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Code Geass- Lelouch Of The Rebellion

Surprised there isn't already a thread for this but whatever. I'd been planning to watch Code Geass for a while but it's only now that I've finally gotten around to it. The show is set in an alternate history where a number of different events lead to the self-proclaimed "Holy Brittanian Empire" invading Japan and conquered it with its formidable mecha suits, the "Knightmare Frames". Japan was stripped of its rights, land, culture, even it's name was taken and the subjugated country was rechristened "Area 11". Flash forward to present day with an analytical high-school student Lelouch vi Brittania who's disgusted by Brittania's corruption but feels himself powerless to change it. All that changes when due to a complicated series of events he ends up hitching along with a bunch of anti-Brittanian terrorists hijacking a shipment of "poison gas". That so-called "poison gas" turns out to be a mysterious green-haired girl named C.C who bestows Lelouch with "Geass", the power to command others with an absolute authority. With this power, Lelouch embarks on a war to change the corrupt Brittanian empire, adopting the persona of the masked terrorist "Zero". But in doing so, will he become an evil even greater than the one he was fighting...?!

(And that's only the first four episodes, folks. It only gets crazier from here on out!)

I'd heard the show was really campy and melodramatic at times and that definitely comes out watching it. The Brittanian nobles (I'm looking at you, prince Clovis!) and Zero in particular chew the scenery pretty much whenever they appear. Lelouch himself is a fascinating character too, not at all like the usual hot-blooded mecha series protagonist (that role is instead given to his rival and childhood friend, Suzaku). Watching him come up with clever gambits to outwit and outmaneuver his enemies is always fun to watch (and I'm sure the gambits will only get crazier in the future). If you like mecha shows, chessmaster protagonists, clever strategies and a healthy dose of camp then be sure to check this show out!
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
If you haven't been spoilered the ending of season 2 yet (which is awesome and one of the best endings ever (for me) btw) you may want to stop reading threads and posts that talk about the anime.
People like to spoiler this scene and it can be read by accident easily. Soo... you have been warned I guess.

Personally, I love Code Geass. It certainly deserves the hype it gets from various people. I'm usually not into mecha anime but this one doesn't force it so much and I can completly overlook it in favour of the awesome plot.
Anime statistic on MyAnimeList:
400 animes completed ✓
6000 episodes completed ✓
100 Days completed ✓
... what even am I doing with my life?
If by spoilers you mean
Lelouch Geassing the collective unconscious of mankind to thwart an Assimilation Plot by the villains
then yeah, I've already been spoiled unfortunately, as well as about other plot twists like
C.C being an immortal witch
and the whole
Euphie-massacre
fiasco. But just because I know roughly how things are going to end up doesn't take away the excitement of seeing how the characters are going to get from point A to point B. I appreciate your helpful warning though, even if it's too late for me.
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
Everything except maybe
Euphie
isn't that serious a spoiler, or at least knowing doesn't ruin anything. C.C. being imortal for example. She gets shot in the first episode and you bearly know her, there is no emotional investment that says "omg she has to live somehow". Not to mention in the next episode we see that her "corpse" disappeared. *hint hint*
No, I'm talking about the real ending, whicha apparently you haven't been spoilered yet. Once again, I give you the advice to stop readin thread/posts or whatever related to code geass and just watch it in a sort of "black box" cutoff from outer influence.
Anime statistic on MyAnimeList:
400 animes completed ✓
6000 episodes completed ✓
100 Days completed ✓
... what even am I doing with my life?
Yeah definitely, none of those things you listed are the real ending. It's fantastic.
Huh. Well, it's good to know I still have some surprises ahead of me with this show. I'll certainly keep your advice in mind and try not to spoil myself anymore than I already have.
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
C.C to Lelouch, in a cave and currently naked save for his disgarded cloak- "It was bad. It was totally bad. It wasn't tender. And there was no honesty or sympathy to it. You
spoke
it oddly, and worst of all it was cold." Seems Lelouch isn't too good in bed LOL!#tb{:p}

(just kidding. She was actually referring to him
speaking her real name
, but it occurred to me that the line sounded rather... different out of context, shall we say.)
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
Warning: some spoilers present. The biggest ones are in spoiler tags, but even so I wouldn't advise reading this unless you've gotten to at least episode 12 of the Code Geass anime.

So in this episode (12) I finally got to see for myself the infamous "table-kun" incident where
Nina masturbates against a table to a picture of Euphemia
. That certainly escalated quickly LOL. This is also the first time in the show so far where Lelouch was portrayed as anything other than unambiguously in the right. Sure he was never the traditional hero ("knight of justice" motifs aside) but for all intents and purposes he basically was the perfect protagonist (albeit more interesting than other characters of that archetype) whose gambits always paid off and who never had to do anything that he really regarded as unsavory (no, killing Clovis doesn't count). Because of that Suzaku just ended up coming across as weak-willed and ineffectual for trying to "change the system from within".

Whereas now it's been revealed
Shirley's father was killed as a result of the landslide that Zero caused during the Narita battle
, which should make him really question his ideals and whether they justify the casualties involved. No matter how well-intentioned, there's just no way to wage a large-scale war against a major military empire without any civilian casualties. Sure, Lelouch didn't intend to
kill Shirley's father
but landslides don't exactly discriminate based on good or evil. Setting off a landslide near a major city is pretty much guaranteed to have civilian casualties (unless you somehow get them to evacuate beforehand), which Lelouch would have known if he hadn't so much bought into his own "knight of justice" charade. And the only reason he even knew about this was because
the person who died was the father of someone he knew
, who knows how many other civilians died as a result of that little stunt? This definitely adds a more interesting moral element where before the only question was how Lelouch was going to be able to pull off his latest gambit. I presume this is where the show's themes of "becoming evil yourself in order to combat an even greater evil" will come into play.
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
"becoming evil yourself in order to combat an even greater evil"
That is a line that will come in the second season when Zero gives the good people of the world a riddle.
"What if there is an evil you cannot defeat with just means? Do you become evil yourself to defeat the even greater one, or will you let evil triumpf?"


Also, by the end of the show, the question whether Lelouche/Zero is a good or bad guy is pretty much resolved ^^
Anime statistic on MyAnimeList:
400 animes completed ✓
6000 episodes completed ✓
100 Days completed ✓
... what even am I doing with my life?
I haven't gotten nearly that far in the show but I pretty much knew what line you were referring to even without looking at the spoilered text. I'm pretty sure someone on the forum even has that line as their signature, as a matter of fact.

Lelouch's morality is an interesting topic actually, considering that he'd be definitely cast as the villain in any other mecha anime or manga. Think about it; dark motifs, charismatic and analytical as opposed to hot-blooded, tragic past, "ends justify the means" mentality all are traits that the villains usually possess in these kinds of stories. Having a guy like that as the protagonist and going out of the way to get into his head and make him sympathetic really makes you think about whether the "ends justify the means" perspective really is inherently evil or if sometimes such sacrifices really are necessary to defeat a greater evil that no amount of "hot blood" or "power of friendship" can overcome.

Lelouch himself is someone to whom "results" are the most important thing. If his revolution succeeds and he creates a better world then he's a hero, if it fails and all his sacrifices were for nothing then he'd no more than a villain. Philosophers like Kant would disagree with that and say that whether a given action is good or evil is wholly internal to the act in question (and the intentions of the person who committed it), not depending on consequences or the future in any way. If murder is bad, then its bad. No future consequences can change that. I admittedly do have to admire the sheer stubbornness of that kind of ethic, refusing to let your ideals be tainted by the world in any way. But then again, is maintaining your own moral purity at any cost just another kind of selfishness in a pretty guise...?

In the past I used to be a more hardcore deontologist, thinking that it wouldn't even be right to sacrifice one person in order to save the whole world. I probably wouldn't have been too sympathetic to ol' Lulu at that point in time. Now I've grown more understanding of Utilitarian theories of right and wrong. I wouldn't go as far as to say I "accept" them per-se, Utilitarianism (and consequentialism more generally) still seems to run into the danger of trying to over-simplify and reduce all of morality into a mathematical formula, but I can definitely understand the merits behind such a position and that its not just a philosophy for supervillains and associated megalomaniacs.

In the end, the world is such a complicated place. Nobody can claim to truly know for sure what's right and what's wrong. The only thing anyone can do is follow what they really believe to be right, and accept absolute responsibility for their life and actions. If you stay true to your own ideals and follow them to the bitter end, then any praise or blame that results will be yours and yours alone.

...Well now, this post certainly ended up becoming a lot longer and more rambling then I originally intended. Forgive my philosophical meanderings for just a bit, will you my dear readers?#tb{:j}
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
So this was the obligatory school festival episode, with lots of comic relief and silliness after the drama and action of the previous couple episodes. The comedy was pretty good though, with Kallen being roped into dressing as a giant tombstone for a horror attraction, C.C trying to get her hands on a 12-foot long pizza (it makes sense in context, sorta) and more. C.C is pretty great in comic relief moments really, her stoical demeanour contrasting with her quirkiness and strange fixation on pizza (seriously it's like the only thing she eats), especially with how she plays off Lelouch. Her saying "Pizza..." with the most mournful look on her face after the giant sheet of dough got caught in a tree was definitely the highlight of the episode.

On a more serious note, Lelouch was being a total idiot in refusing Euphemia's idea for an administrated zone where elevens and brittanians have equal rights. That's exactly the sort of future he was trying to build, a world where his sister Nunnally can be happy. But no, he has to oppose it and act like it's some sort of crime against him, just because it wasn't his idea for peace. Not to mention, Euphemia's idea is an "empty dream" but trying to make Tokyo an independent nation is somehow easier? Lelouch really is a bit of an egoist at heart, he can't accept Euphemia's vision of peace because it's not the way he'd go about it. Judging by the next episode title
Bloodstained Euphemia
I'm guessing this isn't going to work out very well, to say the least.
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
Warning: major spoilers for episode 22 of the Code Geass anime. The biggest details are in spoiler tags but the general context should be fairly easy to deduce from what's left unspoiled, so don't read this if you're planning to watch the show spoiler-free.

I finally got to that episode. If you don't know what I mean, it's the one where
Lelouch's Geass goes out of control and he accidentally orders Euphemia to "kill all the Japanese"
. I was practically screaming at the screen, "Lelouch you idiot, don't do it!!" Just when it looked like they were about to make peace and resolve the whole situation non-violently, he just had to make that one stupid (and not even funny) "joke" as an example of his Geass's abilities. I mean, he could have used anything! He could have said "I could even order you to stand on your head" and all that would happen would be some brief humiliation for Euphie. But no, he just had to go with literally the worst possible thing to say in that situation. Even worse, he knew that the Geass was starting to backlash against him and he knew what happened to Mao, but he went ahead with it anyway. Unfortunately, as bad as it was I can't really say it was out-of-character for him. Intelligent as he is, Lelouch is incredibly arrogant and probably wouldn't even seriously consider that his power might prove too much for him to control. I understand that we couldn't really get a second season if everything worked out here but still, it was pretty painful to watch (even though I'd been spoiled as to what was going to happen).
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
Yeah, that one hurt to watch.
1. How are you still not done? I couldn't hold back marathoning this show... then again, I do this a lot in general so I might make a bad example.
2. I actually don't remember Lelouche knowing of his geass going out of control. He sure knew it was a thing from Mao (though not out of control, just unable to turn it off) but did he actually knew it was something happening to him recently? Could be, I just don't remember it.
Anime statistic on MyAnimeList:
400 animes completed ✓
6000 episodes completed ✓
100 Days completed ✓
... what even am I doing with my life?
I'm watching pretty much one episode per day (not the type to "marathon" shows). And by knowing his Geass was going out of control, I meant the way he clutched his eye in pain the first time he tried to use it on Euphie. He clearly knew something was going on with his Geass there, although he obviously hadn't put two and two together until it was too late. Also why do you keep spelling his name "Lelouche" with an extra e at the end? I'm pretty sure Lelouch is the official spelling used in the series and elsewhere.
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
I've just finished the first season of Code Geass this morning. It certainly ended on one hell of a cliffhanger note with Nunnally taken hostage on Kaname Island,
Lelouch and Suzaku having a Mexican stand-off
while
C.C throws herself into the ocean along with the newly revived Jeremiah
and
the Black Knights are getting overtaken by the Brittanian forces in Zero's absence
. We also get the appearance of another character with ties to Geass, named V.V (What is with this show and characters with initials for names? Also I seriously thought V.V was a girl when he first showed up on-screen, and only found out for sure upon checking his wiki page just now). Presumably he's of the same nature as C.C, although it's unclear as of yet who (if anybody) he's "contracted" with (well, actually I have a pretty good idea due to spoilers but I won't be revealing that here just yet).

Lelouch is a bit of hypocrite in this episode (well, no surprise there). Despite his whole "ends justify the means" shtick he drops everything to run after Nunnally, risking his entire army in the process. When it comes to someone who's actually close to him, all that "ends justify the means" business goes straight out the window, while who knows how many little sisters (and wives, and lovers, and mothers, and husbands...) have died as a result of his actions. Nontheless, that very "hypocrisy" is pretty much the only shred of humanity he has left. The fact that he's doing everything for his little sister is part of what makes him so relatable, otherwise he'd just be an unfeeling utilitarian calculating machine. Lelouch is a fascinating character because he's so full of contradiction. He believes in sacrificing the one for the many yet his entire motivation is based off saving one person, his sister above all else. He's a "Knight of justice" sworn to protect innocents yet he accepts that his actions will surely have innocent casualties. That contradiction is embodied by the name of his organization, "the Black Knights". In fairy tales, knights are considered symbols of heroism while black is a color associated with villainy. Lelouch combines both those attributes and hence is a "Black Knight" who uses the methods of a villain to obtain a heroic goal.

Hypocrisy is a big theme in this show, actually. Suzaku too, he wants nobody to have to die yet he works for the military where his job is fighting and killing enemies of the state (As Lloyd said to him once "Someday that unfulfilled contradiction is going to get you killed!"). Or how as a child he
killed his own father in order to prevent a violent insurrection against Britannia
. It's interesting that Lelouch, the more superficially "villainous" of the two does everything for his sister and dead mother while Suzaku, the archetypal "Knight in Shining Armor"
ended up killing his own father for what he believed was the greater good
. In one sense, Suzaku can be considered more of a utilitarian (or pragmatist), tolerating injustice because at least the overall system is relatively stable and peaceful, while Lelouch's perspective of "No matter what, I absolutely won't tolerate evil" is more like that of a traditional uncompromising hero (albeit the means he uses to fight said evil are certainly dubious). So in other words neither protagonist is as simple or clear-cut as they appear. Lelouch isn't your typical ruthless anti-hero and Suzaku isn't your typical knight in shining armor.

So now that I've finished the first season I'll probably take a bit of a break and then start R2 next. I've heard R2 is even more hammy and over-the-top then R1, which is somewhat hard to believe but I guess I'll find out when I see it. The show's campiness and theatrical aspects are a lot of what appeals to me about it though, so I don't think I'll mind seeing more of that in the future. Besides no matter how seriously you take the show, it still stands that the core premise is fairly ridiculous. A highschool student becomes a super terrorist leader after getting magic eye powers from a pizza-loving green-haired witch and uses them to fight against a hammy dictator who proclaims that all men are not created equal. Yep, definitely ridiculous. And I love every second of it LOL!
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
Well.. It was Lelouch's sister. If you had this philosophy you were 100% sure of, but you knew you were likely about to kill the person you loved mosy, you'd probably do the same thing. Can't reall blame him #ab{>_>}

Also, I remember watching this show months ago early in the Summer after I saw WatchMojo's video on .. Well, can't really remember, I just know it was one of their anime videos and the show looked really interesting, so I gave it a try and loved it. I have to say, I've seen shows like LOST, Breaking Bad, and Supernatural, yet still one of the most touching and emotional things I've ever seen in a workoffiction was this show's ending. The song usedwas amazing as well. Not gonna spoil anything though #ab{:)}
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I'm not saying I could really blame him either. As I said, that aspect of him is what makes him such a complex and interesting (and likable!) character. A Lelouch who wouldn't drop everything to save his little sister would not be the Lelouch we know and love. He'd be more someone like Emiya Kiritsugu from Fate/Zero, who had a similar "ends justify the means" philosophy but took it way farther, even being willing to sacrifice the people he held dear and killing his very humanity for the sake of his ideals. Kiritsugu was definitely a tragic and rather pitiful figure, whereas Lelouch for all his flaws is more genuinely admirable (at least to me). He may be a hypocrite but, once again that's what makes him human. Humans just aren't made to perfectly follow some philosophy or another, and Lelouch is no exception. His relationship with Nunnally makes him a lot more down-to-earth and relatable than just a generic bargain-bin "stoic super-genius" archetype.
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!
Warning: from here on out this thread will be about the second season of the popular anime series Code Geass. Because of this, anyone reading past this point will be expected to have finished the first season in it's entirety and any R1 spoilers will be left untagged. I repeat, any spoilers concerning the events of the first season will be completely untagged.

After the events of R1, the Black Rebellion has been crushed by the Holy Britannian Empire and its leader Zero is thought dead. Japan has been re-subjugated and only a handful of rebel forces remain to oppose Brittania's massive military might. However, Lelouch himself is mysteriously still alive, amnesiac and living the life of an ordinary, laid-back schoolboy with his "younger brother" Rolo. All that changes when he finds himself the center of a terrorist attack by the remnants of the Black Knights, and encountering a familiar face in the form of the green-haired witch C.C. Just when all seems lost he reawakens his Geass, as well as his suppressed memories and regains the mantle of Zero. "It's not me that's wrong, IT'S THE WORLD!!" with those words the boy known as Lelouch Lamperouge will once again wage war on the corrupt empire of Brittania, and indeed the very fabric of the world itself.

Yep, I'm come back from my brief hiatus and gotten around to watching the first episode of R2 earlier today. The show's certainly as cheesy as ever, especially when Lelouch regains his memories at the end of the episode and announces his plan to destroy and remake the world (while striking fabulous poses, of course).

It's interesting to see the repercussions of Zero's running off during the final battle back in R1, that one move basically lost him the entire rebellion. Can't imagine the Black Knights will be too happy with him over that, specially Kallen, who was forced to work a demeaning job serving sleezy bar patrons in a playboy bunny outfit (Not that I'm complaining, mind you#tb{^V^}).

One thing that's somewhat hard to believe is why the Britannians didn't just kill Lelouch when they had him captured and presumably helpless instead of erasing his memories as part of a convoluted gamble to capture C.C. Especially since they didn't seem to have any counter-measures in case his Geass reawakened, even though they literally recreated the scenario (terrorist attack, meeting C.C, about to die) where it awakened the first time around! They had him in the palm of their hand and all they did was basically give him a relaxing vacation before handing him his powers and military force back on a silver platter. Talk about genre-blind. Then again, maybe it'll be explained later on or something (if it is, don't tell me about it. I don't want this show spoiled for me anymore than it already is).

(I'm reposting this here because JackTheSpades closed the R2 thread I put up. I'd assumed that sort of thing was allowed considering that someone put up a Space Dandy 2 thread not too long ago which is still open, but I guess I got the wrong idea. Forgive me! Oh and you can delete the thread if you want, as there's not really any point having the same post twice in two different threads.)
Evil flower of Pure Illusion... we're going to pluck you out!