Guilty Crown is the kind of anime that inspires two equally passionate groups: the “this is a stylish sci-fi opera and I will defend it with my life”
crowd, and the “this show is a gorgeous mess and I will complain lovingly the entire time” crowd. In the middle of that crossfire sits
Ayase Shinomiyaa wheelchair user, an Endlave pilot, and a member of Funeral Parlor who refuses to be treated like anyone’s fragile
porcelain doll.
This article is a rankings-and-opinions deep dive into Ayase: how she stacks up in the Guilty Crown cast, what fans tend to praise (or roast),
and why she’s often remembered as one of the show’s most compelling supporting players. To keep things grounded in real, verifiable info, I cross-checked
core details (cast, credits, synopsis, key character notes, and fan sentiment trends) across widely used U.S.-based entertainment databases and publications
and major fandom discussion hubs, including sources like IMDb, Wikipedia, Anime News Network, TV Tropes, Ranker, Behind The Voice Actors, DVD Talk,
The Fandom Post, GameFAQs, Stack Exchange, YouTube (official trailers/clips), and Reddit.
Quick refresher: Who is Ayase Shinomiya?
Her role in Guilty Crown
Ayase Shinomiya is a supporting character in Guilty Crown and a member of the resistance group Funeral Parlor,
fighting against the GHQ in a near-future Japan shaped by the Apocalypse Virus and political occupation. Within the team, Ayase is known for being a capable
operative and a skilled pilotespecially when she’s in the cockpit of an Endlave, the series’ humanoid mecha.
Wheelchair userand not here for your pity
Ayase is wheelchair-bound, and the show makes it part of her reality without letting it become her entire identity. She’s proud, sharp, and openly annoyed
by pity. That attitude creates some of her most memorable interactions, because she doesn’t just ask for respectshe demands it, with the confident energy
of someone who has already scheduled your apology for next Tuesday.
Voice acting you’ll recognize instantly
In Japanese, Ayase is voiced by Kana Hanazawa. In English, she’s voiced by Emily Neves. Even if you don’t memorize cast lists
for fun (no judgment if you do), her delivery stands out: Ayase’s tone swings between teasing, tactical, and emotionally rawsometimes in the same scene.
The ranking rules
“Rankings and opinions” can mean anything from thoughtful critique to chaos with a spreadsheet. We’re going with chaos with standards.
Ayase gets scored across categories that matter to most fans:
- Character writing (does she feel consistent, layered, and purposeful?)
- Agency (does she make choices that move the story, or just react?)
- Competence (skills, tactics, battlefield presence)
- Emotional impact (do her scenes land?)
- Chemistry (how she plays off Shu, Gai, Tsugumi, and the crew)
- Representation (how thoughtfully the series handles her disability)
- Icon factor (design, quotes, memorability, fan resonance)
Scores are out of 10. They’re not official and they’re not trying to be universal truth. They’re a structured way to talk
about why Ayase hits for so many viewers.
Overall ranking: Where Ayase lands in the Guilty Crown cast
If you asked ten fans to rank Guilty Crown characters, you’d get twelve lists and at least one person ranking the soundtrack as “Best Character.”
But across many recurring fan conversations, Ayase tends to land in the upper tier of supporting charactersoften praised as more grounded
(and more interesting) than the show’s wildest plot turns.
My overall placement
Ayase Shinomiya: #3 overall (among main + major supporting cast)
Why #3?
- She’s consistently useful to the story (missions, training, team dynamics).
- She has a clear, memorable core: competence + pride + vulnerability.
- She’s one of the few characters whose personal conflict feels human-scale in a show that sometimes prefers “catastrophic symbolism.”
Who’s above her depends on what you value (and how allergic you are to certain Guilty Crown twists). But Ayase’s combination of presence, attitude, and
standout moments makes her hard to ignore.
Category rankings (with scores)
1) Competence & battlefield presence: 8.7/10
Ayase is written as a character who can do things. She pilots an Endlave with confidence, and her contributions don’t feel like set dressing.
When the plot calls for action, she shows up as someone who belongs on the fieldnot someone who wandered in from a different genre.
A common comparison fans make is that she “keeps up” with other capable fighters despite the story’s tendency to spotlight flashier power sets.
That matters in a show where spectacle is abundant but competence can be… a limited-edition Blu-ray bonus feature.
2) Character writing & arc: 7.9/10
Ayase’s arc is subtle compared with the series’ louder transformations. Her growth reads more like emotional recalibration than
a complete reinvention: she learns how to accept help without feeling diminished, and how to be honest about fear and attachment without losing her edge.
The knock against her writing isn’t that she’s weakit’s that she’s sometimes underused. Many viewers feel she deserved more dedicated focus,
because when the story slows down enough to let Ayase breathe, she shines.
3) Agency: 7.6/10
Ayase has meaningful choices, but Guilty Crown isn’t always generous about letting supporting characters steer the ship. She gets moments of initiative
(especially in how she treats Shu early on and how she responds to leadership shifts in Funeral Parlor), but the main plot engine still pulls focus hard.
In other words: she’s not a passenger, but she’s also not allowed to drive as often as she clearly could.
4) Emotional impact: 8.2/10
Ayase’s best emotional scenes are the ones where her pride and vulnerability collide. She can be flirtatious, sarcastic, even intimidatingthen suddenly
you catch the weight underneath: grief, fear of being left behind, fear of being seen as “less,” and fear of needing someone.
The show’s big tragedies are loud. Ayase’s emotional beats tend to be sharper because they’re personal.
5) Chemistry with other characters: 8.4/10
Ayase plays well with almost everyone:
- With Shu: a blend of tough-love, teasing, and genuine beliefoften challenging his self-image.
- With Gai: complicated loyalty that can read as admiration, devotion, and frustration all at once.
- With Tsugumi: a fun, high-energy contrastAyase’s directness against Tsugumi’s mischievous vibe.
She’s also a great “truth-teller” character: the one who says what the scene is actually about, before the plot tries to drown it in dramatic lighting.
6) Representation (wheelchair user portrayal): 7.8/10
Ayase is frequently cited online as a memorable anime wheelchair user because she isn’t written as helpless, saintly, or purely inspirational wallpaper.
She’s flawed. She’s also capable. And she explicitly rejects pitysomething that resonates with a lot of viewers.
Where the score dips is less about her existence and more about how anime (especially from that era) sometimes frames female characters with extra
“camera choices.” Some fans feel the show undercuts its own strengths by occasionally sliding into fanservice patterns that distract from her substance.
7) Icon factor (design, vibe, memorability): 9.0/10
Ayase has immediate screen presence: the ponytail, the confident posture, the sharp smile that says, “I already know what you’re thinking,
and I’ve already decided you’re wrong.” She’s also tied to some of the series’ most visually striking mobility imagery, including moments that emphasize
speed, momentum, and poweran intentional contrast with how other characters try to “handle” her disability.
8) Voice acting (JP vs EN): 8.5/10
Both versions capture Ayase’s bite and vulnerability. Kana Hanazawa brings a polished emotional range that can pivot from playful to piercing without
feeling forced. Emily Neves delivers a confident English performance that makes Ayase’s sass feel natural, not cartoonishly mean.
Translation and direction always affect tone, so preferences varysome fans prefer the sharper JP cadence, others like the grounded EN delivery.
The good news: Ayase tends to come across as Ayase in either language.
Popular opinions: Why fans love Ayase
She’s not “the disabled character.” She’s a characterwho happens to be disabled.
A big part of Ayase’s appeal is that she’s allowed to be prickly, proud, funny, jealous, brave, and sometimes messy. That’s not just “good representation”;
it’s good character writing. Fans who connect with her often describe her as one of Guilty Crown’s most believable people in a world that keeps trying to
escalate into cosmic melodrama.
She refuses pity in a way that feels earned
Ayase’s defiance doesn’t read like a motivational poster. It reads like lived frustrationlike she’s had to fight for respect long before the show begins.
When she pushes back against being treated delicately, it’s not “look how strong she is!” It’s “stop making assumptions about me.”
She’s quietly one of the most consistent characters
Guilty Crown is famous for taking big swings. Some land. Some… politely bounce off the wall and fall behind the couch. Ayase, however, tends to remain
recognizable even when the plot changes shape. Her motivations (loyalty, pride, fear of being sidelined, commitment to the cause) stay coherent.
The critiques: Why some viewers rank her lower
“She deserved more screen time.”
This is the #1 criticism from people who otherwise like her. Ayase has the ingredients for a deeper arcpast trauma, complicated loyalty, a front of confidence,
and a clear internal struggle. But the series often shifts focus to bigger plot machinery before fully cashing in on her potential.
“The show sometimes undercuts her with fanservice.”
Depending on your tolerance for early-2010s anime framing, some scenes may feel like they prioritize aesthetics over the character’s humanity.
For viewers who are invested in Ayase as a person, those moments can feel like the show stepping on its own footand then insisting it meant to do that.
“Her relationship dynamics can be interpreted in multiple ways.”
Ayase’s attachment and loyaltyespecially within Funeral Parlorcan read as deeply emotional, admirational, romantic, or all three. Fans don’t always agree
on the intent. That ambiguity can be compelling, but it can also frustrate viewers who want clearer closure.
My hottest take: Ayase is Guilty Crown’s “missed co-lead”
If Guilty Crown had leaned a little more into grounded character work, Ayase could have functioned as a co-lead perspective: a resistance member with real
operational experience, navigating loyalty, leadership changes, and identity beyond physical limitations. Her story doesn’t need to replace Shu’s
it could have anchored it.
In a show overflowing with symbolism, Ayase is refreshingly literal: she wants respect, she wants agency, and she wants to be useful on her own terms.
That clarity is rareand powerful.
Conclusion: Where Ayase ranks, in one sentence
Ayase Shinomiya ranks among Guilty Crown’s best characters because she feels real: competent, complicated, and unapologetically herself.
Experiences: What “Ayase Shinomiya Rankings And Opinions” feels like in the wild (extra)
If you’ve spent any time in anime communities, you already know how these conversations go: someone asks “Who’s the best Guilty Crown character?”
and the replies instantly split into three lanesTeam Soundtrack, Team Inori, and Team ‘Actually, Ayase’.
And that last group tends to show up with the same energy as someone kicking open a door like, “Good evening. I brought evidence.”
One common experience is the rewatch realization. The first time through, Guilty Crown is a sensory sprint: bright visuals, big music,
fast emotional turns, and a plot that sometimes feels like it’s late for an appointment. On a rewatch, though, you start noticing the characters who keep the
world believableand Ayase is often the one people circle back to. You catch how she reacts in group scenes, how quickly she reads a situation, and how her
confidence is sometimes a shield she holds up with both hands, even when she’s exhausted.
Then there’s the experience of ranking her “best moments” with friends. Someone will bring up a mission scene and say, “See? She’s one of the
only competent people here.” Someone else counters with a softer moment, pointing out that Ayase’s pride isn’t just attitudeit’s a survival strategy.
And inevitably, someone says, “Okay but the way she shuts down pity is iconic,” and the room nods like a board meeting that just approved the budget.
If you’re the type who reads comment threads (or makes the mistake of reading them at 2 a.m.), you’ll also see how Ayase becomes a litmus test
for what people want from characters. Some viewers love her because she’s tough and direct. Others love her because the toughness has visible cracks.
Some viewers wish the show protected her from being undercut by certain anime tropes. Others argue that her imperfections and messy edges are exactly why she
doesn’t feel sanitized. The same character can spark both “she’s inspirational” and “please don’t reduce her to inspiration” in the same discussionand that’s
usually a sign the character has substance.
Another very real experience: Ayase shows up in recommendation conversations you didn’t expect. A thread about wheelchair users in anime?
Her name appears. A list of underrated supporting characters? She appears. A debate about who deserved more focus in Guilty Crown? She appears againlike a
recurring guest star who keeps stealing the episode.
And finally, there’s the personal fan experience that’s less about debating and more about recognition: the moment you realize Ayase isn’t written to be
“the fragile one,” “the tragic one,” or “the lesson.” She’s written to be competent, proud, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes reckless, and always allergic to
being underestimated. For many viewers, that mix hits harder than the show’s biggest explosionsbecause it feels like a human truth hiding inside a very loud
sci-fi opera.