My Thoughts So Far On Code Geass

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I just started watching Code Geass for the first time, after hearing numerous recommendations for it. Having just finished Gurren Lagann, I was up for another action-packed giant robot anime with an inspiring and deep story and great characters. Having watched two episodes of Code Geass, I can say for certain that I got something different than what most people got from it. Now, I just want to get this out of the way, I do not think Code Geass is a bad show at all. In fact, I KNOW it is a great show that deserves the respect it has received. However, there are a couple things that make the show sit with me about as well as Nitrogen and Glycerin.

For starters, my biggest problem is Lelouch, the main character himself. For most of the first episode, I felt comfortable with him and his motives. The Brittanians were doing destructive things, and he wished to stop them. Then, at the very end of the episode... well, you know what happened. That is where I had to stop. Anybody who would do something like that; much more take sick pleasure in it, is not a hero. No, I take that back. Anybody who would take pleasure in that is an absolute ****ing MONSTER. I don't care what the Brittanians did, that's just plain horrifying! I honestly couldn't watch the show for a while after that. I just had to take some time to think about it. But, I had to give the show another chance. I couldn't just judge it based on a single episode. So, just a few minutes ago, I watched the second episode. In retrospect, not much has changed. In this episode, I saw Lelouch play with Human lives like chess pieces, and it made me physically sick [I felt like throwing up out of repulsion]. And, to top it all off, around the middle of the episode, he laughed in a way that I have only previously seen movie and TV show villains laugh. It was positively chilling. All of these things give me the impression that Lelouch is more evil than good, and really makes me hate him.

Secondly, I would like to focus on talking about Lelouch's power, in particular. I was very unsettled when the green-haired girl [sorry, I haven't heard her name yet, and I don't want to encounter any spoilers by looking it up] described it to him, and after seeing what he did, I got the feeling that he had become too powerful; to the level that he is beyond Humanity. That made it very hard for me to establish any sort of emotional connection to the character. Why root for someone who can make an entire army wipe itself out just by opening one eye? That's just not fair!

Anyway, now that all that has been said, I am just curious; was all this the intent of the creator of the anime? Did he want us to hate Lelouch for how he uses his power? Or is this just something that gets resolved later in the show? [If so, don't tell me how; I hate spoilers.]
 
If you think LeLouche is so bad that you became physically ill while pondering his character flaws then you should probably avoid another anime called "Death Note." You just might end up hospitalized.

LeLouche spenRAB a lot of the series skating along the line of the hero and the anti-hero. He is a very flawed character, which makes him more believable and much, much more interesting. He'll strategize his way out of one situation flawlessly then screw up royal minutes later. And yes, his motives and methoRAB are meant to give you pause. He's trying to enact change on an enormous scale in a very short period of time and he's going to do a lot of questionable things along the way. And trust me when I say that you haven't seen anything yet.

His power is actually challenged, don't you worry, and by people who seem even more powerful than he. His true trump card is always his brain and his Jason Bourne-like luck in choose and executing a plan.
 
I just watched the 3rd episode; that helped calm me down a bit. Also, what is with all the Pizza Hut advertisements in the show? It's hilariously ironic how a Western restaurant is advertised so much in such a nationalistic Japanese show!


I'll be sure to avoid it.
 
The Pizza Hut thing is just a sign that advertising with the show itself is too tempting for studios to pass up while they are producing their anime. Expect it the trend to continue if it pays off since anime studios are quite famously broke a lot of the time. I'm not sure how it's "ironic", though?
 
Code Geass Is Worth the Watching When Story starts getting going it is totally worth while... i thought it was boring first time watching then started watching it again a couple weeks later and THEN got into it
 
Sorry if I wasn't very clear on that. What I was implying was that Pizza Hut is a restaurant synonymous with the Western hemisphere, just like McDonalRAB, etc., and the fact that they are advertising it in such a nationalistic Japanese anime is what makes it ironic.
 
I agree with what KT said. Lelouch is pretty unique in the fact that he doesn't rely on physical abilities unlike most anime( in fact he is pretty weak as shown when got easily tired while running) and the fact that he doesnt rely too much on his geass. Checkmate pretty much hinted that in the end he was going to have to put himself in checkmate to end everything.


Code Geass many flaws which in some ways it makes it realistic but despite its flaws I still think Code Geass is a pretty decent show and better than most anime.
 
That's not ironic, that's just business.

Ironic would be more like if C.C. (the green-haired girl) stated explicitly that she would never eat food that came from a Western company only to be found eating Pizza Hut the next time she appears. There has to be a declaration before something can be ironic.
 
Well, I don't necessarily agree that there is no such thing as circumstantial irony, but I'm not going to start arguing details. Also, from what I have seen, I can't imagine CC giving a damn about anything enough just to make a statement like that.
 
Even in the case of circumstantial irony the series would need to imply that the Japanese returners were staunchly against anything non-Japanese. That isn't the case in the show. The resistances and terrorist groups actively pursuing the re-establishment of Japan are simply fighting Britainian rule and seeking independence. There's no talk of Japan being anti-West in the show, and you need that in order to pull out the irony card.

Plus C.C. isn't even Japanese. But you'll get to that.
 
Just a fun fact for you, It's Pizza Hut's Japanese branch that's doing all the advertising. In the English version of Code Geass, the Pizza Hut advertisments are gone completely.

Also, Lelouch is an anti-hero. Look it up.
 
It's called Code Geass Gaiden: Boukuto no Akito, and it was announced late April. It takes place during the Events of the first season of Code Geass and details the story of a group of knightmare pilots/kiRAB that are sent to retrieve a missing unit in the European Union. Their mission only has a success rate of 5%.
 
hes not bad at all, if you mother was killed and you thought your father the emperor could have stopped it but didn't and then had the nerve to throw you and your blind sister out into the war-zone around rotting corpses wouldn't you seek vengeance for the country/people who treated you so inhuman... i can tell you if someone was to kill my mother i would hunt them down and kill any one who tried to stop me? does that make me evil? also another main reason he does this is for love to his sister who's one wish was the world was a better place without violence. if you actually give the series a chance you will realize nothing about his motives are evil, although the actions he does to acquire his goal might be..
 
You'll probably be changing your mind about Lelouch the entire series. He redeems himself one moment, and the next he does another thing that makes you think, "DaUM. What an incredibly awesome douche bag." I personally became very attached to him by the end of the series.
 
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