Anime Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

[Dagger]

Death Note/CLAMP/Goro Taniguchi/Gundam? Count me in! :love:

Alas, if only it were that simple...

Code Geass is a futuristic mecha series with character designs by CLAMP (though they had no input, as far as I know, on the story) and direction by Goro Taniguchi (Planetes, Infinite Ryvius, s-CRY-ed, GunxSword). It takes place in an alternate world in which the Empire of Britannia--which is basically the United States, haha--has invaded and taken over Japan. Now called Area 11, Japan is unfairly subjugated, oppressed, blah blah blah. Fiery mecha action ensues.

Let's get the good stuff out of the way first. Code Geass proves conclusively that it [i]is[/i] possible for CLAMP's lanky, new-fangled character designs to shine on screen. The same type of designs that ended up looking rather like crap in the Tsubasa Chronicle and xxxHOLiC anime are absolutely wonderful here. So that's a treat. It's also a good-looking series in general.

The first episode has a fast-moving and decently engaging story--no annoying dawdling here. Lelouch, a Japanese high schooler who resents Britannia, is in many ways reminiscent of Death Note's Light Yagami, which is hardly a bad thing. Pacifistic mecha heroes make me want to retch on my keyboard. And to be fair, Code Geass has a lot going for it. I enjoyed the first episode, and it could turn out to be a very strong and entertaining show.

But! Here's where the twofold trouble starts. First of all, there's the somewhat disturbing nationalistic element... "Nippon Banzai!" and all that. Britannia's actions are clownishly evil; seeing [spoiler]soldiers gun down an old couple in cold blood[/spoiler] made me wrinkle my nose at the ham-handed emotional manipulativeness of the writers (rather than sympathize with Japan, as I was meant to). I'm actually not too worried about this, though, if only because Lelouch himself is clearly going to be a morally ambiguous character.

The other issue is the relationship between Lelouch and Suzaku, his estranged childhood friend. It's so derivative of the Athrun/Kira relationship in Gundam SEED, and so obviously meant to reel in the fangirls, that I couldn't help but cringe. The positive side of this is that Athrun and Kira's friendship/rivalry/etc. was poorly handled, as far as I'm concerned, and Code Geass will perhaps be able to do something more interesting with the same type of relationship. But I just couldn't get Gundam SEED out of my head during the first episode of Code Geass, and it was distracting. Especially since I'm not a SEED fan.

There are other cliched aspects to the series... [spoiler]mysterious girl? Blah.[/spoiler] Yet even that won't necessarily be a huge drawback. [spoiler]Mysterious girl getting killed in the first episode? Intriguing.[/spoiler] It probably sounds like I'm being very harsh on the show, but I do think it has a ton of potential. I just don't want to see them screw it up by going too heavy on the nationalism and so forth.

~Dagger~

[Fasteriskhead]

Clumsy, ham-handed, frivolous, and more than a little nihilistic. Dagger, I agree with you in disliking the (apparent) nationalism, but this is frankly just a symptom of deeper issues. You don't get character interactions so much as posturing between walking metaphors. You don't get plot events so much as manipulations serving dramatic necessity. This show wants to [i]say[/i] something, dammit, and it's not going to let little things like "coming across as completely arbitrary" get in its way. Everything is flat. Those are the villains; boo! hiss!! Oh but wait, that one's not really a villain; golf clap!! Oh hey, maybe the hero there's got some kind of [i]moral ambiguity[/i] to him; shock and confusion!! There isn't any depth here, more the superficial [i]appearance[/i] of depth. Lelouch and some of the other characters, i.e. the cast members assigned tasks (and one really ought to speak of characters ordered around by the writers) beyond SHOOT THOSE PEOPLE MERCILESSLY or BLOW YOURSELF UP or BE AN EVIL SELF-SERVING RACIST BUREAUCRAT, aren't so much genuinely complex as they just go through all the [i]gestures[/i] of complexity. But the strings are as easy to spot with them as with the rest.

One moment, I think, sums up the clumsiness of the first episode perfectly. Lelouch is riding with his pal in a motorcycle, after having solved a difficult chess problem by moving the king piece first (this isn't really a spoiler, it happens three or four minutes in). His pal asks why he chose to do this, and Lelouch responds:

"If the king doesn't move, then his subjects won't follow."

Not [i]only[/i] is this an incredibly laughable justification for a chess strategy (should the king go and deliver the St. Crispin's Day speech for an encore?), but it also eventually turns out to be a very clumsy way of [i]foreshadowing[/i] later events. Good god, was this written by a second-year English major?

The solution to the show's (apparent) nationalism isn't to sever any sense of morality from the series at all and find this rather adolescent nihilism "edgy" (Elfin Lied, anyone?). The solution may rather be as simple as having a [i]cast[/i] rather than extremely well-drawn placards shouting in the audience's faces, and a [i]narrative[/i] rather than a continuous spoon-feeding of empty emotional cues.

It's very nice-looking, though!! And hell, I've got something like trust in the folks who made this, so for that alone I'll probably give it another episode. But I'm not holding out much hope.


ALSO, WTF:

[IMG]http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4614/snapshot20061016143924le1.jpg[/IMG]

[Dagger]

Wow... episode 2 had logical gaps that one could have driven a truck through. But it looked [I]so darn pretty[/I]! :animecry: If things keep going this way, that's probably all it will amount to, unfortunately. Either way, F*head, I encourage you to keep watching--it frankly won't be much fun without your comments. In other words, misery loves company and all that. ;)

~Dagger~

[Fasteriskhead]

[quote name='Dagger]Wow... episode 2 had logical gaps that one could have driven a truck through. But it looked [I]so darn pretty[/I']! :animecry: If things keep going this way, that's probably all it will amount to, unfortunately.[/quote]You're absolutely correct. But - and I'm surprised as anyone by this - I ended up enjoying the second episode quite a bit more. For me at least, the show plays quite a bit better when it ceases trying to be [I]moving[/I] or [I]important[/I] or [I]foreshadowy[/I]* (but not [I]coherent[/I], since that had never been in the cards in the first place) and just gets on with the massive, ridiculous spectacle of a budget-drunk shounen pissing contest. Watching the second episode reminded me of old samurai serials or bad soap operas; it's trash, utterly without any merit at all, yet entertaining in a certain silly, immature way. This series will play [i]extremely[/i] well to power-starved 14-year-olds who've read Ender's Game one too many times. For the rest of us the sheer ridiculousness, combined with a great attention to detail in every aspect [I]except[/I] the writing and general balance of the thing, make it a sort of gorgeous (in a twisted way) ten-car pileup that we can gleefully stare at as we sail past at low speed and slow down the rest of traffic.

[quote name='Dagger']Either way, F*head, I encourage you to keep watching--it frankly won't be much fun without your comments. In other words, misery loves company and all that. ;)[/quote]Thanks, I think I will. Last season this wouldn't have had a chance - there were just too many genuinely good shows. But I'll keep going with it for now, assuming the second coming of Haruhi (series-wise) doesn't show up in the next few weeks.

Also, there's actually an irony to the series that I missed in my first post. Apparently it's America, and [I]not[/I] Japan, that manages to field the first combat-ready giant walking robot. Who knew?


*if foreshadowy isn't an actual adjective, I'm declaring it one here and now.
[CENTER]
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Episode three continues on-course for disaster. The plotting once again throws any kind of explicability to the wind, and we've now got what appears to be a full-on [URL=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsundere][u]moe tsunderekko[/u][/URL] thrown into the mix. I'm here and now placing five to one odds on there being some scene in the future where Lelouch flirts over the phone while playing chess ("She said yes to a date! Knight takes rook, check!!") - contact a local bookie if you'd like to get in on this.

Also, there seems to somehow be a common thread running through this season about arbitrary rules governing shounen super-powers. [spoiler]Yes, you can take control of anyone's mind just by looking at them... but you can only do it once per person!! Techincal question: can you order the person to be permanently bound to obey your commands? Or is this like using one of your three wishes to wish for another twenty wishes?[/spoiler]

I'm willing to call this thing [I]fun[/I] at this point, in a kind of operatic way. And I don't use that word by accident: some of the stuff that's happened on this show so far has been about as sensible as having a mortally wounded person spend ten minutes belting out a death aria. To paraphrase Ambrose Bierce, Geass represents life in another world whose inhabitants have no speech but declarations, no motions but gestures, and no postures but attitudes.

[COLOR=DeepSkyBlue][SIZE=1][INDENT]Fasteriskhead, you've been a member long enough to know not to double post. If you want to post again you can either use the edit button, or if you are trying to bump the thread, simply copy your old post, delete it and then re-post it with the new information, like I just did. ~indifference[/INDENT][/SIZE][/COLOR]EDIT: Fair enough. I had assumed that for the rules statement reading "If members post a message and wish to post another directly after, we ask that they edit their original message rather than create a new one," a timespan of some four or five days between posts would more than clear the "directly after" requirement. Lesson learned...

[Dagger]

[SIZE=1]You know what would be more fun than this, though? A full-blown Mahou Shounen Lulu-tan... like one of those magical girl (or boy, in the case of DNAngel) thief anime. Except with the main character trying to take over an empire. [B]They already have the whole mistaken identity thing set up; now he just needs a nice transformation sequence.[/B]

The least pleasant parts of episode 3 were the "As you know, Bob" bits sprinkled throughout (and the [spoiler]"Gee, I already killed him, but I guess I don't have the stomach for it quite yet, har har har oh well"[/spoiler] part was a little too Death Note for me, but whatever). I actually like Karen, even if her getting embarrassed [spoiler]about being seen nude[/spoiler] was so patently ridiculous and cliche that it doesn't even bear discussing. I'm not so keen on the blind little sister. Couldn't they have her be the one faking a mild-mannered and sickly personality? Code Geass would shoot way up on my to watch list if she pulled a Higurashi. [I]USO DA!!!![/I]

....Anyway.

I was dreading the school hijinks aspect of the show, but I actually enjoyed those scenes, even with the shy meganekko, the ordinary girl (who I also like, for once in my life) and the lecherous student council president. Maybe because the comedy was intentional? [/SIZE]

----------------------------

Well, he didn't get a transformation sequence, but he did get a costume... and I should've been braced for it after seeing it in the OP, but it's really pretty bad. I dunno. I can't help but think that they could have come up with something less skinny (around the body) and globular (around the head). It kind of reminds me of the cloaks in X, except that the collar is totally out of proportion.

Was it really necessary to try making him look that much like a chess king? I assume that's what the point of it is, at any rate. Now, if CLAMP were writing this, he'd have a Tomoyo to get all the right camera angles and make him dress nicely and switch up costumes from time to time.

Suzaku Kurururururugi is pretty appealing, I think. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's a lot more human than Lelouch, and I loved how he [spoiler]totally dumped Lelouch[/spoiler] after [spoiler]getting rescued like Sailor Moon.[/spoiler] Although even Tuxedo Kamen has a leg up on Lelouch in the style department. Gah.

Looks like episode 5 will bring us a guest appearance from Lacus.

~Dagger~

[Fasteriskhead]

Good god, that outfit. It's like CLAMP does Mysterio by way of Count Dracula.

I'm sort of imagining Lelouch throwing this thing together in the garage in his free time. All hunting all over Area 11 to find the store that sells capes with the most garishly overextended collars possible, speed-reading "Helmet-Making for Dummies" and making a little forge in his bathtub ("hey, don't come in! I'm, uh, not decent!") to get that headpiece of his going - and I don't even want to know how long he spent fixing up that little mechanism which makes his left eye visible. Give him points for industry if not for style, I guess.

[Dagger]

[quote name='Fasteriskhead']Give him points for industry if not for style, I guess.[/quote]:animesmil

(Oh happy day--no Zero outfit in episode 5!)

Actually, yesterday I saw a blog post entitled "Code Geass is Tokimeki Memorial in Disguise." Now it all makes sense, haha. But the women of Code Geass really are starting to steal the show. I love C.C.--I was very much expecting her to be a brainless Chi type, so it was rather fulfilling to watch her [spoiler]walk all over Lelouch.[/spoiler] The princess isn't half bad either, even with her Nyaa-ing.

I guess everyone's going to be [spoiler]in the same school[/spoiler] now? I need a relationship chart... [spoiler]Yuffie being Clovis' sister means that she's related to Nanali and Lelouch somehow. Half-siblings? Whole siblings? Yargh.[/spoiler]

Have you taken a look at Soukou no Strain? It's comparable to Code Geass on some levels (they're both fast-moving and flawed and too dramatic for their own good, at any rate, and it's not like there are many other mecha series this season), but I find it to be a lot more loveable. Maybe that's because of the Gunbuster-esque training sequences and stuff.

~Dagger~

[Fasteriskhead]

[IMG]http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/5490/pizzahutpt2ef4.jpg[/IMG]

I am apparently one of those people.

Pizza Hut and an attempted coup against the Imperial American-supported puppet government ruling Japan. They have to be trying to tell us something here. But [I]what[/I]?

[Dagger]

[SIZE=1]I hope they're getting paid a lot for that... I didn't even realize that Pizza Hut had a presence in Japan. The first time, I could dismiss it as a random sort of thing (like the Wicked-esque sign in Red Garden), but the fact that the product placement involved an entire conversation this time around... wow. :animeswea

Um, yeah. I love how this show just turned into School Rumble. I'm having a harder time disliking Lelouch now that I've seen him fall into a bush.
[/SIZE]

---------------------------------

Episode 11: I give up. It's time for an unconditional surrender--Zero and C.C. have defeated me. I'm in this for the long haul now, and all because of the mecha battles. Dear God, the mecha battles. I could watch plotless fights like that for twenty-six episodes and be as happy as a clam. So dynamic. Sooo slick. (I guess this betrays my big weakness!)

Yeah... I'm so glad I have no knowledge of real-life battle tactics; it's much easier to just pretend that all of this is feasible.

The wigged-out flashback montage was handled superbly. If Goro Taniguchi is going to keep delivering more of this, I'm willing to let him pull the wool over my eyes with fancy visuals. I'm as much of a sucker for trippy stuff in mecha series as I am for the mecha battles themselves. I wish I had been able to predict that [spoiler]Suzaku would end up being the one who killed or somehow participated in killing Lelouch's mom and/or adding to little Lelouch's misery,[/spoiler] since in hindsight it almost seems like an obvious step. But no matter. This type of show is more enjoyable when you don't try to figure out what's going to be revealed next.

Also, [spoiler]Orange-kun[/spoiler] is alive! Yes!!

~Dagger~

[Meggido]

So I've been watching this recently since the release of the last 2 eps not so long ago. I'm only up to ep 22 but the twist are amazing. It's absolutely breathtaking and though I know I have to stop watching at the moment so I can sleep I can't help but want to watch more. I'm not usually one for mecha series unless they're sending up the whole mecha thing (i.e. Sousei no Aquarion), but this has me completely enthralled. I see why people like these series, the factional politics just keeps getting better and better.

Still 3 eps to go in this series for me but already looking forward to season 2.

Edit: well just finished watching the series and I may as well keep being somewhat vague. After the last ep my head is just screaming at me. It wants answers when there are just questions. I don't think Lelouch ever really thinks outside his direct goal and in some ways it hampers his decision making. However that wasn't really a problem with me since the series just seemed to improve as it continued. I've actually looked elsewhere for answers such as the manga but that's even less helpful as I wouldn't be surprised if it's based on the anime at the moment. I may as well finish by saying the cliff hanger will have me watching at least ep 1 of season 2 and if it continues on the roller coaster it ended on I'll be caught up for however long it goes for.

Edit 2: Coming 2 months since the last time I reposted and edited this. anyway here's a link giving an apparant date of spring 2008 for season 2. [URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-12-06/new-code-geass-tv-series-confirmed-for-spring-2008"]http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-12-06/new-code-geass-tv-series-confirmed-for-spring-2008[/URL]

[Dagger]

[url=http://geass.jp/][u]The official site[/u][/url] has posted some stuff about R2 (season 2). [url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-10/new-code-geass-series-details-revealed][u]More[/u][/url] at ANN. Not much to comment on except the redesigned costumes for CC, Suzaku (can a snazzy new cape save an irritating character?) and Zero (not bad).

*has yet to watch eps. 24 & 25*

~Dagger~

[Meggido]

Ep 1 of Code Geass R2 Aired in japan yesterday.

[Zen]

[color=royalblue][size=1]

I'm not going to read to much into the thread (except 'LOL at the Pizza Hut adds') because you guys are gonna ruin the whole damn thing for me. But apparently [adult swim] is going to start airing it this month, so I'm going to start on it then.

This'll be my first series in which CLAMP is involved and also the first "Mecha" series I've seen since Eureka Seven. While the character designs seem a bit too cliche for my normal tastes, the mecha designs look awesome and from what I have read here thus far, the series must have good animation, so I'll look forward to that.

I'm hoping that the plot holes that you guys have been talking about don't last too long, because I really want to like this series (which is apparently critically acclaimed in Japan). I'm hoping that it'll become one of my new favorites along with Death Note and Eureka Seven.[/color][/size]

[jigglyness]

[quote name='Meggido']Ep 1 of Code Geass R2 Aired in japan yesterday.[/QUOTE]

I'm so glad it finally came out. I've been waiting forEVER. The beginning was a bit confusing though. Can't wait till ep 2 comes out!!! :DDD

[Ikillion]

[CENTER][IMG]http://img384.imageshack.us/img384/6053/1207602093288yg1.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="1"][COLOR=#6d527f]I for one am happy to see that Pizza Hut gladly supports the rebellion

EDIT: You know, call it paranoia or just some kind of massive plot hole somewhere but am I the only one who noticed this?
[center][URL=http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plotholezza1.png][IMG]http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4493/plotholezza1.th.png[/IMG][/URL][/center]

I think its more than just a coincidence.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Meggido]

Well I'm pretty sure the end of episode 2 answers your question regarding that picture Ikillion.

Actually I enjoyed ep 2 immensely, even to the point that I was laughing a little maniacally at the end. And finally we got some answers. Actually I kind of picked one aspect of the flashback after episode one but at least it is now confirmed. I think the big questions still on my mind though are what happened to Nunnally and V.V., and how did C.C. make her own escape at the end of season 1?

[Dagger]

I noticed that Johnny Yong Bosch is [url=http://revver.com/video/838819/code-geass-trailer-2/][u]playing the lead[/u][/url] in the dub version... to which I can only laugh. Is it a requirement that he voice the main character in every single Adult Swim anime or something? Oh, Bandai. But ironically, I think he's much better suited to Lulu than, say, Ichigo or Renton.

~Dagger~

[Allamorph]

[FONT=Arial]Oh jeez. That means I hear him blither for an hour now? =P

First episode was pretty. But IM spam was trying to distract me, so maybe next week I'll get a better look. I got the general gist of it, though.

Hopefully I won't have quite such a just-ate-bad-food-ew-but-hey!-fight-scene! reaction as I've seen so far in the thread.[/FONT]

[Magus]

[COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="1"]Hm. I don't have much of an opinion at the moment. I'm a bit skeptical because it sort of puts me in the mind of Eureka 7, and I'm a little bias against that.

Reading that it's similar to Death Note sounds intriguing. So does that mean that the boy, Lelouch, (Renton) is supposed to be like Light? In what ways?

It's certainly a colorful series, so far. I'm not certain if I really care much for the tall lanky look though. I'll probably continue with the series for a little bit.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Ikillion]

[COLOR=#6d527f][SIZE="1"][FONT="Trebuchet MS"][quote name='Memphis'][COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="1"]Reading that it's similar to Death Note sounds intriguing. So does that mean that the boy, Lelouch, (Renton) is supposed to be like Light? In what ways?[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

For the most part, the way Lelouch uses people to do his bidding just happens to be similar to the way Light goes about controlling people only he adds in the death as a bonus.

For example. When it comes to Light, he will usually write in the Death Note for someone to do x-action then, because its the Death Note, the person will die.

On the other hand. Lelouch will just Geass someone to do x-action while adding in for the person to kill himself after he completes said action because he has finished being useful. However this doesn't [I]have[/I] to happen, he just kinda does it.

Throw in a couple of "Just as Planned" moments and thats pretty much it. To say that its Death Note with mecha and a dash of politics is a stretch but its just something you'll have to see for yourself.

And we all get used to the character design after a while (or at least I did).

Also R.I.P Pizza Hut: October 5 2006 - April 26, 2008
[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Doublehex]

You know, I really don't understand how you guys could of hated this from the beginning. This was a great series, from start to finish. Sure, there was a sense of nationalism at in the first few episodes, but that minor flaw is never seen again. It is just a great movie through and through. I could just imagine the reaction of most people at the very end of the first season. Even I was screaming at my monitor, and the first episodes of R2 had already been released. :p

Over all, I just hope that R2 is just as good and as enjoyable as the first season.

[Allamorph]

[quote name='Matt]It is just a great [U]movie[/U'] through and through.[/quote]
[FONT=Arial]Err? :p

Well, after Ep. 2: hooray for overpowered Gundam. :animesmil

Well, more opening episode gasp! moments. Mind control on eye contact, tactical genius, Evangelion-style numbers on the [strike]Gundam[/strike] Nightmare frame, Lelouche [I]de Brittania[/I]....

I dunno, Lelouch is just fun to say. Like throwing a rock into a pond.

[I]le-LOOSH[/I][/FONT]

[Doublehex]

I think I was writing that right after I saw "IRON MAN", so that's where that awesome mistake came from.

Anyways, Allamorph, are you referring to the episode of the first or second season?

[Dagger]

Hahaha, North American Code Geass fans are my new heroes.

[url=http://code-geass.bandai-ent.com/poll/pollb.php][U]Bandai's character popularity poll results[/U][/url]

Well, I can somewhat understand. I like Clovis, too. But Rivalz!? Now that's epic.

~Dagger~

[Sangome]

[quote name='Dagger']Hahaha, North American Code Geass fans are my new heroes.

[url=http://code-geass.bandai-ent.com/poll/pollb.php][U]Bandai's character popularity poll results[/U][/url]

Well, I can somewhat understand. I like Clovis, too. But Rivalz!? Now that's epic.

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

[size=1]Actually, you can thank the fine folks at 4chan's /a/ for that. They saw the poll up and decided to vote until Clovis and Rivalz were top, and Lelouche, like, fourth/fifth place. 'tis amusing, to say the least.[/size]