Code Geass Season 3
The power of Zero returns! Everyone's favorite beamspam mecha melodrama has come back for a new series. Who's excited?
So here's the thing. I'm not really a fan of Code Geass. Obviously I was at one point, but then I actually finished R2, and...wow.
Warning: This will be spoiler-filled. I'm saying this now, so you can leave if you've not watched CG, but intend to.
The entire series wholly fell apart in R2. I didn't mind so much the beamspam mecha (never do--kiddies, giant robots will NEVER BE REAL, so stop fapping over grunt suits), but the plot made my head hurt.
In Season 1, Lelouch was a mad genius. Facing overwhelming odds and trying to beat a kingdom that had conquered most of the planet with only a ragtag band of resistance troops who, before he'd met them, were bound for nothing more than fast trips to the graveyard, that over the course of the series he managed to whip them into shape and create a unique militia force that very nearly won back the country of Japan.
The series was filled with plot twists that would make you fall right out of your seat and a web of threads that you just KNEW were going some place awesome, creating a modern-day classic of a mecha series.
And then along comes R2, which took everything great about the first season and knocked it around until what was left was a pretentious mess.
...In truth, the series went off the rails somewhere around Season 1, episode 19. At least, that's my opinion. When they killed off Euphemia in the most headDESK moment in anime of the decade. Lelouch "just happens" to have his "use when I want to" magic power go out of control RIGHT when he looks at Euphemia and happens to give the command, "Go kill all Elevens".
...REALLY? That was the BEST you had? One of the most ridiculous unfortunate set of circumstances this side of a harem anime? *sighs* You're bumming me out here, CG!
I can see how they might have felt this as necessary, since her actions had basically painted Lelouch into a corner. But there were so many OTHER ways to get out of it. Any Britannian assassin could have taken out Euphemia, or even a rogue member of the Black Knights could have done it. The only thing it accomplished by occurring the way it did was make Lelouch into an unlikeable jerk. Even the hatred Suzaku had for Lelouch after that point wasn't really a necessary plotpoint, given that eventually they would be on the same side anyway, and they were already opposing forces. (I'll come back to this.)
Ideally, Euphemia's death (which, if one has no problems with the events up to that point, one must agree is necessary or else the plot can no longer progress) would've been from someone within the Britannian forces. Maybe someone with Geass, maybe someone else with a grudge against the Britannia family. Doesn't matter. The end result should have been the same: a mass murder of Elevens, sparking a full on revolution. The difference in the progression should've been in Suzaku. At that point he should've still been told of whoever murdered Euphemia, sparking instead a hatred/dislike for the Britannian army and leading to him siding with Zero in the revolution to take over Japan.
The REAL ending of Code Geass S1 should have been Lelouch, victorious, and the new Emperor of Japan. Think about it. If successful, he STILL has to defend Japan AND take on the Britannian Empire and defeat it. Still not an easy task.
What we ended up with was Lelouch's rapid descent into madness as he attempted to both deal with what he had done while at the same time leading his army into a revolution when it was still in early stages and meant primarily for guerilla attacks. This SOUNDS interesting, but it isn't. Well, it kind of is because once the event happens that shapes the rest of the series (something with odds so poor its literally mathematically disharmonious), and you stick around for the rest of the story, what follows is sort of a, "there is no other choice than what he did" sort of thing going on. Not a fan personally, but as a writer I cannot argue with it.
The trouble arrives in R2. Season 1 ends on one of the most massive cliffhangers in history. With the Black Knights, Lelouch's army, embroiled in a massive "now or never" battle, Lelouch learns his sister Nunnally has been kidnapped, and abandons his troops to go save her. What he finds is the then-mysterious V.V., and his former friend Suzaku. After the two trade dialogue for awhile (in which Lelouch comes off as the True Villain), Lelouch slaps a bomb onto his chest and threatens to commit suicide and take them all out at once.
Unbeknownst to him, the "ace" of his army (who also happens to be a school friend of his), Kallen, has followed him, and is around to see the secret of Zero.
When R2 begins, nearly everyone has become excited to find out what happens, and we're all hoping for more awesomeness.
...Only to be slapped with what is essentially, an exact parallel of Season 1, only overblown in pretty much every way, from the ingenious plans of Zero (which rely as much on military tactic as they do on intimate knowledge of the human psyche) to the symbolism of the series (WTF Charles??) right down to the fanservice (Kallen in a bunnygirl outfit...nice, but also illogical). And it occurs to such an extent that S2 becomes a parody of S1.
Which might be funny if fans had not become so invested. However we were, so R2 becomes a sad paragon of what happens when Executives get involved because they want their money. R2 pops up and what we get is a lot of stuff that makes NO sense.
Kallen, shocked by the identity of Zero, allows Lelouch to be captured. He's then dragged to the Emperor, who's revealed to possess Geass himself, which gives him the ability to replace one's memory.
To some people, this somehow makes sense. Replacing the memories of a genius that nearly brought down part of your empire with, really, a gang of idiots, and had the potential to take down more is quite a bit more logical than, say...just killing him.
And of course, putting a little brother around him and implanting that in his memories couldn't possibly make him even MORE enraged when he gets free, right?
R2 is obsessed with status quo. They enjoyed the school setting so much that despite REALLY needing to throw it out, they kept it around with a pretty handwave. A cute younger brother is given in place of the cute younger sister so someone can call Lelouch "onii-san", and things pretty much continue precisely the way S1 did but with one key difference.
Lelouch has become made up of massive failure. Upon regaining his memory apparently a fail-safe was included that literally inserted failure into his plans, so where before it was rare that he would lose anything and generally would win through careful planning, he was now pulling off wins that involved things as ridiculous (though amusing) as One Million Zeroes.
I could go on for quite a bit more, but my biggest problem with R2 is that they come to make you not care about the series. Rather than cop to the stupid mistake that led to his entire army being captured, he chooses instead to let suspicions and mistrust grow, leading the Black Knights as a whole to eventually turn on him, while Suzaku, learning of the truth behind Charles, the force behind the Britannian Empire, suddenly switches sides and joins Lelouch after being a gigantic jerk since episode 2.
With a show whose focus relies on its characters just as much as its plot, these were mistakes. Charles' secret plan and the truth behind the death of Lelouch's mother now gone as potential saving plot points (and with them going all hope of the series' story becoming interesting again...), the show is forced to rely on its characters. But when the guy who they've built up for you to hate has become a good guy, while the cast that's been developed for you to love are now traitors, little is left other than apathy.
The show is not without some amazing moments--every scene with Lelouch and Shirley, in BOTH seasons, is amazing. Shirley's death literally made me burst into tears, and every time I think of that line ("No matter how many times I'm reborn...I'll always fall in love with you...") I tear up. And despite CG becoming a very flawed series, that bit of dialogue has got to be my nomination for line of the decade.
And Millay Ashford (yay, my last name!) is one of the most layered characters we saw that year, though depressingly enough nowhere NEAR enough development was given to her.
But these bright points, good as they are, aren't enough to make me feel much towards CG other than pure apathy.
So while I'm sure the announcement of this series has got some people screaming in anger while others are already reciting lines from the initial 52 episodes in hype, all I can do is muster an, "Eh."
Out of lack of more interesting series, I may watch this next series. There are three options:
A.) They go with a prequel of some sort - The series ended rather conclusively, but a prequel dealing with Lelouch before he attained Geass would grab me (the school cast is actually good enough to keep a series of its own).
B.) A "Brotherhood"/Code Geass Kai: What REALLY has the best chance of yanking me to the series again is if they left the Director alone and allowed him to show his initial vision for the series, which would include things like the True Origin of Geass, Suzaku gaining Geass power, and so on.
C.) A third series, if they could explain how Lelouch is back and for what. This one will lose me in five episodes. No joke.
Until more info comes in however, there's no true need to say anymore so I'm off to bed.
I'll be adding more updates to the site over the weekend hopefully. Like I said--put this on your RSS feed.
So here's the thing. I'm not really a fan of Code Geass. Obviously I was at one point, but then I actually finished R2, and...wow.
Warning: This will be spoiler-filled. I'm saying this now, so you can leave if you've not watched CG, but intend to.
The entire series wholly fell apart in R2. I didn't mind so much the beamspam mecha (never do--kiddies, giant robots will NEVER BE REAL, so stop fapping over grunt suits), but the plot made my head hurt.
In Season 1, Lelouch was a mad genius. Facing overwhelming odds and trying to beat a kingdom that had conquered most of the planet with only a ragtag band of resistance troops who, before he'd met them, were bound for nothing more than fast trips to the graveyard, that over the course of the series he managed to whip them into shape and create a unique militia force that very nearly won back the country of Japan.
The series was filled with plot twists that would make you fall right out of your seat and a web of threads that you just KNEW were going some place awesome, creating a modern-day classic of a mecha series.
And then along comes R2, which took everything great about the first season and knocked it around until what was left was a pretentious mess.
...In truth, the series went off the rails somewhere around Season 1, episode 19. At least, that's my opinion. When they killed off Euphemia in the most headDESK moment in anime of the decade. Lelouch "just happens" to have his "use when I want to" magic power go out of control RIGHT when he looks at Euphemia and happens to give the command, "Go kill all Elevens".
...REALLY? That was the BEST you had? One of the most ridiculous unfortunate set of circumstances this side of a harem anime? *sighs* You're bumming me out here, CG!
I can see how they might have felt this as necessary, since her actions had basically painted Lelouch into a corner. But there were so many OTHER ways to get out of it. Any Britannian assassin could have taken out Euphemia, or even a rogue member of the Black Knights could have done it. The only thing it accomplished by occurring the way it did was make Lelouch into an unlikeable jerk. Even the hatred Suzaku had for Lelouch after that point wasn't really a necessary plotpoint, given that eventually they would be on the same side anyway, and they were already opposing forces. (I'll come back to this.)
Ideally, Euphemia's death (which, if one has no problems with the events up to that point, one must agree is necessary or else the plot can no longer progress) would've been from someone within the Britannian forces. Maybe someone with Geass, maybe someone else with a grudge against the Britannia family. Doesn't matter. The end result should have been the same: a mass murder of Elevens, sparking a full on revolution. The difference in the progression should've been in Suzaku. At that point he should've still been told of whoever murdered Euphemia, sparking instead a hatred/dislike for the Britannian army and leading to him siding with Zero in the revolution to take over Japan.
The REAL ending of Code Geass S1 should have been Lelouch, victorious, and the new Emperor of Japan. Think about it. If successful, he STILL has to defend Japan AND take on the Britannian Empire and defeat it. Still not an easy task.
What we ended up with was Lelouch's rapid descent into madness as he attempted to both deal with what he had done while at the same time leading his army into a revolution when it was still in early stages and meant primarily for guerilla attacks. This SOUNDS interesting, but it isn't. Well, it kind of is because once the event happens that shapes the rest of the series (something with odds so poor its literally mathematically disharmonious), and you stick around for the rest of the story, what follows is sort of a, "there is no other choice than what he did" sort of thing going on. Not a fan personally, but as a writer I cannot argue with it.
The trouble arrives in R2. Season 1 ends on one of the most massive cliffhangers in history. With the Black Knights, Lelouch's army, embroiled in a massive "now or never" battle, Lelouch learns his sister Nunnally has been kidnapped, and abandons his troops to go save her. What he finds is the then-mysterious V.V., and his former friend Suzaku. After the two trade dialogue for awhile (in which Lelouch comes off as the True Villain), Lelouch slaps a bomb onto his chest and threatens to commit suicide and take them all out at once.
Unbeknownst to him, the "ace" of his army (who also happens to be a school friend of his), Kallen, has followed him, and is around to see the secret of Zero.
When R2 begins, nearly everyone has become excited to find out what happens, and we're all hoping for more awesomeness.
...Only to be slapped with what is essentially, an exact parallel of Season 1, only overblown in pretty much every way, from the ingenious plans of Zero (which rely as much on military tactic as they do on intimate knowledge of the human psyche) to the symbolism of the series (WTF Charles??) right down to the fanservice (Kallen in a bunnygirl outfit...nice, but also illogical). And it occurs to such an extent that S2 becomes a parody of S1.
Which might be funny if fans had not become so invested. However we were, so R2 becomes a sad paragon of what happens when Executives get involved because they want their money. R2 pops up and what we get is a lot of stuff that makes NO sense.
Kallen, shocked by the identity of Zero, allows Lelouch to be captured. He's then dragged to the Emperor, who's revealed to possess Geass himself, which gives him the ability to replace one's memory.
To some people, this somehow makes sense. Replacing the memories of a genius that nearly brought down part of your empire with, really, a gang of idiots, and had the potential to take down more is quite a bit more logical than, say...just killing him.
And of course, putting a little brother around him and implanting that in his memories couldn't possibly make him even MORE enraged when he gets free, right?
R2 is obsessed with status quo. They enjoyed the school setting so much that despite REALLY needing to throw it out, they kept it around with a pretty handwave. A cute younger brother is given in place of the cute younger sister so someone can call Lelouch "onii-san", and things pretty much continue precisely the way S1 did but with one key difference.
Lelouch has become made up of massive failure. Upon regaining his memory apparently a fail-safe was included that literally inserted failure into his plans, so where before it was rare that he would lose anything and generally would win through careful planning, he was now pulling off wins that involved things as ridiculous (though amusing) as One Million Zeroes.
I could go on for quite a bit more, but my biggest problem with R2 is that they come to make you not care about the series. Rather than cop to the stupid mistake that led to his entire army being captured, he chooses instead to let suspicions and mistrust grow, leading the Black Knights as a whole to eventually turn on him, while Suzaku, learning of the truth behind Charles, the force behind the Britannian Empire, suddenly switches sides and joins Lelouch after being a gigantic jerk since episode 2.
With a show whose focus relies on its characters just as much as its plot, these were mistakes. Charles' secret plan and the truth behind the death of Lelouch's mother now gone as potential saving plot points (and with them going all hope of the series' story becoming interesting again...), the show is forced to rely on its characters. But when the guy who they've built up for you to hate has become a good guy, while the cast that's been developed for you to love are now traitors, little is left other than apathy.
The show is not without some amazing moments--every scene with Lelouch and Shirley, in BOTH seasons, is amazing. Shirley's death literally made me burst into tears, and every time I think of that line ("No matter how many times I'm reborn...I'll always fall in love with you...") I tear up. And despite CG becoming a very flawed series, that bit of dialogue has got to be my nomination for line of the decade.
And Millay Ashford (yay, my last name!) is one of the most layered characters we saw that year, though depressingly enough nowhere NEAR enough development was given to her.
But these bright points, good as they are, aren't enough to make me feel much towards CG other than pure apathy.
So while I'm sure the announcement of this series has got some people screaming in anger while others are already reciting lines from the initial 52 episodes in hype, all I can do is muster an, "Eh."
Out of lack of more interesting series, I may watch this next series. There are three options:
A.) They go with a prequel of some sort - The series ended rather conclusively, but a prequel dealing with Lelouch before he attained Geass would grab me (the school cast is actually good enough to keep a series of its own).
B.) A "Brotherhood"/Code Geass Kai: What REALLY has the best chance of yanking me to the series again is if they left the Director alone and allowed him to show his initial vision for the series, which would include things like the True Origin of Geass, Suzaku gaining Geass power, and so on.
C.) A third series, if they could explain how Lelouch is back and for what. This one will lose me in five episodes. No joke.
Until more info comes in however, there's no true need to say anymore so I'm off to bed.
I'll be adding more updates to the site over the weekend hopefully. Like I said--put this on your RSS feed.
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