Guilty Crown - General Discussion

[Chaos2Frozen]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

I haven't found enough Tsugumi wallpapers around the Internet, especially her with someone else. I wonder when there will be a larger explosion of her artwork? I am guessing around the time they finally pull out her void object, which I'm very much looking forward to. Nekomimi headphones?

For a most anticipated series, there's a disappointing amount of fanwork.

*snap fingers*

...You know what's wrong? We're 5 episodes in and not a single meme has been created

[Pocari_Sweat]

Still waiting on Euterpe full version. I don't really like the OP much.

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by pagan poor

FWIW, the full OP PV has been let out. Song weighs in around 5:32.

The PV is 5:32. The song itself is actually 3:59.

[EroKing]

Speaking of wallpapers.

Widescreen


De-texted it but not widescreen

[Flawfinder]

I'm not a huge fan of the opening and don't really get why it's so popular. In fact, I think is the first soundtrack I've listened to where I really like the background music while not being a fan of the opening or ending (I don't hate them though).

...You know what's wrong? We're 5 episodes in and not a single meme has been created

Come to think of it, I can't think of a single line that's been quotable in this series. In fact, I've mostly been using memes to make fun of it (especially the "stupid jerk, stupid jerk, stupid jerk" one from Whisper of the Heart). Maybe Ayase's lines on how she wants to support herself?

[Haak]

I didn't like the OP at first since I was too used to the PV version that I really liked, but now it's grown on me and I really like it now. I don't think the ED is that great however, and Euterpe is the one I like the most. But I wouldn't be surprised if I end up liking Hiroyuki Sawano's compositions the most (which currently risk being overshadowed by Supercell). Currently listening to the recent Gundam Unicorn OST releases and they are just godly...

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

I really don't understand critcism-phobia. If I reacted violently to every time someone hates something I like, I'd have died of a dozen heart attacks already.

Personally, I think I have more of an issue with criticism fatigue than criticism phobia. There's just a certain point where responding to criticism stops feeling like a fulfilling intellectual exercise and starts feeling like a chore.

This hasn't really occured for me in this thread because I don't really have a strong stance in regards in regards to the show as a whole. I like the emotional "weight" involved, the soundtrack and aesthetics, and Tsugumi and Ayase. Balanced against a bland lead couple, main characters winning fights by "hax" (I'm a PC gamer, okay?) and some writing that felt forced (the blood transfusion thing felt like a cop out and I can't for the life of me figure out how a wheelchair bound girl would generate the power necessary to do a throw like that).

BTW, I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but does anyone else really feel like this is mashing concepts from Evangelion and Code Geass together?

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by karice67

The two kids (one just a voice - Shu, the other a silhouette - Gai) in Shu's dream in episode 5 are credited as "young Gai" and "young Shu".

Also, what the silhouette kid says in the dream is an echo of Gai's words at the end of episode 4 - "ore wo shinjirou (yo)" ("Believe in me").

There's also the question of how Gai knew Shu's name in the first episode, and his "this time, show me that you can protect it" also raises a question mark for me...

It's also confirmed in the relationship chart, which was released before the series even started. Looking at it again, it looks like it spoils something else

Spoiler:

Shu will eventually admire Gai. Probably once he remembers Gai is his awesome childhood friend.

[MrTerrorist]

The Guilty Crown Wiki has been slow on updating their articles.

If your interested, you guys can help out the wikia.

[felix]

Originally Posted by hyl

Also i do find it somewhat realistic what Shuu does after epsiode 3, trying to go back to his previous life. He does not have a personility of a hero or rebel for him to be involved in this war, but later episodes shows that he can't escape the fact that he is involved because he has the void powers.

Hence my point. Everything he does is barely of any real consequence. The pen has more power then Shu himself at this point. It's hard to care for the character when he's just being dragged by his feet into the world and only makes any sort of ripple on it every now and then in short bursts. It's like I'm watching two shows in one. One is about political/rebel conflict of GHQ and Funeral Parlor, messed up Japan, etc. And another is about Shu's daily life as honorary sulking Merry Sue. No fun.

To be honest characters like him "this doesn't involve me, this is crazy, I need to protect my ass" just piss me off. Characters like Saji in 00 or Flay in SEED, they can just drop dead for all I care. Shu's only excuse at this point is "he's a school boy blah-blah" but from the looks of it the Funeral Parlor are the same age too, heck that little kid was even younger—not that Shu gave a damn. So then what excuse does that leave Shu with? If he was non-sulky but just didn't want to take orders from Gai and the others, the character would have been more interesting; as well as original.

Originally Posted by hyl

The series has more deep points than you might have missed in your watching, like the in your case missing out that Gai and Shu has met before.
As for the pacing and tension, i don't understand from your explanation why you think the pacing is horrible. It's as if you think that every serie needs a big plot twist or cliffhanger to be interesting. Some of the slower episodes so far introduces us what a void can do (episode 3) and some character development like in episode 5. There is nothing wrong with those seeing that the series has 22 episodes.

Well it's interesting, but it's not very intriguing. I mean what consequence does that have on everything else that's happening? The funeral parlor people don't care. GHQ certeinly doesn't care. Plot wise it won't make any damn difference, just give Shu more to sulk over, woohoo; probably will result in a ton of useless monolog and flashbacks too. The fact they're hiding it all too well is also problematic. You know "show, don't tell" kinda implies you better make sure people actually see it when you show it, no point in having some hidden object puzzle in the dialog.

Think of it another way. If it wasn't there would it make negative difference? Nope. It's only saving grace is that is somewhat implies Shu met Inori already, which moves the love plot. Shu meeting Gai, completely useless. Worse still I blame it for the inconsistent semi-crappy emotionless dialog we got between Shu and Gai so far. I don't really like being some Enigma machine just because the writers couldn't figure out how to setup their story straight with out injecting code into the dialog.

[hyl]

Originally Posted by felix

Hence my point. Everything he does is barely of any real consequence. The pen has more power then Shu himself at this point. It's hard to care for the character when he's just being dragged by his feet into the world and only makes any sort of ripple on it every now and then in short bursts. It's like I'm watching two shows in one. One is about political/rebel conflict of GHQ and Funeral Parlor, messed up Japan, etc. And another is about Shu's daily life as honorary sulking Merry Sue. No fun.

Him being dragged by everyone around him is paralel to the current state of japan if you can still remember episode 1. Also his daily life was only shown at school in episode 1 and 3. It's not like he has been sulking about his life the entire serie. His whining in episode 5 does seem reasonable to me, because he is forced into a harsh combat training. Something that he has never done before.

Originally Posted by felix

To be honest characters like him "this doesn't involve me, this is crazy, I need to protect my ass" just piss me off. Characters like Saji in 00 or Flay in SEED, they can just drop dead for all I care. Shu's only excuse at this point is "he's a school boy blah-blah" but from the looks of it the Funeral Parlor are the same age too, heck that little kid was even younger—not that Shu gave a damn. So then what excuse does that leave Shu with?

The fact that he wanted to protect something stems from the fact that he thinks that his life feels too much like the current japan, being dragged by others. He wanted to protect someone or something to break free from this cycle.
Unlike the funeral parlor, Shu was only involved recently. They have been fighting longer than him and they probably have better reasons to fight than Shu at this moment.

Originally Posted by felix

Well it's interesting, but it's not very intriguing. I mean what consequence does that have on everything else that's happening? The funeral parlor people don't care. GHQ certeinly doesn't care. Plot wise it won't make any damn difference, just give Shu more to sulk over, woohoo; probably will result in a ton of useless monolog and flashbacks too. The fact they're hiding it all too well is also problematic. You know "show, don't tell" kinda implies you better make sure people actually see it when you show it, no point in having some hidden object puzzle in the dialog.

Think of it another way. If it wasn't there would it make negative difference? Nope. It's only saving grace is that is somewhat implies Shu met Inori already, which moves the love plot. Shu meeting Gai, completely useless. Worse still I blame it for the inconsistent semi-crappy emotionless dialog we got between Shu and Gai so far. I don't really like being some Enigma machine just because the writers couldn't figure out how to setup their story straight with out injecting code into the dialog.

You are jumping to conclusions way to quickly when most of the plot has not been revealed yet. You may think that some of meetings were pointless, how can you judge that when the series has not even reached 1/4 of it's total yet.

[felix]

Originally Posted by hyl

Him being dragged by everyone around him is paralel to the current state of japan if you can still remember episode 1. Also his daily life was only shown at school in episode 1 and 3. It's not like he has been sulking about his life the entire serie. His whining in episode 5 does seem reasonable to me, because he is forced into a harsh combat training. Something that he has never done before.

Well, to me it looks like he's sulking over everything in his life since Episode 1. That's the impression I've got and the only time that's changed is in the few seconds of action where he goes all serious mode; but that's not much of a change since sadly he reverts back completly after the battle is done. =_=" It's like with Ichigo in Bleach...

Originally Posted by hyl

The fact that he wanted to protect something stems from the fact that he thinks that his life feels too much like the current japan, being dragged by others. He wanted to protect someone or something to break free from this cycle.

Well yeah. But I just find it really hard to feel any sympathy for that goal because of how aimless it is. I won't do something, doesn't imply change, just means you're stagnatting. I'm pretty much against this let's do nothing and wait for it to fix itself type thinking too.

And we kind of got a pretty clear "I want to do something" at the start of the series, so Shu's either stupid and forgetful or the writers are being indecisive.

Originally Posted by hyl

Unlike the funeral parlor, Shu was only involved recently. They have been fighting longer than him and they probably have better reasons to fight than Shu at this moment.

Hence why I don't like it... the protagonist should be the most motivated idiot there.

Originally Posted by hyl

You are jumping to conclusions way to quickly when most of the plot has not been revealed yet. You may think that some of meetings were pointless, how can you judge that when the series has not even reached 1/4 of it's total yet.

Fair point. Sorry I phrased it wrong. It's basically pointless not for the entire series but for the current buildup. Just like I can't say it's bad, I can't imagine it as good either. I just don't forsee anything enjoyable plot coming out of this Gai x Shu subtext.

I've enjoyed shows that do this kinda of wasteful strategy (as in have them as favorites), I just don't like it in general. Wish we could just evolve past this style.

---

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

I really don't like getting into this type of discussion, but for this once, I will try to give an example.

Say for instance, you are a Dallas Mavericks' fan. They win the NBA Championship, and you are in quite a positive buzz. You only have great feelings and great things to say. Along comes a negative person that says that the main reason why the Mavericks won is because the referees "helped" them win. Whatever enjoyment you had is now tainted with this negative remark. It does not matter if it is correct or not. It is just a fact that you threw a wrench in someone else's fun, and you want them to feel as down as you are feeling. Negative feeling is contagious, and it ruins the fun for others around.

If you are going to a party with a group of friends, but there is one friend who is currently very negative and down, would you want to bring him along? Usually not because he would bring down the mood of the group. You would most likely leave him at home.

This is all I want to discuss about this for the thread. If you want to continue this discussion, you are more than welcome to PM me.

Spoiler for slightly off topic:

It's really simple. If you want positive opinions just do blogging. Look for blogs which share your own views and do the whole blog-networking thing (which you have to do anyway, to get people to your lil blog). There are also other mediums like reviews and such that offer the same facilities.

This is a forum. Forums are not blogs, nor aggregators for blogs. The whole idea of a forum is that it provides a medium for people that disagree with each other to try and understand each other. So if you're comming here expecting everyone to just agree on everything, participate in some mindless meme/shipping or other 2chan nonsense, or to post/read episode summaries, you're doing it wrong. Those are all nothing but abuses of the system for the sake of spamming, venting or self publicity. Forums are for talking with other people only.

You gave the example of a sports match where you hear a random negative comment. But it goes both way, if you walk out of there completely bored and someone comes to you and explains to you what the team tried and failed or succeeded in doing then your spirits will be lifted because of your better understanding.

Regarding your example in particular, it's a case of you not having an opinion to begin with. If you were there you knew if it was legit or not, and no dumbass telling you otherwise will change that. If you weren't really paying attention then of course you're going to be swayed to one side or another. And because you never had your own opinion of it, obviously others assesment will sway you to one extreme or the other.

See this experiment... go to 13:40

[Kusa-San]

Originally Posted by Kanon

It's also confirmed in the relationship chart, which was released before the series even started. Looking at it again, it looks like it spoils something else

Spoiler:

Shu will eventually admire Gai. Probably once he remembers Gai is his awesome childhood friend.

Oh this whole thing about Gai and Shu is really interesting. Can I have the relationship chart ? Is it translated ?

But more importantly :

Spoiler for Shu and Gai:

Why Shu has forgotten Gai ? I'm sure Shu and Gai are experiences from Shu's "mother" or something like that.

[DXMichael]

Something must have happened between Shu and Gai that made Shu forget about him. Amnesia perhaps? Maybe Gai caused his Amnesia and felt bad when he was younger, so decided not to get in his way anymore. I doubt it's that though, I can only imagine it involved Gai somehow and that he had a good reason.

[Kusa-San]

I Hope it's something darker. I would love it if it was a flashback from another Shu, the real one and if the Shu that we know is a clone of him.

Clones would be an answer about the virus. The real Shu died a a long time ago and they transfered his conscience into the clone. But because of this, he lost most of his memory of his previous self.

The real Shu would be the one of Lost Chritsmas.

[felix]

Originally Posted by DXMichael

Something must have happened between Shu and Gai that made Shu forget about him. Amnesia perhaps? Maybe Gai caused his Amnesia and felt bad when he was younger, so decided not to get in his way anymore. I doubt it's that though, I can only imagine it involved Gai somehow and that he had a good reason.

Doesn't explain why he's dragging him around though. Yeah he's got the super power, but he did the whole force you into combat nonsense even before he got it, back when Inori was captured.

[j0x]

i speculate that with the words Guilty and Void tied in this anime its not impossible to think that whenever Shu draws out the Void on other people then those people will have decrease life span too, and if Shu will increase the power of the Void then the lifespan will also decrease more on his victim lol and that is why he will feel Guilty in the end perhaps lol

[DXMichael]

Originally Posted by felix

Doesn't explain why he's dragging him around though. Yeah he's got the super power, but he did the whole force you into combat nonsense even before he got it, back when Inori was captured.

Well, no doubt my theory will be tested and it will all be explained soon enough.

[felix]

Originally Posted by jix

i speculate that with the words Guilty and Void tied in this anime its not impossible to think that whenever Shu draws out the Void on other people then those people will have decrease life span too, and if Shu will increase the power of the Void then the lifespan will also decrease more on his victim lol and that is why he will feel Guilty in the end perhaps lol

I kind of don't see that dark twist comming since there's no real buildup for it. Shu is undecisive enough as is. If it was dangerous I think Gai would know about it and would have gave proper instructions. Since well he does seem like the most informed about it, on the protagonist side.

[j0x]

@felix

but its not impossible to have that kind of twist, but meh im so into this anime at the moment that i can think of possibilities like this, so bear with me