Oh here it comes...

[inksmears]

Okay. So. I'm a little behind everyone else, but I just finished watching episode 21 of R2. And... well...



I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, so stop now if you positively love everything about episode 21 and Code Geass. Okay? Okay.

So. I didn't like this episode. I didn't hate it but I definitely didn't like it. And I'm just kind of wondering if I'm alone in the "Eeehhhh." feeling after seeing this episode. Don't get me wrong, I love plot twists. But now they seem really... forced. Or like the writers pulled it out of their ass at the very last second because they realized they have a few more episodes left to explain everything.

I dunno. Maybe I got my hopes too high for season two or was expecting something entirely different. But the last few episodes have, at least to me, been kind of disappointing. The series seems to be going in a bad direction and/or trying to hard. I feel like it's trying less for story and depth and more for just pure mind fuckery. And while mind fuckery is cool, a series like Code Geass needs to be about something more than trying to give your audience a heart attack every episode. You know?

Anyone... some things that kinda got to me. Firstly, Marianne's death. I dunno about you, but I waited for a long time to find out the explanation to that one. And all we got was a brief explanation that was basically "lol Geass powerz". I was hoping for a little... more to it, I guess. I did like, however, the turn around at how Marianne was such a horrible mother. That was a neat twist at least. But her death, or lackthereof, was really lame. And then her "second death" at Lelouch caused was even lamer.

Secondly, Charles. After being the enemy for season one and almost the entire story of season 2, he's suddenly crusading for a world without lies and V.V. was the real bad guy? While I appreciated he didn't end up being a typical villain, his character ended up being lame considering all the build up we got for him. It's just that I hoped he would've played a bigger role in the series' end. Of course, we can launch into theories that he isn't really dead, but humor me.

Lastly, Schneizel. Okay, seriously. WTF Schneizel. Out of no where.

I love series with unexpected twists, but after awhile, there only needs to be so many before the series sticks with and follows through with said twists. And I feel Code Geass has kind of forgotten that. Comments? Thoughts? Flames? Spinzaku? Mainly just wondering if I'm alone in this feeling. Either way, I won't stop loving the series. I just want a good ending for something I enjoy so much.



I also have a question for you guys. Code Geass R2 OSTs. There are two of them coming out I believe? Does anyone happen to know the release dates for them? I'd appreciate it!

Comments

[powercorrupts.livejournal.com]

Perhaps my comment read wrong; god knows I had difficulty enough phrasing it, which is why it dragged on so. I'm not trying to act like some viewing-Nazi, insisting that a show be viewed in one way. You can watch Gundam 00 for the lulz, and Geass for the srs bsnz, but what I mean is, in my opinion, you have more fun if you get your need for a serious mecha series out with Macross or Gundam (excluding ZZ, G, or Wing obviously) and you get your lulz on with Geass.

And I don't think you can't watch Geass for the lulz and then still try to enjoy the more serious aspects of it. I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. Even a viewer who watches Geass for nothing but the hilarity can still debate the way it uses traditional mech tropes in new and interesting ways. Watching a show for humour value doesn't block the viewer from attempting to analyze it, at least, not in my experience. Maybe I've spent too much time in /m/, which actually discusses Geass on rare occassions despite no one there taking it seriously, but that's just been my perspective with it.

Sure, the majority of the /a/ssholes who are watching it have no interest in analyzing Geass past debating whether or not they hate Lelouch or Suzaku more. But a lot of the viewers who treat it as an entirely serious show don't have a lot of thoughtful analysis to put forth, either. Judging a section of the fandom only by the lowest form leaves us with a fandom full of nothing but yaoi fangirls and meme-lovers, when really there's plenty of viewers who can appreciate the stupidity of the show while still groking it.

If anyone wants to watch Geass and take it as a serious show full of serious events, more power to them, who am I to tell them not to, etc. But it seems to me like my experience is that it's honestly a more entertaining show with a martini in one hand, and a chat full of friends to mst it with an alt+tab away.

[realms-of-life.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm one of those who take Geass (mostly) seriously and have awesome fun trying to analyze it. The crack is okay too, but not the reason why I watch the show. Not by far. I can find better crack somewhere else. The truth is, most of the time, I don't think of Geass as a mecha show when I'm watching it, neither do I stop to compare Geass to them. Maybe because the most traditional mecha shows are not my thing, but I happen to love Geass more than life. :) So I guess, in the end, it's a matter of personal taste. As you said yourself, each one should watch the show as they prefer. Just letting you know that there are more overanalysing freaks out there than the tons of memes might suggest.

[powercorrupts.livejournal.com]

Haha, we could use a little more instrumentality on this post, I guess. The thing is, I wasn't disagreeing with your point of view, not really? I never said people couldn't analyze it; some of the people I know who watch geass "for the lulz" have written some of my favourite analysis for it. By saying that someone who watches geass for hilarity can still analyze it, I wasn't saying that those who watch it seriously can't analyze it. I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with analyzing it, or even that there's anything un-fun about analyzing it.

All I was saying is that analyzing and understanding geass doesn't keep one from finding it stupid and funny. That was my whole point, I suppose I'm just having difficulty expressing it.

And I suppose that from the perspective of someone who is predominantly a mecha anime fan, geass is a very different show for me than it is for someone who watches other genres more. Most of my perceptions of Geass are going to be influenced by how it approaches some of the same topics as other mecha animes, but does so in a much less serious manner, and how it absuses and changes some of the things that many other mecha animes have already done. As a result, I simply can't see Geass the same way that you might.

[fluffyfledgling.livejournal.com]

The thing is, what you're saying seems to apply a lot more to R2 than it should for the first season. Was season one even half as entertaining as what the recent episodes have been like? Sure, they might have been out-there in their way, but there was definitely a more cohesive plot and it had a clear, if unknown direction.

[powercorrupts.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's true. The first season had the allure of mystique - it didn't have to have a countdown to a final destination the way R2 does. Fans held it to a different standard, knowing that it had a whole season to get it's shit together. Also, the first season had a huge advantage over R2 - it had only had to change it's target audience once. By R2, the show had been changed so significantly that targeting the audience the first season attempted to was impossible.

Yes, the first season was more on-track than R2, but it was also not the same sort of uber-serious show that Gundam 00 is. It never was. That's a large part of my point, I think - Geass never held itself with the sort of serious dignity that some of Sunrise's other series have. Even though it's degraded further in R2, that doesn't mean it started out with a great deal of seriousness. Lest we forget, the dumb kitty episodes and comic relief terrorism began in the first season.

I found the first season entertaining, really. I find R2 entertaining. I don't see them as entirely different ventures, either. Rarely do the first and second seasons of a show feel like the exact same material - things change as the show progresses.

[klingon-jedi.livejournal.com]

Well R2 has it's problems, but a lot of the time the best way is to try the take the good with the bad. I enjoy the show quite a bit thanks to its mostly awesome characters, neat twists, and interesting plotting. While I have been mildly frustrated by some of R2's plotting (like the handling and pacing of things like Shirley and so forth ), it hasn't kept the show from being entertaining and event viewing. Heck, the Nunnally line went beautifully, so the show can salvage even my qualms with just the right dialogue. It could be better, but it has to appeal to more people, and wrap things up, which are two things S1 had the luxury of not having to do.

I mean, I watch the show for the awesomeness of what's being told and finding out where it's going and so on. But just because I love the scene between Lelouch and his parents, doesn't mean I didn't laugh at Emperocket images, or the numerous Youtube parodies. In many ways, I enjoy them more because I take the show so damn seriously. You get so wrapped up in a world, however flawed, that if you can't laugh at it from a different perspective maybe it doesn't mean as much to you as you think. that, and the series always had it's fun quirks, such as the Nyaas, Princesses falling from the sky, the Pudding Earl and his lez-tastic fiancee, Shirley's hopeless, romantic jealousy. To laugh with and at the characters only endears them more. Heck, Charles' seiyuu alone already made him awesome. To have this admidst great tragedy, deception, trails and tribulations, and plot twists that shatter what we thought we knew for over 40 episodes only ads to the greatness. Even legendary Zeta had it's humor and inspires it.

Though I'll stick to whatever makes it off /a/ I have no need to go into the lion's den.