Code Geass Reruns

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

The past 4 days I rewatched the entire Code Geass series (1st and 2nd) because my boyfriend had never seen it and Dan (one of his friends who has seen it) and I were making a lot of Code Geass references; and well... eventually my boyfriend's curiosity got the best of him and he decided he wanted to watch it.

But that's when I got an idea. I'm also a memeber of the Slayers anime community and a while back they had initiated a rerun schedule where they would watch an episode once every other day or once a week (I can't remember) and at the end of the day the person who set it up would post some screenshots from the episode and talk about some of their thoughts... what they forgot about, what they really liked, etc. Other members who decided to take part could post comments about what they liked as well.

So I was going to propose, as a community, we could rewatch the series. Perhaps one episode a week would be fine? It means it will take about a year to complete since there are 52 weeks in a year. In the first series there is a total of 25 episodes since 25 and 26 were combined into a 46 minute episode and in the second series there is exactly 25 episodes... meaning 50 total.

The rules are simple: if you choose to participate you do not move ahead of the schedule and watch the following episode. You must wait until the next week.

Lemme know if anyone is interested! Sorry about this sounding a bit wordy and rushed. I'm in a hurry but I wanted to get this out there because it was bugging me lol.

Comments

Re: , but...

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Before he knows for sure where Nunnally is, he does know she's still in danger. He remembers her being missing and wonders if she might possibly be with Britannia. As he doesn't know for sure, it is incredibly contradictory of him to both be... legitimately functioning (as S1 showed him abandoning EVERYTHING when he realized she was missing, losing his mind when she was captured by Mao and going into hysterics when Suzaku suggested he would take her.) And suddenly, he's able to... continue doing his Zero thing. Zero WAS FOR Nunnally. Nor does R2 provide any explanation (until later) for Lelouch to be able to come to this level of rationality to still be as calculating and able to play his part as if Nunnally were completely safe. What you point out is later R2 and when the series starting correcting some of these early contradictions with Lelouch. All of that meshed perfectly with his character and could be backed up with past actions, as well as showing character growth in that Zero became about more than just making a better world for Nunnally; it became about something greater. But in early R2, by continuing to be Zero without knowing about Nunnally's condition, he is inadvertently putting her in danger because she could easily be used AGAINST him. Something he even acknowledges. orz.

Lelouch's double life as Zero while attending Ashford also puts the school in danger by default. Something he also knows because he accepted at the end of S1 that he could no longer be Lelouch Lamperouge; he pretty much becomes entirely Zero. He had prepared for this months in advance by trying to find someone who could protect Nunnally (Suzaku) when this shift happened. Suddenly playing double identify again was extremely irresponsible on his part.

And the Rolo thing was bad characterization, pure and simple. There is probably nothing in existence that can convince me that someone as smart as Lelouch, who KNEW ROLO KILLED SHIRLEY, would send him after his little sister. None. Yes, Lelouch is overconfident about his mastery of Rolo but he had just seen what he did to Shirley and he knows that Rolo took Nunnally's place. It doesn't take a rocket science to anticipate some jealousy, and with an unstable boy... yeah. It was the writers trying to handle the issue of who could get Nunnally while Lelouch did his thing. Sloppy.

As for the Euphie thing, yeah bad joke. Typical Lelouch. Fair. Making dumb mistakes with Geass? Again over-confident typical Lelouch. Suzaku? He kind of fails around Suzaku because it's Suzaku. All these things are backed fully by previous characterization. I can understand them and none stand out as contradictions. But yes, the other stuff was, admittedly, a matter of writing for a new audience and it led to massive characterization backtracking.

Sorry I just get really heated up over what they did to Lelouch many times in R2 for the sake of their time change earlier on and later to fit their fanservice narrative. I still have issues with the way the Rolo/Shirley thing just... disappeared so that most people consider Rolo just a sweet kid. orz. So just so we're clear, I'm not ranting at you, just the sloppy writing at times.

Re: , but...

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

OK, now I see where you're coming from. I suppose it is kind of a contradiction...if anything, they brought him to "Zero is for more than Nunnally" level at the beginning, then brought him back to where he was at the end of R1 and then actually walked him down the character growth path. One could say in the writers' defense that Lelouch is doing the best thing for her by regaining his forces so that he can use them to save her; he continues to pretend to be Lelouch because he knows the Emperor said "If he regains his memories then we will use Nunnally." It does bear note that he ran away from the most important battle his army ever became a part of because of Nunnally, yes, so I can see how him being rational and level-headed about her suddenly would be a contradiction...but if he doesn't become Zero and get his army together, he'll never see Nunnally again, and she will be used by the royal family. As a student, he doesn't have the capacity to bring Nunnally to safety and he wouldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Anyway, I suppose my point is that I can see where you're coming from, but I can see the reasoning behind Lelouch becoming Zero again. I think he thought of it as a necessary evil; it's his only path to power, and that's what he needs to achieve his goals.
What's annoying is that they probably could've resolved this contradiction by including a scene where he's arguing with himself or C.C. about how he could possibly save Nunnally from Britannia, and comes to the decision that even though it's an unbelievable risk, becoming Zero is the only way.

Also, I understand Lelouch being kind of stupid around Suzaku after he knew Suzaku was the Lancelot's pilot because of all the emotional baggage, but I don't think he really had an excuse to be an idiot before he knew. By the episode when he found out - kinda late in R1 - he HAD managed the foresight to analyze the Lancelot's attack patterns, but otherwise before that he didn't seem to even anticipate the Lancelot's participation in the battle.
Oh, and I'm very glad somebody else agrees that sending Rolo for Nunnally is bad characterization, plain and simple.

Re: , but...

[nayami.livejournal.com]

I would have appreciated a small scene to explain his rationale yes. Then it would have made the better fit.

Oh, I was only referring to Stage 18, where he already knew he was the Lancelot pilot and that's when he got taken hostage. But yeah, his stupidity over Lancelot was probably just his overconfident bravado. Still, it's a good point that he really SHOULD have been able to figure on the Lancelot being around in these battles. Though Lancelot is not a normal part of Britannian rank, and he might have thought they only pulled him in during special occasions... like every single time Zero attacked. |D;; Good going, Lulu.

The irony of the writers/Lelouch being sloppy about Rolo's part in the rescue mission

[kusaja.livejournal.com]

...is that the brat didn't even get the chance to come near Nunnally.

If Rolo had actually reached and attempted to kill her...whether he succeeded or not, I'd definitely question that all the way back to the source.

However, the fact is Rolo had no direct impact on the events that involved Nunnally. Rolo could have stayed in a Knightmare Frame for all of Turn 18 and the end result would be 99% of what we got. His presence didn't impact the rescue mission in any visible way.

It remains a questionable choice, whether or not we can argue about the reason why that actually happened, but one that ended up being an ultimately cosmetic matter.

I have far more concerns with the way Shirley was treated. Not so much because of her death, as a concept (that was one of her most likely fates), but simply because the event wasn't given the importance it deserved in terms of the time spent on its aftermath.

The staff did at least one small thing right by focusing on that a bit more in the R2 Special Edition (or as much as they could do by adding a monologue or two and editing, etc. but introducing no new animation), even though that's still too little, too late.