I’m still underwhelmed.

An Easy Question

Because she’s hot?

Infodump

Yawn.

So am I supposed to feel sorry for this drug dealer now? He did everything for his little sister! It’s the government’s fault! Sorry, I don’t care. That guy is still an asshole. Not that Shuu deserves any better for a friend, of course.

And after Shuu witnessed what the police did, why is he trusting their boss over Gai? Well, aside from the fact that he’s an idiot. Not to mention, why did he keep the transmitter? Does he seriously think he actually needs to press the button?

I Want to Barf

“Shuuu!” Inori shouts and jumps off the roof, her arms outstretched.

Shuu uses his antigravity gun on a fountain, and jumps into the sky on water droplets. He catches Inori in midair, pulls the sword out of her chest, and blows stuff up, all while holding her in his arms.

Come on. I realize this whole show is about teenage wish fulfillment, but this is just ridiculous. They’ve known each other for how long? Two days? And they’ve been apart for all of several hours? Dominic and Anemone’s midair reunion this was not.

Shuu just grates on my nerves. This guy is so utterly worthless. But Inori is even worse. Her only purpose is to look pretty and give Shuu someone to carry around and a chest to fondle draw swords from.

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…

I Feel so Sorry for You.

THIS… IS…. SERIOUS BUSINESS! SHE IS NOT CG, SHE’S A DOLL! MORON!!!!!

HOW DARE YOU INSULT INORI BY CALLING HER CG?! SHE’S A DOLL, YOU FOOL!

DAMN RIGHT YOU’RE A MORON.

MAYBE THEY DO THINK ABOUT IT. I WOULD. (BUT WITH BETTER INSULTS)

So… what were they trying to say with this, exactly? Could his words be Shuu’s… GUILTY CROWN?!!!

Show, Don’t Tell

Guilty Crown has been terrible at this so far. Last episode they showed that Gai was a genius by having Shuu and Inori say “Wow, everything went according to plan. Gai is a genius.” This episode was similar.

As one example, the new villain is introduced. Random Bad Guy A: “Is he smart?” Random Bad Guy B: “Almost too smart.” He traced some drug network in a week, too. Great, now we know he’s smart. I’m so scared, they’re going to get caught.

Next we explain the properties of Voids. “How should we do this?”, the creators must have asked.
“I know, we’ll have Shuu recite the Void Rules!”
“Where do these Void Rules come from?”
“He’ll make them up! It’ll be like how God gave Moses the Ten Commandments!”
“But that was cool cause it had lightning bolts, pyrotechnics and idol worship.”
“True… I know! Listen to this! In the middle of reading them, we’ll have Shuu grope a random girl’s chest!”
“Brilliant.”

Come on, this was retarded. Rule 1: Voids can only be drawn from people 17 years old and younger. The reason is unclear, or at least it’s a secret from me. That’s nice. Why do I care? That’s not even a rule, it’s a fact. This is a power that can only be used by pedophiles.

Rule 2: When you withdraw a void from someone, that person loses their memory of the event. Ok. I feel like you could have told this much more effectively just by having Inori lose her memory. Why announce it out of nowhere? And again, it isn’t even a rule.

And the recital of rule two is the cue for some groping.

I didn’t even realize people aside from Inori had Voids though. Was I supposed to?

Inori

So this girl is supposed to be a member of the underground resistance. She’s also supposed to be a popular idol. How is it, then, that she is so utterly worthless on her own?

After meeting him the other day, she is now utterly independent on Shuu. She moves into his house, worries that she’s a burden to him, and asks “Shuu. Can I stay with you forever?”

Ugh.

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I won’t mince words: this was painful.

The Power of Kings

Everyone and their second cousin has been comparing Guilty Crown to Code Geass, as have I. So let me clarify: I don’t object to the fact that Guilty Crown resembles Code Geass. I object to the fact that Guilty Crown doesn’t resemble Code Geass enough! (Thanks to animekritik for leading me to realize this.)

“What?” you ask. “Why would you want to see something that’s already been done? Just go watch Code Geass!”

“Ok,” I answer. I go rewatch Code Geass. And it is @#(&#^ awesome! (note: This is not a figure of speech. I literally did rewatch it this past week.) Since Code Geass is so great, why wouldn’t I want more of it?!

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
— Ecclesiastes 1:9

Every work is built on other works. Sure, there are “original” ideas which set things apart. But nothing is created in a vacuum. Just go read tvtropes for five minutes.

The thing is, a story isn’t just a result of putting building blocks together to construct a narrative with. It’s about how you tell the story.

Let’s take an example from anime. Rahxephon is heavily influenced (to put it mildly) by Evangelion. Plenty of people dismiss Rahxephon as a mere “copy” of Evangelion. But I greatly prefer Rahxephon. It took the same components, and told a better story. I expect to hear a ton of objections that Evangelion is better, but if you think so, please try to tell me with a straight face that the ending of the Evangelion TV series was good storytelling.

Let’s look at another example, this time from the realm of literature: the Belgariad. If you haven’t read it (you should!) it tells the story of a farm boy who meets a princess, learns he is a king, and becomes a sorceror. It is as strait-laced as fantasy stories come. The same story has been told thousands of times before. But David Eddings tells it better than anyone else ever has.

So back to Code Geass. Throughout each episode of Code Geass (on my sixth rewatch!), I was jumping up and down screaming with a big grin plastered on my face. After the second episode of Guilty Crown, I was left pondering what I should whine about first on my blog. Guilty Crown has all the trappings of Code Geass: a boy from an oppressed Japan who gains magic powers, a revolution led by a mastermind, school life segments, and much much more. The more interesting question is: what does Code Geass have that Guilty Crown lacks?

1. Lelouch. We could compare him with Gai, but…
2. The sense of excitement. Code Geass never fails to leave you jumping up and down waiting for what will happen next. And when Lelouch’s plans work, it’s bloody awesome. On the other hand, here’s how Guilty Crown reveals that Gai is a military genius: our lead couple declares, “Right on schedule. Wow, it’s all going according to his plan!” Needless to say, this does not pack the same punch as unexpected, massive destruction coupled with a flourish of Zero’s cape and Lelouch’s maniacal laughter.
3. Moral ambiguity. Is what Lelouch is doing right? Is what Britannia does wrong? Sometimes, but often not. Guilty Crown has none of this subtlety. Let me quote fatty: “We will never give in to terrorism! If you don’t show yourselves, we will blow up the whole city!” How subtle. After Guilty Crown’s battle, cue the somber music and a survey of the destruction. Right, like anyone cares.

   

4. Interesting villains. I have never hated a fictional character as much as Suzaku. The villains from Guilty Crown are a spoiled teenager and a bald “fatty”.
5. Side characters. Code Geass has Lloyd, C.C. and Diethard. Guilty Crown has a pilot who orgasms to robots, a cat-eared DDR player and a girl who gets a sword pulled out of her chest. ‘Nuff said.

Code Geass and Guilty Crown may tell a similar story, but while Code Geass makes it exciting, Guilty Crown makes it boring, silly and pandering. See below.

P.S. I am only talking about Code Geass R1.

Keepin’ it Classy

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