After being ravaged by the Apocalypse Virus, Japan has fallen under control of the GHQ, an independent military force dedicated to the restoration of order. However, a guerrilla group called Funeral Parlor seeks to put an end to their despotism. After a fateful run in with a key member of Funeral Parlor, weak and anti-social Shuu Ouma finds himself with a powerful new weapon, the ability to pull out manifestations of a person’s personality to wield as weapons. Now he must make use of it in order to free Japan once and for all.
Guilty Crown falls within that realm of action anime where the main character has a unique power that he must use to fight against something. However, it was certainly a lot more emotionally impactful than you would expect. You have got to love a main character personality shift in the second half! If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Guilty Crown, head on down below.
Anime Like Guilty Crown
For Fans of Rebelling Against Oppression and Discrimination
Code Geass
The Holy Empire of Britannia has established itself as the dominant military nation, starting after their conquest of Japan, now named Area 11. Under Britannia’s tyranny, a number of resistance groups rose up to fight for their freedom. Enter Lelouch Lamperouge, the exiled prince of Britannia who has been sent to live in Japan. One day, after finding himself caught in the crossfire in a battle between Britannia and insurgents, Lelouch is able to escape with his life after meeting C.C., a mysterious girl who grants him the power of absolute obedience.
It’s really hard not to look at these two shows and play spot the similarities. A character ends up joining a rebellion against a foreign force that has been oppressing conquered Japan. They become a central figure in the rebellion thanks to a special “Power of Kings” that they got from a mysterious girl they met. However, Guilty Crown is more individual battles whereas Code Geass often has more all-out warfare and political maneuvering.
Akame ga Kill
Tatsumi is a naive boy from a rural village that makes the trip to the city in order to join the military and help his hometown. However, after he is rejected, he ends up joining Night Raid, a group of assassins part of a revolutionary movement to overthrow the government. From there, he must fight a brutal and increasingly bloody shadow war.
Both series follow the terrorists as they rebel against the governing force that is oppressing the people. They both also highlight special powers that some individuals have which allows for those grand sort of shounen battles without the power ups. The biggest similarity, however, is that both series aren’t too scared of killing off characters.
Tokyo Ghoul
The citizens of Tokyo now live in fear of vicious creatures called ghouls that blend in alongside humans and feast on their flesh. One day, Ken Kaneki, a shy college student, meets a girl called Rize who is also an avid reader like him. Unfortunately, as he finds out on his first date, Rize turns out to be a ghoul. Just when she is about to eat him, Kaneki is saved, barely clinging to life. In the process of surviving this attack, Kaneki finds out that he has now become a ghoul.
While both series have their fair share of angst, being that Tokyo Ghoul is about creatures that eat people, it gives it a slightly darker edge. While it takes some time to get there, Tokyo Ghoul, like Guilty Crown, also features the main character dragged into a conflict against the people that are trying to oppress his kind.
Black Bullet
In the year 2021, a parasitic virus has ravaged humanity by turning them into monsters, driving the remaining humans into massive walled cities. However, while a special metal can keep these monsters at bay and fight them, children are already being born with the virus dormant within them. It is decided that these “cursed children” are humanity’s best hope for fighting the virus.
While Black Bullet doesn’t have the same themes of governmental oppression as Guilty Crown, what it does share is that same air of discrimination. The main characters do nothing wrong, but most people end up hating them for what they are and what they can do. Furthermore, Guilty Crown and Black Bullet are both also about a world under threat by an apocalyptic virus.
For Fans of Long-Struggling Characters
86
For years, the Republic of San Magnolia has been at war with the Giadian Empire. They were constantly plagued by their hordes of unmanned drones until the government created an unmanned solution of their own, finally able to wage their war without casualties. However, that is not quite the truth. The “unmanned” combat weapons are actually used by those of the 86th sector of the Republic, but they are not considered even human. This is the tale of both Shin, an 86er and battle commander, and Lena, their sympathetic handler who remotely commands the detachment from inside the city.
While 86 doesn’t have characters with special powers like Guilty Crown, it is mecha wartime story. With it just focusing on the mechs and the suffering of the disposable soldiers, it allows it to tell a more dramatic story, but it definitely doesn’t skimp on the action either. If you enjoy watching people struggle in a miserable situation, then 86 is a solid watch.
WorldEnd
It has been five hundred years since humanity went extinct at the hands of the mysterious beasts that roam the land. Now the surviving races have retreated to floating islands in the sky out of reach of most of the beasts. However, there are ones nimble enough to put these people in danger. A small group of young girls, a race called the Leprechauns, are now raised as the only ones that can wield ancient weapons to fend off invasion by the beasts, but it often requires them to sacrifice themselves and they don’t often live to see adulthood. Enter Willem, the last surviving human woken from his slumber and sent to watch over these girls, still feeling the sting from the final battle where he lost everything five hundred years ago.
Both series feature powers that only a select few can use, meaning much of the weight of the world rests on their shoulders. However, instead of just one person, there are disposable cute girls in WorldEnd. Both series do really well highlighting the struggle that the characters go through, and can be just heartbreaking.
Charlotte
Yuu Otosaka has the ability to slip into other people’s mind and control them for five seconds at a time. He has been using it to get good grades, but after he is caught by the enigmatic Nao Tomori, he is forced to transfer to a special school to safeguard children with these powers from discovery. At this supernatural new school, he is forced to join the Student Council where he uses his powers to hunt down other young people who are using and abusing their own powers.
The similarities between these two series, other than the main characters having special powers, will take some time to become more apparent. Both series have moments in them that signal a massive shift in the main character where their life essentially becomes all about suffering and world-saving levels of responsibility.
For Fans of Normal Main Characters Dragged Into Conflict
Eureka Seven
Renton Thurston hates his boring life in the backwater town of Bellforest. He wants nothing more than to have an adventure, but his grandfather insists he become a mechanic. However, one day adventure literally falls through his roof in the form of Eureka, the pilot of a Nirvash type Zero and member of mercenary group Gekkostate.
Both series feature an absolutely average main character, who both also happen to have important fathers, that have a clandestine meeting with a mysterious girl which links them by the red string of fate and causes him to join a rebellious group. While Guilty Crown happens in a rather contained area, Eureka Seven is more about traversing the world and mecha action. While Eureka Seven starts off a little younger feeling, it matures over time.
Taboo Tattoo
As a martial artist, Seigi has always felt driven to defend others. One day when he defends a man from some punks, the man gives him a strange tattoo on his palm. This tattoo, as it turns out, is a secret weapon developed in the arms race between America and the Serinistan Kingdom. However, while the tattoo presents him with great power, he has a hard time getting a handle on it.
Both series follow main characters that, after a complete accidental meeting, end up gaining a special power that was meant to be a secret of the government. This new development causes them to be a central figure in between two groups fighting and has main characters that struggle to learn how to use it properly.
Aldnoah Zero
Upon the discovery of a hypergate on the moon that could teleport humans to Mars, humanity became split. After years of warfare, an uneasy peace was forged between Martians and Terrans until the Martian princess was assassinated on Earth. Inaho Kaizuka, a high schooler who witnessed the assassination, suddenly finds himself pulled into this interplanetary conflict.
While Aldnoah happens more on an interplanetary scale, it tells a similar story of a normal boy being dragged into a conflict after a clandestine incident. While Aldnoah has plenty of mech action, it is distinctly more about character drama and political dealings.
Clockwork Planet
When earth was on the verge of destruction and much of humanity fled, it was remade by the mysterious entity Y into a series of cogs and gears. Noato Miura is a boy with a unique talent, he can immediately understand the mechanics of the cogs by noise alone. One day, an automaton named Ryuzu made by Y falls from the sky and Naoto discovers that the planet they have lived on for years is beginning to break down.
After meeting a strange girl, a main character discovers the corrupt nature of the government in his world. They also end up a central figure dealing with the potential apocalypse of their planet and also developing feelings for said strange girl that put them on this path.
Do you have more anime recommendations like Guilty Crown? Let fans know in the comments section below.
