Guilty Crown, which ran on Japanese TV through March 2012, is somewhat of a darling among American fans. The title receives high marks from fans and critics alike, who praise the show for its gorgeous presentation and strong storyline.
FUNimation announced that they acquired the show’s master license in 2011, and streamed it via their own service. Shortly after the show finished airing, FUNimation announced that Guilty Crown would hit DVD and Blu-Ray on August 27, 2013.
Earlier today, we received a parcel from FUNimation via UPS. Unlike the standard red-pack envelopes, what we received was a black brick with a decent amount of weight to it. The outside was sealed with a seal bearing the Guilty Crown logo. We had seen this type of packaging before, and surmised that it was a press kit to hype the show. As we cut open the seal, and opened the box, our intuition proved right.
Since we did receive the entire product (and then some!), it only felt right that we do a tear-down. Thanks to FUNimation for providing the product! (click images for larger versions)
Shipper
From the outside, the shipping crate is fairly non-descript. It’s a black box, adorned with shipping labels that, if measured would be about the length and width of a DVD case, and the height of four 2-case sets stacked. The main seam of the box was adorned with the Guilty Crown logo on a white seal. Inside the box, we found the following:
- Guilty Crown Set 1, Limited Edition
- Guilty Crown Set 2
- Guilty Crown Poster
The inside flap of the box had an image of the male and female leads affixed to it. The image was split at the seam which, when opened, contained a sell sheet for the title.
Packaging
The first set was shipped in a chipboard box. The box features a wrap-around art piece that depicts leads Shu and Inori in a kinetic, slightly suggestive scene. A removable summary sheet is affixed to the back of the box.
Inside the chipboard box is four items:
- The first Guilty Crown Blu-Ray set
- A spacer featuring a piece of black-and-white key art
- Two art books, each about 100 pages long.
The case features a color drawing of Inori Yuzuriha, which was drawn by series illustrator redjuice. The back of the case contains the Guilty Crown logo and an episode list. Each of the discs features a redjuice illustration of one of the series characters. The discs are presented in two-tones, with each disc having a color “tint” to offset the silver of the disc.
The two books with the set comprise two sets of art. The first book features work from the TV series, which contains character design sheets, background art, and character art used in the show. The second is a collection of redjuice’s sketches from the Guilty Crown franchise. Both books feature notes and information pertinent to the piece at hand.
Set 2 features a similar case setup to the first, though the key art used is different. The disc styles and general aesthetic remain the same, and the back of the case features a description, rather than an episode list.
Menu Structure
Note: Since the release has a consistent look & feel across the discs, I will only be covering the first disc. Further dissections would be redundant. Since I don’t have a blu-Ray drive on my computer, I’m unable to get screens, and therefore won’t be providing screens of the blu-Ray set.
The front menu features a piece of key art of Shu and Inori, drawn by redjuice. Menu options are displayed horizontally under the show’s logo. Each of the submenus contains a redjuice-drawn piece of character art, with the menu options displayed vertically beside the artwork.
Extra Features
Extra features for the two sets are as follows:
Set 1
- Dub cast episode commentaries
- Guilty Crown 4-Panel Theater, Parts 1-6A
- Episode Previews
- US Trailer
- Textless Songs
- Featurette: Into the Void: Creative Vision
Set 2
- Dub cast episode commentaries
- Featurette: Reassortment: Series Digest
- Guilty Crown 4-Panel Theater: Parts 6B-11
- Episode Previews
- Textless Songs
Video Presentation
Overall
FUNimation’s limited-edition release is a lavish treat. The packed artbooks and sturdy box are fantastic bonuses that warrant the early adopter fee, and then some. The stark presentation allows the various artwork to speak for itself, and provides a clean, attractive style.
