Life in the quarantine zone gets even more dangerous.
What They Say:
Welcome to Tokyo: a ravaged world under merciless totalitarian rule. More and more of Shu’s old friends are seeing a side of him they never imagined possible… and Shu’s about to see a new side of the Voids, too.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Considering the nature of the situation, it’s not a surprise that we’d get some outside forces that would attempt to get into the quarantine zone to get people out that they have a connection to. While there are your average citizens with family trapped in there, there are also those of note and value beyond just their base existence and connections. When wealth and power comes into play, and a potential arranged marriage that could extend power even more, sending in a small and elite mercenary force to get out a female student of value is not a surprise. It’s almost a tangent storyline when you get down to it, but with fun of this particular arc of the story that was not easily seen early on, it’s just a treat to see where they may or may not go.
Within the ruins of Tokyo, the world has certainly changed and it’s changing those inside it as well. Shu’s not been keen on taking on the reins of power, but the death in the previous episode was the expected catalyst that would turn him cold and heartless in order to do what’s necessary. Of course, someone could do it and have compassion, but these kids are coping with an extremely difficult situation. And he’s making it more difficult with the way he’s organized a secret service to find those with Void abilities to be brought before him to find out just how valuable they may be. It’s a new order that’s difficult for many to accept as it turns into a weak versus the strong design.
While these kids were all in classes before, they’re now engaging in a form of class warfare as there’s a very definite ranking system in place and the feeling of many is that there’s a chance that this may turn into a “kingdom” of the Void for the Void and all others will be just subservient of not outright eliminated. What comes into the mix to drive home things and provide a fair bit of action and contention is that of Argo, a fellow student that has known Shu for quite some time and is shocked by everything. Enough so that he does eventually start to do something about it, which leads to plenty more confrontations and problems. The fragile nature of what Shu has been building since the death of Hare is at stake as is his own state of mind. Watching how it all shudders with only certain kinds of prodding is fun to watch.
In Summary:
The further in we get to this part of Guilty Crown, the more curious and interesting it gets even if somewhat predictable within each episode. Most shows don’t go this route, the few that play things serious with action, politics and mecha, so it’s just enjoyable seeing something like this again after so long. Shu’s descent into a coldhearted person isn’t a surprise after what he went through and it looks like it’ll get resolved fairly quickly when you get down to it, but the view from the outside via Argo as he sees what’s happened to Shu and to Tokyo is spot on and a good window into the changes since that tragic event. Where it’ll go from here may be fairly easy to plot as well, but it’s hitting the marks right and doing it with a good bit of style and intensity that works for me. It’s still not high art and fantastic storytelling, but I’m enjoying it more overall than I did the first half of its run.
Grade: B+
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: FUNimation
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
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