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

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Lelouch was willing to die as Zero. He is power-hungry but I also think Zero does not trump Nunnally. If Zero trumped Nunnally, Lelouch would not have abandoned his cause in S1 when he learned she was missing. This is the critical point of contradiction.

And yes, that is Lelouch's true reason. But not the reason he tells himself, which is the crux of where I see the contradiction. He tells himself it's for Nunnally. He even asks in S1 "what's the point if I've lost Nunnally." Things change in later R2 through development, but they don't apply to early R2, which is where I am focusing most of my frustration with the writing. So if Lelouch believes Zero has no point without Nunnally, why does he stay with Zero in early R2 when he doesn't even know where she is? megalomaniageek brought up some possibilities, but I would have appreciated being told this by Lelouch through some manner of scene, as usually happened with big Nunnally aspects in both S1 and R2. Otherwise, it does view very contradictory.

Again, this is heavily because the writers had admitted to changing things for the sake of the time slot. If I did not know that, I would be much more lenient.

In addition to my previous post...

[kusaja.livejournal.com]

And yet, ironically, some of us are more lenient (at least in part) because we know that (and, at the same time, do not know much about the alternative).

Particularly when you have the director himself (and others) telling us this about R2:

"If the lack of explanations this time seems to worsen the tempo, think
of it as a paring down."

Naturally, this isn't some kind of wild card that resolves everything wrong about R2, but IMHO it should make understanding the lack of explicit explanations and expositions for certain issues easier.

Even before reading this though, I never had any problem with the concept you're questioning and still don't.

To reiterate: Lelouch abandoned Zero's responsibilities as the leader of the Black Knights in the middle of a decisive battle, not the entire idea and persona of Zero.

Ideally, he would have hoped to rescue Nunnally and come back later to finish the job (not that there was any real opportunity to do so, in practice). You could argue his assuming the same persona once again was, thematically, an extension of that. As Zero, he brought chaos back to Japan and forced the Emperor to reveal his hand...which included learning about Nunnally's fate.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

It's just such a terrible excuse honestly. I understand why some are lenient, but it still makes me majorly bitter about the whole business. Also, while I have spent time making everything, including what I believe to be contradictions, fit into the box that is canon since that is the mission for every ficcer, I still enjoy the chance to express my frustration with them. Particularly when they can be compared with key episodes and a refreshed mind. That is what I meant by bringing up these things when paired with actual episodes. And this very discussion is exactly what I hope to get out of such perspectives.

And yes, Lelouch would have returned to Zero had he rescued Nunnally. But my mrr point is that Nunnally was not rescued during this portion. Again, I accept megalomaniageek's potentials, even though I stand true to the belief that it would have been less clashy had there been an IC scene instead of leaving a crucial thing up to viewer interpretation.

Like I said, that's not meant to be the final word on the matter either

[kusaja.livejournal.com]

Just an alternate way to look at it. If someone can afford to be less lenient because of it, there's no unfairness in making the same argument in the opposite direction. Same facts, two different interpretations.

But I definitely don't intend to suggest you shouldn't be frustrated by it (or by many other things). By all means, you're free (and welcome) to express your thoughts.

And it's not like I don't have my own list of frustrations and disappointments myself, even though they're probably never going to match yours 1:1...at least from what little I can already tell.

I absolutely agree about wanting to have a scene or two that would have set things up in a better way...which, unfortunately, goes for a great many developments in R2 even when they aren't actually contradicting something.

Giving us less explanations and less insight into the minds of Lelouch and the gang isn't a positive in my book.

Re: Like I said, that's not meant to be the final word on the matter either

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Oh, I mostly meant that I didn't want to imply people couldn't be lenient and that I just enjoy the dissecting/bitching.

But yeah, the main point, which I possibly buried, was that I love these types of discussions and look forward to seeing more of them during the re-watch.