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My initial impression of Guilty Crown which i picked up from an AMV was one of mecha-action-strategy-apocalyptic-Sci Fic stuff but when i finally found the time to watch it, I realised what a gem of an anime it was. No, This is not a Fan-boy review neither its a review where i am gonna shower praise on an otherwise underrated anime. I am just gonna stand on the podium and let you know where GC went wrong or where it grew a gem which is what a reviewer does..

GC was written by Hiroyuki Yoshino ( who worked on Code Geass: R1 and R2) and directed ... by Tetsurō Araki (who is famous for his direction on adaption of Death Note) and made by studio Production IG .. Also, Hiroyuki's the reason for the similarities between GC and CG..

What I learnt
Guilty Crown, the anime title is very similar to the saying "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown" which very apt. Having a power which is granted to a few does not mean you are free from the burden and responsibility that come with it. Also, Gaining a power grants you a choice, a choice that other people arent even granted simply bcoz of the fact that they were not given the power. Its the choice to whether to do the right thing with that power or chose the easy way out. That is what GC is about......

Storyline
This is one department where GC takes a beating and i am not surprised... To a person the plot is almost inconceivable and something which goes right over the head, so watching this anime 2 times becomes a necessity. But as long as you keep a clear mind and take it as it comes , every thing will fall into place. Don’t watch it as though you have to answer a quiz on it later. Explore all possibilities and develop your own answers, your own thinking (I tried the same with CG ), It makes viewing better. The first half of the story is simple and easy to understand. Complications arise when you start second half, here I felt the story was too rushed and something that could have beenimproved. About the ending, if you are aware, then you will know it has been trashed a lot over the net, but here again I would say like I said before “Keep an open mind”.

Character
The character consistency is fine.. Its neither good nor bad.. After Shu Oma gains the “Power of the kings”, like any main character he goes through his usual route like first denial, then understanding, then need, then greed,then regret and finally to top it off pity.. Also, his character is realistic, yes I use the word realistic. In action-anime nowadays, the protagonist is usually born or trained so that he knows everything and does everything flawlessly. But Oma displays the almost correct picture of a introvert teen who’s been handed a power he didn’t want but as he goes along he becomes accustomed to what he has to do and achieve. Other characters develop along with the main character so not much to mention there. Although the change in Gai’s character in second half is questionable. Also, Inori’s character development was a bit lacking although her character has been portrayed beautifully as a EGOIST singer and a badass Funeral Parlour member, but that’s all.. The Villains don’t find much of a mention except for Segai and Mana. Segai is one of the few villains who I have seen has no regard for orders or official status. He does what wants, whatever he wants to his heart’s content, which makes him a unpredictable character and an interesting one to look out for. Mana on the other hand confuses me, her role is mainly restricted to being that of a psychotic bitch (though loving it ^_^) while seducing Oma Shu…

Animation
Animation is top-notch,, the fight scenes are not that great but not that bad as well.. Some of the scenes were exceptional hair-raising ones like the time when Oma gains his power for the first time.. Animation has been portrayed well which matches the atmosphere in which GC has been set..

Soundtrack
This is one department where GC scores full marks if not more.. The use of music ( it has another use other than background only as you will find in the anime) has been done masterfully portraying Inori chan as a member of EGOIST (fictitious band created for GC ),Bios .. songs like Everlasting Guilty crown and blessings find an honorable mention here.. Where the story-line faltered a little, the soundtrack made up for it…

As an Anime, Guilty Crown is a must watch anime. While watching it you might conflicted, develop negative views or positive views, its okay and something that only adds to the appeal of GC.. It has way of explaining things differently to different people, just like Code Geass did in its own time.. Enjoy it is what I would say..

Thx for reading my review. Being my second review, I still know I have much ground to cover, so I am being a little selfish here by requesting you all who read it to please drop a comment saying whether you liked it or not and why.


(PS: I know i have given it a nine but plz don't be influenced by it , i normally don't use rating system as i find it derogatory.. )

I have never been a huge fan of Virtual reality games.. Really, the concept of "levelling up" or just numbers on a server never appealed to me. This concept is oddly baffling since thousands and even millions of people spend every second of their life stuck to their computer screens and never adding anything to their personality or Real life. VR are currently limited to MMORG which has potential to grow into a world to rival the real world raising psychological and societal concerns. Though I steered clear of VR anime until now, but after watching accel world I realised something important, What ... if some people are only good in VR worlds??...
Accel World is just another VR world where people who have a program called “Burst Link” installed can join and battle it out with their Avatars. The protagonist Haruyuki is your average student but with the fact that hes short , fat and unpopular, hes bullied and picked on by his seniors . He also gets the distant impression that his only 2 friends pity him in his condition. So, he closes himself in his VR world and plays the only thing he’s good at which is VR tennis. Enter kuryokihime , the hottest chick in the school and the one who possesses brain burst, she is unable to beat haruyuki’s tennis score and had to resort to “cheating” to beat his score. She realises that haru is the only one who can help accomplish her dream in the Accel and subsequently starts liking him….
Supporting Characters:
The one thing good about this anime was that the role of the supporting characters was just as good as the main character. These include Haru’s childhood friend’s Chiyuri and takumu both of whom help him in the accel world. Be it ash roller or “sky raker” kurasaki , everyone was responisible for Haayuki’s character development both inside and outside Accelerated world.

Main Character:
The main character Harayuki-kun is a badass in the VR world while his alter ego in the real world is completely the opposite. The one thing I liked about Haru and its something even other viewers will also like is his tenacity and the will to never give up. It doesn’t matter whether he facing a Fortified tank which can fire 100 missiles per second topped with 2 cannons or a guy who has a large number of abilities to choose from, etc, Haru never gives up. He tries till the very end even “bursting” through his own limits to emerge the victor of the day. Another thing was that most of the time Haru won was because he used his brain and thought of a plan instead of the usual story where the protagonist gains some new power or so.

Soundtrack and animation:
Animation is really top-notch and way superior than many anime already out there. The soundtrack is quite amazing as well which includes Accel world’s battle theme, “burst the gravity”, “-unfinished->” . Some of the battle scenes are spectacular and really done well. The art is also of a high calibre.
Thing Lacking:
The only thing I thought that was lacking about Accel world was the absence of a main antagonist. I do know that kuryokihime wanted to accomplish her dream (no spoilers revealed) but the “atagonists” in season 1 were somewhat lacking. Don’t get me wrong, one of the antagonist Seije Nomi is a complete douchebag and guy you would like to kill over and over again XD but I felt as if season one was more about Haru and his pals disciplined some school kids who were misusing accel world including takumu. So it was more about what Accel world, how to use it and what to use it for…
That’s it for my review, I HOPE you guys enjoyed, This was my FIRST EVER , so plz drop me comment on my profile if you liked or even if you didn’t like it, just let me know ^_^… Also, I don’t rate my anime (plz read my profile)..
But I would like to say that Accel World is a must watch Anime.

(MINOR SPOILER:

There is small “something” (try and spot in the anime) that connects Sword Art Online and Accel world. Also there are rumours that the daughter of kirito and Asuna is actually kuryokihime. Although the Author has denied any connection between SAO and Accel world but they were hinting on a joint season between the two in the near episode… )