Code Geass Episode 8: Discussion!

[gods-debris.livejournal.com]

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (or a happy holiday if you're not into that) and I hope you guys proceed to have a happy New Year! I'm posting a day early because I feel like it! >O And because, as it turns out, I have to go on a nice little drive tomorrow and the roads are supposed to be icy so I figured I'd get it out of the way now. <3

Stage 8: The Order of the Black Knights
黒の騎士団





It looks as though the council members are going on a little field trip. Well, the female ones, at least. Nina is as racist as ever when it comes to the Japanese/Elevens. The translation says, "We won't leave you behind this time" (in Japanese she uses今度) which makes me wonder if there was a situation Nina was in that caused her to have this fear that I missed out on in previous watchings.

Some time must have elapsed between their arrival and when Zero introduces his band of merry men to their new hide out because in between our last visit with the girls they have now been taken hostage in a hotel by Mt. Fuji. It hits home for Kallen and raises the attention of Zero who seemed pretty apathetic to the whole ordeal. Todo is also pretty peeved. Perhaps due to some of his members going off and doing something on their own without consulting him or anyone else?

But not to worry. Cornelia is already on the scene and trying to break through the terrorist's defenses. However, despite her pride and her order not to show weakness to the terrorists, we find out that Euphemia is trapped inside as a hostage—but the kicker is the Japanese terrorists have no knowledge of her being there. Her Clark Kent glasses are totally keeping her from being recognized.

C.C. is talking to herself which brings her up a peg on the creepy list. But when you live as long as she does, perhaps it becomes something of the norm to talk to yourself about such things. She's so apathetic to Lelouch but she needs him to survive. Sometimes her feelings towards what he does feels hypocritical.

Sometimes I do wonder why they didn't just kill Zero there when they had the chance. I mean, he was right there! Of course, doing that then the story wouldn't continue. But I'm sure they could have done something to save the hostages and kill Zero. However, Zero got to get one word in with Cornelia, thus verifying his idea that Euphemia was trapped inside.

Of course, Nina acts up and becomes hysterical about the situation. Understandable, yes, but in that sort of situation she could have at least appealed to them by calling them Japanese instead of calling them Elevens. When they tried to haul her off, Euphemia stood up, named herself and gave herself in place of Nina who stood there awestruck and frozen in fear at the same time. Of course, Zero comes in and saves the day (while shedding some blood) and meets Euphemia who seems pretty curious to who Zero is. Meanwhile, it's nice to see that Suzaku is still as awesome as ever. Can anyone tell what pronoun he used today?

In the end, Zero can be pretty clever when he wants to be. Taking a camera with to show his good deeds? Wooo, you're really one to show the public that you aren't out there to be like the other terrorists. Suzaku, on the other hand, feels as though he's let everybody's life slip through his hands "just like last time". And Zero's talk of mercilessly killing people and how he has punished them... seems a little hypocritical, too, given his own actions at times.

I am going to be skipping Stage 8.5. If you wish to watch it, you may but next week will be Stage 9.

Next time:
Stage 9: Refrain
リフレイン

Comments

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Code Geass Points
R1 Episode 8

-2 Their destinies are predetermined with inevitable outcomes? You can't just throw that in there, show! Especially since Code Geass actually seems to be more about the consequences of free choices than about inescapable fate. Seriously, this show doesn't need to be more like Berserk.
+1 Hey, refrain foreshadowing
+2 lol Milly and Shirley
+1 schadenfreude at Nina
-4 You know, Sunrise, you can just explain what happened to Nina in the show. You don't have to let it slip in some obscure side materials so the rest of us are left scratching our heads. It might make me hate her less.
+10 super-pimped-out Zero ride
-5 JLF you assholes
-1 Stay cool, Zero and Kallen, don't let your identity slip
-1 Blah blah blah sakuradite sakuradite blah blah blah
+1 Aww, Shirley's thinking about her Lulu...little does she know he will be the one to come to her rescue
+2 Rivalz is so worried ;_;
-3 WHERE ARE YOUR AMAZING ZERO-CRUSHING TACTICS NOW, CORNELIA
-2 shiiiiiiiiit Euphiiiiieeeee
+1 Carve-tan
+2 lol Marianne
+2 lol, Lloyd, "discriminating" pun
-1 Yes, Cecile, thank you for explaining that
+2 Hey, Shirley's dad actually got screen time
+5 KNIGHTS FOR JUSTICE
-3 uggghhh Suzaku I PREFER THE LOGIC OF SYSTEMS boooooo
+2 Suzaku's big NOOOOOOOO for the unknown civilian
-2 Oh, ye knights of little faith
+3 Cornelia, badass
+2 Lelouch, you know your sister well!
+3 Cornelia, so like Lelouch...seriously, her face, her tactical genius, her weak point being her little sister...I think they are the most alike of maybe all the Britannian siblings (with the *possible* exception of Schneizel and Lelouch.)
+2 D'aww, Shirley and Suzaku moment
-3 Goddammit, Nina
-10 JLF you are utter assholes
+1 And then love was born
+4 Lloyd you are the best person
+2 Oh what is this gambit
-8 Goodness, a lot of the animation in this episode is terrible
+2 GAR Zero geass-kills the shit out of the JLF higher-ups
-2 Dammit, Lelouch “You haven't changed”...I know you love Euphie and this is the first time you've seen her in eight years, but I think that was her first major clue
-15 Dammit, Lelouch, you hypocrite. All this talk about justice and it's just your own personal vendetta? I am disappoint. (This would be a major point of contention for me if he didn't end up really believing in all the justice stuff by the end and making good on his promises, not to mention the show kind of de-emphasizes it so I forget.)
+2 Kaboom
+3 Cornelia's brief moment of being impressed with Suzaku, the first part of changing her mind...when she says “he really did it” she means Suzaku and not Zero, right?
-5 Yes, Lelouch, you will continue to see that white Knightmare over and over again until you destroy it. This lack of pattern recognition is ridiculous.
+2 lol EVERYBODY IS SHOUTING NAMES
+2 Zero fucking delivers
+3 Diethard I'LL TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FUCKING RUN IT
+35 Black Knights Intro, one of Zero's many crowning moments of awesome. Fuck yeah, Zero, you tell 'em.

[kiraya.livejournal.com]

You know, Sunrise, you can just explain what happened to Nina in the show. You don't have to let it slip in some obscure side materials so the rest of us are left scratching our heads. It might make me hate her less.

I absolutely agree with this. Seriously, it would have made her at least marginally sympathetic, even if she still does end up being a racist psycho.

Cornelia, so like Lelouch...seriously, her face, her tactical genius, her weak point being her little sister...I think they are the most alike of maybe all the Britannian siblings (with the *possible* exception of Schneizel and Lelouch.)

I wish the show had done a little more with this tack. It could have been really interesting.

[carlenne.livejournal.com]

You know, Sunrise, you can just explain what happened to Nina in the show. You don't have to let it slip in some obscure side materials so the rest of us are left scratching our heads. It might make me hate her less.

Wait, so what did happen to her? *hasn't seen the side materials you mention*

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it firsthand but I've basically pieced the major facts together from what's been mentioned around here and TV tropes: Nina, as a child, was left behind in a ghetto. It has scared her for life. She may have been raped; I don't know that it was implied in the actual side materials or whether some people have just inferred that from her strong reaction.

[carlenne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remember a friend and I were discussing before how Nina's actions wouldn't really make sense unless she had been raped by an Eleven or something like that but I didn't know that there was stuff actually on it. Looking at her from that perspective, she does become a bit more sympathetic.

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

I agree with everything you've said. :D

[snowdevil-crow.livejournal.com]

-2 Dammit, Lelouch “You haven't changed”...I know you love Euphie and this is the first time you've seen her in eight years, but I think that was her first major clue

Lelouch is such a smug cocky little bastard that he probably thinks he was too cool and mysterious and intimidating for her to really think about that line and figure anything out from it.

[otakukeith.livejournal.com]

+3 Cornelia, so like Lelouch...seriously, her face, her tactical genius, her weak point being her little sister...I think they are the most alike of maybe all the Britannian siblings (with the *possible* exception of Schneizel and Lelouch.)

This is kind of interesting because the key difference between Lelouch and Schneizel seems to be that Schneizel (unlike Lelouch) doesn't care much about people on a personal level. The person he seems to show the most fondness for (except Kanon, maybe), Cornelia, gets gunned down quite casually (though admittedly she did survive, maybe they were rubber bullets?). He wants world peace, but through superior firepower. To be honest, I think Schneizel is a) sociopathic and b) a look at what Lelouch could have been if he had no-one close to him on an individual, personal level.

Broadening this, Code Geass actually seems to adhere quite closely to the idea that people's relationships growing up are hugely important to the kind of people they become.

[kiraya.livejournal.com]

Suzaku's pronoun of choice for the entire episode: "boku."

Euphie looks really cute with her hair like that, minus the ridiculous buns.

It's interesting that Kallen's line when they're driving the news truck up through the army is officially translated as "we may die before we find out," but "korosareru" would really better translate as "be killed"... The latter does flow better in English.

They did a nice job with making the transitions between scenes when the action was picking up, imo.

...I think that's the only time Lloyd ever calls Suzaku by his rank and surname, when he leaps into the mess of things as the hotel's going down. Anyone able to confirm/refute this?

GUH, LELOUCH'S SPEECH. Goddamn I forgot how AWESOME that was.

[seshiru-san.livejournal.com]

...I think that's the only time Lloyd ever calls Suzaku by his rank and surname, when he leaps into the mess of things as the hotel's going down. Anyone able to confirm/refute this?

There are a few other times he does it. Off-hand, I distinctly recall him doing it in Stages 2, 18, 19, and 25 (sub only).

[kiraya.livejournal.com]

That often? I suppose I missed more of him than I thought the first time through, then...

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

The Nina stuff (the comments in this episode, as well as her utter fear) always gives me the impression her racism is the result of some great big trauma, as opposed to, say, the Purists who just dislike Japanese people for not being Britannian. Of course, they don't ever come out and say anything like that...

I always sort of liked the bit with the terrorists here, because it showed that the Japanese weren't all just helpless victims (or completely useless). A few moral shades of grey are nice.

Then again, it also brings up the really weird moral issue that is Lelouch/Zero - a Britannian - going around telling the Japanese people how they should and shouldn't rebel, and punishing anyone who he decides is doing it wrong.

spoilers

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Then again, it also brings up the really weird moral issue that is Lelouch/Zero - a Britannian - going around telling the Japanese people how they should and shouldn't rebel, and punishing anyone who he decides is doing it wrong.

I think you have a point here, but "don't harm innocent civilians" isn't exactly a controversial or particularly culturally-anchored position. What's unfortunate is that in just a few episodes he'll start losing civilians as collateral damage, and he'll consider it a necessary casualty of war...which is probably how the JLF see the Britannian hostages. Still, the unnecessary intentional brutality (even if they never ended up getting around to most of it) of the JLF seems different from accidentally harming civilians in the crossfire.

Re: spoilers

[drakyndra.livejournal.com]

True in this particular case, but the overall impression it gives isn't that great. Especially since Lelouch ends up killing off a bunch of other terrorists who weren't involved in the hotel incident. It looks a lot like Lelouch saying "Do what I tell you or die."

[yinake.livejournal.com]

LOL, at the part where Suzaku goes, "I couldn't save them! Boku... boku..." the translation notes: "If you're going to go Cloud on us, please do everyone a favor and omnislash Lelouch's daddy."

LMAO, I love this fansub.
(Now I notice that that moment really was Cloud-ish O.O).

[megalomaniageek.livejournal.com]

Doesn't help that they have the same Japanese voice actor.
Good thing he won't lose his girlfriend to a guy he once thought of as a friend...no wait. Oh well, at least he won't be mind-controlled by that guy to do something against his nature...oh. Wait.

[kiraya.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha, I love this comment.

[welyn.livejournal.com]

I believe it goes like this (http://i54.tinypic.com/2vn572t.jpg).

I wonder if anyone has the same chart for anime.