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

[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.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

Interesting also how Lelouch is surprised by Suzaku's declaration of not wishing to kill him and weird how he doesn't get hurt at all when the vehicle explodes. He was close he should have been injured.
Clovis is again theatrical when he orders the destruction of the ghetto, which makes me thing maybe he is a theatrical person. After all Lelouch is very coreographic as well.
The massacre is rather disgusting. The Britannians commenting that people is scum and all those apparently harmless looking people killed... even kids and old people... -_-
The series underline how this is horrible, while there wasn't even a dramatic shot when the terrorists attacked to steal the CC capsule.
Disgusting is also Clovis' satisfied smile
More interesting glimpses of Lelouch's character are when he accuses CC of being responsible for all this and how he seems shocked by Suzaku's 'death'.
Oh, and now I too think Jeremiah should have been Lancelot's pilot. In fact they called him back (although it's said it was because they wanted him to take command of team 2) but he refused to stay on the first line and once Lloyd asked about his pilot Cecile informed him he was in the first lines.
Can I say I find ridicule CC's prisoner clothes include high heels? -_-
Lelouch's misfortune is spectacular in a fashon. Not only when he reaches the only exit the Britannians are already there but his phone rang!
Interesting also how CC hadn't spoken until when she scream not to kill Lelouch. It might be she was gagged but the gag came away just in that moment. Same is with the sleeves binding her arms.
Silly how the hair on CC's forehead open up to show the simbol before she's shot. Typical of anime but still...
Horrible how everyone is willing to distoort the truth. Clovis, the Britannian soldier... no wonder Lelouch thinks the world is rotten.
Interesting how Lelouch's hand is stretched toward CC but he doesn't touch her and how, in time of troubles, he thinks to Nunnally.
I kind of hate the fact the scene of all those people wearing the same mark as CC on their forehead will stay unexplained. Also I think CC's rambling during the pact was a bit too vague and that's rather weird how Lelouch got anyway he would get the power to order people around.
Also the Ragnarock connection feels a bit random at this point in the story.
Oh, and am I weird if I like the scene of the two gears connecting?
It's also strange how the Britannian commander suddently felt something weird in Lelouch. He should be too far to see the symbol in Lelouch's eye yet he's scared (and how could Lelouch know he would get a symbol in that eye so that he covered it? but maybe the eye hurt at first...).
I'm impressed by how the soldiers smiled before shooting themselves and how, for them, it was easy to do so. Their self preservation instinct didn't kick in at all to fight the Geass but maybe they were also trained to die/kill themselves if a commander would order them so, so they couldn't really rebel.
Great the scene with Lelouch. His expression as blood dirty his check and shook starts to settle in, the fact he's in the light as if he had a light pointed on him as if he was in a theatre, his expression turning from shocked into a cruel grin as he left his sentence unfinished... it's all very cool (as a sidenote in a video a fan had transposed child Lelouch's expression as he said he'll destroy Britannia to this grin, to the sad smile he had at the end of the series. The contrast between the 3 expressions is quite interesting).
Interesting how many episodes of CG will end up with an open/unfinished sentence.
As a personal opinion sometimes I feel like Lelouch's evil expressions like this one and laughs are a sign of his mind cracking under an histeric crisis more than a sign of evilness but maybe it's just me.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[nayami.livejournal.com]

It's also strange how the Britannian commander suddently felt something weird in Lelouch. He should be too far to see the symbol in Lelouch's eye yet he's scared (and how could Lelouch know he would get a symbol in that eye so that he covered it? but maybe the eye hurt at first...).

This scene has always dogged at me since most people show absolutely no reaction to the Geass at all. The common interpretation is the commander is reacting to Lelouch's sudden change of confidence and manner. He was a scared boy a moment ago, and now he shows no fear and instead arrogance in his stance. That's something that might catch a Britannian off-guard.

I also want to point out how brutal S1 is compared to R2, which is illustrated perfectly in this episode. I know it had much to do with the timeslot change, but I also felt the graphic style of S1 was better suited to Geass than the more toned-down version of R2. Though R2 definitely had its brutal moments. Imagine how Rolo would have been portrayed in R2 if Geass had its original shot.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

I thought this but it's more like the man is scared since his hands start trembling. Now, even if Lelouch had switched behaviour... well this alone was no reason enough to be scared, it was more likely to think fear had turned Lelouch insane.

Definitely the first season is more brutal and looks a bit better planned out. Details that seems meaningless become important later, bigger groups of episodes are more tightly connected, it's definitely a series with more adult tones... I would have liked to see Rolo in it, though I seem to remember Rolo wasn't planned to exist when the first season was being transmitted so maybe we wouldn't have had him, had the series kept on its original shot (which would have been a pity because I liked him)... though it's possible they would have kept him anyway, maybe with another role...

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[carlenne.livejournal.com]

Definitely the first season is more brutal and looks a bit better planned out. Details that seems meaningless become important later, bigger groups of episodes are more tightly connected, it's definitely a series with more adult tones...

Yeah, I definitely feel that S1 had a more planned out feel than S2. It's a shame really, I wish things had turned out differently with the whole time slot thing. While I still enjoyed R2 I feel like we really missed out on something because of it.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

Adapting things is always difficult. I guess/hope if things had gone as planned we would have gotten a much better background story for CC, for example. But when you've to redo a plot to mak it fit some new requisites and still have it meaningful and logic... well, you'v to keep things a bit simpler or you're going to end up in troubles.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

I have never thought of the time change before until I read this, but you're totally right. R2 did have some moments, but they weren't as graphic, it feels, as S1. I guess when I think of when things get graphic I think of the massacre with Euphie.

But I guess there was the massacre in R2 as well when the Black Rebellion infiltrated the Geass study base.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Actually, I mean bloodshed. Compare the massacre of the Cult to the massacre of the Japanese in terms of close-shots, blood and lingering long shots of the carnage. The difference is HUGE. It happened a lot. I think Lelouch's death was as bloody as things got, and I think it got special treatment for what it was.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 3

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

I think part of the care put in the massacre is because it helps put the Britannians in the role of the bad guys.
CG asks us to side ith the terrorists. Now, normally, when you hear the word 'terrorist' you don't feel that prone to side with them.
But after you see the Japanese massacre and the way Britannians mistreat Japanese... you can justify it.
Of course this can be just my impression but well, the tv said that in the incident caused by the terrorists there was people killed as well and yet CG didn't show us a single shot about it. Actually it's shown as news in the background and we forget it pretty quickly due to CG plot advancing, pushing us to be more intrigued by the action taking on than by that previous 'incident'.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 2

[nayami.livejournal.com]

It makes me think he believes you need a really amazing power to change things.

I really like this because it shows the development Lelouch and the rest will go through during the series, learning that ordinary people are just as capable of shaping their own destiny as those gifted with power. This is ultimately what the aftermath of ZR is about, and it takes a long time for Lelouch to learn that and actually have faith in the normal, his sister included.

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.

Drat, I meant to put this in my notes. Kudos for you for catching it for us all. I love the subtlety with that scene, seeing as Lelouch basically has the Hamlet scenario, just in its inversion -- avenging his mother who he believes was killed in complicity with his father.

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.

It's important to notice that only nobility and military, those with power, are shown to be violently racist, with the exception of Nina who may have her reasons. The rest of the Britannian culture is relatively indifferent, as shown in the scene where they flock around the crash but make no overtures to help in any way. You get the feeling Britannia is a very callous culture, possibility because of the constant emphasis on superiority.

Re: SPOILERS - Part 2

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

I really like this because it shows the development Lelouch and the rest will go through during the series, learning that ordinary people are just as capable of shaping their own destiny as those gifted with power. This is ultimately what the aftermath of ZR is about, and it takes a long time for Lelouch to learn that and actually have faith in the normal, his sister included.

Same here though I kind of understand Lelouch for feeling so powerless and negative.

Drat, I meant to put this in my notes. Kudos for you for catching it for us all. I love the subtlety with that scene, seeing as Lelouch basically has the Hamlet scenario, just in its inversion -- avenging his mother who he believes was killed in complicity with his father.

^_____________^ I've been curious to discover if he was reading the Divina Commedia again (I was having fun compating this episode with the one of R2) so I decided I had to check it and yes, Lelouch reading Hamlet fit very well. I'm amazed by how CG took care of little details like this one.

It's important to notice that only nobility and military, those with power, are shown to be violently racist, with the exception of Nina who may have her reasons. The rest of the Britannian culture is relatively indifferent, as shown in the scene where they flock around the crash but make no overtures to help in any way. You get the feeling Britannia is a very callous culture, possibility because of the constant emphasis on superiority.

Well, there are also the boys who harrass Suzaku ruining his shirts at school and the boys who bug an Eleven while Lelouch and Kallen are watching.
What impressed me is not the violence per se but how the people seem to find normal to despise Japanese.
When Suzaku inscribed at Ashford even the non violent students kept him far and even Rivalz told Shirley not to be too direct with Suzaku (although he pointed out Suzaku shouldn't be called an Eleven but a Honorary Britannian... a thing, Nina pointed out, that doesn't really make a difference between him and an Eleven).
It's true Suzaku had been suspected of murdering Clovis but still prejudices around Suzaku won't stop that easily.

Re: SPOILERS

[carlenne.livejournal.com]

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.

Wow, I totally never noticed that before, but it's so true. Though was Lelouch included as well? It would seem more fitting if he was.

Re: SPOILERS

[jjblue1.livejournal.com]

Not in the first opening. He's in the second, Kaidoku Funou. My guess is they didn't want to spoil the fact Lelouch also would commit crimes (Kaidoku Funou is the Op showed from ep 13, in short the episode just after the one we founut with his actions he caused the death of Shirley's father) but let us believe for a while longer Lelouch was just an hero fighting for justice.
Yes, Lelouch had already committed sins like killing his brother for example, but since Clovis had just ordered a massacre people might not think at it too much.