without geass spam he would have been killed his 1st weeks on the throne all the draconian changes he was making to britannian culture.

nevemind he had to do this in what 3 4 episodes so the geass spam was a absolute necessity, or a necessity even it he had a full season to establish his base since most of his career he earned people’s trust and respect but he was also dealing with cells of terrorists and a ever expanding base of support so he had time to do that. and at the end he had an entire empire dumped in his lap, and not much time with schnizel out there getting ready to make his move.

all kallen wanted was for lelouch to tell him he cared about her, or acknowledge his/her feelings at lest in some way. you ever do that to a woman in real life? nevermind when that woman is one of the best mech pilots in the world and you peeve her off. he did everything to push her away and protect her she was willing to change sides pretty much till the very end if he asked her. i did not think her character was ruined at all.

she really did not spend all that much time with lelouch and certainly not as part of the inner circle until the start of r2, not that they did not have some intense moments and she was one of the pillars of support for him C2, shirley and kallen giving him the understanding he needed to maintain his soul at times.

i think it all worked very well, pacing got a little crouded towards the 2nd half of r2 but i think they did a great job with all the characters. and the mech stuff? eh the best mecha stuff is about the characters and the mecha should be secondary.

8/10 overall

I admit it was definitely much less aesthetic compared to his strategic use of his Geass (e.g. defeating Mao 2nd time; exploiting Suzaku’s Geass; using mirrors, although its effect was no ideal). However it ties in with the development of the story and development of the themes.

Story: Lelouch can’t conquer the world if he can’t get a mass of subordinates who will kill and pillage by his command. There’s no other strategic way besides nuking every second nation. And just getting the nukes is a problem if he doesn’t Geass every 3rd person. The more Lelouch used his Geass, the faster he progresses to his eventual domination and ‘destruction’ by it, thus its a signifier in a way that Lelouch is heading towards hell’s road and abusing ‘power’ to get what he wants than accept limitations (life/death/destiny).

Theme: it reflects Lelouch’s increasingly uninhibited and desperate nature to achieve his goals despite subjugating another person’s will. It also ties in with the underlying story themes of individuality and the whole consciousness/understanding/lies crap Charles, Lelouch, V.V. and Co. keep crapping on about towards the end of the series.

Finally I admit Lelouch’s strategic use of Geass was definitely a highpoint in the series, but I wouldn’t necessarily deduct points off the series just because Lelouch went into ‘broadcasting’ mode with it. R2’s storyline more or less necessitated it.

Although A LOT of people accuse R2 of not doing the 1st season justice in terms of story, characterization and/or mecha battles, I don’t believe that’s an accurate statement. Whilst the 1st season can be reviewed on its own, R2 cannot. However I admit, on first viewing R2 was definitely incoherent and lost its 1st season charms. Yet R2 offers, I would argue, fittingly extends season 1 to a somewhat fulfilling end.

Many aspects of R2 depended on audience appreciation of season 1. R2 was a more radical development of season 1 groundwork thus it was impossible for it to remain Japan-centric given the events already occurred, meaning many of its plot holes were borne from the 1st season. To criticize R2 alone is probably an inaccurate attempt to compare a new series (season 1) with one that has been firmly introduced with many plots unsolved (R2). Viewers shouldn’t view R2 separately but a continuation. If you didn’t like R2, its because season 1 initiated plot-points that ultimately founded the ambiguities in R2.

Story: I agree that it’s a bit convoluted, especially with the (unnecessary?) philosophical meandering. Part of the problem here was too many philosophical themes were hinted (life/death, will, time, peace, means/ends dilemma etc) but given truncated, poor plot tie-in explanations. It comes off as rather pretentious. However I would not have liked to see this series become overly philosophized so I think it was appropriate to tinker with this aspect and not have every character overtly ‘realize’ the consequences. The philosophical undertones are best to be interpreted by each viewer.

The crux of the story was well constructed and executed barring a notable pitfall – whilst the 1st season was comprehensible after one viewing, most the episodes in R2 (especially towards the later half) required two+ viewings to really grasp aspects of the story and characterization. This was probably due to the Geass revelation which opened a can of worms for the story/plot, and abrupt story-telling.

Characters: Although many have criticized the seeming ’sidelining’ of major characters and introduction of too many new characters, this isn’t exactly a flaw of R2 but a a story direction the creators saw fitting for Code Geass. Given the size of the events occurring in R2, it would be odd to have a small cliche of characters. There is emphasis on ‘collectives’ versus ‘human will’ (a underlying tone of misunderstanding versus ramifications versus unification/forgiveness) and that these are themes significant to ALL people and not just those of importance (leaders, royalty) thus the story had to show more characters being affected, their reactions and own interpretations. I think the series competently delivered each character’s outlook and predisposition. A fixation on 1st season characters and their development would take the story on a different angle. The ‘global effect’ of Lelouch’s actions and the story’s undertones in a way necessitated ‘more’ characters. Less focus on individuals may also be a premise to convey the de-individualising effects Charles, Schneizel and Lelouch was causing. But this interpretation is probably non-intentional by CG creators. I could probably give a fitting description for how each ‘major 1st season’ character has developed in R2, but those descriptions are at best extrapolations from the limiting nature of R2’s plot. Another aspect audience may not easily grasp is Lelouch’s complex character. It is highly dubious his initial motivation was ‘just’ to ‘protect’ Nunnally or find out who killed his mother since throughout the series Lelouch hardly reminisced of the ‘happy’ times with Marianne. Inciting a war is perhaps not the most ideal method to ‘protect.’. Its more probable Lelouch had mixed motives; he despised Marianne’s killer for ruining his life, and to an extent Nunnally’s life; and because Lelouch was angered by a system that prizes Darwinism (Britannia endorses survival of the fittest which normally connotes physical prowess) since he lacks those overtly physical qualities. Overall Lelouch is quite complex and the series absolutely did not convey his character to a level of clarity to allow the audience to really understand how he is able to change throughout the series, and where/when his sense of ‘justice/righteousness’ was attained to explain his final sacrifice.

Mecha: If you seriously watched CG in anticipation of glorified mecha battles against a post-modernist or post-apocalyptic backdrop then say no more. For you have been greatly misled. Frankly, if anything is true about CG, it’s that people have liked it because Lelouch can still hand your ass to you on a plate without piloting a Gundam. Woops, I meant Knightmare. kNightmare? Seriously…

Personally I have enjoyed Code Geass, even though R2 sensationalized things a little, but that surely should have been expected. The series as a whole worked well despite calls for more dead characters which I don’t understand. True some characters ’should be dead’ in terms of the realistic improbability of surviving some of the stunts they endure, but the story didn’t require anymore characters to die (exception: Schneizel). Besides since the protagonist ‘dies’ its probably safe to say you want more living minor characters just to help round out the ending. Anymore deaths would be attributed to Lelouch’s deception, created misunderstandings and his eventual plan, thus you would be adding to Lelouch’s sins. The final effect is far better this way so Lelouch is largely the bearer of the pain caused.

These are my thoughts, and as of this date and from my projections, Code Geass will definitely surpass the mediocre effort that is Gundam 00.

The reference material is flawed from inception, IE America being an imperial Britannia, and adopting all the Arthurian legendium.

The pretense at a deep Mecha catalog, and history though, is almost as bad, and my main concern. For all these generations of Knightmares we only ever see 3 generations in the entire series. Yes series 2 throws a lot of shiny new generation 7 units at us, that look as overpowered as Clan Mechs do in the Innersphere, but the bigger problem arises from the lack of generation 1, 2, 3, and 6 mecha. This is highlighted best in the first season, when a revolutionary army, who should be sufficiently desperate for any equipment so to be specifically ragtag… isn’t. The lost generation having just been overtaken by Lancelot’s birth there should have been plenty of aborted, and exotic designs, to challenge our intrepid hero’s with in the first season. I like the feel of old Zakus being used by PMCs, and Terrorist in Gundams, and how the Savage has the same position in the FMP universe, but the fourth generation units, manky as they were, didn’t feel mankey enough to fit the history that the writers claimed, but never managed to show, existed.

God I hated this series.

Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am not hating on Lulu, I just thought he was more entertaining using his intelligence than geass. It is true, that in S1, he did use a lot of geass, but those were acceptable because he had utilized it in a more strategic manner and mostly on singular individual. By S2, he was pretty much geassing nations and armies. The show reached a low point for me in episode 19, when the plot shifted from his genius to geass, where he just zap zap zap zap and zapped some more. It also did not help that the producers had to make morons out of Black Knights, whom I initially had some respect for. Really, besides the difference in having geass, Lulu is a very close resemblance to Reinhard.

But you are right, Lulu is no Reinhard, he has a long way to go before he can achieve the persona that is the Kaiser of the New Galactic Empire. Regardless, there are so many subtle references to Legend of the Galactic Heroes that one simply cannot ignore. Did I also mention that Annarose from LoGH had sleepy, half-closed eyes most of the time? I mean, to think they’d go so far to produce similarities…

Anyway, Code Geass R2, as some of us would agree, became a total train wreck. R2 completely ruined my love for the franchise, and at the end, I no longer recognize what I was watching.

But speaking of Lulu as a character, while I appreciate his presence in the show most of the time, as an older audience of anime, I cannot help but to compare him to Reinhard from a 20+ years old franchise, LoGH (Legend of the Galactic Heroes, perhaps the most popular sci-fi novel series in Japan). In fact, I initially wondered if he was made out of the same mold. Then as the series progressed, that impression became more concrete. I was surprised that nobody brought this up, though.

Consider this:

Both characters have some sort of sister complex (Annarose & Nunally)

Both characters did what they did partially for their sisters

Both characters initially belonged to the lower hierarchy of nobility

Both characters have red-haired best friend/trusted aide de camp (Siegfried & Kallen)

Both characters’ best friend later questioned the main characters’ ‘accomplishments’

Both characters’ best friends operated red-colored machinery (Barbarossa & Guren)

Both characters wanted to topple the existing dynasty (The Galactic Empire of the Goldenbaum Dynasty & the Holy Brittiania Empire)

Both characters eventually became emperors of the dynasties they toppled

Both characters sport talents in tactics & strategy

Both characters are fairly asexual

Both characters have a thing for the dramatic

Both characters have a thing for chess

Both characters died at the height of their power at a fairly young age

I admit, I continued watching Geass because I wanted to see how Reinhard Jr. fared in the show. His initial performance until the end of S1 was not bad at all. Unfortunately, by S2, he begin utilizing less brains and more geass spam, eventually ruining the character for me entirely. It is unfortunate that it had to be this way, though.

On the other hand, the Black Knights are morons.

hey what would you guys say was your favorite mech

in my opinion if they kept with the begging float system it would’ve been tolerable not friking jumping around the battle but just adding that extra dimension of fighting(your talking to airforce/naval sub brat here) the varis wasnt really a lazer more of a railgun and that was fine but frikin super shields(shinkiro) and death lazer(mordred, guren gawain) and transformers(obvious) ruined

also if only the avalon was able to fly and was like super advanced would be fine

also how couldnt you say something bout orange in the character hes major badass

After defeating L, Light enjoyed his status at the top for seven years and had to be knocked off his pedestal by the new kids on the block. However, Lelouch demonstrated that he truly meant well. It’s still up in the air as to whether or not Lelouch actually died, of course, but the point was that he used the ruler’s mantle only long enough to eliminate the remaining threats to genuine world peace. After those were done, he removed himself from the picture in true fabulous manner, a far cry from the screaming, gibbering, swimming Light. That’s what left the impression with me.

All in all, I won’t say Code Geass was the most enlightening anime of all time. Far from it. But it was sure a fun, fabulous ride, filled with pizza, white hats, pink swords, ass-hats, and of course Cornelia!

Addendum: CC >> Ryuk