code_geass ◾ ◾ In defense of Suzaku

2009-06-06 13:41

Motivated by this journal entry concerning Suzaku Bashers, I wanted to write out my own personal bit on the issue.

Because it’s easy to judge Suzaku. Easy to write him off as a self righteous, hypocritical prick who is far too idealistic for his own good. That he’s a “freakin‘ tool“ and a “traitor to the Japanese”, etcetera, etcetera. I’ve seen it all - the snarky insults, the petty jabs, the disturbing death threats various members of the Code Geass fandom have constantly flung at this poorly understood character. The bashing has gotten to the point where I’ve stopped rolling my eyes and shaking my head in disgust and instead, am pooling my efforts in writing this blurb in a whole-hearted attempt to defend Suzaku.

And if you enjoy ranting about how Suzaku should be tied to a tree, beaten with a shovel and set on fire because you’re one of those types of Lelouch fangirls/fanboys who bash Suzaku because he disagrees with your precious bishie, please proceed with an open mind.

A good chunk of what motivates Suzaku is the fact that he’s so guilt-ridden over the death of his father. Picture this: you’re a ten year old kid constantly surrounded by violence and destruction brought forth by the war with Britannia against your country, Japan. You’ve seen death - you’ve witnessed the hardships, the pain and suffering of your people. And you, in your ten year old naiveté, can’t help but think that if only your father, the prime minister of Japan, would just swallow his pride and surrender, there wouldn’t be so much pain, and suffering and hardship. All you want is for everyone to stop fighting. After all, what would’ve happened to Japan if they kept on fighting in WWII, even after Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

So you get angry. Your temper has often gotten you into trouble before, but you can’t help but try and get through to your father‘s stubbornness. Of course he brushes you away - tells you that you’re just a kid, that you can’t possibly understand the gravity of the situation since you’re not a wonderful, intellectual adult like him. You get angrier because if adults were so great, why were there so many wars in the first place? So much sadness and hatred? You know that this world holds more than just that. Submitting to Britannia would subject the Japanese to discrimination and persecution, yes, but submitting to Britannia would also mean preventing any more needless bloodshed. But your father, too scared of losing face, is willing to resist to the bitter end, even if it meant letting more deaths occur. You can’t take it - you’re so angry, so angry you can’t think clearly - angry that your father won’t listen to reason, angry that you saw piles of corpses the other day just lying on the side of the road and Lelouch had to lie to Nunnally about it, angry that your best friend and his little sister are political prisoners of this pointless war, angry at yourself for not being able to do anything about it, so you -

- kill him. In a fit of rage, you stab your father and the relief that you had put an end to a do-or-die resistance mingles with the guilt and the self-loathing of what you did. Understandably, you’re never quite the same again. To alleviate the guilt, you join the Britannian army when you‘re older, and start unconsciously putting yourself in fatal situations in the hopes that if you can die in the process of preserving as many lives possible, then you'll feel you’ve paid your penance for killing your father.

It can be argued that Suzaku’s desire for peaceful, non-violent solutions allows for injustice against the Japanese to continue but it's easy to condemn his actions when you're an uninvolved spectator in all this. Choosing to live without rebelling isn’t a bad thing. Quite frankly, I hate how people tend to "glamorize" the idea of a resistance group. Fighting between Japan and Britannia will lead to more deaths, which is why Suzaku wants to put an end to it so badly.

Britannia horribly mistreats the Japanese. I am aware of that. And they may be perfectly willing to slaughter the innocent ones, but it‘s not like they go into the ghettos and routinely shoot at the Japanese for kicks. It’s because they are hunting for terrorists that there are innocent casualties.

FACT: Japan has lost the war.
FACT: Terrorists like the Black Knights are only prolonging the fighting and causing more deaths.

And this is why Zero remains a sore topic for Suzaku. Zero is helping the Black Knights succeed, prolonging the fighting, and leading to more casualties. Furthermore, any death in the Britannian Army adds to a worse attitude towards the Japanese. And given that Britannia has superior resources and controls almost all of the known world, Suzaku has joined what he thinks is the stronger side because crushing terrorist groups is the quickest method to “peace“. You may not agree with it, but Suzaku is prioritizing the life of the Japanese versus the Japanese retaining their pride. And really - can you blame him?

What I’m saying is that it's so easy to criticize Suzaku’s position, but if you want to compare, think about the situation in Iraq today or what happened with the Vietnam war several years ago. So many people are looking down on Bush for prolonging the fighting and the hatred. And similarly, can you imagine what the people living in a country under a strict military rule, are also feeling while groups of militants whose actions are getting many innocent bystanders killed?

I love Lelouch but he can be very manipulative. Strategically, it was smart of him to make the public claim of the Black Knights "supporting the weak, and attacking those that persecute them," because it got many of the Japanese rooting for Zero, even though the Black Knights are essentially a bunch of terrorists. Lelouch is an incredible smooth talker - remember his conversation with Kallen in season 1 when she was starting to have doubts? Telling her that they had to press on so that the blood of those killed to their cause were not wasted? Sounds eerily similar to President Bush’s September 11th speech when he invoked the names of the soldiers dead in the Iraq War and claimed once again that the war had to go on so that their sacrifice was not wasted. Nonetheless, I still rooted for Lelouch during the series’ run, but in real life, if it was my life and my family’s life being put at the risk, I probably would’ve booed at him to kingdom come.

I said it and I’ll say it again - I love Lelouch but his methods were cruel and underhanded. Many times, he gets caught up in winning and fails to take into consideration how damaging his actions can be. I’m not saying that Suzaku is necessarily any better but why are so many people licking Lelouch’s boots and wanting to kick Suzaku in the face? If you really think about it, Suzaku’s ideas have as much merit as Lelouch's do. To make a lasting change, the underlying ideology of Britannia has to be addressed - specifically, their trampling of the Japanese’ rights and dignity.

It was kind of subtle but Suzaku really was making progress in his hope to change Britannia from within. As a Japanese person, he broke so many barriers in such a short amount of time. He became a pilot of the Lancelot. His friendship with Lelouch warms the entire student council into accepting him. Cornelia does grudgingly accepts his skills. A party at the school is thrown in his honor for becoming Euphie’s knight with a lot of the Britannian student body attending and celebrating. Ashford Academy also hosts an open festival where many Japanese come to see Suzaku who has become an inspiration to them. The students were also very welcoming to Ougi and the Japanese in general. The Britannians were starting to recognize him for his deeds and accepting Suzaku’s rise in standing and the Japanese were beginning to accept Suzaku as well. That is, before the Massacre Princess fiasco where the focus was shifted back to Zero and what he could do for the Japanese. This begs the question if Suzaku’s goal really so unrealistic as many would claim? It’s definitely a slower alternative than, let’s say, actively rebelling against the government. But definitely just as noble.

With that being said, there is no “right side“. Suzaku hating results achieved by violent means is no more wrong or right than Kallen’s opinion that fighting for your dignity is more important then living with your nose up someone’s ass. There's no such things as absolute truth or a wrong path of life. There are only different paths and people fighting for what they believe in.

Suzaku does what he thinks is right, but he also understands that there are consequences. As a soldier, it’s inevitable that he take lives but it doesn’t stop him from being conflicted over it. He doesn't expect to be thanked for what he does either, and he knows that there will be Japanese people who hate him for becoming an Honorary Britannian and joining the army, just as he knows that there will be Britannians who will hate him because of his Japanese blood. And yet, he fights on despite it all. He has depth - he’s a conflicted and dynamic character constantly striving to quell the dissonance within him - which feels wholly human to me. Unfortunately, few people seem to share the same perspective.