Code Geass Episode 1: Discussion!

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

Sorry for posting this so early. I just know I will not have time all day on Thursday (well, technically where I am it is Thursday...). This isn't the normal for me--I'm your standard stay-at-home girlfriend at the moment--so this won't happen frequently. I'm so excited for this! I hope a lot of people participate. I'll check the comments Thursday night if I can talk my mother into letting me borrow her computer. :)

For those of you who haven't gotten the episode yet, check out the information I posted here. Anyways, onward!



Code Geass Episode 1: The Day The Evil God Was Born
We are reminded once again what happened to Japan and the power of Britannia—how they were able to invade and take over Japan with their new weapons called Knightmares, and how Japan was stripped of its culture and name; and renamed Area 11.



Once again we're thrown into the world of Code Geass with a melancholy Suzaku and a vengeful Lelouch!


How can you say no to that face?! (Lelouch's)

Lelouch always seems to carry himself in a different way from others. He's confident, charismatic and seems to know exactly what to say as far as speeches go. I feel we really get a taste for his character when Rival asks him why he moved his King first in the game of chess he had between the noble: "If the king doesn't move then his subjects won't follow."

While Rival and Lelouch are on their way back to school they're almost run over by Kallen who is part of the terrorist group against Britannia. I always somewhat felt that for a terrorist group they were awfully generous to swerve so they didn't hit them. I always imagined that a terrorist group on a mission would have no time to be merciful to those who got in the way of their plan, but it left a nice opening for Lelouch to run to the rescue and get caught up in the action.



You know, did Rival not see Lelouch climb onto the truck? Did he not see him fall into the opening on the top? Did he not see the truck drive away? If he saw all that, why does he stand around shortly after yelling for him and reminding him that they have to get back to school? C'mon, Rival. I know you're not that stupid!


There is so much win in these pictures... Anyone else happy for Spinzaku?

It's nice to see Lloyd doing what he does best which is sticking his nose into everybody's business while looking for data. I imagine him doing crazy silly things while yelling, "FOR SCIENCE!" In the end they didn't have a pilot for Lancelot... so what happened to the previous pilot they had lined up? Did I miss something?

Suzaku and Lelouch meet up again, but under interesting terms. Suzaku is now part of the Britannian army! It's nice to see that Suzaku is still putting others before him (covering Lelouch's face with his air mask when C.C.'s capsule opens up). Suzaku even ends up taking a bullet for Lelouch because he refuses to shoot him.



Also, you know, I love Shirley but there are times she can be pretty annoying. Could she have picked a better time to call? I guess it can't be expected to silence your phone when you are trying to dodge being caught. I like it because it's the human error. It makes Lelouch seem more human.



When Lelouch receives his power and uses it for the first time he seems surprised by his own actions. One of the many themes throughout this series is lies and the lies people tell. Lelouch tells us from that day on he's been lying to himself. I wonder what Lelouch is telling us this.



Lelouch, it's good to have you back.

Comments

SPOILERS

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

I don't recall Lelouch ever using Geass on that old man, but his brother in the second season believes he has.

But look what I noticed:

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/isshoni/5145307540/) and (http://www.flickr.com/photos/isshoni/5145307572/)

They look like the same old guy? Is he the guy that Mao used his Geass on?

Re: SPOILERS

[cyber-chaos.livejournal.com]

If you're talking about the guy Mao confronts about selling weapons to the BLack Knights, I checked, and it's not the same old guy.

I am fairly convinced that he does Geass that old guy at some point in season one, though. I think it's a pretty quick clip.

Re: SPOILERS

[spleener.livejournal.com]

Old man is the guy who made the original Zero mask, IIRC. Geassed to forget about making it/destroy all evidence.

[ambitiousgeek.livejournal.com]

The moment he move the King is my favourite part in the episode. And the quote "If the king doesn't move then his subjects won't follow." is just wonderful, it really brings out his character and what he does. He's not just a mastermind that moves the pieces (though yes, he does do that) but he also goes to the front lines himself and that just makes him a wonderful leader. <3 I'm in love again~~~. XD

[carlenne.livejournal.com]

Good point about Rivalz, I swear I never noticed that.

Lol, I can't help but cringe at the part when his phone rings while trying to escape the soldiers. Though I guess you couldn't expect Shirley to know what was happening at the other end. Not exactly your normal day's turn of events.

Love the scene with Lelouch and the king chess piece. The whole "If the king doesn't move then his subjects won't follow" line is one that really defines his character, along with "The only ones who should shoot, are those prepared to be shot" of course.

[winterfeuerwerk.livejournal.com]

I love the cellphone-part as well.
It's just hilarious... and damn it, why not? If you're carrying your cell around you'd better expect to be called xD
Never saw an omg-I'm-hiding-OMG-THEY-NOTICED-scene that was even close to this one's epicness.

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

A couple of people have commented on how representative of Lelouch's morality the "If the king doesn't move..." line is.

An interesting point I haven't really seen mentioned before is that it demonstrates how Lelouch seems to only really see leadership in autocratic terms. The only real difference he sees between a good and bad leader is in how they use that power - he doesn't really consider other power structures. And it's definitely a perspective that shapes how Lelouch approaches leadership himself.

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Definitely. Even though he ends up setting up the UFN as a democracy, I think his world-view is so influenced by royalty (both being royal himself and living in a country with a very strong monarchy) that he kind of can't escape it.

SPOILERS

[kiraya.livejournal.com]

I feel like in rewatching I'm picking up a lot of the little details I missed out on the first time 'round -- about Lelouch's character especially, the sort of state of mind he had before receiving Geass, but also about Suzaku (hints toward his self-devaluing with the gas mask thing, and then you get the first view of his little pronoun game when he switches from "boku" when talking to Lelouch to "jibun" when getting all martyr-complexy about shooting him). I even feel like I'm picking up more about Clovis, who I never paid much attention to and didn't really care about when he kicked the bucket, even after learning more about him from the supplementary materials.

And then you have the foreshadowing. Opening and ending aside, the "Do you want to run a corporation or something?" / "No way. Weird dreams like that will ruin your life" exchange between Rivalz and Lelouch is just... oh, Lulu, you have no idea. And I'd completely forgotten about the flash of the Emperor talking about the Ragnarok Connection.

Re: SPOILERS

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

Someone should really keep track of Suzaku and the pronoun thing - I never really paid attention to that before (and I know very little about Japanese, so the implications completely escaped me), and it was only when I started rereading old analysis posts where people were mentioning it that I realised it might be kind of significant, at least in character terms.

Re: SPOILERS

[kusaja.livejournal.com]

I believe it's pretty much the only time the Emperor directly mentioned the Ragnarok Connection before R2, though several of his scenes in the first season do indicate that he's up to some sort of unspecified supernatural plan.

Re: SPOILERS

[nayami.livejournal.com]

The dialogue foreshadowing is amazing!

Re: SPOILERS

[snowdevil-crow.livejournal.com]

Opening and ending aside, the "Do you want to run a corporation or something?" / "No way. Weird dreams like that will ruin your life" exchange between Rivalz and Lelouch is just... oh, Lulu, you have no idea.

Actually, I always thought that was more of a reference to what he mentions later, that he'd always planned on destroying Britannia someday. His plotting isn't about running a corporation, it's about destroying your home country, Rivalz.

[wabisuke.livejournal.com]

I think Rivalz was busy pushing his motorcycle along the street/down a ramp to catch up with Lelouch to help out or whatever and didn't see Lelouch climb up the truck and fall in. Truck would be gone long before he'd get all the way down from the elevated highway to the ground.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

I agree. He thought the car just crashed and drove off, which is why he questioned it being a "hit and run." Also, he is looking for Lelouch later.

One more spoiler, partly~

[winterfeuerwerk.livejournal.com]

I alwys loved this episode, no idea how many times I've watched it already.
There are always pieces I tend to forget... like for example how many important persons are already introduced in this, and how many conflicts are foreshadowed. It's a classic exposition, and a bloody good one as well.
Couldn't tell who has the best first appearance; I really love how Orange is quickly flagged as a strong and dominant fighter, how you see Viletta's confidence that is yet to crumble throughout the rest of the series, Lloyd and his awesomeness, or Diethard.
Oh, and I didn't remember Bartley was a general. As said above, I tend to forget details.


One thing I never noticed that amused me this time was Suzaku's code number - 404. Isn't that the number that always pops up on the "page not found"-messages?
Outing myself as hating Suzaku, oh well.

Re: One more spoiler, partly~

[kiraya.livejournal.com]

One thing I never noticed that amused me this time was Suzaku's code number - 404. Isn't that the number that always pops up on the "page not found"-messages?

It is. I didn't pay much attention to the number until you pointed it out, but since you did I'm also reminded that the number 4 is associated with death in Japan. Interesting on the hinting front, again.

[seshiru-san.livejournal.com]

so what happened to the previous pilot they had lined up?
I think I remember reading somewhere, that Jeremiah was originally chosen to pilot the Lancelot. But then, Clovis gave the extermination order, and ended up being too busy with mowing down the Elevens. I'm not sure if that was ever confirmed, and I could easily be misremembering or misinterpreting things again. *shrugs*

I loved a lot of Lelouch's lines. A lot of them have already been mentioned, but I also liked his line about the nobles. "Their privileged lives just make them parasites."

Cell phone incident always annoyed me. I know I shouldn't be mad at Shirley for calling at the wrong moment, but that girl's got some of the worst timing ever. It's not always her fault, but it's still very irritating.

Oh, Lloyd! All he wants is some data and a chance to try out his super-cool new toy! Plus, it's always fun watching him verbally bitchslapping people. I love him~!

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Lelouch's resentment of the nobles, which has probably existed since childhood, is foreshadowed in an amazing way here. You even see it play out with Clovis, who just clings to his power or to those who can protect him and his way of being totally put out when interrupting in his basking in the people's attention.

SPOILERS

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Random observations (some of which have already been noted):

- Clovis so clearly fails at his job, but it's interesting that he talks about being disinherited for losing C.C. This is the first time, aside from Charles stripping Lelouch of his title after Suzaku brings him before him, that we have heard of this concept. And of course, Clovis, being the floof he is, panics and goes into mass slaughter mode.

- While on Clovis, Lelouch's anger toward his family is perfectly evident in the first scene of Lelouch seeing Clovis' image on the screen. I love this.

- I love how it was Tamaki's fault that the terrorist mission went badly because Tamaki messed up the plan. Ah, Tamaki, you were failing from Episode 1.

- I always note Lelouch's immediate reaction to the scores of people doing nothing after the accident because I think it shows aspects of him that gradually become more hidden under the Zero persona, so much to the point that many people only watching the series and not having access to the Drama CDs considered Lelouch a right bastard by the time S1 ended. But here, we see him infuriated that people refuse to do anything and jumping right into the fray. It's a good chance to witness the indifference of the Britannians but also how clearly Lelouch stands apart from him. It's also great contrast to his arrogance from his first scene with the chess match (I love how he predicted the time limit) and his place as a wealthy Britannian student among the oppressed Japanese. And then again, with him trying to protect C.C.

- I also love how well Lelouch seems to take the fall into the truck. Considering Lelouch's physique, he seriously should have broken something.

- Ah, the initial incarnation of bastard Jeremiah. I'm torn between this and Knight Jeremiah. But it's clear right off the bat that the only reason Jeremiah ever turned into a sympathetic character was the fan appeal. XD Also, the hot dynamic with Villetta makes me sad for how that turned out again. :(

- People have noted Suzaku's self-sacrificing with the mask. I personally want to know why C.C.'s chamber activated that second. Was it jostled from the various crashes? Why then? Plot convenience or did she do it herself upon closeness to both Lelouch and Suzaku. Remember, originally Suzaku was supposed to resonate with Geass as well.

- On that note, I never noticed that honorary Britannians weren't allowed weapons. I remembered they're not allowed cell phones either.

- I admit the phone call was one of the reasons I initially disliked Shirley, though I grew to love her toward the end of S1. XD

Stupid word count

[nayami.livejournal.com]

- I love the shift between horrified, innocent Lelouch at killing all the soldiers and the more jaded Lelouch that's all too happy to have a chance at his revenge. While we're at it, how did Lelouch even know that he had absolute power at this time? His contract was pretty darn vague. It just amuses me.

- Also, great insight into Cecille's perceptive abilities, which later come into play regarding Suzaku's true nature. I really wish Cecille got more screen time throughout the series. She really is awesome.

- One of my favorite things is how when Lelouch is in mortal peril, his immediate through is for his sister. She is the one thing he is afraid of leaving behind, and ultimately he has to do just that. It's rather tragic.

- Wow, I actually never knew the Ragnarok Connection was mentioned before R2. :o I'm guessing Lelouch getting the power and reawakening C.C. gave Charles confidence to began steps toward unleashing its power. Charles does spend a lot of time watching the progression of Lelouch's Geass, particularly later when Lelouch uses it to geass Euphie. Why is Lelouch's Geass potential so important to Marianne and Charles? I'll have to keep this in mind when those episodes return in R2.

- This is also the first time we get a really good view at how important Suzaku is to Lelouch, as we see that the idea that Britannia took him away from him is especially devastating and he keeps repeating it. I always felt that Lelouch's connection to Suzaku was the strong of the two, and I still do. Lelouch is arguably the second most important person in Lelouch's world just because of how much of an impact that childhood summer meant to him.

- I really miss the beauty of the Knightmares in ground combat. This episode really showcases how fluidly they move through jumps, turns and skates. I love the skating mechs. I was so disappointed to lose them in favor of the more Gundameque versions in R2, although I did have a soft spot for Lancelot's winged incarnations. But you really see how they are ideal for urban combat in a way few other mechs are ever designed to be. It gave them a uniqueness among the genre.

I think that's it for now. :|a

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Introducing the very first Code Geass Points!
R1 Episode 1

-5 points for Young Failouch can't climb a small hill
+ 4 points for Thanks, Young Suzaku!
+2 Creepy ominous and "hey wait you were here the whole time?" points for C.C.
-10 points for Sunrise, you bastards, you will never explain this
+2 Thanks for the intro, C.C.
+5 for OBLITERATE BRITANNIA FUCK YEAH
JIBUN WOOOO
+2 for I'M ON A HORSE!Lulu during the intro
-2 for proud nobleman being a dick
+4 for WHO IS THAT IN THE DOORWAY
+1 for Shirley being moe
+2 for Milly being Milly
-15 for Tamaki fucking up
-10 for Clovis not meaning a word he says
+2 for Rivalz calling Lelouch macabre
+2 for Clovis giving his speech from a party
-25 Fuck you nameless sycophant in the corner
-10 for Lrn2Drive Nagata
-100 for ANOTHER THING SUNRISE WON'T EXPLAIN - shiny C.C. mist around the truck
+3 for Heroic Lulu
-1 for C.C., finish your damn sentence
+1 for one-liner Rivalz
+5 for Thank you for not being a bloodthirsty terrorist, Kallen
+2 for the introduction of the red Knightmare
-10 "YOU FELLAS KNOW FULL WELL WHAT THIS BADASS MOTHER CAN DO" (English dub only)
+5 Jeremiah being badass
-7 Jeremiah being racist
+5 Lloyd being Lloyd
-10 Bloodthirsty asshole racist military guy being bloodthirsty asshole racist military guy
-5 Lelouch, why do you want to "climb out" when there's AN OPEN DOOR RIGHT BEHIND YOU?!
-5 Lelouch, using "obliterate Britannia" out of context makes no sense
+3 Thanks for the rescue, Suzaku, but it wasn't necessary
+3 C.C. grand intro
-20 Bloodthirsty asshole racist military guy being bloodthirsty asshole racist military guy
+10 Suzaku's noble self-sacrifice
-10 Suzaku's selfish, masturbatory self-sacrifice
+5 Nagata's noble self-sacrifice
-30 Fuck you Clovis, that really wasn't necessary
-5 Did you really need to shoot the baby?
-2 DAMMIT SHIRLEY (I mean you didn't know but dammit)
+3 C.C.'s temporary self-sacrifice
+2 Aww, he thinks of Nunnally in his last moment
+10 YESSSSSSS, C.C., LULU'S SAVIOR
-5 C.C. be honest, half of what you say makes no sense and means nothing
+50 Lelouch's entire crowning moment of awesome including "the only ones who should kill are those who are preapared to be killed" and "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you, all of you, DIE!"
+2 …Did I do that?Lulu
-2 Dammit stop doing monologues!
+5 Aww yeah, that smirk! Lelouch is here!

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Loved:

All the moment of Sunrise explaining NOTHING EVER. Except what you least want.

Also, DAMMIT THIS REMINDED ME HOW MUCH I WANTED TO SEE LELOUCH RIDE A HORSE IN THE ACTUAL SERIES. Damn you, horseback Lulu! Stop taunting me! :(

Lol the door behind him. I didn't even notice that.

You know, that "Destroy Britannia" actually doesn't make sense there. XD

So much vague and random C.C. I want to know what "my" means too.

This was awesome! I look forward to more. Also, do we have a final tally for the episode?

[snowdevil-crow.livejournal.com]

Aw shoot, I missed this? I can't believe I missed it!

Ah well, STALKER CC FTW! ♥♥


Also, I just wanted to say, Shirley is right. He really does have a gambling problem, and it just gets worse through the series. :|

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Now I'm laughing thinking of Homer Simpson's "Well YOU have a GAMBLING PROBLEM!" speech.

SPOILERS

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

Let's see...
First the intro. The first scene is a bit unexplained, especially the part in which CC is watching the boys. Surely, it gets explained in the drama cd but at the time I didn't know the drama cd stories so I got the impression CC was already targeting Lelouch.
It was also weird how the voices couldn't be heard, just the cicalas.
However Suzaku helping little Lelouch was a good starting point for the plot (and immediately let us know Lelouch's weakness ^_-).
I've heard in the original plan the opening scene should have been also the ending scene (Suzaku and Lelouch facing each other about to shoot each other) but I think all in all it was better to use this scene to start the series.
I'm always impressed by how the opening are foreshadowed lot of things.
There are those shoots that reminds the photo taken to criminals and that, interesting enough involve Charles, but there are also CC, Suzaku, Shirley, Euphy. It's not just random shot of characters, each of them will end up being guilty of something.
There's a random pic of Kaguya, one of Shneizer, the geass symbol carved on the stone (I think it was in the Kaminejima island we saw it) and I think there's the bases in which Jeremiah was turned into a cyborg (but I might be wrong). My fave thought is the chess piece. The king placed in that position imply you've lost the game. We're told how the first rebellion will end from episode 1!

The parallelisms between the start of the first series and the second are interesting but I guess it'll be better to discuss them when we'll reach the first episode of the second series.
It's also interesting how nobles are presented immediately as people worth being disliked starting from the first we see. Arrogant, racistic and often good for nothing.
I've always found interesting the pause Lelouch makes before saying his surname. He surely isn't shy to say it but that pause always made me think it was a veiled implication that Lamperouge isn't his true surname. But maybe it's just me.
In the beginning Shirley didn't impress me much with her talking about how Lelouch is wrong in acting the way he did, although Milly softened the whole thing implying Shirley isn't doing this because she's judging Lelouch but because she cares for him.
Interesting how are tossed in Tamaki, who, we will discover, is the guy who always messes up, and Naoto, previous leader of the rebel and Karen's brother.

Another interesting point is how the rebel's terroristic action, which involved innocents also, lost its importance compared to Clovis retaliation to massacre all the people in the ghetto.
LOL, Clovis loses immediately points calling the Japanese Eleven. From Kallen's sentence we've immediately the feelings although he's speaking nicely of the Japanese aiding them, he's demeaning them using that name (of course Clovis is probably not even considering he is. I guess he doesn't even worry about how Japanese would prefer to be called but still we're immediately informed calling a Japanese like that isn't nice).

Re: SPOILERS - Part 2

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

Honestly I think Clovis overdo his act in his speech. He seems to teatrical to be honest and, in fact, he was acting according to a role.
His speech is better than the ones Charles does but he rants about justice and happiness as if they were for everyone when it's clear Eleven aren't included.
Interesting is Lelouch's observation 'Even if we were to cry the dead ones wouldn't resurrect'. It seems a cold observation but it comes from a boy who had lost his mother and shows well his character.
It's also interesting how, before having the Geass, Lelouch says the world can't change. It's the same thing he'll say in season 2 before regaining geass and memory.
It makes me think he believes you need a really amazing power to change things.
Interesting how Clovis also can be cinic, saying when there's a matter of security the only having fun are media.I found rather weird how Bartley went to discuss with Clovis about the mess they were in while in public. He was probably being vague but even Diethard noticed something was up.
I like the details about the knightmares, the shoots showing the text saying the pilot is Jeremiah and the other showing the starting screen on the nightmare's pc.
It's also interesting how Lelouch this time is reading Hamlet, the tale of a prince who wishes to revenge is father, who was killed with the possible complicity of his mother.
The first time I saw this episode I didn't notice it but here Cheese-kun has its first appariction! A tiny cheese-kun is attached to one camera of the people watching the incident. LOL where there's CC there should be also Cheese-kun!
I also like Lelouch's reaction compared to the one of everyone else just watching. Is interesting how a woman tells the others 'what are they waiting for to call the police' while she's busy taking pictures... -_-
I'm puzzled by Lelouch saying a shiny things and being already mind connected with CC. It felt weird and it'll be never explained in the series.
Oh Jeremiah, you and your loyalty! Somewhere I read Clovis wasn't that bad of a ruler but surely here the idea Elevens doesn't understand Clovis' feelings feel... well... he really doesn't look much like he cares for them. Interesting however how he looks a tiny bit impressed by Kallen's determination.
Lloyd is absolutely awesome when he says 'oh? did I guess right?' also it's interesting how it was Cecile who actually guessed right!
Although Bartley's plan seems a tad too riscky since it looked like it would be much worse if the terrorists were to put their hands on CC...
I find rather disgusting how Britannians are portrayed as so very racistics. Not only they massacred the people in the ghetto but they even insulted the honorary Britannians who were siding with them and aiding them.
Amazing how Lelouch was fast enough to shield himself from Suzaku's kick!
Lelouch's speech feels definitely weird but it's interesting how Suzaku jumped immediately to conclusions. He could have been a student kidnapped by the terrorists for all he knew, or one who found himself there by incident and yet Suzaku immediately accuse him to be a terrorist without even asking him what he was doing there.
I so love how in anime kids who hadn't seen each other for years unfailingly manage to recognize each other nearly immediately despite the changes they should have gone thought.
Call me weird but CC's coming out from the capsule reminds me the scene of the little mermaid coming out from the sea after she got her legs.
Have someone noticed how Ougi's voice is kind when he speak with Kallen?
It's also interesting/disgusting, how that Britannia commander said he'll repay Suzaku for finding the gas capsule allowing him to kill the 'terrorist'. I wonder if he really meant it as a premium or wanted to set up a scene in which Suzaku killed a student, in order to late kill Suzaku as well, so to get rid of witnesses about CC.

[x-reggg.livejournal.com]

psst, there are episode tags in the comm. it would be a great help if you used them ^_^;;

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

I'll use them from now on. I wasn't aware of all the tags cause I'm a noob~.

[inulovinkit.livejournal.com]

Damnit, why am I always late to the party? D:

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

It's not too late! It's still three days before the next discussion.

[ka.livejournal.com]

i wasn't going to go along with this rewatching thingy since i just finished the series for the first time a few weeks ago, but...

IMISSCODEGEASSSOMUCH. so i shall be rewatching~ ♥ ;D