AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Guilty Crown

Flawfinder · 2012-01-17, 23:59

Most people know that I don't really like any of the characters due to being either unlikable or forgettable. It's like the cast of The Social Network.

My favorite character though would have to be Dan Eagleman. While he's mostly an American stereotype, he is just so fun to watch due to his energy and optimism. Scarface comes close, but he needed to be a bit more comical in order to work (And no, you can make comedic characters threatening. Gaston from Beauty and The Beast is a prime example of that).

My least favorite character would have to be Haruka Ouma. Like Shu (and other characters), she suffers from the "trying to do a certain type of character, but failing to do it naturally" syndrome that practically all the characters (particularly Shu, Gai, and Inori) have. Her sluttiness at home being so far away from her professional position at work really hurts me. I don't know. Maybe it's because it feels like somebody thought, "hot (step)mothers who are professional at work and slutty at home are funny, so let's put that into Guilty Crown". Too much of a difference between home and work, people! If you're going to do that kind of character, you need to explore that characteristic (like Paranoia Agent). And I doubt it will be explored in the ten episodes to follow, because Guilty Crown is a show aimed for teenagers, and I don't see that kind of exploration done in teenage anime (maybe Toradora, but that's a bit of a stretch).

As for the relationships, I find them incredibly underdeveloped. The only one that was kind of developed was Shu and Souta (I think that's his name). The others just raise questions that will probably be covered later (like why Hare likes Shu). However, it doesn't change the fact that certain scenes throughout the episodes up to this point failed because they required you to care about the relationship. I didn't care about the cliffhanger in Episode 3 because Shu and Yahiro's relationship wasn't developed. The reveal in Episode 5 failed because Inori and Shu barely interacted in any meaningful way. Episode 12? Shu and Gai's present relationship wasn't done very well, so why should I care about their past relationship?

I could discuss the other characters in detail, but I've talked about them a lot already, and this isn't a thread for hating characters, so I think I'll end there. But just to make it clear, the reason I don't like most of the characters and their relationships is mostly because they don't feel natural to me. They feel VERY forced. Like they act a certain way because it says so in the script rather than because it's their character.

Edit: Okay, the latest episode formed a decent relationship between Ayase and Shu. Now I have a reason to actually care if something happens to their bond. But oh my god, I am getting sick of characters who complain about people not understanding them while never attempting to let them understand.

2012-01-17, 23:59	Link #2
Flawfinder Loves the Experience Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Earth...hopefully	Most people know that I don't really like any of the characters due to being either unlikable or forgettable. It's like the cast of The Social Network. My favorite character though would have to be Dan Eagleman. While he's mostly an American stereotype, he is just so fun to watch due to his energy and optimism. Scarface comes close, but he needed to be a bit more comical in order to work (And no, you can make comedic characters threatening. Gaston from Beauty and The Beast is a prime example of that). My least favorite character would have to be Haruka Ouma. Like Shu (and other characters), she suffers from the "trying to do a certain type of character, but failing to do it naturally" syndrome that practically all the characters (particularly Shu, Gai, and Inori) have. Her sluttiness at home being so far away from her professional position at work really hurts me. I don't know. Maybe it's because it feels like somebody thought, "hot (step)mothers who are professional at work and slutty at home are funny, so let's put that into Guilty Crown". Too much of a difference between home and work, people! If you're going to do that kind of character, you need to explore that characteristic (like Paranoia Agent). And I doubt it will be explored in the ten episodes to follow, because Guilty Crown is a show aimed for teenagers, and I don't see that kind of exploration done in teenage anime (maybe Toradora, but that's a bit of a stretch). As for the relationships, I find them incredibly underdeveloped. The only one that was kind of developed was Shu and Souta (I think that's his name). The others just raise questions that will probably be covered later (like why Hare likes Shu). However, it doesn't change the fact that certain scenes throughout the episodes up to this point failed because they required you to care about the relationship. I didn't care about the cliffhanger in Episode 3 because Shu and Yahiro's relationship wasn't developed. The reveal in Episode 5 failed because Inori and Shu barely interacted in any meaningful way. Episode 12? Shu and Gai's present relationship wasn't done very well, so why should I care about their past relationship? I could discuss the other characters in detail, but I've talked about them a lot already, and this isn't a thread for hating characters, so I think I'll end there. But just to make it clear, the reason I don't like most of the characters and their relationships is mostly because they don't feel natural to me. They feel VERY forced. Like they act a certain way because it says so in the script rather than because it's their character. Edit: Okay, the latest episode formed a decent relationship between Ayase and Shu. Now I have a reason to actually care if something happens to their bond. But oh my god, I am getting sick of characters who complain about people not understanding them while never attempting to let them understand. __________________ My Awesome Anime Blog: Standing On My Neck Last edited by Flawfinder; 2012-01-19 at 23:56.