Sadly, I can't help but feel disappointed at the final episode. The two major fights (with Daath and Gai) were really really underwhelming in terms of drama and action, and I really didn't like the deus ex machina with Inori's wildflower martyrdom. The fight with Gai was really poorly drawn out, imo. Honestly, I think a cliche of flashbacks of everyone's wishes, dreams, Voids, whatever would inspire him to draw out Inori's Void without the use of that flower, or something along the lines of that. Pulling on a flower was so forced imo. That episode should have been split up in two and go for 23 episodes, maybe there were syndication constraints with Funimation, I will never know. Aside from the fights, the drama of Inori's death just... didn't have the emotional pull that it should have. Her death in 21 was so low-key for such a pivotal character in the show. Also, Shu really should have died. The episodes building up had such a powerful implication with the "savior" analogies (which felt like a heavy symbolic allusion to Jesus, esp. by curing the Apoc virus) and the whole bearing everyone's hearts and responsibility towards his death as a martyr to save everyone else, but he just had to live as Inori dies for him. Deus ex machinas suck. The epilogue could have been a lot nicer too, 45 seconds just doesn't cut it. What happened to Japan and the UN? Was the Apocalypse virus completely cleansed? Revisit the deaths of the fallen, maybe? Pay respects to Ogumo, Kurosu, maybe even Arisa? It was okay though, I had a small heartwarming chuckle at Funell's family and the cake they got Daryl for his birthday. I really felt Tsugumi/Ayase and Daryl had really strong potential for a good relationship but it was cut too short, sadly ):
Onto the positives of the series. The second arc up to that point was pretty damn good in terms of character and plot development and was very immersive. Characters felt very unique, both in design and substance - the development Inori and Shu got was fantastic, though their relationship's development... not so much. I'm still never going to get over how many similarities this bears to Code Geass: inherited 'superpowers' (Geass and Void interestingly both called the King's Power), conflict centered in occupied Japan 10-20~ years from present, MC joins terrorist faction and becomes the leader, leader of the faction "dies" and becomes the main antagonist (Lelouch and Gai), mechanized infantry units, antagonist faction trying to become deities and immortal in a realm outside of Earth, MC loses the King's Power only to regain it shortly after, MCs die (or Shu was supposed to) as a martyr to free people from something... The list goes on. I really liked some of the eye candy in the show, from Inori's phoenix-like design (which was really awesome), to the Apocalypse Virus' physical effects, as well as the Voids and color-clash fighting scenes, and, yes, Tsugumi. The music composed for the series was really, really well made too - this is some of Supercell's finest work imo. Departures has incredibly beautiful vocals, and The Everlasting Guilty Crown has a great composition which really plays to the tune of the series. Overall, it was a pretty nice series and solid viewing experience, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a top-tier series in the genres it represents, but it was really fun to watch and I can see myself rewatching it again in the future.
