The Void Ranking System is intriguing in that I wonder how they’ll treat those with high ranked voids as compared to the lower ranked ones. Will the lower ranked ones be cared for since they’re “not as strong and won’t be able to fight” or will they be abandoned since they’re “practically useless if Shu can’t use them in battle”? Seeing as Yahiro is the one who came up with it, I’m thinking the latter will be more likely the scenario that plays out.
I started pondering about the meaning behind the series’ title, Guilty Crown.
Some of the lyrics:
This is My Guilty Crown
I’ll fight for what I believe
This is My Guilty Crown
I’ll fight with my friends to set my friends free
_________________________________________________________
This is strictly my own interpretation.
After listening to the OST, I suddenly thought of EP 13 and 14 in which Hare had said that Shu would have the ability to be “King”.
Before Gai’s death, he was the leader of the Undertakers and essentially, the “King” since he was the one who made the calls. For the sake of simplicity, Leader=King (keep this formula in mind). In ep 11 (I think) Gai had died. Shu feels “guilty” for being THE ONE to stab Gai. It really struck him when Ayase blamed herself for allowing Gai to die even though she was present; this makes Shu feel even more guilty because he was the one who actually did the deed. But it doesn’t end there.
Now, the student body is in chaos due to Loop 7 being sealed off and they aren’t satisfied with the way Arisa is leading them as the Student Body President. Arisa is a nice person but being nice and listening to what everyone has to say won’t save them when the government and terrorist groups attack them. If they want to survive, they’re going to need someone else. I commend her perseverance and for trying so hard but she’s not cut out to be a leader. You need someone who is strong and has experience of battle in the case that GHQ attacks the school and Shu is the one. He demonstrated his combat abilities to the entire school by defending again the surprise attack launched by the refugees. Later, during the incident with Ayase and Tsugumi accused of being part of the Undertakers/Funeral Parlor, he spoke out and then with ensuing events caused the student body to recognize Shu as the one will be able to lead them.
Then Shu becomes the new student body president which means that he’s taking the crown even though it was kind of forced upon him. Now, Shu becomes “King” and takes his crown while carrying the guilty from all that’s happened to him since he fatefully joined the Funeral Parlor. He takes his position as President/Leader/King while knowing what he’s done, things that he could never forgive himself for (killing of Yahiro’s little brother and Gai). Shu sees it as his fault for their deaths and that he should be responsible despite the fact that it was inevitable and someone had to do it. But the people need a leader and so Shu now walks forward as a leader while shouldering his own burdens. He will continue shouldering them and even take on others’ burdens.
Taking my own personality into account, I feel that Shu’s guilt grows tremendously when he takes on the “crown” because he would be, in a sense, replacing Gai. If Gai was there, Gai would be the one in charge but he’s not anymore. Shu is now replacing Gai. Wouldn’t you feel guilty if you had to take on the role of leadership that belong to someone important to you. The role belongs to them, they were the perfect one to fulfill that role and now that they’re gone, someone needs to be a replacement.
This made more sense in my head and I can’t elaborate any further. Does this make sense to you? What do you think the title Guilty Crown implies?
Rail Tracing Anime Blog 
You pretty much hit it, dead on. Another thing to add is Shu’s ability to pull voids which labels him “King”. Essentially Shu just wants to protect his friends but having to use his own friends as a weapon to protect them makes him guilty. He feels uncomfortable doing it, to the point where later he has to ask their permission or realize its a life or death moment. This could also be in relevance to “This is my Guilty Crown, I’ll fight with my friends to set my friends free” of track 4 on the OST. “Guilty Crown” is surprisingly the perfect title for the anime.
Ooh, I didn’t think of it that way. It makes even more sense now with that. Honestly, I commend him on being so polite and actually thinking of how others feel when drawing out their voids. Charas like Gai and Yahiro wouldn’t even think of it as a privacy issue and would choose to ignore it even if they were made aware of the fact that voids are a personal thing.
I agree, and I think that there was a lot of thought put into the title to sum it all up in a nice and concise manner.
Have you listen to all of the OSTs?
I’ve listened to all of the OST, possibly my favorite OST of all time now since there’s many tracks I really like. Krone is without a doubt my favorite track, it is such a powerful song and the build up is nice.
I really love all the songs. Just listening to them draws up a lot of emotional response from me. Where would you rank Hill of Sorrow? Krone definitely has that powerful feel to it.
Personally it’d be my 5th favorite track on the OST, after Krone, Ready to Go, Bios, and close your eyes. I like Hill of Sorrow a little over Omega but almost every song is quite emotional yes. I can see it resembling a theme for Gai and Shu. If i recall, it was played on ep12.
I think the ones with vocal are much more memorable, do you agree?
Speaking of Shu, I’m waiting for him to kick some ass already. He’s been on the sidelines for far too long.
The vocal songs are much more memorable, yes. I think its expected of Shu to become a bad ass soon as it’s just typical for the weak character to man up eventually. I just hope he doesn’t end up having a mindset like Gai’s or goes through emotional breakdowns in crucial moments.
I’m wondering if you’ve seen the latest ep, which is 15, I think. Shu just completely loses it. He’s going insane and I wouldn’t blame him. Everyone relies on him way too much; they don’t see that he’s new to this whole ‘being in charge’ thing and has no experience. They just all keep pulling and tugging at him. I hope Yahiro’s happy now. He’s got Shu to do what he wanted him to do in the first place, implement the Void Ranking System. Hope I didn’t spoil much for you if you didn’t watch it yet.
Please refer to episode 1 where Inori asked Shu to use the Void Genome in the middle of the battle and to draw her void out.
When Inori explained about the ability, she spoke about the guilty crown – which is the Void .
(according to what I watched)
And that’s right too, when Shu on the episode 19 , he is blaming himself because using the crown badly. He was guilty for causing trouble so he asked to use the void genome again and use the voids too. He was the Guilty king. The king that every body hates and loves. The king that Hare loves. The king wearing the crown saying Kindness is pointless. The Guilty Crown. xD