Code Geass Episode 2: Discussion

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

Stage 2: 覚醒の白き騎士
The Awakening of the White Knight









Lelouch seems a little confused as to why he was granted such a power—which he even calls weird. He's still confused as to what the strange girl who seems to be lying dead before him wanted him to do exactly. But you know, we never get much time to sit and think before something else happens. Before Lelouch knows it Villetta shows up and threatens him to tell her what happened. Even though it was a dangerous moment Lelouch at least learns that he cannot use his new power without having direct eye contact with the person.

I'm happy to see that Suzaku survived his ordeal with the bullet and that his father's watched ended up saving his life. I don't know whether to say it's ironic or if it's just coincidence that his father's watch saved him. As we all know, Suzaku puts his life on the line due to his past but when he came to Llyod told him that he missed his chance to get to heaven. I wonder if that was just a coincidence of if Llyod somehow knows, through all his smarts, what Suzaku subconscious little desire is.

Also, even though Shirley almost had Lelouch killed by her calling his cell, Lelouch quickly forgives her and even calls her up for some information to see if there's any talk of the little war happening on television. Shirley, who has a thing for Lelouch, rightfully feels used by the boy. I guess we'd all have a hard time saying no to Lelouch if he asked us to do something for him, eh?

So Lelouch decides he's going to get involved and help out the terrorists since he doesn't exactly like Britannia. But I gotta be honest, his whole thing with Kallen about trusting him made me think of Aladdin and Jasmine. I know I'm probably out of place but all I saw when he told Kallen that if she trusted him they'd win was Aladdin outstretching his hand to Jasmine asking, "Do you trust me?"

The whole mental battle between Lelouch and Clovis was rather cute. Lelouch has always been able to beat Clovis at chess and so he was pretty confident of himself in those regards. But poor Clovis had no idea what he was up against until the very end. You know, they painted Clovis as such a bad guy in the first two episodes but I always wondered throughout the rest of the series if he really was the bad guy they made him out to be? Or was he really just trying desperately to please his father and get some sort of recognition? In that regard, he seems a little more like Lelouch, doesn't he? Well, aside from trying to please his father... Lelouch is pretty intent on destroying him, but he is trying to get some sort of recognition from his father whether it be positive or negative I feel.

Does anyone else feel that Lelouch got extremely lucky? He said that seeing the enemy's positions was a double edged sword but if the terrorists followed his commands they would win. I assumed that he meant it was double edged because the enemy could technically see his position since he was one of their Kightmares. Also, the Knightmares he gave the terrorists should be able to see all the positions too, right? Or did I miss something completely? Clovis and his army also changed the transmission code a few times but Lelouch was still able to see their positions, I'm assuming, since he was in the Knightmare. And if the terrorists are using the army's Knightmares, shouldn't the army be able to see their location, too? Or did they change the frequency of theirs all together? As far as the terrorist's singles, they are not showing up on Clovis' screen at all.

At any rate, Clovis fell right into Lelouch's plan and it all fell apart at that point for him. Lelouch is very skilled at playing the game and playing it well. He acknowledged at the beginning that he had to be careful since the difference in this game was that he was playing with human lives, but at the same time we know that sort of mentality has to change if he really wants to do what he aims to do. I don't think that the fact he's killing people has really hit him just yet. At this point Lelouch realizes that he can defeat Britannia—that it is possible—and Clovis really begins to wonder who the heck he's fighting against because whoever it is is good. Really good. Because of that fear that he really will lose everything he gives into Lloyd's request to use his Lancelot, but only under the pretence that the fight will end in his favor. Ohh, Clovis.

Suzaku still feels the need to find Lelouch and save him along with the girl. The ironic part is that he doesn't realize that Lelouch is in front of him; and Lelouch, who still believes Suzaku is dead, doesn't realize that Suzaku is right in front of him. The ironic part is that Suzaku attempts to destroy the Knightmare Lelouch is in without realizing who is really inside! But we do get a sense of who Suzaku is and what he prioritizes when he saves the falling Eleven citizen no one would have thought that of a Britannian soldier.

Last minute Clovis calls off his troops in the nick of time. Kallen and her gang got very lucky, if Lelouch had been a few moments later she might have died along with her comrades. But with the cat out of the bag for Lelouch with Clovis, he's always down to business. So Lelouch tells Clovis that he has returned to change everything. It looks like we'll have to wait to see what exactly he plans to change.

Next week is Stage 3: 偽りのクラスメイト
The Deceitful Classmate

Comments

[katsura-shinju.livejournal.com]

This is funny because I actually started rewatching it without thinking about this a few days ago.

But hrrnnngghh Lloyd. Watching this episode rekindled my love for him.

For the terrorists' Knightmares, they had their IFFs removed or somethng, iirc?

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

Someone said that they could see the Briannian army's positions, but they still just followed Lelouch's orders. I guess I missed it lol.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

About Clovis as the bad guy, apparently that's what FukuJun thought too so he was completely shocked to learn that Clovis was gone by episode 3. XD

And the rebel Knightmares could see the enemy positions. That strategy was involved in the "shoot them through the wall" move. They also used it in planning their attacks. The Britannians can see the rebel Knightmares, but they also assume they are their own forces so aren't thinking about attacking them. They only later realize their own forces are fighting them, and by that point aren't sure who is who so they can't just start randomly attacking spread-out Knightmares.

Also, I've never quite got the animosity Lelouch has always held for Clovis. It always seemed so unfair, given their not exactly vicious past, aside from Lelouch beating his pants at chess. And I never got the feeling Clovis treated him cruelly. There was just something about Clovis he resented and I mean beyond the way he feels about him for what he's become as governor general because there he is justified. It's always struck me as odd. :|a

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

I guess it's the fact that he's the governor of Japan that is all Lelouch needs to kill him. =\

P.S. <3 Eiri Yuki!

ep 3...spoiler?

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Well IIRC we find out in Episode 3 that he seems to think Clovis has some part in his mother's murder. Also he's probably really upset about the whole "eleven massacre" thing.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

And now for more random observations:

- It's kind of scary the Villetta just shot a huge Knightmare gun at a student, but wow that's some impressive aim, considering how big those bullets must be. 0_o
- I also like the nice play on hierarchy we have here with Villetta's reaction to Lelouch saying he is a duke. It's good foreshadowing to his revelations later in the episode.
- I always enjoy Lelouch learning how his power works step by step. It's kind of adorable.
- I'm still a bit confused on why Lloyd decided to use Suzaku for Lancelot. Is it because he's expendable since the military probably expects him to be dead at this point? Cecile mentions Suzaku excelling at the simulations, but Suzaku himself says an Eleven can't be a knight so how could he have been tested prior to meeting with Lloyd and Cecile. On this note, I do love how Suzaku is referred to as a devicer since he is not allowed to be called a knight like the rest of the pilots. I guess pilot is also out of the picture since the Lancelot is an experimental model. Just a lot of interesting wordplay going on here.
- Also interesting is Suzaku's main reason for fighting in this episode: To save Lelouch and C.C. We very much get the feeling from his conversation with Cecile that this is the only reason he agreed to take Lancelot. A bit ironic considering how much he will soon despise the both of them. Also Suzaku's desire to end the fight as soon as possible, regardless of what it takes, so he can increase his chances of finding Lelouch and C.C. alive. Which makes it especially interesting to watch him devastate his enemies left and right, with little to no reaction, but his moral sense of justice kicks in immediately when it comes to saving someone, as Cecile quickly notes.
- I also love the classic dynamic as its inverted in this episode, where it's obvious that Lelouch (leading the terrorists) is supposed to be the villain, while Suzaku (championing the flagging Britannians) is supposed to be the hero. This is shown in Suzaku's mecha-hero godmode fighting style versus Lelouch's snide quips about his success and his class villain OH NOES moment when he realizes he's being defeated by ONE machine, along with his griping about the uselessness of the terrorists.
- But this is also further inverted, as we see Lelouch react to Kallen's rescuing him. I love the "the most important element in battle is the human element," something that Lelouch does learn to consider fully. And more so with his ordering Clovis to see to the casualties on both sides. A very clever way of showing how gray the series truly is when it presents the well-known models and then shows them to be the facades they are, and we all know how Geass LOVES its facades.

I really hate you, word count

[nayami.livejournal.com]

- It's something to watch Lelouch change from somewhat nervous to be trapped with the terrorists in the first episode to being fairly unfazed in a battlefield in this one. Though he does still express his anxiety from time to time, it's more of a clinical self-assessment, another trait of his that I adore. But another important element of this scene is his simplifying the entire chaos to a chess game. While this looks just plain snazzy and awesome, it also shows how Lelouch doesn't yet truly understand what real battle is and is still very much a very damaged child, especially shown in his Lancelot tantrums and his annoyance at things like reinforcements. LOL.
- On this note, I enjoy the quick scene of him tapping into all the Britannian intelligence so he can relay it to the terrorists.
- I always wonder if the scene where Clovis is so horrified upon realizing how he's losing if he's not subconsciously thinking of his brother and that's what it hits him especially hard. Though he's also an arrogant floof who is used to things being taken care of for him since he became governor general so there's that too. He really is an AWFUL military commander.
- First time Lelouch took out the ground on someone. The creators eventually ended up loving how easy this move was to prepare and execute that they made it his signature to the point where he uses it at times that it's completely arbitrary (R2).
- I love Lelouch calling the terrorists pawns, especially Tamaki's reaction. Oh Tamaki.
- Still get chills at the entire last scene of this episode, especially the closing line. So good.

[snowdevil-crow.livejournal.com]

- I also like the nice play on hierarchy we have here with Villetta's reaction to Lelouch saying he is a duke. It's good foreshadowing to his revelations later in the episode.

Ah, man, I keep forgetting that we don't know Lelouch's background right off the bat. Heck, we don't know anything about his past or motivation until episode 7 or so, do we?

[ichinichinemasu.livejournal.com]

In addition to agreeing about the hero/villain thing:

I love the "the most important element in battle is the human element," something that Lelouch does learn to consider fully.

That line also struck me! It's how he always seems to get tripped up.

SPOILERS

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

his moral sense of justice kicks in immediately when it comes to saving someone, as Cecile quickly notes.

So much of Suzaku's issues make more sense when you know his fixation is really on saving people, or not letting them die. So many people get caught up in what he says about morality that they miss that that isn't what Suzaku is about, that's his means of getting it.

I love the "the most important element in battle is the human element," something that Lelouch does learn to consider fully.

Hmmm, though it takes him some time - like you said, he sticks with the chess game comparison for a while, and then throws tantrums when people don't play by the rules he is. (And even longer to realise that even when people are involved, not all people think and react in the same way - Suzaku is so devastating an enemy of his simply because he just doesn't get Suzaku's trains of thought)

Incidentally, this made me recall that Lelouch initially reminded me of, of all things, a quote from an Animorphs book. About how a character can see the most direct ruthless path - and then just adds the morality in afterward.

These comments, incidentally, are one of the things that pinged me to the fact that Lelouch and Suzaku aren't just playing with the villain/hero thing, but are essentially counterpoints (which is why I can't understand loving one and hating the other; they make so much more sense if you consider both). Suzaku gets so caught up on trying to save lives in the here-and-now that it screws up his long term goals of doing so; Lelouch gets such tunnel vision about his long term goals that he misses how much people get stomped on at the moment. And these both backfire on them spectacularly and they have to develop out of it.

[welyn.livejournal.com]

Cecile mentions Suzaku excelling at the simulations, but Suzaku himself says an Eleven can't be a knight so how could he have been tested prior to meeting with Lloyd and Cecile.

It was mentioned in the novels not the best source, I know that Suzaku was indeed 'tested' ("military collecting experimental data using the Honorary Britannian troops" he calls it in the Shadow) and found the Knightmare given to him frustratingly slow. And that was hilarious, but daaamn, I can't find that page.
Lloyd used Suzaku for the same purposes, I guess. He needs data and he can't choose.

A bit ironic considering how much he will soon despise the both of them.
You mean Lelouch and C.C.? I thought he was mostly focused on Lelouch D:

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

I also love the classic dynamic as its inverted in this episode, where it's obvious that Lelouch (leading the terrorists) is supposed to be the villain, while Suzaku (championing the flagging Britannians) is supposed to be the hero. This is shown in Suzaku's mecha-hero godmode fighting style versus Lelouch's snide quips about his success and his class villain OH NOES moment when he realizes he's being defeated by ONE machine, along with his griping about the uselessness of the terrorists.

This is one of my favorite things about Geass. It's like a Saturday Morning Cartoon from the villain's POV. It's so great.

It's kind of scary the Villetta just shot a huge Knightmare gun at a student

I thought so too!

Btw, about the testing thing, I'm guessing Knightmare simulations are a part of basic training regardless of whether you'll use it.

[ka.livejournal.com]

- MAN I MISSED THIS OPENING \O/ it's one of those anime openings that just gets me instantly excited/happy
- lmfao "allen spacer" o ok lelouch
- OH JOYOUS, SUZAKU SHIRTLESS
- lloyd called him an eleven? hmm, never noticed that.
- i remember this is where i started thinking code geass was super cool and worth watching- when lelouch starts giving orders lmao
- lelouch and his insane laugh :D
- LANCELOTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
- suzaku is so lovely :3
- LMFAO THE LANCELOT JUST PULLED A SPINZAKU
- i actually like clovis, boooo
- and i love this ending

... i am not very analytical today, it seems.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

It's almost as good as Alex Dino. Almost.

And ACK you reminded me I meant to include the first classic crazy Lelouch laugh and spinzaku Lancelot in my notes. Sob.

[m-nemonica.livejournal.com]

- OH JOYOUS, SUZAKU SHIRTLESS

i concur there is simply too much sexzaku in this episode. );

[snowdevil-crow.livejournal.com]

THE FIRST CRAZYLOUCH LAUGH ♥♥♥

[snowdevil-crow.livejournal.com]

But I gotta be honest, his whole thing with Kallen about trusting him made me think of Aladdin and Jasmine. I know I'm probably out of place but all I saw when he told Kallen that if she trusted him they'd win was Aladdin outstretching his hand to Jasmine asking, "Do you trust me?"

Ah, but isn't Lelouch the princess, not the handsome rogue off the streets? Hmmm AU possibilities hmmmm...

I think the thing with Clovis was explained in one of the sound dramas, actually (Because Sunrise just loves doing that All There In the Manual trope) - basically, he hated the Japanese because he felt it was their fault that his little brother and sister died. Is that irony? I think that's irony.

Also, Clovis was a bit of a royal softie lazybones who liked throwing parties and painting and stuff, but he was also a racist, genocidal jerkass. So while I think it's a point in Sunrise's favour that they managed to show two sides and such complexity to such a relatively insignificant character, he wasn't really 'not such a bad guy after all'. He was, he just also had some redeeming/softer qualities. Which I guess holds true for practically everyone in this anime, now that I thin of it...

I think the reason the terrorists couldn't see the locations of the other Knightmares was because they weren't part of the network (?) that was already established between all the Knightmares already in play. They were a new shipment fresh off the train, right, so they weren't part of the group that Clovis's soldiers were using. Clovis thought someone was hacking him, I don't think it occurred to him that someone had captured a fully functioning Knightmare from his soldiers because that's not something that should be possible if the opponents are using force to subdue the pilot. Or maybe it's just that Lelouch really was hacking him, IDK how that stuff works.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Lelouch is totally the princess. Also, I am loling at the image of Lelouch hacking Clovis.

I always got the feeling Clovis was just really sheltered from anything but royal life. So he acted like a stuck-up royal when things went wrong, but he mainly just wanted to lavish in decadence and enjoy himself. Though I did forget that thing about him hating the Japanese. I mainly remembered he asked to become the governor general so that he could defeat the place that took his siblings from him, thus solving the one puzzle Lelouch could not. It was almost like their final match to him.

[ichinichinemasu.livejournal.com]

Really, I just want to say how much I enjoyed the whole Lancelot launch thing in this episode. I love Llyod <33, and how he points out that Suzaku "didn't quite make to heaven this time" like you said, I think he did know something about Suzaku's motives XD. Although it still confuses me why Suzaku is given the Lancelot (convenient random not-dead guy with good testing scores?), it's interesting Llyod and Cecile's whole commentary on how it has the power to transform him. And it does, just like Lelouch's power! So you really see him become something other than random foot soldier and more like a knight and balancing power. Also enjoyed the rationale that he was doing it to save Lelouch and CC. OH IRONY.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

The launch is soooo sexy. And good catch on the "power to transform" bit regarding Suzaku and Lancelot. It does pretty much end up being the rival to Lelouch's Geass for the most part, and it's primarily what sets them against each other. So I guess the question becomes "Transform him into what?" :o

[archtangent.livejournal.com]

It's not that I hate geass or something since I just realized this much much later after it aired. I partly agree with you about Clovis. I don't see that much of a justice on Lelouch's decision to immediately kill him.

Although yes, he's got that attitude that makes you want to kill him...

I see Lelouch immediately killing him off if he's a mortal enemy of some sort, but Clovis is not so... After that threat he posed to Clovis, I don't think Lelouch should have killed him right off the bat. Then again, maybe that's an adrenaline rush for Lelouch for finally gaining some power to advance his plan of revenge.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

Lelouch killed Clovis as both a test of his own convictions and to show his distaste to Britannia and the Japanese for how Clovis (and by extension, Britannia) treated the Japanese. He was sending a message, and as Clovis is the governor general for the area, he served as the ideal way to do so.

[carlenne.livejournal.com]

I find it funny that Lelouch never recognises Suzaku as the pilot of Lancelot until much later on. Seriously, who else does a spin-kick like that but Suzaku?

Actually, I'm surprised he was even able to pilot it in this episode seeing as he got shot in the chest not so long ago. Bit confused as to how much time passes from the shooting to him waking up in the hospital.

Lol, I like how Lelouch often calls Shirley to get information/ask advice during the series. Even before his activities as Zero from the way she was all 'Not again!' it seems he did it a lot before too.

[yukiruchan.livejournal.com]

Actually, Suzaku didn't get shot in the chest.. the bullet got his watch instead. He got knocked out from the impact but woke up fine and gets to test pilot the new Lancelot. Talk about a lucky guy;)

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

I'll admit that this episode got me into Code Geass a lot better than the first one. Partially because the friends as unknowing enemies thing hooked me. Partially because the way Lelouch so quickly slipped into the over-confident "Now I can destroy Britannia!" mode meant I couldn't help but see him as starting out an epic "pride before a fall" arc, and I wanted to see just how far he could get before it all came back to bite him on the ass (Answer: until SAZ/the R1 finale. Until then he only wavered rather than fell)

And partially because of the Lancelot intro - I was a great big Arthurian legend fan as a kid, okay?

I'm kind of of the opinion that all the gratuitous Arthurian references are entirely there as support of the Suzaku = Lancelot symbolism, in the same way the chess symbolism is to back up Lelouch as the Black King.

Because there are really a lot of Suzaku-Lancelot parallels - and I don't mean the Disneyfied perfect white knight Lancelot. I mean, for starters there's the affair with Guinevere (which was also the beginning of the end for the kingdom); and if you go into Grail mythology, Lancelot spent years searching for the Holy Grail, but was too spiritually flawed to ever find it.

Plus there's all the really fun stuff about the relationship with his dearest friend Gawain. According to this website (http://www.arthurian-legend.com/more-about/more-about-arthur-6.php), Le Morte d'Arthur has this really interesting quote:

"No man shall handle this sword except the best knight in the world, and that will be Sir Launcelot or else Galahad his son, and with it Launcelot shall slay the man he loved best in the world, and that will be Sir Gawain."

That sound at all familiar. Suzaku's entire ending in the show is basically exactly the same as how Lancelot ended up.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

I just want to squee at your wonderful Lancelot/Gawain parallels because I have to go to work and don't have time or sense for an intelligible response. Squee!

[scribblestorm.livejournal.com]

Apologies if it's been mentioned before but: I will never get over how conveniently Lelouch happened to find a stray chess set on the battlefield >_<.

Aside from that, oh Lloyd. I know it's bordering on caricature, but he really is the epitome of disinterested, 'what moral/political/financial consequences?' scientist at this point. Heyyy, if I want field data for the Lancelot, and there *happens* to be an available soldier with impressive test scores and was supposed to be dead anywayyyyy...the path from A to B is pretty clear, damn all else ^_^. Of course, all of this is just an observation from this point in time (hint, hint? OR NOT) but it really cracks me up, how much he reminds me of some of the people I work with to a T.

Won't be fangirling Suzaku (marvel at my self-control), but I will invoke just this:

Cecile: Read the manual?
Suzaku: Most of it.
Cecile: Well-done.

XD MAKING IT WORK >> KNOWING HOW IT WORKS. Always.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

XD MAKING IT WORK >> KNOWING HOW IT WORKS. Always.

That's Suzaku for you!

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Code Geass Points
R1 Episode 2

+1 Thanks for the recap, C.C.
+2 Dat Ass points for C.C. in the opener
-2 No, Lelouch, it doesn't work that way points
+2 For that smirk, Lulu
+4 First named character got geassed
+2 Lloyd being Lloyd
+3 Lucky points for Suzaku
-1 Vain swimmer girls
+2 Inexplicably, chess set!
+2 And chessmaster Zero begins…."You'll have to trust me!"
-2 Jeremiah stop being an asshole!
-5 Dammit why wasn't this piece on the soundtrack?!
+5 "If you want to use [these Knightmares] to win, follow my orders!"
+1 King-twirl
-1 Tamaki, oh ye of little faith
-5 Bartley, you really suck at this, how are you General?
+4 Lloyd! :D
+3 I love the chess match visuals.
-4 Clovis is not bright
-2 WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE THREE DIMENSIONS?!
+5 CHECK!
+10 Damn that is a beautiful robot
+10 Damn, Suzaku, your ass looks fine in that pilot suit
-3 Tamaki, you are not bright
-4 GET OUT OF THE WAY YOU MORONS
+2 Suzaku comes in and BAM Lulu's down
+10 SPIN KICK ROBOT, YEAH
+2 Thanks for the save, Kallen
+1 Beat a hasty retreat, Lulu!
+8 Suzaku, save that woman and her baby!
+2 Lelouch doesn't understand
+3 Lloyd doesn't understand either
-2 I'M JUST GONNA ANNOUNCE MY PLAN NOW KTHX
-5 Tamaki, stop being such a dick
+10 And Lelouch saves everybody through the power of holding somebody powerful hostage!
-2 Clovis hears the clues but he still can't figure out exactly who's in the dark…hmm...
+10 Lelouch's final one-liners are the best

[nayami.livejournal.com]

-2 No, Lelouch, it doesn't work that way points
+2 Inexplicably, chess set!
+1 King-twirl
+10 Damn, Suzaku, your ass looks fine in that pilot suit
-2 I'M JUST GONNA ANNOUNCE MY PLAN NOW KTHX
+10 And Lelouch saves everybody through the power of holding somebody powerful hostage!

About the king-twirl, I think one of the creators once said the chess piece twirling thing Lelouch does is a restless tick so it could be either anticipation or anxiety. It's interesting to watch throughout the series and see which is which.

Also, yeah that whole telling the plan BEFORE the Geassing was pretty-boneheaded. The guard could have just shot him. |D;;

[starmines.livejournal.com]

It's going to be interesting to closely watch how Lelouch changes and matures on the battlefield. At first, it seems like he considers the whole thing to be a game (Like when he says that "I guess real combat is different" and when he finds that random chess piece on the ground. But at least he understands that humans are involved). I also found it interesting that he called the terrorists he was commanding 'useless', when they were first being attacked by the lancelot.

Also, I agree that killing Clovis seemed rather unnecessary. I think it's part of the fact that Lelouch was just getting into it...plus Clovis always acted like a 'typical Britannian', even if he was his brother.

SPOILERS

[kiraya.livejournal.com]

Boo, I'm late to the party.

"It'll all change. You. Your world." "Whether you want to or not." Again with the foreshadowy dialogue. I love it.

Watching Lelouch now versus how he commands later... it's interesting to see how his style evolves. He's a great tactician, even without formal training, but the way he sees his allies as mere pieces is a clear limitation.

I never really paid much attention to the Knightmares before, but as others mentioned last episode, I really find myself missing their land-based acrobatics. On the one hand, yes, flying things are cool and making the battlefield more three-dimensional provides its own tactical challenges and one has to appreciate that. On the other, watching the Lancelot, which must easily weigh in excess of a ton, jump and flip and move so rapidly, with such fluid articulation, is stunning. It just doesn't seem as much so when they all get flight-enabled units.

[nayami.livejournal.com]

The fluidity of the Knightmares is one of my favorite things about their original use in S1. I think it's why I enjoy the mechs in Star Driver so much because it brings back that basic FIGHTING style instead of making it all about wings and gimmicks. Lancelot is simply a gorgeous mech.