Guilty Crown Ep2 - Can't I not like what I see?

Remember kids, the future of combat lies in your ability to play Bejeweled. The game also respond to butts, but using your ass to play is detrimental to your high score.

Short summary: Shu learns more about the "Power of Kings" and how he can contribute as a terrorist. Inori joins Shu's class as a transfer student.

Is it really just me who is not satisfied with how the show actually turned out? Am I giving a bias or unfair opinion just because of the pre-season hype and expectations of the show? Or have I actually overlooked the real appeal of the show?

Making the user suffer the damage from the bot is a ridiculous design flaw. I'm not complaining though.

I quote Divine, "As far as Guilty Crown is concerned, it's new to me to see a lot of tropes I enjoy mashed together and spun in a different way." I may not sound like it, but I don't detest the commonly used tropes, character archetypes or even clichés in any way, because like he said, it's really all about how you tie it together into a story. It's obvious that it's almost impossible to escape the use of these tropes if you want a story that can actually sell. Every now and then we see a brilliant new concept like that of Madoka, but you don't need something like that to make a story to make it "original", or for me to like it.

So this is my beef with the show so far, and also where I disagree with Divine. In what way is GC unique, different, or original? We have seen all these before:

- Shu's a generic wuss (not like it's anything really bad YET), I think most people agree on that.
- Inori spoke so little that I barely registered her voice. So far all she has done is follow orders and "use me!"
- Gai is the most interesting character so far. He has outstanding ability and bravado, plus he likely have a hidden agenda.
- Tsugumi is the Kallen of GC. A fanservice character that has little role or impact on the storyline, but I like her a lot. Nothing special though.
- The setting is in a dystopia Japan, and people are getting killed for reasons convenient to the storyline.
- The good guys happens to be anti-government terrorists.
- Protagonist attains the ability to make a different by mere coincidence, given to him by Inori who conveniently happens to be his osananajimi. No, in the event that Shu actually turns out to be the "chosen one" does not change this.

The only thing I could think of is that he could draw a different weapon from each person. Unless he could design a battle plan that could simultaneously make use of several different weapons and combinations, I hardly find this trait very interesting.

I don't hate Guilty Crown, but it bothers me that it has only been using a series of formulaic elements to play out the story. Every few minutes something keeps telling me that I've seen this kind of scenario somewhere before. The production values is top-notch, and that's enough reason for me enjoy this show, but I am not at all impressed. The song writer can't do much to impress. Neither can the character designer. Nor can the plethora of awesome VAs they roped into the show. The good part has to come from the director and writers.

Final notes:
1. How did Gai know about the Kaleidoscope within an enemy?
2. Isn't Inori a wanted terrorist now? How can she even attend school, without even using a fake name? No wait. I think I already know the answer. The guys who found out didn't reveal this to the enemy HQ, and they're all dead now.

PS. Lol, I got flamed. I'm saying that GC actually should take a leaf out of CG's book but... you know what? GUILTY CROWN IS A CODE GEASS RIPOFF!! Here you go.