terrorist org. we’ve been trying to kill for the last 18 eps, friend nao okay so just follow orders, k =D’ I would’ve defected too, or at least be really confused.
Not!Gai (knew he wasn’t Gai since he became a white-haired pretty boy) alludes to not being human… like Inori. Ok, that narrows down to the field, not really. So what are they clones? Cyborgs? Inori is probably a fragment of the original Mana fashioned into a vessel for her? Damned if I know, but she’s developed an identity (sort of? She hasn’t had that much character development other than changing favours from Gai to Shu… though being treated like a human being instead of a tool like she was to Gai has something to do with it.) and I guess her almost becoming a vessel for Mana… imprinted her personality? Memories? Meh, I’m just babbling at this point.
What I’d like to know is where’d the virus come from? It originated from Mana so… how she get it? If they can answer both those question for me- maybe, maybe I can grasp wtf is going on with this series.
Right, anyways. Shu doing something redeeming on his own terms. Finally. And as someone else mentioned, only due to the fact no-one’s there to tell him to do stuff. [/sigh] Well, whatever bullshit get pulled from God knows where next, make it fucking epic. Go all out, make Shu a messiac badass with powers as the plot demands, I don’t care anymore about things being explained. Shame he doesn’t have a gambit in which he doesn’t even need these bullshit magic powers and pull the carpet out from under them in all his one-armed glory, because I’d find that the most satisfying. But crystal arm awaits- go and find it Shu.
Exactly my problem with the whole Inori/Mana character – there’s been no information as to what exactly she is or how she became a vessel for Mana, yet they expect us to just accept that she’s now some mutant monster thing all of a sudden. She only just recently began killing people (and I guess no one really cared about those students she murdered) so it’s not like she been on a steady decline into becoming Mana, whatever she may be.
Yeah, after she killed those guys trying to molest her I was expecting people to go “Ah!! Dead bodies!!” at some point. Did we see actual dead bodies or just blood on Inori? (Because if no bodies, posibly shattered into crystal) stil doesn’t explain why people wouldn’t notice them missing- but who cares about the unamed characters =P
Also maybe they couldn’t clone Mana since she kinda… exploded after Shu rejected her- still if they were desperate enough they could have combed Shu house for DNA, though maybe the clone came out imperfect and BAM we have Inori. Though it still doesn’t explain where the virus came from. Though taking a wild stab in the dark… maybe it came from Gai? I mean, in light of recent… events. Inori was in his possession to begin with and Mana from fine before that summer (I’m guessing).
I’m sure they won’t leave us hanging there with no answers, there will be, let’s just hope it’s not stupid. If it’s stupid this show rating will get worse, if it actually made sense and makes everything turn great, I’d love to see that happen. Most likely things WILL be unexplained until season 2, as the script writer is doing guilty crown just what he did with Code Geass. Most likely season 1 going to end off as a cliffhanger like Code Geass and season 2 will end it off >< Although IMO i really think this anime should just stop at this season and this season only. (Unless I am mistaken)
I don’t think there will be a season two, considering the fact that the show has already been split apart, and Noitamina shows don’t usually run for twenty-something episodes to begin with.
Uhm – so from my understanding of the show: Mana was the first person to be infected by the Apocalypse Virus; she was then destroyed with her own uncontrollable power when Shu rejected her and she went ape-shit crazy.
Inori is basically a vessel reincarnation for Mana, but since Inori-Mana fusion was stopped in episode 12 (I think; the whole save Inori thing when she was about to be married to the old man), Mana wasn’t reincarnated. Though in light of recent episodes, it seems that Inori is succumbing to Mana because apparently, the two are still connected.
Okay, so once again, why don’t they just revive Inori like they did to Gai?
Everything about this show displays a serious lack of planning. Characterization changes frequently, often for poor reasons such as Arisa suddenly worshiping Not!Gai or Daryl going from complete monster to tsundere. Shu, our “hero”, goes from spineless to mildly heroic, to evil, to kind and presumably heroic again later. His shallow and almost incestuous relationship with Inori doesn’t sell them very well as the official couple. The show constantly makes you hate characters by making them do immoral or stupid things. Shu’s mother, Souta, Yahiro, Not!Gai, Arisa, Keido, all of the minor characters at the school, why should I care about these people when they are either backstabbing one another or being stupid? The only character I truly like is Segai because he is devious and evil as opposed to stupid and evil like everyone else.
All the powers have zero foreshadowing and are frequently exactly what is needed at any given time. This gets especially absurd when they combine voids, like Not!Gai making an anti-missile missile by combing three random people’s voids. Another poor example of “new powers as the plot demands” is Inori turning into her crystal monster form. Everything indicated up to that point that she wasn’t conscious when using those powers so she shouldn’t be able to harness them at will.
The plot is meandering and contrived. The first 12ish episodes are a poor attempt at mimicking Code Geass and then the show switches over to being about Voids (they should have just done this from the start). Most of the drama from the show comes from people in power choosing “kill them all” as their solution to everything. Civilians won’t take their vaccines? Kill them all. Found the rebel leader? Nuke the whole area he is in from orbit. Cruise ship has a few rebel sympathizers? Better kill them all just to be sure. Part of the city (but obviously not all the people) is infected? Killing them all sounds like a good plan. Japan’s government is corrupt and evil? Hm… you could just install new leadership but… let’s just kill everyone in Tokyo instead. Everything the bad guys did in the quarantine zone was just for the evuls. If they only want Inori, why not just send in a strike team, capture her, and them bomb everything else? The enemy soldiers are also laughably incompetent when it comes to fighting named characters. If the locations Funeral Parlor attacks are so important, why are they so poorly defended (and for that matter, how does Gai know them inside and out before even going there)?
For this episode in particular, many things don’t make any sense. Besides the things I listed already, how did Not!Gai manage to hide hundreds of Super Laser Beam Satellites without anyone figuring out what he was doing? If Not!Gai just wants to conduct his experiment in Japan unhindered, why introduce the UN threat at all? How did Shu stop the bleeding after his arm was cut off? Why was a tactical bomber flying low enough that people on the ground could see it? How does a secret society (which again, had no foreshadowing) have sympathizers when they are so secret, most people consider them myth? Why is Haruka such a bad mother!?
Had this show just started with Voids and developed characters we could like, it might be worth watching. As it stands, the only pro’s are good animation and occasionally good action.
Everything comes down to writing in the end. If nothing makes sense and there are more plot holes than actual plot, then there probably isn’t much you can do to make people ignore those things.
hey i dont know about u guys but i have one question, why just one hand why Gay didnt ripped Shu into to parts and end this thing??
Cause gai just wanted the power and didn’t care about his life