( ギルティクラウン Giruti Kuraun) is a 22 episode action-romance in a dystopian future, set in Japan circa 2025. I love the animation and the series begins with a connection to a song and some type of internet popstar–Inori, one of the main characters. However, the title (Guilty Crown) is a bit of a misnomer although you find its relevance as the story develops. The main character, Shu Ouma (Shu) is a first or second year high school student, very introverted, but a hidden creative. He has two friends, it seems, Outa and Yahiro, but Shu is so passive and withdrawn, they seem to walk all over him and not be friends at all. The story moves quickly with these relationships and they change in unexpected ways.
Main Story
About 10 years prior to the Anime’s opening, a virus, centered in Japan and called Lost Christmas, sweeps through the world. The effects of the virus seem to be a growing crystalizatoin of the body. An organization, CHQ, with the goal of eradicating the spread of the virus is set up in Japan, essentially ruling Japan. It’s not clear, but it seems this organization was set up by other countries in the world. CHQ is rather indiscriminant when it determines there is a new outbreak, and many suffer.
This is where Funeral Parlor comes in. FP is a terrorist organization that seems to be a defender of the people and fights against CHQ. Their leader, Gai, is a charasmatic but mysterious figures with hidden flaws. Inori, the internet popstar is also a member of FP. In a quick turn of events, Shu is somewhat recruited to be an FP member when he and FP finds out about his hidden power: the ability to extract Voids from people. Voids are unique and powerful weapons that Shu can pull directly from a person’s soul. Each Void is unique and seems related to some characteristic of the person.
All of the above occurs in the first episode and a half and the story goes from there. At about halfway through the series, the story launches into new levels of complexity. In my opinion, it gets weird. However, some may enjoy the complexity and the intricate back-story details.
Final Judgement
I think Guilty Crown offers a complex story that will satisfy viewers, even though the complexities of the plot are thinly explained. The animation is excellent and the characters are memorable. There was room to have this be 36 episodes, with more room to explain the story and ore room to showcase the many interesting characters. Guilty Crown will not be a favorite of mine, I still will give it the thumbs up.
