Well humans, we’ve all had moments where we wonder what it’d be like to be in someone else’s shoes(I know I would like to be in the shoes of most tentacles monsters) . This time we’re taking a look at a young teenage boy having to be in a similar situation as Christ himself (being like Thor was already taken). Along the way we get robots, giant explosions and warring factions. The anime is Guilty Crown.
In the year of 2039 we have a grim future for Japan. A deadly disease known as the apocalypse virus has completely devastated Japan (an event known as Lost Christmas). The dieases kills by slowly crystallizing its victim. This leaves Japan to rely on a multinational and United Nations backed organization (GHQ) to maintain order, treat the virus, and having to give up their own sovereignty in the process. As power slips away from Japan and toward foreign nations, the underground group known as The Undertakers(they should have called themselves the Ministry of Darkness) resists the takeover of the country. With them is a young teen by the name of Shu Ouma. He has the ability to draw out weapons and tools (known as voids) from others by putting his hand through them. Along with internet singer Inori Yuzuriha, they hold the key to freeing Japan from foreign forces and the virus itself.
Just like Neon Genesis Evangelion, this show makes much use of Judeo-Christian ideas to tell its story. Although unlike Eva, Guilty Crown focuses more on drawing from primarily Jesus rather than the entire gauntlet of ideas (and also the robots are much smaller). The character of Shu isn’t so much metaphorically Christ but is sort of a “what if” scenario of putting a flawed and indecisive teenager in the role of being a savior. He fumbles and becomes a tyrannical jerk at times as well. Not quite filling the role of Christ by letting his anger gets to him but he does embody the values of forgiveness and redemption.
Inori herself also shares the role of being a savior (as her singing plays in part with treating the apocalypse virus). Together they fit a hybrid of savior and Adam and Eve.
When it comes to the rest of the characters, I have to admit most of them can come off as complete dicks. Whenever it’s not the bad guys being jerks, everybody else seems to be unlikable at some point. It fits the Christ figure like role for Shu when his friend Yahiro betrays him to save his own skin, but then every other character craps on him for any stupid reason. You even begin to hate the disabled character.
Being voiced by the same girl who does Kuroneko doesn't save you.
I could see the leader of the Undertakers (Gai Tsutsugami)having everybody be tough on Shu in order to strengthen him up, but that’s not the case. Turns out they’re all that petty. And of course Shu has his moment of being a douchebag.
Despite this, I at least like the character of Tsugumi(who wouldn’t like a girl that constantly shows you her ass?).
And now some more pics of what makes her great.
The fight scenes are at least worth a look. Plenty of things blowing up due to big robots that go by the name of Endlaves(remote controlled by pilots). Even though Endlave pilots aren’t. And also some action using the voids. Each void pulled from an individual has its own specific properties (all based on the personality of the person it is pulled from). So you see weapons that can camouflage to giant swords riding down to destroy a whole wave of robots.
And whenever things are getting intense due to robots and voids being used, we got regular ole artillery, grenades and rifles doing the job.
So that is Guilty Crown. As the title implies, Shu Ouma wears the thorny crown. There are some flaws here and there, but I can at least say the plot is somewhat interesting.
About the author: Glitch is a digital demon from planet Fanboy, and is here to teach us humans a thing or two. You can find more of his reviews(and nonsense) over at http://www.youtube.com/takenoutofcontext.