is a 2011 Japanese
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series produced by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
which aired on
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...
's
noitamina
is a Japanese Block programming, programming block on Fuji TV devoted to anime, originally broadcast every Thursday late night/Friday morning from 00:45 to 1:15. It was launched with the intention of expanding the target audience beyond the typic ...
program block from October 13, 2011.
The story revolves around Shu Ouma, a high school boy who comes into possession of an ability called the "Power of the King" allowing him to draw out items called "Voids" from other people. He is then thrown into the conflict between a
quasi-governmental organization known as GHQ and a rebel organization called Funeral Parlor which aims to restore Japan's independence from the GHQ. In the process, Shu has to deal with the burden his ability puts on his shoulders and the horrific mystery of his past.
Two
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
adaptations were published, one each by
ASCII Media Works and
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
. A
light novel
A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...
was published by
Nitroplus
Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...
in April 2012, titled ''Guilty Crown: Princess of Deadpool''. A
spin-off visual novel
A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, named ''Guilty Crown: Lost Christmas'', was also developed by Nitroplus, which came bundled with a 15-minute
original video animation
, abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
(OVA) titled ''Guilty Crown: Lost Christmas''.
Synopsis
Setting
Before the events of the main story, on December 24, 2029, a biological hazard known as the Apocalypse Virus brought on by an
impact event
An impact event is a collision between astronomical objects causing measurable effects. Impact events have physical consequences and have been found to regularly occur in planetary systems, though the most frequent involve asteroids, comets or me ...
plunges Japan into a state of chaos. This event is later named the Lost Christmas incident. Unable to contain the threat, Japan sought international help and the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
dispatches an organization known as the GHQ to their aid. The GHQ successfully contains the outbreak and restores a level of normality at the cost of Japan's independence. Ten years later, a resistance organization known as the Funeral Parlor wages a campaign against the GHQ to liberate Japan once more.
Plot
In the
Roppongi
is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...
district of
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, high school student Shu Ouma encounters a wounded girl named Inori Yuzuriha, the vocalist of a popular internet group Egoist, taking refuge at his film club's workshop. The GHQ Anti Bodies storm the workshop and arrest her for involvement with Funeral Parlor. Shu follows the coordinates of Inori's robot to a drop zone where he meets Funeral Parlor's leader, Gai Tsutsugami, who asks him to safeguard a vial. As the Anti-Bodies begin attacking the
Roppongi
is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...
area looking for the vial, it shatters as Shu goes to rescue Inori when she becomes threatened by GHQ Endlave mechs. The vial contains the Void Genome, a powerful genetic weapon derived from the Apocalypse Virus that grants Shu the "Power of the King", an ability that allows his right hand to extract Voids, weapons of people's psyche given physical form. Shu then extracts Inori's Void and destroys the attacking Endlaves.
Upon deciding to join Funeral Parlor, Shu begins to fall in love with Inori, who bears a striking resemblance to his late sister, Mana. However, he deserts the group after causing the death of a classmate's younger brother during one of his missions. In Shu's absence, Funeral Parlor attempt to steal from GHQ the meteorite that originally caused the Apocalypse Virus outbreak. In the process, Gai and his forces fall into a trap as the Anti-Bodies decimate their ranks with a "genetic resonance" broadcast that unleashes the Virus throughout Tokyo. Amidst the chaos, the Anti-Bodies' leader, Shūichirō Keido, seizes control of the GHQ and directs his attention towards wiping out the remains of Funeral Parlor.
After learning his former comrades are in imminent danger of annihilation, Shu races to the center of Tokyo to rescue them. With the help of his classmates, he breaks through the barricade where they are being pinned down. Meanwhile, Inori begins to reverse the effects of the outbreak through a resonance broadcast channeled by one of her songs. This sudden change in fortune proves only temporary when Yu, a mysterious boy possessing the "Power of the King", appears out of thin air and kidnaps Inori, causing the outbreak to resume with full force.
Shu finds Inori being held captive by Keido, who is using her as part of a "marriage ceremony" to resurrect Mana. Keido explains Inori was created to provide a physical body for Mana's soul so she could give birth to a new human race once the present population was destroyed by the Apocalypse Virus. Shu's repressed memories suddenly return, causing him to remember how Mana was the first to be infected by the virus, and her mental breakdown resulted in the events of Lost Christmas. Shu also recalls from his past that Gai is none other than Triton, a childhood friend he first met ten years ago when Mana rescued him from the sea. With Gai's help, Shu frees Inori from Keido's grasp before stabbing Mana's stasis pod. Shu's actions save the world from the Virus, but Gai is killed in the process.
Two weeks later, the GHQ under Keido's leadership seals off the area surrounding Roppongi, now called Loop 7, before proceeding to systematically eliminate the inhabitants within. A large number of teenagers take refuge at Tennouzu High School along with Funeral Parlor members Shu, Inori, Ayase and Tsugumi. With food and vaccine supplies running low, Shu is elected the new student council president. Despite initially aspiring to provide just governance to those under his charge, his leadership grows increasingly despotic and cynical after his initial refusal to adopt the exclusionary Voids-Ranking system leads to the death of his close friend and love interest, Hare Menjou.
Shu and the others eventually break out of Loop 7. However, upon their escape, a resurrected Gai suddenly appears and severs Shu's right arm before transferring the Void Genome to himself. In order to insure Shu's escape, Inori single-handedly holds off GHQ until their forces overwhelm her. Shortly thereafter, Shu's stepmother, Haruka Ohma, betrays the GHQ and steals the third Void Genome. Shu ultimately injects himself with it before assuming command of Funeral Parlor to rescue Inori and free Japan once and for all.
After Gai broadcasts a message to the world not to interfere with GHQ's actions in Japan, he joins Yu and Keido in preparing Mana's resurrection in Inori's body. It is revealed that GHQ is merely serving as a front for Da'ath, an ancient cult seeking to forcefully bring about mankind's evolution with the Apocalypse Virus. As the virus begins spreading across the planet from Tokyo Tower, Funeral Parlor and its allies mount a massive offensive against Tokyo Bay to save the world.
In the series' climactic final battle, Shu manages to defeat Yu and Gai while Funeral Parlor destroys GHQ's forces. Seeing his plans ruined beyond repair, Keido commits suicide by injecting himself with the virus. A dying Gai explains to Shu that he helped Da'ath so Mana could fulfill her cursed role as the Fourth Apocalypse's Eve. With her role completed, he says that Mana is finally able to rest in peace. Gai also admits that he is fully aware his actions were also wrong, and that being hated by his comrades and Shu wanting to kill him makes it fair and square. He chooses to die with Mana as the Virus envelops them both. Upon coming across a heavily infected Inori, Shu embraces her and activates his Void to absorb all traces of the Apocalypse Virus into himself. Before he is consumed, Inori saves Shu by sacrificing her body to destroy the virus permanently. With the virus finally eradicated, the GHQ Tower collapses and everyone escapes. Some years later, Ayase, Tsugumi, Yahiro, Kanon, Souta and a now blind Shu celebrate Hare's birthday in a rebuilt Tokyo.
Production
In the making of the series, the staff wanted to make "the next generation of anime with this show." For this they wanted it to be an original anime rather than an adaptation. The staff also wanted it to be a "two-season show" regardless of possible difficulties. The basic concept of the show is in a "Japanese style, a Japanese concept, and that is what makes it more original than other shows." When asked about similarities between Shu and ''
Neon Genesis Evangelion
, also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion' ...
''s lead
Shinji Ikari
is a fictional character in the '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' franchise created by Gainax. He is the franchise's poster boy and protagonist. In the anime series of the same name, Shinji is a young man who was abandoned by his father Gendo. Ge ...
, the staff answered they are both passive characters although they found Shinji more passive.
When asked what circumstances led to his involvement, Redjuice responded that the production staff's illustrators and animators felt that his concept art exhibited a sense of compatibility with the final product.
While Ryo of
Supercell
A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (s ...
was providing the insert songs for the show, Redjuice himself was not participating in the project as a member of Supercell.
Besides liking Inori, the main heroine of ''Guilty Crown'', Redjuice stated that he had done many drawings of Tsugumi.
The staff had no qualms with the catlike ears of Tsugumi so Redjuice feels that he has slipped his personal tastes into the series.
Redjuice also likes Kanon although she was not originally written into the scenario.
As Redjuice has not worked with 3D CG much, he was able to learn a lot from the staff at Production I.G.
Music
The music used in the ''Guilty Crown'' anime is composed by
Hiroyuki Sawano
is a Japanese composer, arranger, lyricist, pianist, and Music Producer best known for his work on many anime series, video games, Japanese television drama, television dramas, and movies. His works include the Soundtrack, musical scores for ' ...
. Both the opening and ending themes of ''Guilty Crown'' are written by
Supercell
A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (s ...
.
The first opening theme is titled "My Dearest" and is performed by Koeda. The CD single for "My Dearest" was released on November 23, 2011.
The first ending theme is titled
and is performed by
Egoist
Egoism is a philosophy concerned with the role of the self, or , as the motivation and goal of one's own action. Different theories of egoism encompass a range of disparate ideas and can generally be categorized into descriptive or normativ ...
, a fictional band from the series.
The single for "Departures (Anata ni Okuru Ai no Uta)" was released on November 30, 2011.
A 17-year-old artist named Chelly provided the vocals.
Chelly was picked by Ryo of Supercell after an audition of 2,000 candidates.
Chelly also sang the insert songs in ''Guilty Crown''. The second opening theme is "The Everlasting Guilty Crown" by Egoist and the second ending theme is by Supercell.
Release
''Guilty Crown'' was directed by
Tetsuro Araki with the series' script supervision being handled by
Hiroyuki Yoshino
is a Japanese voice actor and singer affiliated with Sigma Seven. On leading roles, he played Yoshimori Sumimura in ''Kekkaishi'', Yuji Kagura in ''Tona-Gura!'', Takumi Nishijō in ''Chaos;Head'', Yusuke "Bossun" Fujisaki in ''Sket Dance'', Me ...
and assisted by
Ichirō Ōkouchi
is a Japanese screenwriter and novelist. He is a graduate of Waseda University, School of Human Sciences.
Ōkouchi is best known for collaborating with director Gorō Taniguchi for composing the story and script of the Sunrise original producti ...
. Jin Hanegaya from
Nitroplus
Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...
will also be assisting with the screenplay.
The mechanical designs were done by Atsushi Takeuchi and prop designs handled by Yō Moriyama. The original character designs were drawn by Redjuice,
with Hiromi Katō providing the character designs for the anime. Yusuke Takeda was the anime's art director. The animation production was done by
Production I.G
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
's Division 6.
An
Internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...
show named ''Guilty Crown Radio Council'' to promote ''Guilty Crown'' began airing every other Friday starting on October 7, 2011.
The show is hosted by
Yūki Kaji
Yuki, Yūki or Yuuki may refer to:
Places
* Yuki, Hiroshima (Jinseki), a town in Jinseki District, Hiroshima, Japan
* Yuki, Hiroshima (Saeki), a town in Saeki District, Hiroshima, Japan
* Yūki, Ibaraki, a city on Honshu island in Japan
* Y ...
, the voice actor of Shu Ouma, and
Ai Kayano
is a Japanese voice actress. She was represented by the Pro-Fit talent agency until 2014. She has been represented by Office Osawa since 2015. She played leading roles in several anime series, including Meiko "Menma" Honma in '' Anohana: The Flo ...
, the voice actress of Inori Yuzuriha.
New York Anime Festival screened the first two episodes of ''Guilty Crown'' on October 15, 2011.
The screening of the second episode was a world premiere as the episode did not air in Japan until October 20, 2011.
At
Anime Weekend Atlanta
Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) is an annual four-day anime convention held during September/October at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel, Cobb Galleria Centre, and Sheraton Suites Galleria in Atlanta, Georgia. The convention is the largest Southeastern ...
2011,
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
announced that it would simulcast the series in October, followed by a DVD and Blu-ray release in 2012. ''Guilty Crown'' was later available on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
.
Related media
Print
A
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
adaptation titled ''Guilty Crown'', written by Yōsuke Miyagi and illustrated by Shion Mizuki, was serialized in
Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...
's ''
Monthly Shōnen Gangan
is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mar ...
'' between the November 2011 and December 2013 issues. Square Enix released seven ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes between January 21, 2012, and December 21, 2013. The manga adpatation is based first half anime with second half anime both some elements and storylines. A second manga titled ''Guilty Crown: Dancing Endlaves'', written by Gan Sunaaku and illustrated by Ryōsuke Fukai, was serialized in
ASCII Media Works' ''
Dengeki G's Magazine
is a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and seria ...
'' between the July 2012 and May 2014 issues. Three volumes were released between January 26, 2013, and May 27, 2014.
A side story novel titled ''Guilty Crown: Princess of Deadpool'' was written by Gan Sunaaku from Nitroplus, with illustrations done by a Production I.G and Nitroplus collaboration. A special version that came along with a special book cover was first sold at Anime Contents Expo 2012 in between March 31 and April 1, while the official release was on April 25. The first chapter was put up for public reading.
Visual novel
Nitroplus
Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...
developed a
spin-off visual novel
A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...
for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, named .
The visual novel was previously known as ''Lost X''.
The scenario writer for this game is Jin Hanegaya, who also penned ''
Demonbane
is a visual novel series by Nitroplus with mecha and Cthulhu mythos elements. Beginning as an eroge visual novel for the PC, it was ported into a PlayStation 2 non-eroge remake, and spawned a sequel visual novel, a prequel novel, an anim ...
''. The game focuses on the "Lost Christmas" incident. The full version of the game includes a short 10-minute anime.
Reception
The series received mixed critical reaction. Carl Kimlinger from
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
commended the series' bravery on reinventing its plot but described the plot as jumbled and continued the trend of weak characters and clichés.
Aiden Foote of THEM Anime Reviews agreed with Kimlinger on the presentation and plot and added that the characters are unsympathetic with back stories that do not add depth to them. On the other hand, Foote remarks the aesthetics and the musical appeal, stating that "Guilty Crown is its own jewel in terms of music, visual flare and design from the characters to the setting, to the set pieces."
Chris Beveridge from The Fandom Post commented "While it goes big and throws a lot at us, the end result that defines the rest of the season is one that works fantastically well for me because it introduces radical change into the series." He praised Shu's character development as well as the setting chosen for its second half.
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
's Kyle Mills gave the series more praise, noting that despite small criticism "the 1st 11 episodes of the series are great." He praised the story and setting but criticized the development of certain characters comparing them to "flaws" ''
Gurren Lagann
''Gurren Lagann'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese mecha anime, mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo between April and September 2007. It was directe ...
'' made. UK Anime Network commented on the series' second half that the series "bites off more than it can chew, and at times the fervent mastication that comes from this leaves certain aspects of its narrative as something of a sloppy mess, but there's still an interesting story being told here and much of it is delivered in an enjoyable fashion thanks to a superb soundtrack, slick action set pieces, and some strong ideas that make good use of the show's cast of characters." Despite criticism, Andy Hanley of UK Anime Network praised the animation as "visually eye-catching."
References
External links
*
Visual novel official website
Side story novel official website
*
{{Monthly Shōnen Gangan
2011 Japanese television series debuts
2011 anime television series debuts
2011 manga
2012 Japanese novels
ASCII Media Works manga
Action anime and manga
Anime composed by Hiroyuki Sawano
Anime with original screenplays
Aniplex franchises
Fiction about corporate warfare
Dengeki G's Magazine
Fiction about diseases and disorders
Dystopian anime and manga
Experimental medical treatments in fiction
Fiction about government
Fiction about meteoroids
Fiction about rebellions
Fiction set in 2029
Fiction set in 2039
Fiction set in 2040
Films with screenplays by Ichirō Ōkouchi
Funimation
Gangan Comics manga
Genetic engineering in fiction
IG Port franchises
Mass media franchises
Mecha anime and manga
Military anime and manga
Nitroplus
Noitamina
Political thriller anime and manga
Post-apocalyptic anime and manga
Production I.G
Propaganda in fiction
Science fiction anime and manga
Science fantasy anime and manga
Square Enix franchises
Television series set in the future
Television shows set in Asia
Television shows set in Japan
Television shows set in Tokyo
Television series set in 2029
Television series set in the 2030s
Television series set in the 2040s
Terrorism in fiction
Visual novels
Television series about World War III
Video games developed in Japan
War in anime and manga