Code Geass …25 – I like it but I just don’t grok it, you know what I mean.
Monday, July 30th, 2007
The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing
A while back I wrote about how I wasn’t too pleased with the fact that Code Geass was going to be more than one season. Then briefly after Euphie became the Murder Princess I wavered in my opinion.
Then Euphie died. I returned to normal.
After watching episode 24 and 25 where are we? Do we know more about Lelouch? Not really. Lelouch’s motive and actions have not changed much over the course of the first season. Of course, one can always say that he has become a tad bit more evil. Let’s face it, Lelouch is a “bad guy.” It’s just that we have a natural tendency to side with the lesser of two evils, and Britannia just doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities aside from cute princesses who like to go on murderous geass infused rampages.
How about Suzaku? Sure he murdered his dad, but he seems to only really feel bad about it in conveniently short periods of crippling emotional turmoil.
To be fair, Lelouch and Suzaku do get some flashbacks of childhood moments.
How about C.C? C.C. is perfect, and I’ll kick anyone who says otherwise. Actually, C.C. seems to get a good dose of development. It’s all character development in the form of her personality. We get very little, if any, historical context. This is unlike the history we are show with Lelouch and Suzaku. We don’t know exactly what she is, where she has been, what she is doing, why she had green hair, what’s with the pizza, what is that thing she wears it looks like a straight-jacket, I used to have some of those trick hand-cuffs that magicians use, and–oh yeah–pepperonis is yummy.
What about everyone else? Not very much, that’s what. Code Geass is full of mostly static characters. That’s not to say that they are uninteresting or uni-dimensional. It’s saying that the story wasn’t a progression. It’s as if the pieces were set in place and the game started while we watched. There was little setup. We were only told what was needed in order for us to understand why the characters were acting a certain way. Also, it provided a means to understand what was guiding their actions. For me this creates a detachment between my feelings towards the characters and the plot they are embroiled in.
Perhaps that is what was intentionally the intention of the ones that intended to deny us an extension of emotional context for the characters. There is a big difference between seeing the emotional reaction of a character and understanding that reaction. It takes time for an audience to develop an intimacy with the characters. This is time the Code Geass has had and still has. That time that was had, has been wasted. Wasted on what? Explosions, that’s what.
I like explosions too, though.
Okay, I’d better stop it here. Let’s just say that I still think they could have wrapped it up in one season. Now, we all have to wait.
This type of waiting is like sitting in a dark room. The night sky, illuminated by the hollow moon. She sits across the expanse waiting for that sound. She is waiting for a message. Waiting for sweet words from that which she holds dear. The hours are upon her, but she dares not sleep. Wait. . .was that a ring.
[ see? What the hell is going on here? Damn cliffhangers!!!!! ]
-
“grok” – google it.
edit: 12:21 – made some corrections, nothing special
The following post first appeared on my old blog: Chibi no Nothing
A while back I wrote about how I wasn’t too pleased with the fact that Code Geass was going to be more than one season. Then briefly after Euphie became the Murder Princess I wavered in my opinion.
Then Euphie died. I returned to normal.
After watching episode 24 and 25 where are we? Do we know more about Lelouch? Not really. Lelouch’s motive and actions have not changed much over the course of the first season. Of course, one can always say that he has become a tad bit more evil. Let’s face it, Lelouch is a “bad guy.” It’s just that we have a natural tendency to side with the lesser of two evils, and Britannia just doesn’t seem to have any redeeming qualities aside from cute princesses who like to go on murderous geass infused rampages.
How about Suzaku? Sure he murdered his dad, but he seems to only really feel bad about it in conveniently short periods of crippling emotional turmoil.
To be fair, Lelouch and Suzaku do get some flashbacks of childhood moments.
How about C.C? C.C. is perfect, and I’ll kick anyone who says otherwise. Actually, C.C. seems to get a good dose of development. It’s all character development in the form of her personality. We get very little, if any, historical context. This is unlike the history we are show with Lelouch and Suzaku. We don’t know exactly what she is, where she has been, what she is doing, why she had green hair, what’s with the pizza, what is that thing she wears it looks like a straight-jacket, I used to have some of those trick hand-cuffs that magicians use, and–oh yeah–pepperonis is yummy.
What about everyone else? Not very much, that’s what. Code Geass is full of mostly static characters. That’s not to say that they are uninteresting or uni-dimensional. It’s saying that the story wasn’t a progression. It’s as if the pieces were set in place and the game started while we watched. There was little setup. We were only told what was needed in order for us to understand why the characters were acting a certain way. Also, it provided a means to understand what was guiding their actions. For me this creates a detachment between my feelings towards the characters and the plot they are embroiled in.
Perhaps that is what was intentionally the intention of the ones that intended to deny us an extension of emotional context for the characters. There is a big difference between seeing the emotional reaction of a character and understanding that reaction. It takes time for an audience to develop an intimacy with the characters. This is time the Code Geass has had and still has. That time that was had, has been wasted. Wasted on what? Explosions, that’s what.
I like explosions too, though.
Okay, I’d better stop it here. Let’s just say that I still think they could have wrapped it up in one season. Now, we all have to wait.
This type of waiting is like sitting in a dark room. The night sky, illuminated by the hollow moon. She sits across the expanse waiting for that sound. She is waiting for a message. Waiting for sweet words from that which she holds dear. The hours are upon her, but she dares not sleep. Wait. . .was that a ring.
[ see? What the hell is going on here? Damn cliffhangers!!!!! ]
-
“grok” – google it.
edit: 12:21 – made some corrections, nothing special
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