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REVIEW: Guilty Crown Episodes 1-5 Streaming

I guess it's perfectly normal to believe a girl on a secret mission over the police, I mean... she does have pink hair.

I agree but Guilty Crown does make good use of them, as the review itself points out. But the review also critisizes the mere fact that the tropes are there in the first place.

I think "tropes are used poorly" is perfectly fine criticism, but "tropes are used at all" is not. If some one will hate a show just because it uses tropes, well, then they'll never like anything ever.

Vaisaga wrote:

I agree but Guilty Crown does make good use of them, as the review itself points out. But the review also critisizes the mere fact that the tropes are there in the first place. I think "tropes are used poorly" is perfectly fine criticism, but "tropes are used at all" is not. If some one will hate a show just because it uses tropes, well, then they'll never like anything ever.

Forgiving much? The purpose of Tropes is to serve narrative and characters. Like Konopan said, Tropes used poorly can make for a terrible plot.

While Guilty Crown definitely executes them well, is there really anything else beyond that? Ask yourself this, what distinguishes Guilty Crown from other anime? While it's true that everything is done before, nothing is absolute - each of the best anime ALWAYS have something that distinguishes itself as its own (example: Evangelion, FMA, Cowboy Bebop, AnoHana). If you strip all the tropes from the plot of Guilty Crown, all you'll find is a stereotypical story of a wimpy-underdog who scores a magical girlfriend and joins a rebellion against an evil gov't.

"You won't ever find a show that isn't a 'pile of cliches'"? Untrue. Why? While everything has its cliches, only the worst is a "pile of cliches" (example, Tokyo Undergound). Tell me, is Fullmetal Alchemist cliched from beginning to end? What about Cowboy Bebop? Cliches are everywhere, but the best has only moments of it. NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE.

What hurts the most is how inappropriately you use the word "cliche"; do you even know what the term means? A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect. Guilty Crown is seriously cliched. Something like AnoHana is not. Why? Because the anime can make you cry, and relate to the characters' pain. Cliches have little to no meaning, but a "cliche" that can evoke a deep emotion or understanding, allowing us to explore the human condition and who we really are, is not really a cliche at all. It would be contradictory. If that wasn't the case, it would be stranger.

The heart is largely in Shu's relationship with Inori.

That puts some real life into a lot of dead clichés, and makes for a fast-moving, ever-evolving show to boot. Araki is good at moving fast. He keeps the show's pace swift, without getting hectic or confusing or depriving developments of their proper impact—all crimes he has been guilty of in the past. He builds tension efficiently and effectively, something that will surprise no who has seen Death Note, and even if he isn't the most sensitive of animators, the emotional jabs still make it through more or less intact. Araki's great contribution, however, is making Guilty Crown kick serious butt. It's a truly beautiful series all around. Araki's eye for color, composition and motion is excellent and he has all of Production I.G's muscle behind him. Even something as simple as Shu heading to his first meeting with Gai is kinetic and exciting in his hands.

The character art and animation is uniformly sharp and the cast's attire ridiculously stylish (particularly stylish and particularly ridiculous in Inori's case)

AnoHana is a show that is built over many cliches and if the fact that it made us care about its characters (which is subjective; I probably didn't as much as you did, since it's not one of my favorites shows of the year or anything), then Guilty Crown shouldn't be disconsidered yet. There are great character moments after the first two episodes and there is potential in that.
And if you strip the cliches out of the show, at least the visuals should remain, which is something to count for.

Forgiving much?

Ask yourself this, what distinguishes Guilty Crown from other anime?

You should try it, you'll have a lot more fun that way. I can only imagine how many years of entertainment I'd have missed out on if I cared how cliched something was.

This question is irrelevant. Why does it matter how it compares to other anime? Perhaps if I was only allowed to watch X number of shows then I'd have to carefully screen what I watch and only pick the best of the best. Such is not the case, though, and I'm free to watch whatever I choose to.

There might not be anything special about the building downtown, but is it still a good building? Well it's not falling over so I'm going to say "yes" even if it's built using the same materials as countless other buildings.

There's plenty of reused materials in AnoHana, but who cares? I loved AnoHana, and apparently so did you. Just goes to show that a series filled with cliches can still be great.

Guilty Crown has the exact same potential. And so what if it doesn't blow anyone's socks off in the end. It's entertaining and that's all that matters.

Or any high expectations for that matter. It's not the show's fault for not living up to your expectations, it's your fault for having those expectations in the first place.

Go in carte blanche.

See a show for what it is, not what it isn't.

So you're saying that everyone should go into a show expecting it to be the greatest thing ever?

Go in carte blanche.

So you're saying that everyone should go into a show expecting it to be the greatest thing ever? And when the show doesn't turn out to be the greatest thing ever then it deserves to be hated?

It's okay for a show to be safe, unambitious, or not innovative.