Guilty Crown - Episode 22 Discussion / Poll (FINALE)

[Guido]

So, the finale came as it went.

I do agree that the most impressive about this final episode were both the visuals and the insert songs; I almost felt if I was diving right into the world of TRON but much more extraordinarily.

But, I do have my share of complaints:
1. Gai's reasons for wanting Mana were let's just say long-winded to me.
2. I felt from this final episode that Gai was casted into the most gloomy role of all the characters: the victim. Plagued with guilt for not being able to do as Shu by rejecting his fate and trying to change Mana's.
- It almost felt like whatever Shu chose to be, then subsequently Gai was casted into the opposite role with no choice in the matter.
3. The fights as stunning as they were executed were brief due to the pacing.
4. The pacing of the episode itself felt quick and rushed, and by the time it reaches the epilogue we don't know what happened with the rest of the survivors.

Spoiler:

We only get to see Shu, his surviving classmates, and the two girls from the Funerals toasting.

5. If I understood correctly, as long as there's evolution then Mana cannot be saved, and she's forever trapped in a vicious, never-ending cycle. She's forever to be the bringer of the Apocalypse to the human race.
When the time comes for the next Apocalypse, Mana will be reborned in another body and attempt to trigger the calamity. Another hero will unexpectedly rise and save humanity due to realizing love from others, thus stopping Mana again.
She'll be sent to the pit beyond the Apocalypse waiting again to reenact her role in the Apocalypse after the next one.
- I disagree with Gai that by just accepting Mana she'll be stopped. Recall that when Shu shuns her for a second time, that she will never ever forgive him even if he apologizes.
- I feel that Mana after all wants Shu and likes to be with him, and Gai will never ever be able to fill for Shu in Mana's heart.
- That's why I believe that she'll come back reborned for the Next Apocalypse.
6. Shu stopping the Fourth Apocalypse was just another delay for Daath's agenda, because no matter how much humanity as either a whole or as individual resists nobody can escape the forces of universe: evolution, stagnation, rebirth, and death.

Spoiler:

7. The unforgiveable is that Inori sacrificed her life and existence to save Shu, as he saved humanity from the Apocalypse.

Some confrontations came more or less the way I theorized in my previous posts:

Haruka confront her brother, Keido, in a standoff, but his death was just pretty lame, though obvious for a flat character like him whose reasons to kill his rival and to start the mess were pretty much pathetic.

Shu and Inori embracing as the virus is consuming them at the climax.
The difference from my theory to what became reality in this episode were:
1. It was Shu who performed the epic healing of the world and thus ending the Apocalypse.
2. Unfortunately, Inori sang no song while Shuu was healing the world.
3. Inori herself sacrificed her life to save Shuu not before meeting for one last time in the space between the hearts, so that she could deliver her present to Shuu which he took.

Cut to about two to three years later in the epilogue:
1. Shu retains his Void Genome arm, apparently now deactivated and useless. Plus, he remained blind.
2. He comes to visit Souta, Yahiro, glasses girl, Tsugumi, and Ayase, all waiting for him, to toast and celebrate Hare's birthday.
3. Japan pretty much recovered fast from the whole ordeal now that the cities have been rebuilt.
4. Last we see of Shuu he's sitting on a bench at the park listening a video by EGOIST; likely, listening to Inori's last song.

Immediately after that is THE END

[justsomeguy]

Final episode:
* The Gespenst has energy shields! Where the hell did that technology come from?
* Argo manages to hold his own against Endlaves using a large gatling gun. WTF, how is he not getting swarmed and killed when he can barely lift the thing, and why do people use Endlaves if they suck that much?
* Mana's song/dance number crystallizes presumably billions of people around the world, but the UN troops and other people attacking the tower don't.
* Right, and Ayase's Endlave control pod can hover too.
* Arisa's Void was cracking to machine guns despite being able to block a barrage of anti-air (ship) missiles. Really?
* IIRC, Kenji was a murderer and bomber. Where did he learn to hack better than Tsugumi?
* Ayase's Endlave has bits. Once again, where the hell did that technology come from? And where the hell did the Undertakers get it from?
* "Memories inside the crystals?" This is a rip-off from FF9.
* Gai's plan was a huge, risky, and ridiculous gambit. Relying on Shu, of all people, to come finish the job after taking away his arm and his power, nearly killing him, and somehow knowing that he would get back the Power of Kings?
* "A few years later." What, were the writers too chicken to give a definite time necessary to rebuild the city? (I estimate at least ten years!)
* Shu ends up blind and with only memories of Inori, no actual girl. Wow, the writers must hate the guy. And the epilogue neglects characters like Daryl, Argo, the Undertaker strategist guy, Arisa, etc.

[bevan]

Originally Posted by Guido

So, the finale came as it went.

I do agree that the most impressive about this final episode were both the visuals and the insert songs; I almost felt if I was diving right into the world of TRON but much more extraordinarily.

But, I do have my share of complaints:
1. Gai's reasons for wanting Mana were let's just say long-winded to me.
2. I felt from this final episode that Gai was casted into the most gloomy role of all the characters: the victim. Plagued with guilt for not being able to do as Shu by rejecting his fate and trying to change Mana's.
- It almost felt like whatever Shu chose to be, then subsequently Gai was casted into the opposite role with no choice in the matter.
3. The fights as stunning as they were executed were brief due to the pacing.
4. The pacing of the episode itself felt quick and rushed, and by the time it reaches the epilogue we don't know what happened with the rest of the survivors.

Spoiler:

We only get to see Shu, his surviving classmates, and the two girls from the Funerals toasting.

5. If I understood correctly, as long as there's evolution then Mana cannot be saved, and she's forever trapped in a vicious, never-ending cycle. She's forever to be the bringer of the Apocalypse to the human race.
When the time comes for the next Apocalypse, Mana will be reborned in another body and attempt to trigger the calamity. Another hero will unexpectedly rise and save humanity due to realizing love from others, thus stopping Mana again.
She'll be sent to the pit beyond the Apocalypse waiting again to reenact her role in the Apocalypse after the next one.
- I disagree with Gai that by just accepting Mana she'll be stopped. Recall that when Shu shuns her for a second time, that she will never ever forgive him even if he apologizes.
- I feel that Mana after all wants Shu and likes to be with him, and Gai will never ever be able to fill for Shu in Mana's heart.
- That's why I believe that she'll come back reborned for the Next Apocalypse.
6. Shu stopping the Fourth Apocalypse was just another delay for Daath's agenda, because no matter how much humanity as either a whole or as individual resists nobody can escape the forces of universe: evolution, stagnation, rebirth, and death.

Spoiler:

7. The unforgiveable is that Inori sacrificed her life and existence to save Shu, as he saved humanity from the Apocalypse.

Some confrontations came more or less the way I theorized in my previous posts:

Haruka confront her brother, Keido, in a standoff, but his death was just pretty lame, though obvious for a flat character like him whose reasons to kill his rival and to start the mess were pretty much pathetic.

Shu and Inori embracing as the virus is consuming them at the climax.
The difference from my theory to what became reality in this episode were:
1. It was Shu who performed the epic healing of the world and thus ending the Apocalypse.
2. Unfortunately, Inori sang no song while Shuu was healing the world.
3. Inori herself sacrificed her life to save Shuu not before meeting for one last time in the space between the hearts, so that she could deliver her present to Shuu which he took.

Cut to about two to three years later in the epilogue:
1. Shu retains his Void Genome arm, apparently now deactivated and useless. Plus, he remained blind.
2. He comes to visit Souta, Yahiro, glasses girl, Tsugumi, and Ayase, all waiting for him, to toast and celebrate Hare's birthday.
3. Japan pretty much recovered fast from the whole ordeal now that the cities have been rebuilt.
4. Last we see of Shuu he's sitting on a bench at the park listening a video by EGOIST; likely, listening to Inori's last song.

Immediately after that is THE END

I think there was a general consensus that his arm disappeared along with the crystallizations, and what we saw in the epilogue was a prosthetic arm.

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Final episode:
* The Gespenst has energy shields! Where the hell did that technology come from?
....
* "A few years later." What, were the writers too chicken to give a definite time necessary to rebuild the city? (I estimate at least ten years!)

I see what you did thar

Anyway regarding the rebuilding part, judging from the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake back in 2011 and their progress thus far, I guess it was a safe estimate to the writers?

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by bevan

Anyway regarding the rebuilding part, judging from the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake back in 2011 and their progress thus far, I guess it was a safe estimate to the writers?

Well, the Tohoku earthquake mostly wrecked small buildings and relatively flimsy houses along the coast. In this episode as the tower collapsed we see dozens of multi-story office buildings uprooted and tilted at angles of ~30 degrees, which means the foundation is toast and the buildings probably total losses. Going by what NYC's Ground Zero is like (still not done rebuilding!), and the inevitable bureaucratic nightmares as GHQ investigates and withdraws, I estimated ten years at least.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Well, the Tohoku earthquake mostly wrecked small buildings and relatively flimsy houses along the coast. In this episode as the tower collapsed we see dozens of multi-story office buildings uprooted and tilted at angles of ~30 degrees, which means the foundation is toast and the buildings probably total losses. Going by what NYC's Ground Zero is like (still not done rebuilding!), and the inevitable bureaucratic nightmares as GHQ investigates and withdraws, I estimated ten years at least.

This series a work of fantasy and does not try to be realistic. It's 27 years in the future, and they have giant robots and space death rays. If the series wants to claim that they could rebuild everything that quickly, there's not much point in trying to argue against it.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

This series a work of fantasy and does not try to be realistic. It's 27 years in the future, and they have giant robots and space death rays. If the series wants to claim that they could rebuild everything that quickly, there's not much point in trying to argue against it.

That's besides the point. The main issue is that after being heavy handed for the past three episodes rushing to finish the story, the writers made a vague epilogue that fails to explain what happened to half of the cast, or the consequences of the ending. They didn't even bother saying if Japan got its independence back and what happened to the UN/GHQ. "A few years later" is just one indication they didn't think things through.

[Ruby Princess]

Wonderful series. ^^ Watching this every Thursday was truly one of the highlights of my boring life. lol

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

That's besides the point. The main issue is that after being heavy handed for the past three episodes rushing to finish the story, the writers made a vague epilogue that fails to explain what happened to half of the cast, or the consequences of the ending. They didn't even bother saying if Japan got its independence back and what happened to the UN/GHQ. "A few years later" is just one indication they didn't think things through.

The ending may not define everything, but I don't view it as a problem. Does it really matter what happened to Japan, the GHQ, or most of the other characters? We see what happened to Shu, we see that the group that has gathered seems to be doing well and are friendly with each other, and we see that the world seems to be at relative peace. To me, that hints that everything is well in the world; with the threat of the apocalypse virus presumably gone, Japan regains its independence, peace returns to the world, and all of the characters that we knew have moved on to lead productive lives. That's my take on it, but everyone is free to fill in the blanks as they see fit.

If you ask me, the entire political thing with Japan's independence was only significant in the first half of the series; it was quickly cast aside as being unimportant in the second half. By comparison,

Spoiler for Contrast with Code Geass:

Code Geass heavily emphasized the political angle throughout the entire series. Having seen it through to completion, they could get away with leaving Lelouch's fate somewhat ambiguous. Since Guilty Crown quickly shifted to emphasizing Shu's personal struggles, character development, and relationships, and largely ignored the political and world power struggles and fallout from the apocalypse virus, I think it's fine that they left the overall state of the world somewhat ambiguous.

For Guilty Crown, what was important was that they made it clear how Shu and at least some of his friends ended up. They accomplished that.

[ipodi]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

That's besides the point. The main issue is that after being heavy handed for the past three episodes rushing to finish the story, the writers made a vague epilogue that fails to explain what happened to half of the cast, or the consequences of the ending. They didn't even bother saying if Japan got its independence back and what happened to the UN/GHQ. "A few years later" is just one indication they didn't think things through.

The writers explained what happened to each of the surviving characters in a rather detailed manner already. The epilogue is pretty explicit about what happened to them. These assholes, who have all been one time betrayed Shu, are living in relative peace as they have settled down (apparently Ayase is now living with Tsugami?) and found gainful employment. Japan is now back on its feet as evidenced by happy shoppers and glitzy new highrises.

Your criticism is somewhat misplaced. The writers missed many, many critical pieces of information and left many things unexplained. What happened to the characters at the end is not an aspect that is rushed.

I can sympathize with your position. But, really, the party scene captured what happened to the group succinctly.

[Team Rocket Elite]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Final episode:
* The Gespenst has energy shields! Where the hell did that technology come from?

Daryl was using a Void Genome Emulator. I'm assuming it lets him use his Void which was that kaleidoscope shield we saw in episode 2. The energy shield used by the Gespenst looks the same.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by ipodi

What happened to the characters at the end is not an aspect that is rushed.

It is actually the case: past the characters they have shown in the epilogue, a great deal of them wasn't really explained one bit:
The remaining funeral parlor members (Argo, Shibungi, Kurachi), Haruka, Arisa and Daryl. That's a hefty amount of named characters who didn't get an epilogue, especially the "least popular ones" who were left alive for no "real reason" yet didn't get any screen time of what they are currently doing.

Also, even the "main characters" being shown, you have a "very vague" idea of their new life in fact (I can't tell if Kanon is engaged to Yahiro or not): you don't even know what they actually are doing or anything, past the mere "happy mood" in celebrating Hare's birthday.
Worse: they again skipped Shu's predicament. They already accelerated his grief over Hare's death, but in this case, they literally skipped how he grieved and coped Inori's death.

You can't exactly call that epilogue as fulfilling in the character department, when they just show how they look like just few years later, without much afterthought.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by ipodi

Your criticism is somewhat misplaced. The writers missed many, many critical pieces of information and left many things unexplained. What happened to the characters at the end is not an aspect that is rushed.

I can sympathize with your position. But, really, the party scene captured what happened to the group succinctly.

Of course I'm not referring to them. I'm talking about Haruka, Daryl, Argo, Arisa, etc. We all know what happened to the good guys. All of these characters have some part in the story, but we have no idea how they ended up other than that they survived. Heck, some of them deserve punishment for murders and war crimes.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

The ending may not define everything, but I don't view it as a problem. Does it really matter what happened to Japan, the GHQ, or most of the other characters? We see what happened to Shu, we see that the group that has gathered seems to be doing well and are friendly with each other, and we see that the world seems to be at relative peace. To me, that hints that everything is well in the world; with the threat of the apocalypse virus presumably gone, Japan regains its independence, peace returns to the world, and all of the characters that we knew have moved on to lead productive lives. That's my take on it, but everyone is free to fill in the blanks as they see fit.

That's what we call vague and to a certain extent unbelievable. The events that occurred during the show should lead to huge lawsuits, war crimes trials, and a few surviving characters hauled to prison, etc. If the writers had ended by having at least one character mention these things in passing, and showing the city under reconstruction rather than in perfect condition as if nothing ever happened, then it would have been more acceptable. The finale was quite a bit bigger than Shu and his friends, and the epilogue doesn't reflect that at all.

[Triple_R]

In fairness, I think that for some secondary characters they may have wanted to leave their eventual fates unknown and open-ended so that the viewer can imagine their own preferred ending for them (or perhaps to leave possibilities open for a possible GC sequel, who knows?)

Daryl and Arisa were two characters that were particularly polarizing, if not predominantly hated. I can see some benefit in not showing explicitly happy endings for either of them.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

Worse: they again skipped Shu's predicament. They already accelerated his grief over Hare's death, but in this case, they literally skipped how he grieved and coped Inori's death.

I thought they did a fine job with both. Shu was obviously very shaken up over Hare's death, and the group still celebrates her birthday in memory of her. His grief wasn't accelerated. As for Inori, it's clear that she's on his mind. Given his character, he was probably terribly depressed and probably would have shed tears over the fact that she didn't make it, but at the time of the final scenes it seems as if he's made peace with the situation.

Sure, they could have explicitly shown all of that, but what would it have mattered, really? I'm not really understanding why people are upset that things weren't stated outright. If they had ended the series without the "a few years later..." scene, then people would be rightfully outraged that the ending was vague. That wouldn't even be a true ending, really. They show who survived, they show that a few of the side characters who survived are now doing normal-life stuff (from which you can assume that the rest are similar), and most importantly, they show what became of Shu and Inori. Does it really matter if you know what each character went into as a profession, or who they married? It might be fun to know, sure, but it wouldn't change the impact of the story.

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

That's what we call vague and to a certain extent unbelievable. The events that occurred during the show should lead to huge lawsuits, war crimes trials, and a few surviving characters hauled to prison, etc. If the writers had ended by having at least one character mention these things in passing, and showing the city under reconstruction rather than in perfect condition as if nothing ever happened, then it would have been more acceptable. The finale was quite a bit bigger than Shu and his friends, and the epilogue doesn't reflect that at all.

It's a work of fiction, what do you expect? The series chose to focus on Shu and his friends instead of the world, and they satisfactorily wrapped that aspect up. I'll state it as my opinion that I really don't care whether any of the characters stood trial or how the geopolitical workings would have responded. The ending is open enough that you can fill those elements into some of the blanks if you desire. It wasn't what the series was about (although the first half of the series made it seem as if it would be), and hence it's fine that those details were left out of the ending.

(As a disclaimer, that's just my opinion; you're entitled to yours, we'll probably never change each other's opinions, and so on.)

[Team Rocket Elite]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

In fairness, I think that for some secondary characters they may have wanted to leave their eventual fates unknown and open-ended so that the viewer can imagine their own preferred ending for them (or perhaps to leave possibilities open for a possible GC sequel, who knows?)

Daryl and Arisa were two characters that were particularly polarizing, if not predominantly hated. I can see some benefit in not showing explicitly happy endings for either of them.

If they weren't going to cave to the fans and kill off Daryl and Arisa, they might as well go all the way and give them a happy end. I don't particularly care about Arisa but I would have liked to have seen how Daryl handled Rowan's sacrifice. Maybe even go somewhere with the Daryl x Tsugumi thing they started.

[silvercover]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

It is actually the case: past the characters they have shown in the epilogue, a great deal of them wasn't really explained one bit:
The remaining funeral parlor members (Argo, Shibungi, Kurachi), Haruka, Arisa and Daryl. That's a hefty amount of named characters who didn't get an epilogue, especially the "least popular ones" who were left alive for no "real reason" yet didn't get any screen time of what they are currently doing.

Also, even the "main characters" being shown, you have a "very vague" idea of their new life in fact (I can't tell if Kanon is engaged to Yahiro or not): you don't even know what they actually are doing or anything, past the mere "happy mood" in celebrating Hare's birthday.
Worse: they again skipped Shu's predicament. They already accelerated his grief over Hare's death, but in this case, they literally skipped how he grieved and coped Inori's death.

You can't exactly call that epilogue as fulfilling in the character department, when they just show how they look like just few years later, without much afterthought.

plus note the fact that the even the funnel robot got a wife and kids.
a freakin robot that had little focus got an even more happy ending than any of the characters, where even the important ones are hardly mentioned at all.

the writers really like to abuse their shoe a lot...

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Of course I'm not referring to them. I'm talking about Haruka, Daryl, Argo, Arisa, etc. We all know what happened to the good guys. All of these characters have some part in the story, but we have no idea how they ended up other than that they survived. Heck, some of them deserve punishment for murders and war crimes.

If Daryl and Arisa were key leadership figures within Gai/Keido's group, I'd agree. But they were just soldiers/front-line operatives, really, working for them. It's not like they're the GC equivalent of Saddam Hussein or Muammir Gaddafi.

If Gai or Keido had survived then yeah, I'd have expected to see one or the other or both carted off to the Hague or something like that. But as for mere soldiers/front-line operatives?

Nah, I don't see the big deal there. I'm with Ledgem here.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I thought they did a fine job with both. Shu was obviously very shaken up over Hare's death, and the group still celebrates her birthday in memory of her. His grief wasn't accelerated. As for Inori, it's clear that she's on his mind. Given his character, he was probably terribly depressed and probably would have shed tears over the fact that she didn't make it, but at the time of the final scenes it seems as if he's made peace with the situation.

I completely agree. And honestly, watching an episode devoted to Shu mourning isn't exactly my idea of good entertainment.

Sure, they could have explicitly shown all of that, but what would it have mattered, really?

Right. I like an ending with a certain degree of finality to it, but I actually think it's nice to leave a few things to viewer's imagination. To leave some secondary details, at least, open to interpretation and speculation.

I don't need to know the fate of every secondary character. Knowing the outcome for the core protagonist cast, and the top antagonists (Keido, Gai, Mana, Segai - All confirmed dead) is enough.

Originally Posted by Team Rocket Elite

If they weren't going to cave to the fans and kill off Daryl and Arisa, they might as well go all the way and give them a happy end.

Why? What's wrong with leaving some things open-ended and up to viewer interpretation and speculation?

I don't particularly care about Arisa but I would have liked to have seen how Daryl handled Rowan's sacrifice. Maybe even go somewhere with the Daryl x Tsugumi thing they started.

Daryl was a somewhat poorly handled plot device character. I can see where the Daryl X Tsugumi hints gave many viewers some hopes and expectations, as those hints gave me those hopes/expectations too. But from the moment that Daryl was so clearly cast in a clear-cut antagonist role in the 2nd last episode, I knew then and there that you weren't likely to see Daryl X Tsugumi. There just wouldn't be enough time to properly execute that (have Daryl flip his moral alignment yet again), so I'm frankly glad that GC's writers never tried.

Arisa, I felt, had reasonably consistent characterization, and was an interesting character, but not a terribly sympathetic one. She served a good role in the story, but I don't see any significant missed opportunity in not giving a concrete end for either her or Daryl.


I think that it's pretty clear that some of the characters that garnered so much viewer attention during the anime (Daryl, Arisa, Souta) just weren't that important to the GC writing staff. They were key secondary characters that had important roles to play in the plot, but that's it. They weren't all that important in and of themselves, like Shu, Inori, and Gai were. Ultimately, those were the three most important characters of the show.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

If Daryl and Arisa were key leadership figures within Gai/Keido's group, I'd agree. But they were just soldiers/front-line operatives, really, working for them. It's not like they're the GC equivalent of Saddam Hussein or Muammir Gaddafi.

If Gai or Keido had survived then yeah, I'd have expected to see one or the other or both carted off to the Hague or something like that. But as for mere soldiers/front-line operatives?

Nah, I don't see the big deal there. I'm with Ledgem here.

So basically, Shu kills Gai, fails to save Inori, but the Voids and Apocalypse Virus are all sucked up, and suddenly the world reaches a happy end. Sorry, but I strongly disagree with this. Shu may have destroyed the root of the problem, but he cannot reverse all of the massacres and other abuses of power that occurred while the GHQ/Antibodies/Daath were in charge. I suppose I cannot convince other people, but in my opinion everything that happens has consequences, and letting perps get away scot-free and atrocities get handwaved away as if they'd never happened is not good writing (unless the writers are going for a bad end). I suppose you can argue that the writers kept it "intentionally vague," but there's a very fine line between that and "unresolved, forgotten issues," and I'll point people to the Negima and ME3 threads for more of those.

[silvercover]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

If Daryl and Arisa were key leadership figures within Gai/Keido's group, I'd agree. But they were just soldiers/front-line operatives, really, working for them. It's not like they're the GC equivalent of Saddam Hussein or Muammir Gaddafi.

If Gai or Keido had survived then yeah, I'd have expected to see one or the other or both carted off to the Hague or something like that. But as for mere soldiers/front-line operatives?
Nah, I don't see the big deal there. I'm with Ledgem here.

then the likes of souta shouldnt have been shown as well. he was just an F-class guy who contributed very small to shoe's group.

ahem, in terms of importance in the overall story and shown relevance, daryl and arisa deserve mention. doesnt matter their rank as soldiers, they are important characters who helped drpve the story to where it is right now.

I completely agree. And honestly, watching an episode devoted to Shu mourning isn't exactly my idea of good entertainment.

true but then again, shoe is the MC who saved the world.
and you must have missed how shoe has "grown" to being the messiah and savior(as per usual, yahiro ). he wouldnt stay crying and moping for 5 minutes end.

Right. I like an ending with a certain degree of finality to it, but I actually think it's nice to leave a few things to viewer's imagination. To leave some secondary details, at least, open to interpretation and speculation.

I don't need to know the fate of every secondary character. Knowing the outcome for the core protagonist cast, and the top antagonists (Keido, Gai, Mana, Segai - All confirmed dead) is enough.

and arisa wasnt a core?
daryl was built up to be important, but this ep just dashed all of the chances. if he was shown in here somewhere, either in jail or part of shoe's group through tsugumi, then it would be quite important as to show that he is a nice guy after all those killings he did.

there is little to no interpretation for their fates. they just went and poof. leaving too many things open to interpretation would mean I can say that arisa is now the head of her family and is living the happy life since we dont have any thing about what happened to her.
yes I know its not really allowed to use CG as a comparison but hey they could have at least shown the other minor characters end with pictures. they even had time to show the funnel robot living happily with a family.

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

So basically, Shu kills Gai, fails to save Inori, but the Voids and Apocalypse Virus are all sucked up, and suddenly the world reaches a happy end. Sorry, but I strongly disagree with this. Shu may have destroyed the root of the problem, but he cannot reverse all of the massacres and other abuses of power that occurred while the GHQ/Antibodies/Daath were in charge. I suppose I cannot convince other people, but in my opinion everything that happens has consequences, and letting perps get away scot-free and atrocities get handwaved away as if they'd never happened is not good writing (unless the writers are going for a bad end).

But they didn't get away with it. The main organizers of these war crimes are dead.

Gai, Keido, Mana, and Segai are all dead, some of them as a direct result of their criminal actions. All the top players within Keido's organization are dead.

I will say it would have been more rewarding to see Haruka shoot or arrest Keido instead of him turning himself into Apocalypse crystals. I'll concede that much to you.