Seriously, what is this show doing in Noitamina? I mean, if this was going to be an experiment for another 2-cour series, there would have been much better series for that: Chihayafuru, Fate/Zero or even Last Exile.
I know that series need time to build up. I’m not expecting series to immediately deliver right from the start. Instead what I’m looking for in the opening episodes of a series is hints that it knows what it’s doing: hints that it knows what good storytelling is, that its characters are well acted. Those kinds of things. I’m not seeing them here.
In fact, this episode showed even more that this show is wasted potential. There are two main reasons for that. First of all, this episode shows the main character running around and drawing weapons out of everyone. In the end, this just turns out to be him random props out of people and moving on to the next. This show doesn’t do anything with them. Or, take the point at which the male lead and his best friend make up and promise each other not to tell about each other’s secrets. The main character conveniently tells him that he did that, instead of the creators showing how he did it. It’s a pretty big point here, as only second later it turns out that the friend did screw him over in the end. That’s just lazy storytelling.
And yeah, then there was the fact that this episode was full of cliches. I mean, even Fractale wasn’t this bad. The fanservice was incredibly pointless, the jokes were the same you see everywhere (and of course the same old boob joke couldn’t be missing). Oh, and why did the female lead move in with the male lead again? I mean, what exactly has she actually done in this series? She’s been completely useless so far!
There really isn’t anything that really stands out in this series. The whole drama around Shu’s friend is very inconsistent: on one hand we have these terrorists who know perfectly well that they will be tortured to death if they get caught, and they act surprisingly calm to one of their comrades (who has vital information and weapons for their plans) gets too naive and gets caught. Shu meanwhile is a wimp in the bad way. To compare him with Mirai Nikki: there the lead is a wimp, but he knows he’s a wimp, and at the same time he has legitimate reasons for trying to survive. Here, I have no idea what it is that the male lead wants. On one hand he wants to be left alone, then he wants to help the terrorists again, but then he’s too scared to look people into the eyes… he doesn’t really seem to understand the situation he’s in.
The thing is also that I praised the first episode for looking gorgeous. The thing is, that even in this area this show can be eclipsed if it isn’t careful. Last Exile is well on its way to show better graphics than this series, Un-Go is well on its way with much better artistic direction, and the same goes for Chihayafuru. This show has the budget. It has the inbetween animation, but it doesn’t seem to want to do anything with it.
Rating: — (Lacking)]]>
Guilty Crown – 03
This show is beyond generic it’s not even funny it offers nothing to me. I want to drop it but I can’t shake the feeling it has potential.
The episode started out so so but ended up good. This episode is actually getting better reception then the previous one from pretty much every where else but here.
Can’t wait to see how he gets out of this shit. I still think you need to chill and stop being so hard on the series. I am watching a lot of shows this season but this show,f/z and mirai nikki are the only shows I look forward to on a weekly basis. Un-Go is doing a pretty terrible job trying to tell mystery stories. I can see why it only got 11 episodes while gc is getting 22.
The only thing lacking here is this guys taste.
Un-go= A joke
Last Exile= Boring
Chihayafuru= Generic drama.
Also I guess you must have no friends, reason I say that is because if you have a really close friend that you think you can sit down with and discuss serious stuff with him and laugh about it then you also wouldn’t expect him to betray you in such a way. The backstabbing part was well done in that since.
@nexus This is getting a better reception? Really? I’ll have to look into that later and see why, as I can’t see it. The only thing that was kind of cool was the cliffhanger, but the events leading up to it were terrible, and the only thing it accomplished was making me want to see the next episode because it can’t be worse than this.
This episode, in addition to being boring, was ungodly annoying. The entire scene with the boob grab didn’t make any sense, the comedy was predictable, the characters are beyond cut-outs, and the stuff with Yahiro was just lazy. Where’s the story? Where’s the character depth? I mean, did the writers turn their brains off or something? Give us a reason to care about what’s happening you damn anime!
@Kivos stop being so childish attack the argument not the person. You can’t make a decent argument so you resort to petty insults. If you don’t like this site so much then leave get over yourself. It’s one thing to criticize which is fine but don’t go on a angry tantrum.
Shu’s friend calls him a moron, and then Shu is still moping about it when he’s on the train (something like “Doesn’t he think I’m sensitive about what people say too?”). Played straight, not ironically or for lols. What a loser.
Inori is a comically bad idea for a leading lady: she’s clearly got some kind of “I’m already-dead” complex, and dear old Shu brought her back to life when he pulled out that sword.
This show is actually well into so-bad-it’s-good range. I hope it goes further that way and doesn’t settle into mediocrity.
Also it’s pretty obvious how it got onto noitamina: on paper it’s like the best elements of all the popular genres and done by a lead staff with a solid pedigree. Greenlit, end of story.
What’s the difference between this show and Blood-C? Why was Blood-C given more of a chance?
Psgels, I think you should drop Guilty Crown while it’s still generic and dumb. For your own safety.
Blood c had a pretty cool atmosphere. Guilty Crown has…. Nothing? This episode didn’t even try to have any interesting visuals.
Why is everyone so tsundere for Guilty Crown?
On My Anime List it’s the most watched show of the season.
On the most popular streaming websites it gets the most views each week.
The opening on youtube got 250k views in 5 days before it got taken down.
You people need to be honest with yourself and just admit that your enjoying this.
^ Just because something is popular does no mean it’s good.
@Chris Yes I am very well aware that popularity doesn’t = quality but for some reason for all the hate it gets people continue to watch it. If you didn’t like this episode I advice you just drop it.
advise* >.>
I don’t know Stark. I too think this show is wasted potential. But god knows I am probably going to watch it to the end.
@Chris I’m continuing to watch it because I’m trying to convince myself that it’s suffering the same problems Eureka Seven had. Also, I refuse to believe that something so hyped, along with a great studio and creative writers, can generate a letdown.
@Stark: I guess we just have another Blood C on our hands! :p
I think the reason the show gets so much attention is because there really are some anime fans who just prefer the better looking and less experimental shows. Many new and young anime fans need something to ease them into the medium and Guilty Crown is a good way to start. People who hate it may be vocal about it, but I doubt most of them are following it.
Guilty Crown sticks with the most generic storyline possible along with sorely out-of-place fanservice, flat characters, and every stereotype for a shounen anime that has ever come into existence. It’s so bad, it’s laughable. I enjoy GC greatly by laughing at just how insipid and shallow it is. But I just really don’t understand those who consider it the new masterpiece of the season.
Honestly, despite all of Un-Go’s detractors, Un-Go is probably my favorite show this season. The direction is a little bit shaky, the mysteries are crammed into single episodes, and the characters are all likeable, but not very interesting. LOADS of flaws. But you know what? It actually tries to do something interesting by re-inventing the detective murder genre. If anything, it doesn’t adhere to the tried and true and does all sorts of new interesting things. This element is completely lacking in Guilty Crown.
I honestly can’t understand the people who rave about GC and glossing over all of its painfully apparent flaws while taking Un-Go and nitpicking at every little detail that it doesn’t do perfectly. I mean, seriously?
I’m pretty sure that most people around here like me are just watching this show for the pretty, and not the plot, because god, I haven’t seen anything this dull in noitaminA since….I don’t even know.
@Stark: I think psgels is watching it mainly because he still has some hope (I stress some) for the plot and he also enjoys the animation? But like he said, if it continues down this path not even the animation can be a reason alone and he’ll probably drop it.
But yeah, I’d say my situation is pretty similar to Interstella’s at the moment.
Well, I still believe there are way too many complaints and too much exaggerated cynicism here, for something like Guilty Crown that’s nothing more than a generic action show with good production values. You’re expecting too much.
But at the same time…I also think this series isn’t really convincing me to keep watching, so even if my complaints are far less hyper-critical, I’m not sure I can stand it either.
@Stark: Well, last week people were saying keep watching it’s too soon to judge it!… So anyway I am dropping it. I might pick it up again if some miracle happens and it suddenly goes towards an interesting direction.
i think people have varying opinions. some people like it and some people don’t. i, myself, am not hating it, but do think it’s disappointing so far. i do hope it improves and moreso believe that it will. it is clearly trying to diverge (although only slightly) from the norm. shu didn’t join the undertakers and the end of this episode was also unexpected and clearly a catalyst for future events. the universe seems interesting enough so i’m going to keep watching this.
@Stark Ok so you know popular doesn’t equal quality why did you bring it. You also talked about it’s numbers that in it’s self make you a hypocrite. Not everybody has the same regards for the anime YOU like. I’m a hater because someone is more critical and looks at the bigger picture. If thats the title someone want to give more or anymore so be it know that you are wrong. Also I watch because I want to truly see where this is going. I want to see if it picks and gets better HERP DERP.
@ Interstella5555 oh wow bro…talk about kivos acting childish? What are you acting like?
I was only bringing up it’s popularity because it surprises me more people are watching this then some other things.
@Chris: I think Flawfinder and you pretty much summed up the reason for its following. It has production behind as well as being ‘easier to access’ however the criticism against it is pretty unanimous, its not just a bunch of random hate of trying to find a flaw for it. Which is that its in the Noitamina.
Unfortunately, that slot carries with it a certain quality that so far Guilty Crown, after the first episode, has not been able to live up to. In addition the show was pretty well hyped so some are surprised precisely by the lack of risk that the show is taking. Some can see this as a good thing as you do in making a more accessible anime but really with the production crew and cast behind it WHY NOT take a risk? This again goes back in relation to the Noitamina slot which again is precisely a slot for more experimental anime or those that take risk or having quite a mature target audience, all of which Guilty Crown appears rather misplaced as of late.
So far with whats shown its been pretty ok to mediocre, can’t really say anything too conclusively at this point, but it just looks much poorer than it is because of the coveted slot it took.
@Stark I guess that’s true. However, if I dropped things early, I would have missed out on a lot of my favorite anime series. If it was long-running, I probably would, but it’s not. And I have time. And as much as these episodes annoy me, I don’t regret watching them.
People hate wasted potential more than they hate outright suckage.
Guilty Crown is more of a “grossly wasted potential” show than an outright sucky show.
A few edits here and there, a few touchups and revisions, and it could be unambiguously solid so far. It’d be familiar but original within that familiarity.
Instead what we have is is stuff that’s a mix of lots and lots of tropes and cliches and yet none of it quite *works*, at least so far.
It’s this so-close-yet-so-far feeling that is drawing out the hate, especially since it’s getting that rare, special 2-cour treatment in noitamina.
I have to stop reading the comments from GC’s “fans”. They’re doing a much more efficient job of making me NOT want to watch this show than psgels ever could.
I sincerely hope some of you guys (and not just on psgels’ blog) are reverse trolling, because otherwise it’s just sad. Kudos to those supporters who are keeping it civil.
This show might get interesting. But right now it just feels like a practical joke.
While I agree that it is just a regular commerical anime, I’m still surprised at the harsh reviews here. Someone mentioned Blood C, which got good ratings here and was kinda boring and conventional as well. Well maybe psgels had bigger expectations so now he’s disappointed.
I still think it will get better.
Where the hell is Kyuubey when you need him? ／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼
I must say I’m very grateful that you (and several other sites) blog this episode – saves me the pain of actually watching it.
And now, I can drop it without regret. God knows how many animes with mixed initial quality I had ended up following since I thought “be patient man, sure there’s lots of bad vibes but it’ll be decent in the end. Probably”. As you can guess, they ended up poorly. That’s a lesson learned there; if your instincts tells you to drop it, you listen.
And while it is ultimately you choice, psgels, I think it might be better if you stop to, while you can.
I’m going to disagree with the majority of you about Guilty Crown, but not on the point of its generic plot elements: rather, I think the present tropes are arranged in such a way that I’m actually interested in seeing what happens next.
But again, I think you lot are overstating the blandness factor in the first place. As far as yawnfest mecha series go, this is certainly no Fafner or Gundam Seed.
Secondly, the ending to this episode is actually well done. Shu is now going to be placed in a rather nasty situation that’s going to require him to grow a set in order to have any chance of returning to the life he wants.
Thirdly, give the kid a break as far as personality goes. Like many kids his age, he’s insecure, socially awkward, insecure, immature and also ignorant of how the real world works. But again, everyone has to start somewhere, so give the series some time to develop him into someone worth rooting for.
Of course, GC could bomb and I could end up eating my words, but this is one of those series that my intuition is telling me to be optimistic about. Until it proves otherwise, I recommend you all to do the same.
WTF is this doing on Noitamina.
a hugely forgettable episode, and so early on in the series too! I was so ready to give GC a second chance if it manages to redeem itself from the rather mundane, formulaic story premise (afterall the production values is nothing short of spectacular for a 1/2 hr weekly tv production). such a shame 🙁
@Houlgrave It’s not the fact that the kid is insecure and all that that bothers me. I like Yukiteru from Mirai Nikki after all. The problem is that in addition to being insecure and immature, he is boring. And to me, that’s the worst thing you can make a character.
Also, I don’t really give a crap about Noitamina and all that. I can even take genericness if the characters are likable. I can safely say that at this point, I hate them.
Guilty Crown is babby’s first anime. It’s an inoffensive mainstream show that takes absolutely zero risks. It’s great for people getting into anime expecting something action packed, loud and simple. It’s effectively the anime equivalent of a hollywood blockbuster.
Which doesn’t make it “bad” as far as dumb fun is concerned. However it also won’t be memorable if it keeps up being so generic in every single aspect. What pisses me off is the people bashing good shows just because they aren’t generic action anime.
I’m tired of people bashing anything that isn’t a straight up action series.
noitaminA has we knew it is finished. While I wouldn’t discount the possibility of another “traditional” show (a la Usagi Drop) for variation, the mandate is to make commercial hits. Guilty Crown is an early example of a major effort, and the hope is to do really well in Blu-Ray sales.
The gist of it is that noitaminA shows aren’t getting the ratings they used, and even if they did, they’d still be unprofitable. Apparently, the advertising business has changed in such a way that high ratings don’t net money (I’d guess that external sponsors have shied away from any late night slot and/or the revenue system has changed).
@Houlgrave Glad to see someone agree with me amidst all this hate. I have a feeling that this anime is good, and will get good soon for those who are bashing it. I’m betting we will get a glimpse of that in the next episode in how they deal with Shu’s situation.
I don’t find this anime bad, nor do I find it particularly good. But with such hype, this anime is a letdown.
Guilty Crown pretty much screams the word “generic”
I don’t find this anime bad, nor do I find it particularly good. But with such hype, this anime is a letdown.
Guilty Crown pretty much screams the word “generic”
Guilty Crown is like a beauty woman who lacks any substance.
Lazy storytelling sums this up.
Psgels, I think you are looking at the show as how you want it to be instead of what it is. I think you should stop blogging this one. It’s doing no good to either the fans of the show or the people who have hope in the show or you yourself. The only people benefiting from you blogging it are the haters of the show.
Anyhow, are you sure there is no other show you want to blog this season over this one?
@Diasen: What is Guilty Crown then? (I’m not ironic or something, I really want to know).
For example, comparing it to Ghost in the Shell SAC, is obviously wrong, because it’s not that kind of anime.
What should I compare it to? Or more precisely, what do I have to compare it to, so that Guilty Crown fares well in comparison?
@Puran
Guilty Crown is Code Geass waiting to happen.
Seriously, this show just screams mediocrity all throughout its three episode. I kind of understand the bashing for this show because this is airing in noitaminA. Come on guys, this is noitaminA!! Had this show aired in a different time slot then I would have questioned all the “bashing” this show is receiving.
I’ll echo Guest’s comments: Guilty Crown is more of a “grossly wasted potential” show than “an outright sucky show”.
Well I’m still gonna watch and wait for that “glorious moment” that it will redeeem itself but I’m not keeping my hopes up. It pummeled down all my hopes underground. For me watching this is like I skydived and my parachute failed to open.
For your information… Shows like this are aired AFTER midnight in Japan and only Otaku or hardcore fans watch them. Why? Because Night slot is cheap and otaku are suckers who would spend their money for fanservice shows and merchandises. But they ain’t buying sh*t so of course the creators have to make them flashy.
Which means this anime is just another Otaku fanservice show with fancy animation and so called plot. All otaku dream of meeting a beauty, stay near her and surrounded by typical harem blah blah.
This is also the reason why there are so many crappy anime of whimpy guys + harem girls with th same cliche all over again in them. They are all drugs for the Otaku.
I’m not quite sure why people are so desperate to compare Guilty Crown to Code Geass- I’ve watched CG and while I’ve noticed some similarities I defnitely would say that CG made use of its plot while GC is in no way taking advantage of that.
The problem of Guilty Crown is inherently laid in its execution, not its plot. I have no problem with a generic plot- every show a year has one-but with three episodes and not a single reflection on any of the characters, or the storyline, Guilty Crown is wasting its time. Valuable, valuable time- time that UN GO on the other hand, is using well enough considering it has only 11 episodes. It’s like they’re trying to plug a high school drama, with slice of life, into a dystopian show. That just doesn’t work. Not only that, but lazy storytelling has refused to predominantly back up any sort of claims laid in the story- how on earth is a bunch of ‘shears’ related to the sort of person the classmate was? Why couldn’t it be, oh I don’t know- a knife, or a sword too? How on earth is Inori’s Void a sword when she is reduced to the most passive character in this show?
That doesn’t make Guilty Crown BAD, but it certainly makes it terribly disappointing, especially when they hyped it up so much. I can’t say I was expecting much, from the guy who directed HOTD, which was the most primitive of fanservice with a very basic plot, but nevertheless, GC has great animation, which makes it even a bigger shame, because it really is a sign of wasted potential.
Snowolf: the reason why it’s easy to compare this to Code Geass is because some of the main writers of Code Geass are on board for this series.
Also, don’t look at Tetsurou Araki’s work with just High School of the Dead. That was indeed just Zombie Bashing and fanservice. He however also directed Death Note, Kurozuka and one of the parts of Aoi Bungaku, and that’s where he showed that he create an incredible horror atmosphere. That makes it all the more weird that Guilty crown has no atmosphere built up whatsoever.
Ah, yes, I understand- but I mean, in terms of plot, I don’t really feel a ‘Code Geass’ atmosphere here, at all. I mean, I do see similarities such as a government controlled Japan, and a boy wielding a mysterious power, with some mecha factors put in, but so far, GC and CG seem worlds apart in terms of execution, that’s all.
I didn’t know he directed Death Note/ a part of Aoi Bungaku! Wow, that’s even….more disappointing. I just don’t understand- why would you compromise such a wonderful budget of animation for lacking storytelling? 🙁
Wow, kivos is one nasty piece of work…
Yay, Guilty Crown’s main problem isn’t that it’s bad, it’s that it’s very generic :S And for an anime with such a budget, I keep hoping that I’ll enjoy it in the long run. That’s why I’m watching it. I thought the episode was ok. Not good, not awful. It was obvious that the friend was the witness, I would have liked for him to not be a traitor and actually become part of the main cast. That could have been interesting….oh well.
It’s a shame you dropped this, since I think Guilty Crown actually became a little better after episode 3.
Kind of late on this, but I just finished watching it and I have to say I’m very surprised at these negative comments about it. I’ve found the series to be pretty good, starting with episode one. To me, it’s sort of like a crossover between NGE and Mawaru Penguin. And it’s not quite about mecha, it’s about Shou with plenty symbolism in it (a bit more clumsy done than in Mawaru, but that’s expected), so I can see why it’s on noitaminA. And as someone else mentioned above, it plays with the tropes and that’s quite fun to watch.
All in all the show did had some rough edges, but in no way it’s bad
I liked Shou as a character, he has trouble to accepting himself, because he doesn’t “know” himself. He wants to change, but doesn’t know how and that’s pretty much realistic, imo, there are plenty people like that.
“Here, I have no idea what it is that the male lead wants.” <— because Shou himself does not know.
"he doesn’t really seem to understand the situation he’s in." <– bingo!
I do see a pattern of psgels not liking "wimpy" characters (see Accel World which has a similar character, ie someone who is also insecure), but oh well, each to his own.