Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Turn 25: Re; ]

It’s hard to believe that it’s all over now. Code Geass was my favorite show of 2007 and I came into R2 prepared to be amazed once more. Did it happen? It sure as hell did. But on what scale exactly? Hit the jump to find out and for my, Youko’s, and Blade’s final thoughts on what has been one hell of a ride since Turn 1.

Given how everything ended…I was astounded for quite some time after the episode finally ended. It felt like I was saying farewell to a great story and cast which all resulted in a smile. Starting from the top, it was pretty heartbreaking to see Lelouch have no other choice but to use Geass on Nunnally. I felt that his opposition to the action was extremely strong but he had to do it in order to complete Zero Requiem. I can’t begin to imagine how he felt hearing Nunnally refer to him as a villain though. But, it had to be done. For her and for everyone else.

The Suzaku/Lancelot vs. Kallen/Guren battle was the easily the most intense battle to take place in R2 and possibly across both seasons. It wasn’t easy to choose any side and I honestly wanted both of them to win…which pretty much happened. Guren was effectively put out of commission and Albion got blown to smithereens. Suzaku and Kallen were definitely the best pilots in Geass and each of them went out with a bang. The end was pretty well done too, especially with convincing us viewers that Suzaku had died since there wasn’t any visible evidence of an ejection. Jeremiah was pretty damn cool in this episode as well. He showed that pink-haired girls are no make for his awesome! I’m glad that he survived all the way to the end. It looks like he de-Geassed Anya as well. That’s cool.

As for Lelouch, depending on your interpretation and dedication, there are two ways to view what happened to him in the end. The first being that Lelouch is really dead. It was pretty sad to see it all take place though, especially when his body landed near Nunnally. Man, I felt tears starting to well up in my eyes just watching her stare at his lifeless body in disbelief and then begin to breakdown. Nunnally is the best little sister a brother can have. Period. The other view of Lelouch’s fate is that he’s still alive. How? Well, it is possible that C.C. could have given him her code to make him immortal. That would make him…R.R., wouldn’t it? Not to mention “R2” is in the title (I doubt it means Round 2). Then again, this is why open-ended finales are most of the time awesome. That’s because they leave it up to each individual to interpret what happened to a character or group of characters based on ambiguous events.

The results of Lelouch’s Zero Requiem become clear in the epilogue though. The world is at peace and resources that were once used for war are now being used in more important fields such as energy and food production. There are still problems in the world though but everyone is working to resolve them through sitting down and having intelligent discussion. As for our cast they are all living pretty normal lives now. Kallen is back in school, Villetta and Ougi are married (and he’s the prime minister of Japan), Milly is still a reporter and loving it, and most of all: Jeremiah is working on an orange plantation with Anya. Awesome. Our last few shots center around C.C. who is being carried around in a cart and having one of her monologue moments and she closes the final episode of Code Geass by apparently speaking with Lelouch. Quite a touching and satisfying way to end things, especially with the paper crane.

Final Thoughts

No matter what anyone else says, to me Code Geass is one of the strongest and most epic series to come about in recent years. There were good times, bad times, ugly times, and overall happy times. The first season was astounding and the second was a great sequel. Granted I believe the first season is the better of the two, but R2 delivered a lot of content that was brilliant well-developed. Sure, the ride was a bit more bumpy than usual but it was extremely enjoyable and I felt satisfied with the way things turned out in the end, even if Lelouch apparently died. The cast was great, the music wonderful, and the writing was excellent even with the flaws that it contained (particularly in R2). Do I want to see more Geass? Well, I don’t know to be honest. As it stands, I don’t think they have to make another series even C.C.’s real name hasn’t been revealed (that can be done in a picture book if they wanted to). I just want to give two thumbs up to Taniguchi, Kotaro, and the entire Geass staff for a job very well done. It’s been real guys. I won’t be forgetting this series for a very, very long time.

So it ends here, the climatic finale! I really really really enjoyed this episode. It certainly made up for the total trainwrecking and nonsensical plot points from the last several episodes. Now this was a good way to end it on a better note, even though R2 wasn’t Taniguchi’s original intention.

I admit, I laughed when Lelouch actually Geass’d Nunnally after all, gaining control of Damocles, and therefore, he naturally is the victor. The epic Lancelot vs. Guren final fight was the most intense KMF battle I’ve witnessed. It goes to show you, this is what the highest generation of Frames are capable of! It’s a shame that Albion was destroyed in the end (supposedly with Suzaku) but I gotta hand it to Kallen for doing so good. Speaking of Frames though, Jeremiah showed that he was pure pwnage overall the way he came at Anya in not one, but three ways. Busting out of the many layers, he finally jumps out of his Burai and bring down his storm of loyalty upon Anya… or he can just un-Geass her. Okay, that works too.

Two months later and Lelouch now is the tyranny of the world. The most dramatic scene of all starts when suddenly Zero appears before him. Right when you see how that Zero moved swiftly, you know what that fucking means. That’s right, Suzaku! Boy was I glad he didn’t die in the end. Hearing “0″ play in the background just made me jump for joy even more as he moved like the wind, and thus the Zero Requiem completes itself. So this was what he had in mind from the start. Knowing he’s brought hate upon the world, Lelouch thought this up thoroughly. Having death as his answer and making Suzaku Zero, indeed, the symbol of peace and ending all war, just like the symbol of Zero has been since his birth. It was truly a captivating moment (except maybe Lelouch’s slip and slide). Nunnally realizes the truth and cries for her brother, while the people rejoice and hail Zero.

An epilogue of sorts shows that peace did return, the Black Knights are now no more as they can return back to their normal lives, Ohgi and Viletta actually married (umm) and a bunch of other things that make you feel all good inside. Jeremiah ultimately working on an orange plantation, could anyone not have seen that coming? Oh yeah, thank Sunrise for that Spice and Wolf ending. No really, at least I got to see C.C. for that last time.

The ride was long, and it was bumpy. Maybe it was best to get off that ride because there were a lot of trainwrecking along the way, but overall though, you can pass up what R2 delivered. I can’t really say this turned out to be my favorite this year but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t anything unlike Geass. The unfolding of the story felt just about right, could have been a bit better. I still want to know what C.C.’s real name is, there are still other questions I wanna know, but at this point, everything else I’m quite satisfied with. Is this really the end though? I kinda want it to continue and I also kinda don’t. But anyway, I just want to now end this by thanking the Geass staff (yeah, Sunrise, that’s you) for their damn good work. Kotaro’s music, the cast, and Taniguchi as well. Thanks for the memories!

Okay, this is going to be fun. I guess I am more known for being harsher than either Leon and Youko and you know what. I am. I have to say that like the several episodes that preceded it, the last episode didn’t leave any memorable thing about it that put me in awe. After all the crazy stuff Lelouch has done it wasn’t a surprised he Geass’d Nunnally, actually I would have been surprised it the other happened. I was more surprised to see her reaction and her yelling and calling him the devil, which was pretty dark for Nunnally. It’s too bad that this is all she really is. I expected after she opened her eyes to stand against her brother and she almost took over his Geass but succumbed to it at the end. I loved how she was more independent in R2, but I think the writers lost great potential.

Now for the Guren vs. Lancelot. I didn’t think this battle was nearly as epic as the encounter between Lelouch and Suzaku last season and the cliffhanger. Sure those are two different things, but I have seen better battles, if though I wanted Kallen to win because Suzaku has reached a lower level ever since episode 19. I am probably one of the only people who liked Suzaku. People hated him because he sold Lelouch to the emperor, but come on! He was about to destroy a nation just to secure peace to his sister, that’s a little overboard isn’t it? When Suzaku jumped ship to Lelouch’s side after Charles’ demise, this is where the series started its inevitable trainwreck. It is sad because they never really explained why Suzaku has taken such a drastic turn and the fact he is using Lelouch’s Geass in order to strengthen him makes him more of a flat characters than the interesting individual he was beforehand.

The whole idea of Zero Requiem was pretty original and symbolic as Zero is the one to kill Lelouch, but I wished they never told us that Suzaku was alive. On the contrary, the scene would have been a lot more powerful if Zero’s identity will always remain secret, or at least be unveiled at the end of the episode and not the same scene. It is sad Suzaku, despite joining forces with Lelouch, is portraying the symbol of justice until his death and cannot show his face… but now that I think about it, why no one tried to capture him and take the damn mask off? Oh and another thing. How come the moment Lelouch die, Nunnally, probably a victim of Lelouch’s S&M experiments, loves him all of a sudden because she understands his ideals. HE KILLED PEOPLE FOR HIS SELFISH REASONS! The sad part is that Nunnally knew that and still thought he is the best brother ever. One thing is for sure, she is the best sister if she loves him despite all the things he cause.

But not everything was “so bad it was good”. I loved how Jeremiah ended up in an orange filed with Anya and Ougi married Villeta, not to mention becoming THE prime minister of Japan. Toudou also… errr…. what happened to Toudou again? He is another wasted character I wished they talked more about, especially since he has history with Suzaku. Also Rivalz and Milly had tons of scenes together but they never really contribute in any way, which is sad because we know Rivalz loves her yet he will never make a move. His loss really.

So everyone is happy after the death of Lelouch the tyrant and even Schneizel doesn’t look mean as he used to be. Is Lelouch dead? If Guilford can survive a nuke I bet it’s maybe a look-alike. I bet Rolo can come back from nowhere and even the emperor if the writers are desperate enough to screw… oh wait, I better stop or else they will get more crazy ideas.

Quick Review
I was mostly negative here, but honestly, R2 was a very epic series. It was nowhere near as epic as the original series but it had some great moments, many cool additions to the cast (Xing he, Gino) that overcome some of the more questionable ones (Rolo) and if the last 4 episodes were written better, I bet it would at least be equal to the original season. Still considering that most of the show this past 9 months were comedy or slice-of-life shows, Code Geass stands out and punches them in the face showing how flashy it is, and man is it flashy. If there would be a third season, I want the show to concentrate on new characters rather than repeating the same cast. Heck, I wouldn’t mind a show only on Toudou, Jeremiah and Xing He.