[ 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.

[ Turn 24: Sky of Damocles ]

CHECKMATE-O FOR LELOUCH! ALL HAIL LELOUCH!

Man, I so did not see Lelouch’s victory surfacing in this manner. If there ever was a time the words PWNT had to appear in this series in neon letters across the screen, then the exact moment that Schneizel got Geassed would be it. Seriously, he needed to be put out of temporary misery if only because he really had no purpose but to BS around with his so-called peace-talks. Moving on, I’m glad that Cornelia turned out to be okay but how the HELL did Guilford survive? Then again, it is better I not even think about that since Nunnally and Sayoko got out just fine.

Speaking of Nunnally, my heart literally dropped when she opened her eyes. My first thought was along the lines of “OMG…” and then drifted to “My, my, she’s even much more cuter with her eyes open…” which then finally punctuated with “Oh no…she’s susceptible to Lelouch’s Geass now!”. Hopefully she makes it through all of this without too much trauma. Now the only thing left to find out is exactly what Zero Re:quiem turns out to be.

Talk about turnabouts, Lelouch actually outsmarted Schneizel! Now he’s got Schneizel under his command so it looks good for Lelouch. It looks like the battle of KnightMares are going strong, but the final battle between Lancelot and Guren is totally inevitable as they are the two best ones out there. I feel epic battles coming on.

The biggest part comes at the end when Lelouch confronts Nunnally, and she suddenly opens up her eyes for the first time since that incident 8 years ago. Such beautiful eyes, but will Lelouch Geass her in the end? Nice way to set up the finale, I think.

How can one survive a nuke? I guess Guilford is part cockroach if he is able to survive, not to mention Cornellia surviving after he brother shot her, but maybe those bullets weren’t real. That being said, I am really said they did that. I can maybe understand Cornellia’s “death” because it seems that Schneizel used fake bullets to get her out of the way rather than killing her, but there is no way Guilford just managed to get out of there. Nunnally survived because she has a ninja assistant…

Now you probably thinking I am surprised Lelouch outsmarted Schneizel. Not really. I actually saw it a mile away. Considering how much the show emphasizes on Lelouch’s evolution and even defeating his father, doing the same to his brother wouldn’t be much different. I was a little sad seeing Diethard going and I really wished he would at least scar Lelouch, but I’ll give him credit for going out with a bang.

Other than that, typical war affair. I have to say that this time it isn’t as exciting as the last episodes of the previous seasons, but the scene were Nunnally opened her eyes was the best cliffhanger they can come up with for the final episode. If she has a Geass that’d be priceless!

[ Turn 23: Schneizel's Mask ]

Schneizel makes my brain hurt. Not to mention I despise the bastard after what he did to Cornelia in this episode. Speaking of which, where the hell did those guns come from? Who makes the interior design for these places?! Seriously, they need to be friggin’ shot. With those very same guns. One of the most surprising and somewhat painful things of this episode though was seeing Nunnally be the one to launch FLEIA over and over, practically erasing hundreds and hundreds of people each time. Although she seems to be grounded in her beliefs, I still think she is not completely thinking for herself due to Schneizel’s influence.

Anyway, I loved how Lelouch and Schneizel was having a living chess battle with their forces. It’s obvious that this will be their last match though and there can only be one victor. Who will it be? Hmm, most likely Lelouch of course. He really can’t afford to lose here and I’m sure he has backup plans galore to help him pull through.

Lastly…it’s pretty obvious that Villetta is pregnant. Though…when did that happen? Bah, it doesn’t matter. Congratulations to her.

Schneizel’s a real stinker lately. Sometimes I don’t see why he thinks the way he does. Of course, being Lelouch’s brother, that shouldn’t be so unexpected. Now gunshots to the back of Cornelia, that’s where it’s unexpected. He’d go that far though? Nunnally thinks the same way as she is now the one literally pushing the buttons and hitting them hard. Lelouch might have to fight her after all. Now I’m not so sure who should be the real final opposition to Lelouch now. That role keeps transferring to another person so much.

Wait. What am I doing here you ask? Well, after a long time I have finally caught up to R2, just 3 episodes before the end of the show. To hear exactly what I think about Code Geass in general, I’ll write in the near future, but let’s discuss episode 23.

At this point of the show I am not really sure who to root for. Lelouch and Suzaku pretty much proved themselves to be deprived of any emotion or care for anything really and Schneizel is not that much better than them. Since Nunnally is under his wing, I am not sure if her victory will be satisfying because that means Schneizel won. I think the only characters I like in the show so far are the ones who are involved directly. Meaning Toudou, Xing-ke, Ohgi and even Kallen despite the fact she pretty much went behind Lelouch the entire time.

So it’ll be a giant war between Schneizel and Lelouch and would probably end the next episode or in the finale. At this point, or I could have said that around the time the OP changed, you can never expect what the hell the writers will come up with as they pretty much make every character less and less likable. I just want Rivalz to use his Chidori and get into Milly’s pants, but the odds of that happening are equal to if Tamaki would write a deep and involving novel. Ain’t gonna happen.

[ Turn 22: Emperor Lelouch ]

Lelouch >= Sayoko > God.

Son of a bitch! So I was right to think that Sayoko and Nunnally escaped death! Ok, this only further shows that Sayoko is among the top best characters in the entire show and she skyrocketed into my favorites even more than before. Anyway, Lelouch is officially the Emperor of Britannia and has his immediate siblings doing chores! Well, I suppose that’s one accomplishment anyone who has brothers and sisters would understand. As for why he’s against the world, I have no friggin idea what he’s doing. Is he doing it to try and erase the memory of what Euphie did under the influence of Geass? Who the hell knows. Well, except for Suzaku. Maybe. Though, I guess he can’t say he’s doing it for Nunnally since she’s alive.

Lancelot Albion was pretty damn hax like Strike Freedom. Now, that’s not a bad thing really. It looked really damn cool. Though, I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed that the rest of the Rounds (sans Anya and Gino) were wasted so quickly. I wanted to see more of Monica and Dorothea but that dream was squashed. Bismark was just plain worthless with his useless Geass. Seeing into the future? Come on, how cliché can you get and STILL lose? Oh well, I hope Nonette brings something to the table in the last three episodes since she’s the only other Rounds still alive. I’m guessing she’ll be with Cornelia, Nunnally, and Schneizel.

I have to wonder how things are going to conclude. Nunnally boldly declares her beloved brother as her enemy which I still find hard to believe, though it’s painfully obvious that Schneizel is pulling the strings here. Damn bastard, what’s his game? Hopefully Nunnally is the one to kill him in the end. Or even better, Sayoko!

Way to troll us, Sunrise. Way to freaking go. Looks like the epic cliffhanger moments are back. So I’m assuming ninja maid Sayoko did pull off some Hiraishin no Jutsu or something. Well I should really backtrack on things first.

So Lelouch is now Emperor and is changing Britannia, but is it for the best or for the worse? C.C. is now back in her classic jumpsuit, which I don’t mind, but I certainly prefer the black suit. Well I guess I was right about Lelouch after all, unlike Tamaki, so he really is up against everyone. I don’t understand what he’s even doing anymore.

My favorite part of this episode was Lancelot Albion. Seriously, that was the only thing I cared about actually. Finally seeing it in action was worth it. It’s destructive and damn powerful now with those energy wings. I can’t wait to see Suzaku and Kallen fight for the last time. I just gotta say though, it was a bit disappointing and really rushed how he took care of the Rounds like that. As devastating as Albion is, it was just too late for the new Rounds getting limelight. The only light they got made them go kaboom. Bismarck was also very disappointing. He pulls off his Geass, which he reveals allows him to see into the future. Really cliché technique. He can really compete with Sven’s Vision Eye from Black Cat. I think even a Sharingan can top that. Well anyways, he went out Cyborg Frieza style. Wonder what Gino’s gonna do, or even Anya, who seems to be with Schneizel and Cornelia.

It wasn’t that bad of an episode. At least it made progress but I just don’t really feel like R2 is living up to the last season. Things have gotten really messy these past several episodes. It’s like they pulled many backstories from different characters and mashed them into one plot branching into subplots into smaller subplots that just didn’t blend quite right, and now it’s gonna take a lot of effort to clean. There’s only three episodes left so I hope it gets a little more interesting. Seeing as how what just happened at the end, there might just be hope.

[ Turn 21: Ragnarok Connection ]

It almost feels like my brain was spun around at the speed of light after seeing all what transpired just a few moments ago. Trying to make sense of everything will probably take a while but I have most of the stuff processed. Most. I was pretty depressed with the way things turned out with Marianne. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting of her but I didn’t see her alliance with Charles coming at all. That completely blind sided me and seeing how she died just had me going “What the hell” throughout. Well, I’m pretty sure that despite what transpired, Marianne isn’t evil. The same can be said of Charles. They were both just…selfish and misguided in their intentions. Even though Lelouch pretty much expressed his disgust of how they abandoned him and Nunnally, they just don’t seem like villains. Ah, Marianne…I’ll still adore you no matter what. *sniff*

Now, what’s really the big shocker here (well not really that shocking) is that Lelouch is now the Emperor of Britannia. Ah! It doesn’t stop there! Suzaku is now his knight. The Knight of ZERO. Haha, what’s going here? How did those two manage to reconcile? And what’s up with C.C.? I can’t tell what she’s thinking and her expression at the end of the episode obviously isn’t a happy one. I just can’t tell what’s going to happen from here with four episodes left to wrap everything up. Is Kallen going to join Lelouch? Seems like it to me. Is the OBK going to go up against Lelouch? What if he liberates Japan, then? Also, what’s Schneizel (I can never remember how to spell this guy’s name) going to do? Or more like, what CAN he do? Whatever it is better not harm Cornelia. Speaking of which, why hasn’t she gone on her own yet…gah.

Anyway, at this point, I don’t know how things are going to end. It’s either going to go out in Evangelion-style or initiate HiME reset goodness. Or possibly none. Who the hell knows anymore, but that’s a GOOD thing.

This episode was no less different than anything we’ve seen in Geass: a ridiculous turn of events. Learning the “truth” behind Marianne’s “death” just made me wanna scoff. Sounded like a pretty lame reason for V.V. (hey, he pulled a Euphy too!). And in the midst of all that I just like how Anya was just… there, easy target for Marianne. I’m not sure I understand them anymore. Charles and Marianne are not what I consider the best parents. Marianne give me this whole bad feeling much like Fumika’s mother in Shigofumi. They just abandoned their children like that. The fact that Nunnally was bound by Geass made it sound worse.

So they accomplished that much catastrophe huh. Well it’s a good thing Lelouch finally gained the heads side of the coin. What better way to die than doing it HiME style? Pretty flashy sparkles and all that. But I must admit, the moment Lelouch gained his second Geass eye and even commanded over God was pretty damn impressive. Anyways, things start really turning around when a month passes and Lelouch suddenly becomes the 99th Emperor, and with Suzaku as his Knight of Zero, no less.

Things just keep taking a turn for the interesting. From the way it looks, it’s now Lelouch against the world. It might turn out really bitter for him in the end. Speaking of which, I was really concerned with C.C. the entire episode. She just had this really gloomy mood and she felt even more isolated after the whole incident with Lelouch’s parents. Even after Lelouch becomes Emperor, she still gave a sad face, which made me feel pretty sad too. Just what’s going on in her mind?

[ Turn 20: Emperor Disqualification ]

What the…EH? Marianne is…inside Anya?! Goodness gracious. I always had a suspicion that she was at least still alive somehow but damn, I didn’t see this coming. My immediate guess as to how her situation is possible is that her Geass either allows her to possess a person or do a mind transfer. I’d love to see how it was all set up though. I find her behavior rather interesting as well…particularly toward Lelouch in the end. She seemed rather casual/flippant about saving her son and one would think a mother wouldn’t be that way. Then again, perhaps it doesn’t fall in place with keeping her cover. Or something like that.

Meanwhile I’m waiting to see what will happen to the OBK. Ogi is a horrible leader and really needs to be kicked out of the position. Kaguya dwarfs that moron completely in leadership skills. I wonder if he (and the other idiots minus Lakshata and Kallen) really believe they’ll be getting Japan back, especially with Schneizel now wanting to become the Emperor. Suzaku was hilarious in this episode, doing what he does best (betraying) yet again and then getting his ass kicked by Bismark. I still can’t stop laughing at how he mentioned that the live command was telling him to run away (LOL).

Oh yeah, and Charles just got his ass checkmated by Lelouch big time. Take that!

First off…. YES! C.C. is finally back to whom we all know and cherish. I knew it took another kiss… or something, but I was not expecting Anya. Or rather, Mariannne! Seriously, what kind of shit did they just pull? Doesn’t that seem a little off tangent somehow? Was she really alive or is her mind somehow inhabiting Anya? I figure it has to be something like that, otherwise Lelouch just went through a whole crapload of nothing and lost Nunnally for it.

So in other news, it looks like Suzaku’s mind is jerking off because it’s hard to tell what’s going on now, though if defeating Charles is one thing, I guess that’s a start. I do find that Suzaku’s Geass command is activated (with flashing eyes to boot) right when Bismarck jumps in. It’s also really hilarious how he flees in the midst once Bismarck stopped looking for a second. Looks like Lelouch got his game face back on and I can’t wait to see what’s next. I wonder how the Emperor will get out of hits one. MUDAAA!

P.S. Nina just realized the effect of her creation? Talk about slowpoke.jpg.