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

[volfield.livejournal.com]

I don't fully agree with you there, but that's what discussion is all about, right?

As to Pizza Hut, it was a somewhat smart comic relief move. I'd say that they were the main sponsors, and it actually turned out into something more due to fandom reaction.

I completely hate Nina because of her racist behavior and as a person herself, but I do have to agree with your description...

As to Suzaku, that was one of the best summary of his character interaction and relation towards this show. At first I didn't really like him (and to tell you the truth, as a person? I don't really like his hypocrite side) but on another hand, he's just a stupid sexy Jesus. I probably wouldn't go as far as Lelouch (it's obvious he cares for him deeply, he never really gave up on him) but still... I don't think he stopped caring about Nunnally... I just think he "went back to his old selfish self" that used to pick fights with whoever he wanted. You see, when they were kids Suzaku was really different. I'd say, Suzaku used to be a little more like Lelouch and Lelouch as Suzaku. Suzaku loathed the Britannians, was violent, aggressive... a punk and a brat, really. Lelouch was quite calm, believed that they could all live together without violence. Lelouch isn't really that different, but Suzaku... I think that something changed him greatly in his past, not only his father's death. Remember back on some picture drama, Suzaku said he once knew a girl that had a moto like Rivalz. He also said back at the hotel hijacking that "it was happening again, I couldn't save them"... What I think is that he experienced a more traumatic event than his father's death and that made him join the army and change completely his way of living. But in one point, you're right - he now is completely different again and his 'not amused expressions' he's been pulling out scare me a little. Also, there's this thing I don't really get. He'd rather believe a walking test tube weird and totally strange fellow (read V.V.) than his childhood friend... The boy has some issues. I think I can picture it already when he finds out Euphie's dead was not entirely planned...

Although, I must admit - I find the fight between those two really pointless. They're in fact very similar, have the same purpose but just followed different routes. In the end it sounds something more like INTERNET ARGUMENT ("U!!!" vs "NO U!!") than anything else. I reeeeeeeally, really hope they get over that quickly and join forces to beat some bad guys or something.

tl;dr and esl, sorry!