Guilty Crown – 19

[Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_06.25_[2012.03.01_20.10.16] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_07.12_[2012.03.01_20.11.03] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_17.52_[2012.03.01_20.22.46]

It’s liberating in a way to know that whatever I say about this show is going to piss somebody off.  For a series so many people love to hate, it sure engenders some strong opinions.

My view on episode 19 – it was better than the last two (hell, less Gai is a good head start).  Still very, very silly – but better.  It’s an interesting choice to have an entire episode built around Haruka after she’s been a minor character for so long, but it sort of works.  In a show where a lot of stuff doesn’t make sense, Haruka’s place in the story is actually quite logical and the buildup to this point in her arc elegantly constructed by Guilty Crown standards.  She’s the one elements that links together all of the preposterous coincidences and unwarranted plot twists that got us here, and she looks great in a body suit.  MILF – it does a body good.

Some things were revealed this week that we already knew or at least should have, starting with the fact that Haruka is actually Shu’s stepmother.  I was a little surprised to find out she was Keido’s sister, though.  Haruka’s plan was to kill Mana – who I presume is her natural daughter – but that’s foiled when Mana isn’t where Haruka thinks she should be.  I may have missed the explanation for why she managed to escape when Keido shot at her at point-blank range, but Haruka takes off with a void genome headed to the Kuhoin residence – where her old pal Kurachi intercepts her with a warning that old man Kuhoin is dead, and the mansion is no safe haven.

Maybe it’s me, but it seems like everywhere Kurachi went, Segai and his goods showed up a few moments later.  Coincidence?  I wonder – but the net effect it that what remains of Undertaker is decimated pretty quickly, with Oogumo paying the ultimate price to protect Haruka.  As this is happening Shu is hunting for Inori, but eventually ends up chasing down Haruka instead.  There, he arrives just as Segai is about to confiscate Haruka’s void genome, and decides to use it himself – which results in a major powerup, and a new arm.  Shu’s void is apparently the ability to absorb everything around it, including other voids and Souta’s cancer.  Haruka seemed to be of the opinion that using the void again would kill Shu, but for now it just has a kind of X-Men effect and he sets forth on his real mission, to rescue Inori and die as a messiah.

I still think there was way too much random stuff thrown in there – spinning eyes, revelations about the past, brand spanking new superpowers – and stuff like Segai’s men obediently standing by and not shooting Shu’s ass while he makes a speech before using the genome drives me crazy.  But it’s still an improvement, since things make sense at least in the narrow sense, and the emotional aspects of the episode were a little more effective for not being so bloated and grandiose as they have been lately.  I still feel like I’m watching this on quicksand, as I have no faith that Yoshino is going to deliver an ending that’s internally consistent and not just throw a bunch of deux ex machina BS in to get events where he wants them to in the end.  But I’m not going to find him guilty of a crime he hasn’t committed yet, and if the last three eps are as respectably entertaining as this one I think we should take our pleasures where we can and call it a day.

[Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_06.20_[2012.03.01_20.10.12] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_08.45_[2012.03.01_20.12.36] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_09.36_[2012.03.01_20.13.27]
[Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_10.00_[2012.03.01_20.13.52] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_10.09_[2012.03.01_20.14.00] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_10.38_[2012.03.01_21.00.02]
[Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_11.27_[2012.03.01_20.15.18] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_11.36_[2012.03.01_20.15.27] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_15.39_[2012.03.01_20.20.34]
[Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_16.15_[2012.03.01_20.21.10] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_17.07_[2012.03.01_20.22.01] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_17.17_[2012.03.01_20.22.11]
[Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_19.27_[2012.03.01_20.24.21] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_20.28_[2012.03.01_20.25.22] [Commie] Guilty Crown - 19 [77E06975].mkv_snapshot_21.15_[2012.03.01_20.26.09]
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

21 comments

  1. b

    Trace on! Unlimited Void Works!
    Along with the pose looking from behind…
    Though you can never be as cool and badass as HF Shirou.

    And damn, I was joking back then when I said that what if Shu was the one to use Ayase's void. Never thought he'd actually use it. Damn, cannot unsee…

    And why the fuck would they kill the best character left in the show??!!

    3 episodes left. Let's just get this over with…

  2. A

    And why the fuck would they kill the best character left in the show??!!
    (Assuming you're talking about Segai) RIGHT?! I loved him, he was the only legitimately interesting character that also remained fairly consitent from start to finish. Was really hoping for him to be the big baddie, he deserves it after putting up with being on this show for 19 episodes and looking like he enjoyed every second of it.

  3. A

    My take on it is that it's a terrible show, but it's fun to watch. But somehow it's not in the 'so-bad-it's-good' territory. It's not that bad, but it manages to escape from the 'bad enough to be bad' category. A parallel scale, maybe?

  4. B

    Wow, this episode was significantly better than most. Instead of being completely ridiculous, it was just a little silly and hugely boring. Lots of stuff happened, but because the characters have been built up so badly none of it was really very interesting. Still, boring is an improvement over completely stupid, so maybe there is yet hope that this show will not go down as the worst in 10 years (or longer).

    At least the people complaining that Shu x Inori is so gross because she's a clone of his sister can stop whinging now.

  5. A

    Haruka is right, the new void will kill Shu, though I am not sure how exactly she meant it. She was also revealed to be Shu's stepmother a few episode ago, I believe.

    Nevermind that though – this trainwreck has reached the nuclear level, and by Jove I can't stop watching. 20 odd minutes of un-distilled entertanium every week. Best worst show I have seen in a few years.

  6. A

    and suddenly yahiro cares for others in this episode.

  7. A

    Guilty Crown – An anime of conveniences.

    Oh and R.I.P. Segai.The only somewhat competent character is dead.

  8. Really? In this show you're assuming anyone is actually dead? I'm counting the minutes till Oogumo pulls up in a car with Shu's Dad.

  9. A

    And Segai in the backseat, right? 😀

  10. C

    I think the reason why Segai conveniently knows where everyone is due to his cellphone.

    Segai
    Deus

  11. i

    Plenty of things happening on AND off screen,

    sarcasm…

    and it's amazing what a little trauma can do to people

    …/sarcasm

    and I too miss Segai – the GC's version of the Joker (the one from The Dark Knight), well played, sir, well played…

    btw: looks like we have a episode dedicated to the past next week, so we're only getting 1.5 episodes worth of action for the finale (unless that last episode's 1 hour long – I don't mind mind-blowing sequences of events for that long)

    I'll get more stuff off my chest @ RandomC…

  12. E

    That makes Mr. Knows All and Sees All –> Gai
    a future diary user too.

  13. d

    So like Haruka lets Shu lose his arm. So Gai can become king. If Gai is happy, he would ask his people to activate statelite to save Japan…
    So Why did Haruka not just use void genome on Gai instead of letting things go about in such a round about manner?

    @Enzo: If Manna is Haruka's natural daughter means Haurka was a teenage mum?? I think it is more reasonable to say Manna is a step daughter.

  14. C

    But Shu is Haruka's step daughter so Mana is very likely to be blood related to Haruka + I'm certain got her yan side from Haruka.

    Maybe she's older than she looks or something.

  15. i

    to say she's only 5-10 years younger than Shuuichirou may be over doing it, unless he's younger than he looks

  16. D

    "Shu is Haruka's Step DAUGHTER."

    Most accurate thing I've heard about this show.

  17. A

    I loved this episode.

  18. S

    Segai made me laugh really at how ridiculous his motivations are. Seeing shiny void lights seem to drive his very being…which makes his whole character hilarious.

    Shu was finally somewhat cool… but the death flags seem to be everywhere.

    Not a bad episode to be honest, though admittedly a bit too late.

  19. Y

    Poor Shu in the end he the one I feel the most sorry for. Draged into all of this for no reason the first void genome was meant to be givento Gai but he just gives it the Shu and just ruined his life. I still don't get why he like Inore.

  20. A

    Honestly I'm going to miss this show. Rarely do shows keep my excitement to watch the next episode so consistently especially considering that this is two cour.

    Next week is a flash back, finally get to learn about Shu's dad and his whole deal in this.

    I'm also confused as to who Mana is related to. Haruka's real daughter? Honestly I doubt that as much as I doubted Shu being her son. She looks nothing like Haruka. More likely to be an experiment specimen in my eyes, someone else's kid or completely artificial.

  21. Oh, she's a specimen all right…

Leave a Comment