Two cents

[spaleween.livejournal.com]

First off, I like this anime because it involves war, political intrigue, friendship, and betrayal. Then I was miffed at the stereotypical characters--bad protagonist, heroic antagonist/best friend/greatest enemy, sexy and mysterious girl with mystical powers, helpless sister, megalomaniac king.

And then, as other LJ people have mentioned, they're not stereotypical after all. They're not completely good/bad people...most of them anyway.

There were two things I hated: (1) the Pizza Hut product placement, but this has already been beaten and murdered in other posts so I won't do it, and (2) the god-awful deus ex machina.

There were plenty of deus ex machina in Code Geass (read: V.V.), but what annoyed me most was when Euphie dropped out of nowhere and into Suzaku's arms. Somebody explain to me why a princess would drop out of nowhere? Ah, *forehead smack* convenient plot device...of course.

Many people don't like Euphie because she's a Lacus clone. I initially agree. But when she became a killing doll, I liked it. She became one of Lelouch's many accidental pawns in that last-8-minute chess game of his. This confirms Euphie's purpose in the series: convenient momental plot device.

Now Nina. Everyone is creeped out. But I like it that there's a one-sided-stalker-worship-dirty-love going on with Nina. She never really had anyone care for her before, and here comes this radiant glowing princess that values Nina's life so much that she's willing to exchange her life for hers. Nina is so awestruck because no one ever does this for her before that she entrusts her never-ending and never-wavering loyalty and devotion to her. Someone actually treasured her, in Nina's view. So the girl who was never appreciated before becomes obssessed with the radiant princess because she's afraid no one would appreciate her life again. I kinda understand it.

Suzaku. Agree with the initial Kira-clone impression. Agree with the later omg-he's-actually-two-dimensional-because-of-that-patricide impression. I truly appreciate characters who are not one-dimensional. I don't like perfect characters. I like it that he's a contradictory character. I like it that he's trying to convince himself of doing the right thing, justifying himself of his father's murder. He's haunted by all the bad things he did, but he still weaves the illusion onto himself that "this is for the good". He has a mask, just like Lelouch's Zero, but Suzaku's mask is harder to remove as it's from childhood. I agree that he keeps repressing all that emotion. Once, he managed to let a bit out in front of Lelouch, but that's just a bit. His guilt is slowly eating him and he doesn't notice it. Euphie was, once again--convenient plot device--, the trigger to release all that pent-up emotion since childhood. He doesn't care anymore. He doesn't care that Nunnally is in danger. He doesn't care that Japan is in complete chaos. He doesn't care that Lelouch is his best friend. He doesn't care. All he cares about is killing this guy, riddle him with bullets and make sure he's DEAD.

I haven't read Suzaku of the Counterattack, you see.
A favor? Would anyone mind doing a character sketch of Suzaku? I really want to understand him more.

Comments

[arabesque]

You have some good points, but I think you might be confusing deus ex machina with just plot device. Euphie conveniently trying to escape from her school or whatnot right when Suzaku's walking by is a (somewhat cliched) plot device to get them to meet, but it doesn't improbably solve any difficult situations, which is what a deus ex machina does. Annoying, yes, but deus ex machina, not really.

And while Euhpie does basically serve as an emotional trigger for people like Suzaku and Nina, I think she's also important because she emphasizes Lelouch's unwillingness to let go of the past. Also, she makes Britannia's side seem a little more human, at least to me. I DUNNO your mileage may vary, etc etc.