I loved every significant character in this episode... except Shu.
That being said, I think I see what the writers are trying to accomplish with him, it's just that the execution could probably be a fair bit better.
In fairness to Shu, he seems to have some variation of post-traumatic stress disorder. I haven't studied that psychological condition in a long time, but Shu's handling of it is not entirely atypical from what I can remember about it. More severe cases of the condition will have people seeing traumatizing things that aren't really there, and freaking out over it. Soldiers with it will imagine that they're back fighting the last war that they were in, and will see imaginary gunmen trying to take them out. Given enough "shocks to the system" through such psychologically jarring episodes, people
can go into a defensive (if not outright reclusive) shell and become a bit surly.
That being said, that's not all that is going on here with Shu, as it doesn't really explain his regrettable treatment of Hare.
Guilty Crown's writers are using Shu as a central locus for character drama. In other words, they're using his actions and words as a means to heighten drama, emotions, and tension throughout the rest of the character cast.
There is a positive here. Hare, Gai, and Ayase all had great moments precisely because Shu gave them legit reasons to get pissed off and critique him/stand up for themselves. Hare in particular had a
wonderful moment near the end of this episode, one that helps to round her character out even more (more on that later on).
The problem is that while this can help the characterization and development of other characters, it does make Shu much less likable, at least for many viewers. It's most definitely a double-edged sword, and probably not the wisest approach to take with your lead protagonist. That being said, I at least see the method behind the madness, and so I won't weigh it too heavily against this episode.
Now, as I wrote before, I loved all the other characters in this episode. Segai was at his villainous best. Gai, Ayase, and Hare all had great moments as I mentioned before.
As much as I really like Hare, there have been times in recent episodes where I felt she had become perhaps a bit too submissive towards Shu. As such, it was great to see her stand up for herself here. The way Shu approached her near the end really was pretty skeevy and disrespectful, and he deserved to be called out on it. It is good that Shu is at least not romantically dense, but this is obviously no way to act on the realization that a girl you're friends with loves you romantically.
Now, as for the plot, the raid to take the plane was very exciting to watch, and struck me as pretty realistic for this show. Maybe one of the good things about Shu quitting on Undertaker is that it forced the writing staff to not Void/Super Power their way through things, so the action side of things had to come a bit more down to Earth, making it a bit more gritty I felt.
At a directorial level, I loved how certain shots were framed, particularly facial close-ups at key moments. That really added a lot of "Oomph!" to certain key moments, and made everything simply crackle with an earnest exuberant energy.
The plot thickened nicely in this episode, as some revelations were made but even more mysteries arose to take their place. I don't mind an air of mystery surrounding everything as long as that's accompanied by a steady flow of answers and/or revelations, so I'm very happy with this overall approach.
Overall, this was a very fun and enthralling watch. Shu did make me sigh a couple times and drag down an otherwise outstanding episode for me.
As such, I give it
9/10. A very good episode to kick off Guilty Crown getting an Anime Suki subforum!
