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Old 02-09-2008, 06:19 AM   #51
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Re: Code Geass

No idea this was so huge.
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Old 02-09-2008, 08:45 AM   #52
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Re: Code Geass

Please resize the image to half its original size.

Otherwise, pretty cool. Nunnally the Geass user. Looks like the other manga are finally making their way in.
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Old 03-28-2008, 07:48 PM   #53
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Re: Code Geass

Geass airs on April 6, so the sub (with any luck) will be in our hands in about 2 weeks. Let the countdown begin! ;)

Have you seen this trailer? It's not the same as the one(s) previously linked, since I'd never seen it before just now, but maybe you already saw it somewhere else. If not, then there you go!
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Old 03-30-2008, 04:00 PM   #54
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Re: Code Geass

I just rewatched the last half of Geass Episode 22 ... good and bad feelings:

GOOD: I'd forgotten just how good this show was.

BAD: That's not all I've forgotten. :x It's been so long since I saw Geass that I've forgotten so much, and the lines between my personal speculations and what had been canonically shown are all lost like footprints in a sandstorm.

If you're somebody who really likes Code Geass, I have a request ... do you know where I could read thorough summaries (roughly one-page in length) for Episodes 1-25? If not, I'll settle for brief summaries. I don't want to have to commit 12 hours to rewatching this series before enjoying S2, but I definitely think I'm not going to get much out of S2 at this rate -- I need a refresher on Code Geass's plot, characters, etc. Something more than Wikipedia can provide. (My memory's not that bad. :P)
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Old 03-30-2008, 04:27 PM   #55
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Re: Code Geass

Well lookie here ... everyone has been wondering who the swordsman with long black hair shown in Trailer #3 is ... and I just found him . (see attachment) I'm guessing he's the leader of the Chinese resistance which Schneissel was quelling at the end of Season 1. Methinks he will either be an ally of Zero's, although he could always prove to be a villain in the form of a Britannia-Japan-China trifecta. Who knows.
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Old 04-03-2008, 03:59 AM   #56
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Re: Code Geass

Here's a classic Geass review that was done last year I just managed to recover. BPK and Talon might be entertained by it!

Quote:
Directed by Goro Taniguchi, arguably one of the best directorial talents left at studio Sunrise, and written by his Planetes screenwriter Ichiro Okouchi, Code Geass promised to be a true epic series in the making. An interesting alternate history, a lead character that promised to evolve into a ruthless rebel seeking revenge against the father and the country that ruined his and his sisters life and a dash of mecha added into the mix for good measure. So why did it turn into such a complete circus? An absolute mess of jumbled ideas never touched upon in any way that isn't absurd or laughable, a cast of characters who constantly degrade into utter imbeciles and a constantly re-shuffled plot. By the half-way mark of Code Geass, it's as if focus changed from creating an actually riveting series, to essentially seeing how stupid they could take the whole thing and see how many viewers would go along with the ride.

Animation: Solid if unspectacular character wise. The only area the series shines in terms of animation is in the mecha department. While most are adequately animated, there are a handfull dispersed throughout the series that are absolutely fantastic, particulalry in the impressive 11th episode. Otherwise, it's typical Sunrise animation, except with more obvious outsourcing in the middle of the series. The character designs by Clamp and refined by Takahiro Kimura perfectly fit the setting that the creators established. If I had to say one thing that stood out from the character designs, it would be the costume design in the series, which is pretty terrific on the Britannian side.

Story: While Code Geass had an interesting premise that seemingly got off to a good start, it's unfortunate the creators of the show had no idea how to handle the mass of ideas they had, or perhaps they simply didn't care. New plot elements are introduced while at the same time are others are pushed back and delayed, sometimes by many episodes, and sometimes taken out of the show entirely, left to be settled in the 2nd season yet to air. The writing completely flat lines half way through and instead of the gripping and fast paced war/revenge story we had, we then dive headfirst into utterly inane romance drama with a resolution so incredibly bone headed that the series has almost turned into a comedy. As the series moves on, almost as if the romance was a checkbox on a "to do" list of the plot, the series gradually builds up again, making you think it may yet recover, despite the still omnipresent idiocy, but the show sees fit to deliver a "plot twist" so completely over the top and ridiculous, the writers have wrecked absolutely everything that the series had built in it's first half, only to deliver one of the most stupid and pathetic twists in recent years. I can't imagine the writers had any other intention rather than having the audience laugh at the absurdity of it all. The series seems to want to be so many things at the same time. It wants to be a gripping war story, a drama about revenge, it wants to include romance and tragedy, but without foregoing humour. Unfortuntely it was unable to do any of these right.

Character: Just as the plot of the series completely crumbles midway through the series, so do the characters. Completely intolerable and annoying side villains are introduced while other much more interesting ones are left to languish and not reappear until much later. The constantly annoying Suzaku throughout the show is barely even a character, so much his personality and intentions are a joke. Some characters have their personal development completely eradicated from the series, again only to delay it into a second season, while most are barely given even a cursory look, including even supposedly main antagonists. Worst of all is Lelouch, whose descent into a sort of machiavellian evil was purportedly the series main selling point (Episode 1 "the day the devil was born"), is reduced to an utter half wit, commiting imbecilic mistake after another and constantly proving to be all talk and nothing more. A complete let down in every sense.

Sound: Music wise, the show's soundtrack doesn't impress much if you're familiar with Kotaro Nakagawa. His music here is essentially a rehash of mostly every other show he's done and remixed into one soundtrack. The only stand out area are the vocal tracks by Hitomi and Mikio Sakai, but even those are all too familiar if you're aquainted with their previous works. As far as the OP and EDs go, Colors by FLOW is a great accesible song, and Hitomi no Tsubasa by Access is perfectly catchy in that "I wouldn't admit in real life that I like this" way. The rest of the shows selections vary from the uninspired (2nd ED), to mind numbingly awful (ED1 and it's usual Ali Project rehash and the often hated OP2).

Value: A seemingly promising series that eventually degrades into nothing more than fanservice and idiocy. Whatever points the series seemed to want to make in it's first half are utterly invalidated by it's second. The lack of any sort of resolution, for anything in the series is as confusing as it is aggravating. Being made to wait 4 months for a completely lackluster "ending" only to find out we'll have to wait even more for any kind of resolution is ridiculous. Knowing that a second season is in the making is irrelevant, there needs to be some kind of payoff for sitting through 25 episodes of this, and all we are left with is having to wait for another 25 episodes.

Enjoyment: As far as rating this show as an enjoyable new series with promise from a once great director, I'd be hard pressed to give it anymore than a 4. Nevertheless, the shows stupidity and constant excesses at least made it worth watching for a few laughs. Laughing at it of course, not with it. Sunrise seems to be stuck in a rut in terms of how it plans out and executes it's shows. Mai Hime, Mai Otome, and now Code Geass and unfortunately they don't seem likely to want to change that formula. I expected much more from the people behind this show, a complete shame.
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Old 04-06-2008, 04:14 AM   #57
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Re: Code Geass

The new OP.

Geass II gets off to a horrible start.
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Old 04-06-2008, 11:00 AM   #58
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Re: Code Geass

I'm so lazy, I still haven't attempted to make a NicoNico Douga video account. For those who can't be bothered to wade through NicoNico's registration pages, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXMfr9vASlA .

As you can see from my comment, I like the animation sequence just fine -- it's the song and only the song that annoys me.
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Old 04-06-2008, 11:10 AM   #59
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Re: Code Geass

If the president of China's office is a desk under a gazebo in the middle of the mountain wilderness, that's awesome.
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Old 04-06-2008, 11:45 AM   #60
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Re: Code Geass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mcsweeney
If the president of China's office is a desk under a gazebo in the middle of the mountain wilderness, that's awesome.
Yes. Yes, it is awesome. Although I have to admit, I read that at first as "the President (of China's office)" and not as "(the President of China)'s office", so basically I read it as "If the president is a desk under a gazebo," and I was like, "Re-read! Re-read! Must be missing something!"

The leader of the Chinese resistance is by far my #1 most anticipated character. More than even Lelouch or C.C. I'm really interested to see what his motives are, what his abilities are, etc. So far, he looks like a Chinese Toudo, and that's cool and all except Toudo proved twice that he's not on Lelouch's level because he was able to be captured twice: once during S1 and once between S1 and S2. So I'm hoping to see that the Chinese guy transcends Toudo in martial arts, sword-wielding awesomeness and perhaps is a brilliant tactician like Lelouch, is a Geass user like Lelouch (after all, C.C. was previously in China with Mao, remember!?), etc.

I'm really not that interested in Roro/Lolo. I'm actually identically interested in him now as I was in Nunnally at the start of S1. So pretty much, I'd take Nunnally (who we at least developed some, M-I-L-D attachment to) over him at this point. Dumb Roro/Lolo. I wonder which way the fansubbers will go with his name. I'd prefer Lolo (since they already translated "Lelouch" with L's). Just so long as it's not a mix (like Rolo, which is what I've been seeing a lot of fans calling him recently). :x
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Old 04-06-2008, 05:58 PM   #61
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Re: Code Geass

R2 Ep1:

I enjoyed this episode. Not immensely, but I enjoyed it. I encourage you to watch it rather than being spoilered by a 3rd party, but if you're dying to know the answers to some of the following questions, make visible the small text that follows:

Why did Lelouch forget everything? Answer: We don't know yet. We don't know if it was C.C.'s doing, the Emperor's doing, what. All Episode 1 showed was that he forgot, by some mechanism, everything that happened in Season 1. He was aware of Zero's existence and the Black Rebellion's occurrence but he had no memory of having taken part in the affairs of the past year.

Does Lelouch get his memories back? If so, in full? If not, might he get them back? Answer: He gets his memories back in full after C.C. kisses him. Even his personality makes a noticeable shift. Sunrise did a great job of depicting Lelouch as he was one year ago when he first met C.C., maybe coloring him a little nicer and a little more cynical about the Elevens' chances for independence, but pretty much just as he was a year ago. They then continued their great job of transforming him from this kind, soft pretty boy into the ruthless Machiavellian leader of the rebellion we'd seen him become by the end of Episode 25 last season, and they did the transformation in 10 seconds. Long story short, Lelouch is 100% back to where we left him at the end of Episode 25. Just as crazy. Just as in-the-know. Just as hellbent on defeating Britannia. If you are pissed off that they gave him amnesia, you have nothing to fear: he 100% remembers everything. It's like the amnesia never took place.

Who is Rollo? Answer: [size=1]We don't know, but one thing is clear: Lelouch specifically states after getting his memories back that the past year of his life has been all just a lie. It's possible that Rollo is, as many fans speculated, not in fact Lelouch's brother after all. This theory is supported by the fact that Rollo is the one who drove Lelouch to the casino -- and the Britannian baron, on orders from the Emperor himself, was expecting their arrival. Finally, Rollo looks awfully similar to V.V. Just saying.

The Emperor knew that Lelouch was Zero. So why did he allow Lelouch to re-enter society as amnesiatic Lulu? Answer: We don't know yet. lol

About C.C. ... Answer: [size=1]We don't know the specifics of her survival. Only that she, Karen, and a few of the others escaped imprisonment and kept the Order of the Black Knights going while awaiting Lelouch's return. No idea why they waited a year instead of a week or a couple of months. No idea at all.[/b]

I heard rumors that this episode pays an homage to the first season? Answer: xfd, when Lelouch remembers who he is, he gains control over his Season 1 Geass again and the very first order he gives is for everyone he's looking at to die. So the Britannian soldiers and the Baron all shoot themselves.

I have a lot of homework and probably won't be able to watch this any time soon. Do I need to worry about spoilers? Answer: not really. If you highlighted my answers above, chances are you saw just how often the answer was "we don't know." Episode 1's primary focus was on getting Lelouch back into his role as Zero. It said nothing of many of the questions viewers were left with last season.

Hell, I'll list those questions here that went answered and probably won't be answered until Episode 2 or 3:
* How did C.C. survive?
* How did Lelouch and Suzaku survive?
* Where's Nunnally?
* Is Cornelia alive?

And unanswered questions introduced by the sneak peeks and the first episode itself:
* Who or what caused Lelouch's amnesia: the Emperor, C.C., the door, other?
* Why does Villetta seem to have amnesia, too? She was fine up through Episode 25.
* The intro shows Orange-kun walking down the beach wearing some extravagant Britannian dress. Is he still alive!?
* Who is "Rollo" : is he really Lelouch's brother, or is he a spy?
* Why has Shirley not confronted Lelouch about her diary in the last frickin' year!?
* Why are Suzaku's eyes blue now in the anime, but still Green in the ending credits?
* Who are the little pink-haired girl and the blonde-haired young man who are stood beside Suzaku in front of the Emperor?
* Why did the Emperor arrange for Lelouch to draw out C.C.? The Baron believed it was because the Emperor planned on using Lulu as bait to lure C.C. out and to kidnap her, but surely the Emperor would be more intelligent than that! Surely he would realize that putting the two together would mean Lelouch would recover everything! You may say, "That's part of his plan, Talon!" But if so, then why did he make Lelouch / allow Lelouch to forget everything in the first place?
* Why did C.C. and the others not contact Lelouch sooner?
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Old 04-07-2008, 12:25 AM   #62
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Re: Code Geass

What is the Japanese name for the Chinese Federation? Because I keep hearing it as "Chuuren Poutou" and that makes me think of the mahjong hand.
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Old 04-07-2008, 12:36 AM   #63
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Re: Code Geass

Chuuka Renpou, ????. "Chuuka" means "Chinese" as an adjective, but as a foreign student of Japanese I've only ever heard it used in one word: ????, Chinese cuisine. "Renpou" I didn't know, but Jim Breen says it means "commonwealth; a federation of states." To give some real-world examples, the former Soviet Union had one name in Japanese of "Sorenpou" ("So" from Soviet plus Renpou); and the United Arab Emirates' name in Japanese uses the term Renpou. Basically, a nation that is a conglomeration of states. (Indeed, many US federal terms contain the word Renpou.)

So one more time:
????
Chuuka Renpou
Chinese Union / Federation / Commonwealth

[gg] chose to translate it as Chinese Union. I'd probably have gone with Federation. All up to personal preference.
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Old 04-07-2008, 12:47 AM   #64
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Re: Code Geass

Thanks for the clarification.

...

I just finished the episode. I was really excited at first, it was quite entertaining, but when we got to the repeat stuff of the first episode of Geass I it got sort of weird. I was also saddened by the death of the bunny girl in yellow - not only did she have a nice design, she was the girl who was Shirley's friend in the first season. She was Japanese all along and we never knew...and she died so pitifully, I didn't like that at all.

I'll have to echo Talon's thoughts here - enjoyable episode, but not terribly. Already I can feel the pressure of the first season's constrained plot-line beginning to ferment.
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Old 04-07-2008, 12:58 AM   #65
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Re: Code Geass

How do you peg a fair-skinned, long-'n'-indigo-haired girl for one of the Ashford Academy students? I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just asking (a) how you possibly recognized such a minor character and (b) how you can be certain this isn't just a similar-looking girl. (After all, I could say that she looks like the purple-haired girl Inoue from S1 who died in the Knightmare Frame in Episode 25 and I don't think I'd be too far off!)

Regardless, sharp eyes and a sharp memory, you have!

Constrained plotline the show may have, but it's asked so many questions -- many of them questions we care about because of emotional investment -- that really it could just answer them 1-2 at a time for the next 6 episodes and keep my attention. I'll be screaming lava and spitting blood, though, if they take that long to explain how Lelouch forgot everything. That had damn well better be one of the first things explained when I tune in to Episode 2 next week.
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Old 04-07-2008, 03:25 PM   #66
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Re: Code Geass

I watched Eclipse's sub last night, and I have to say ... I'm torn and disappointed. [gg]'s sub was as good, if not sliiiiightly better (51/49 slightly we're talking here), but in different ways. One of the more prominent (for me) examples was Eclipse's agreement that the best translation for Chuuka Renpou was "Chinese Federation" (vs. [gg]'s "Chinese Union"), but the two most prominent differences of the night were both in [gg]'s favor:

Problem 1: "cheap shot"
When Lelouch defeats the Black King, he is accused in the [gg] translation of "cheating." Karen and Rollo both respond, "It's impossible to cheat in chess." Makes sense. In the Eclipse version, however, he is accused of "pulling a cheap shot." Eclipse's translator either lost his focus during this part of the episode or he's a complete newb -- maybe they have different translators and the one who expertly handled Kanon and Clannad is taking a break? ;_; All I know is, this translator's out of his league if he hears ikasama and thinks the best translation is "cheap shot." That doesn't even fit contextually! A "cheap shot" refers either to a physical cheap shot (e.g. kick to the nuts) or a verbal cheap shot (e.g. "Aw man, why you gotta bring my momma into this!?"). Lelouch isn't being accused of taking "cheap shots" against the Black King (e.g. "You're a big ape! :P"), he's being accused of cheating. And how does Señor Breen weigh in? "??? ?????? (adv,n) (uk) fraud; trickery; counterfeit"

Problem 2: the two Eleven Brothers in the fighting arena
[gg] did a very accurate job of translating both what the announcer in the background was shouting and what Lelouch explained to Rollo. They also (intelligently and insightfully imo! kudos!) broke up the word ?? (lit. "older brother + younger brother" but carries the meaning of "siblings" in 99% of the cases you'll find it used). They actually translated it as older and younger brother and not just as siblings, giving the viewer not one but two opportunities to recognize that the two Elevens fighting each other were family. What did Eclipse do? Perhaps what I would have done: they left most of what the announcer was saying untranslated and they simplified Lelouch's explanation to Rollo. They didn't cut things out, per se: they just translated things at face value.

Conclusion: torn as I am over this and hesitant as I am to admit it, I believe [gg] has a better translator onboard at the moment than Eclipse. This is pretty confusing considering [gg] is a newly-formed group consisting of a bunch of amateurs whereas Eclipse prides itself -- nay, brags about -- the fact that the entire staff consists of some of the biggest names in fansubbing from the past 3 years. All I can say is, Eclipse's translator for Geass may be good, but [gg]'s seems slightly better. Even if he does insist on calling the Chuuka Renpou the Chinese "Union." :P

Attention (if you care): I will be downloading (and watching) [gg]'s and Eclipse's episodes for the next two episodes (2 and 3). After that point I will weigh in with my final verdict. For now, [gg]'s in the lead, but anything could happen by the time we're through Episode 3.
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Old 04-09-2008, 10:05 PM   #67
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Re: Code Geass

Holy fudge, it's only been three days since Geass came out. Gosh darn, the wait for the next episode is murder - it felt to me like a week had almost gone by and we're not even halfway there yet!
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Old 04-09-2008, 10:30 PM   #68
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Re: Code Geass

This, my friend, is the genius of my plan. [/arrogant SOB who's half full of shit] But seriously, this *is* partly why I decided to put off watching Clannad as long as I did and partly why I collected all 13 episodes of Wolf & Spice by Ayako without watching any past the first half of Episode 2. I recognized the need for some critically-acclaimed series to tide me over during this spring else I would be screwed over by Geass's once-a-week airings just as I was with the delightful Kaiji.

Honestly, I'm getting this nasty gut feeling now that we're not going to get the answers to the main questions we have (like Lelouch's amnesia's cause and what happened after Lelouch and Suzaku fired in the cave in S1 Ep25) until Episode 3, so that's also part of why I'm not too excited or anxious to see Episode 2: because I don't expect it to be that great. If I'm wrong? Great! Let me be wrong! ^_^
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Old 04-09-2008, 11:59 PM   #69
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Re: Code Geass

I found a great manga I'm really enjoying right now that could be Midori no Hibi's sucessor if it continues on the path of excellence. But it's definitely not enough given I'm more of an anime buff than manga buff nowadays.
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Old 04-13-2008, 02:37 PM   #70
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Re: Code Geass

Episode 2 of R2 = THE BEST EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE SO FAR

WARNING! Possible spoilers from here on out. Guaranteed spoilers have been made small with font-size 4.

Anyway, you have got to tune in to this episode. Yes, it bests the plot twist with Euphemia ... the situation with Kaminejima ... everything. Best episode of the 27 aired so far. TOTALLY going to rewatch it later tonight.

New Questions Raised by Episode 02:
  • What is the nature of Rollo's Geass?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • What is the nature of the Emperor's Geass?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Is Rollo one of the twelve members in the Knights of the Round?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Who else besides Suzaku, blondie, and pink-haired girl are in the Order? Anyone familiar?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • When did Lelouch manage to pull off his use of Geass against the ambassador of the Chinese Union -- before R2 or just now in R2 Ep02?[/*20rr3a3z]

Questions that remain unanswered:
  • How did C.C. survive?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Where's Nunnally?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Is Cornelia alive?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • The intro shows Orange-kun walking down the beach wearing some extravagant Britannian dress. Is he still alive!?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Why has Shirley not confronted Lelouch about her diary in the last frickin' year!?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Why did the Emperor arrange for Lelouch to draw out C.C.? Surely he would realize that putting the two together would mean Lelouch would recover all of his memories! You may say, "That's part of his plan, Talon!" But if so, then why did he make Lelouch forget everything in the first place?[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Why did C.C. and the others not contact Lelouch sooner?[/*20rr3a3z]

Questions that likely seem answered but were not definitively answered:
  • Why does Villetta seem to have amnesia, too? She was fine up through Episode 25.[/*20rr3a3z]

Questions that were answered in Episode 02
  • How did Lelouch and Suzaku survive?
    Answer: Both bullets missed their mark and then Suzaku bested Lelouch in hand-to-hand combat. Apparently the Sakuradite bomb was able to be ripped off Zero's chest without exploding -- dumb plot hole imo -- and then Suzaku escorted Zero all the way back to the Emperor's throne. WTH Karen was doing during all of this, who the hell knows. -.-[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Who or what caused Lelouch's amnesia: the Emperor, C.C., the door, other?
    Answer: the Emperor, using his Geass[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Who is "Rollo" : is he really Lelouch's brother, or is he a spy?
    Answer: He is not Lelouch's brother. He is a skilled KnightMare pilot, a Geass user, and is attempting now to execute Lelouch.[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Why are Suzaku's eyes blue now in the anime, but still Green in the ending credits?
    Answer: While we still don't know if Suzaku has a Geass that turns his eyes blue, we do have confirmation all throughout Episode 02 that his natural eyecolor is still green. In fact, that's all he's ever shown with in this episode. Maybe the blue-eyed look was just an unfortunate consequence of the difficulties of animating a scene in a bluely-lighted room.[/*20rr3a3z]
  • Who are the little pink-haired girl and the blonde-haired young man who are stood beside Suzaku in front of the Emperor?
    Answer: They are fellow members of the Knights of the Round who constitute the 12 greatest knights in the Britannian Empire.[/*20rr3a3z]

Discussion:
I think that Lelouch's use of Geass against the Chinese ambassador must have taken place back in Season 1, because only that would explain the perfectness of the Chinese visiting Tokyo on that very day. In fact, I think that this could be a possible answer to the unanswered question above, "Why did C.C. and the others wait so long?" Perhaps C.C. informed the others that Zero had already put this plan into motion and so it would be perfect timing to wait until that day to act. I dunno, seems a bit sketchy.

It was really cool to see Diethard, Lakshata [sp], and even fugly-though-slightly-less-so-now Nina.

It was excellent getting an answer to the most pressing question from last season.

I also liked how it developed the Karen x Zero one-sided relationship more and how Karen raised the serious point of "How can I know now that you've never used Geass on me? How can I know that my feelings towards you aren't because you twisted my brain using Geass?" I had never even thought of that before, and the writers did a great job of bringing it up and then sort-of dealing with it in short succession. It would have been easier if Lelouch had just told her precisely when he did use Geass on her (Ep3 iirc) and what it was, but whatever.

I disliked the new KnightMare frame that you-know-who was piloting. It seemed like it was superior to the Lancelot and the Gurren by a fair margin. Unless Lakshata [sp] and Lloyd have been busy engineering new KnightMares in the meantime, I think both Suzaku and Karen are going to be sort of awkwardly overshadowed by the sickening speed and ferocity of this new KnightMare frame. Whatever.
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Old 04-13-2008, 07:50 PM   #71
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Re: Code Geass

Urabe dying pissed me off, he was my favourite of the Shiseiken and we were promised "not many people are going to die this season". Which apparently translates to, "we're not going to let the people you hate die this season". :x I could foresee Urabe dying because he knew Zero's identity, but still, to see a Gekka outclassed by a mass-produced Lancelot (a skilled pilot like Urabe owned by a kid) annoys me.

That said, I agree this episode is great - 9/10 material - but I hesitate to call it best because of how convoluted it still is. I'm still getting the feeling that "teen drama" is going to take precedence over the revolutionary spirit of the show. Nunally's gone for the time being, which is good news as it means we'll have more Machiavellian Lelouch, but at the same time she's been replaced by eleven bratty kids, oh-please-die-already Suzaku and not this little snot Rollo.

Also, Talon. You've been mentioning that guy in the beginning, who looks like Jeremiah. That's actually not Jeremiah, it's the Knight of One, the oldest and most powerful of all the Knightmare Pilots in Britannia. Apparently Jeremiah "dreamed of being the Knight of One" so I'm guessing that's either his dad or brother.

...

One more thing:

I hope that Cornelia joins Lelouch as another "Queen", now that a Rook like Urabe has died. I could see Cornelia working for Lulu if the Emperor cast her out for her repeated failures or something, and Cornelia's disappearence is suspicious.
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Old 04-13-2008, 09:56 PM   #72
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Re: Code Geass

Cornelia would never join Lelouch, even if she could be informed and believe that Lelouch's Geass went out of control when he uttered the fateful words that warped Euphemia's mind. Just my 2¢; watch me be proven wrong. ^_-

Regarding [strike:2qbo706o]Jeremiah[/strike:2qbo706o] the Knight of One, many thanks. He looks so much like Jeremiah I figured it was him. But how do you know anything about any so-called "Knight of One"? When has he ever been mentioned? Is he someone from one of the three mangas? or was his existence mentioned in a magazine interview?

Next question: is this Knight of One the über amongst the Knights of the Round, or is he separate from them?

Suzaku is so detestable at this point, it's true. :x It was hard to like him ever since we found out in the final Mao episode that he was the one who killed his own father but that he's been living with that and trying to atone for his sin by (wtf) becoming a Britannian -- but now! Now, we have him being a total dick who's either too emotional or too stoic -- he knows no balance! -_-;

I don't see why you dislike Rollo. You know next to nothing about him, as do I. Yeah, Urabe's gone and I can understand your being upset about that, but ... for all we know, Rollo could be:
a) the Emperor's son by Marianne's sister (if she had one)
b) Marianne's other son -- one Lelouch and Nunnally never knew about

And as such, he could be both a genetic "blood rival" for Lelouch as well as an intellectual match for the boy. In other words, Rollo could prove to be what Suzaku was originally meant to be -- serious competition for our hero.
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Old 04-13-2008, 10:20 PM   #73
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Re: Code Geass

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xuande
Cornelia would never join Lelouch, even if she could be informed and believe that Lelouch's Geass went out of control when he uttered the fateful words that warped Euphemia's mind. Just my 2¢; watch me be proven wrong. ^_-
My reasons for thinking Cornelia isn't on the Emperor's good side is something NT magazine said, which was "Cornelia is currently in hiding". This might be a translation flub, but if not, it begs the question of WHY? If you recall in the first season, Clovis was afraid he would lose his prince status is he let C.C. get away; Cornelia has screwed up way more times than Clovis has, so I'd imagine the Emperor to, by now at least, see her merely as "lucky" and not "fit" to succeed him. The fact that Governor Calares' soldiers question Guilford's authority - going, "Princess? Ah, he must be talking about Princess Cornelia" tells me Guilford and Cornelia's name don't command the same respect they once did.

Euphemia wouldn't want revenge on Lelouch for killing her, if Euphemia talks to Cornelia somehow like Marianne does to C.C., we could see Cornelia join up with him - it would be somewhat poetic IMO for season one's antagonist to join up with him, and I can't see the Shiseiken + Toudou + Kallen being a match for the whole Round Table plus Rollo, we're talking about twelve White Queens versus a Queen and (now) four Rooks. Gawain was probably recovered by the Britannians too, since every Knight of Round KF has a Hadron Cannon mounted on it somewhere.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xuande
Regarding [strike:2144v6f9]Jeremiah[/strike:2144v6f9] the Knight of One, many thanks. He looks so much like Jeremiah I figured it was him. But how do you know anything about any so-called "Knight of One"? When has he ever been mentioned? Is he someone from one of the three mangas? or was his existence mentioned in a magazine interview?

Next question: is this Knight of One the über amongst the Knights of the Round, or is he separate from them?
There is a bit of info on him, given from 2channel spoilers. Consider the Knight of One equivalent to the Witch-King of Angmar; he's not only the most powerful of his order and is distinguished from them, he has special privileges associated with him. The privilege of interest is that the Knight of One is allowed to assume the duties of a regional governor for any Britannian Area. This is what Suzaku means by "reforming Britannia from the inside" - if he becomes the Knight of One, he'll take over Area 11 and reform it. Becoming the Knight of One is the only way for a non-noble, non-royal to possibly become head of an Area, and is the only way Suzaku can "overcome his blood" so to say.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xuande
Suzaku is so detestable at this point, it's true. :x It was hard to like him ever since we found out in the final Mao episode that he was the one who killed his own father but that he's been living with that and trying to atone for his sin by (wtf) becoming a Britannian -- but now! Now, we have him being a total dick who's either too emotional or too stoic -- he knows no balance! -_-;
When it was revealed Charles Di Britannia doesn't have any kind of magic ward to protect him from Lelouch's Geass, I was enraged that Suzaku didn't capitalize on that opportune. Lelouch was within COMMAND distance of the Emperor and he wouldn't give him a single edge!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xuande
I don't see why you dislike Rollo. You know next to nothing about him, as do I. Yeah, Urabe's gone and I can understand your being upset about that, but ... for all we know, Rollo could be:
a) the Emperor's son by Marianne's sister (if she had one)
b) Marianne's other son -- one Lelouch and Nunnally never knew about
It annoys me that only three of the twelve Knight of Rounds are adults, with everyone else as immature adolescents with "incredible piloting skills" as NewType puts it. It's a Sunrise trademark to do something like that and totally disgusts me, it's so unbelievable and contrived. Watching Rollo stomp all over everyone with his Knightmare Frame and having a Geass on top of it just screams "unfair!" to me. Life's not fair but this is anime, Sunrise can do with less hax in their shows. -_-

As said in the other topic, I know Rollo's secret, sort of. This was revealed in the video game, my lib tacked onto the end - Rollo's "teleportation" isn't a feature of his KF, it's of his Geass. IMO, his Geass has a power similar to Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi mind trick, creating the illusion that he's going fast but actually hypnotising people into ignoring his movements.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xuande
And as such, he could be both a genetic "blood rival" for Lelouch as well as an intellectual match for the boy. In other words, Rollo could prove to be what Suzaku was originally meant to be -- serious competition for our hero.
Ling Xi-ke was supposed to be this match, as smart as Lelouch and as strong as Suzaku. Tack on Schneizel and Suzaku and we've got too many rivals running about - Napoleon Bonaparte's and Arthur Wellesley's aren't a dime a dozen.
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Old 04-13-2008, 10:32 PM   #74
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Re: Code Geass

Schneizel never struck me as an adequate rival for Lelouch. And the Chinese swordsman doesn't strike me as a brilliant tactician -- he seems like he's "all brawns" like Suzaku. Basically the Chinese Union's Suzaku. With the Chinese Union's Lelouch back at home, since the swordsman even refers to him in Episode 2 saying how taking in Zero was not in his (the CU's leader's) orders.

To be honest, though, if the Emperor's Geass is the same as Lelouch's -- and he merely used the same type of command on Lelouch that Lelouch once used on Shirley -- that would strike me as cool but incredibly plot-holey because now the Emperor's used up his one and only bullet against Lelouch. On the other hand, if the Emperor has infinite bullets, his Geass, even if only a memory-modification Geass, is way too fucking powerful. I was thinking about it earlier today, and ... if you can modify someone's memories, that boils down to bending them to your will. How so? Because you can give them false enough memories to basically change who they are. You can get someone to kill themselves by implanting false memories in their head that would make almost anyone suicidal. You can get them to spill the beans to you by implanting false memories in their head that they're actually a mole working on your behalf and they're zealously loyal to you. So on and so forth. So I'll say it again:
- I'm all for the Emperor's Geass being identical to Lelouch's and not being "I modify memories", but
- it doesn't really matter because modifying memories is ~the same as giving people orders (since S1 showed that you can give memory-changing orders) and
- either they fucked up by having the Emperor use his one-and-only Geass on Lelouch or they fucked up by creating a character with infinite Geass uses that include the power to modify memories.
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Old 04-13-2008, 11:23 PM   #75
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Re: Code Geass

I don't think the Emperor really felt Lelouch was that much of a threat, else he would have killed him for slaying two of his siblings and causing so much of a ruckus. He was willing to risk Zero arising again just to bait C.C., he probably believes he's in full control of all the show's chess pieces.

As far as his Geass goes, one in each eye tells me it's probably going to have less power than Lelouch's, but has potential for unlimited uses. If it's anything involving the alteration of action or memory though I think it's a single action Geass and is thus weaker than Lulu's. Rollo's seems to be as powerful as Mao's, unlimited use but limited application.
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