「羽化 emergence」 (Uka)

Well, I complained about wanting Guilty Crown to step it up a notch last episode, and this week Guilty Crown certainly offers up a lot of things as it heads into its penultimate episode. The conflict gets brought back to Gai, Mana/Inori and Shuu, which is fitting since that's how 'Lost Christmas' came about the last time.

「追想 a diary」 (Tsuisou)
"Remembrance"

This was a pretty 'quiet' episode by Guilty Crown's standards, which is both a good and a bad thing. First, the good: exposition is never a bad thing. Next, the bad: this is the lead-in to the penultimate episode - not a good time for an info-dump, especially if it's something viewers can piece together themselves.

「贖罪 rebirth」 (Shokuzai)
"Atonement"

In many ways, this latest episode of Guilty Crown was a step in the right direction. However, there were still moments that I found rather irksome, which prevented it from being a complete step in the right direction.

「流離 Dear...」 (Ryuuri)
"Wandering"

"Okay... I'm way too tired to be writing about an episode like this, so you guys can have first crack at it. I'll have a full write-up tomorrow."

I didn't intend to make my original note to be as sarcastic as it ended up sounding -- as I was simply too tired from work to put together a coherent post for such an episode full of "interesting" developments -- but it does touch upon my ever-changing impression of this series.

「革命 exodus」 (Kakumei)
"Revolution"

Well if there's one thing about Guilty Crown that never disappoints, it would be its ability to surprise. Granted, that's largely because I can't see where the writers are going with a story that has a severe identity crisis, but hey, I can't say I'm opposed to the idea that we have a new antihero protagonist and a new heroine to go with him.

「王国 the tyrant」 (Oukoku)
"Kingdom"

Hmm, where do I start? While I can understand Shuu's decision to become a tyrant, maintain order with an iron fist, and try to save everyone that way, I really don't understand the king-like treatment that Yahiro's making everyone give him.

「告白 sacrifice」 (Kokuhaku)
"Confession"

I think I died a little inside watching the latest episode of Guilty Crown, as one of my big reasons I'm still enjoying the series was snatched away before my very eyes.

「攪乱 election」 (Kakuran)
"Disturbance"

As much as I love Hare, she does say the darndest things. Shuu can be a king? Come on Hare, you're just playing right? Right!?