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methrowrockI have been caught in anime recently, mainly Baccano, Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge, Kateikyo Hitman Reborn and Code Geass. Baccano, I have already posted about. YNSH was really funny. Chibi Nakahara Sunako is win. So is the normal-sized version of her heh. It was light, fluffy, entertaining and I enjoyed it. KHR was okay. Managed to watch up to E7 before giving up. It was my second attempt at the series. My interest was REBORN! recently because I saw alot of pretty KHR character icons (like Hibari!) but Tsunayoshi is such a loser that he irks me whenever he appears. He is so spineless and cowardly! How many times must he hesitate before springing to action? And how many times must he rely on the Dying Will bullet to save his own ass?? I can't stand his mother too- the spacey schtick wears thin quickly. Lambo-san is adorable though. So is I-Pin. But enough was enough, so I gave up. Unlike KHR however, is Code Geass. After 9 episodes, the show has bowled me over. The newest fandom has arrived in town.
Code Geass is a really good show, as far as I can tell. At first, I was apprehensive because it had mecha and I'm not really into that. Full Metal Panic + Fumoffu + Second Raid left me feeling uncomfortably bloated as well. But boy, was I wrong. The mecha action sequences were a spruced-up version of those in FMP. They were so fricking exciting! The animation's really clean, vivid and fastpaced, like wham, bang, boom! The plot's pretty absorbing as well. There are some elements that remind me of Death Note. For example, his Geass power to make anyone buckle to his command is rather like what Death Notes can do. Lelouch is similar to Light as well- his intelligence, his caution, his ability to scheme and strategise, his composure under pressure, his beliefs, his double life ie. Zero with Raito's Kira. And then there's the nemesis who's a friend, Suzaku. But it's not fair to say that it's like Death Note, there's so much more to Code Geass than that.
One thing that turns me off though, is Lelouch's belief in punishing the "evil" Britainnians. Don't get me wrong, Lelouch is my favourite character, but his method of punishing people for "justice" is too extreme. What gives him the right to pass judegement on others and kill them? Oh, what, because he was a victim and thus has the moral high ground on the issue? Because his mother was killed and his sister was handicapped in the assassination attempt? True, he did suffer and suffer alot, having his loved ones wrestled away from him, but he had no right to inflict death upon those he deemed as evil and bring mourning upon their families. He would be the same as his perpetrators like that. Prince Clovis was begging for his life and he had told Lelouch everything, yet Lelouch still shot him. And telling the platoon as well as the kidnappers to commit a mass suicide was so atrociously wrong as well. And sacrificing people who supported him as decoys to ensure his safety or check the accuracy of his plan was wrong too. His cold-blooded murders of all these people- humans with families, humans who err, humans with emotions, humans who are blinded by their emotions and stray on the wrong path- degrades him, really. He is the same as the monsters that murder the Japanese civilians, who see human lives as worthless trash. By antagonizing the Empire so brazenly, he is risking the lives of so many commoners too. He can't protect everyone. Sure, he may have said he would stand up for the weak and only those who are prepared to die should fight. But what he is doing- using the Geass to command people- is different. It gives the prepared individuals no freedom to make their own choices to fight. It is cheating, to say it simply. And is killing people, taking their lives away with the victims unable to make a single attempt at resistance, really the best way to punish someone? No, and it's a violation of human rights, to say the least. And here's the guy fighting for the liberation of Area 11. Irony, irony. There are definitely better ways to punish them. One could be let the remorse crush the guilt-stricken. For the unrepentant though, I have no idea.
EDIT: Okay, after watching up to E14 of Code Geass, my stance towards Lelouch has softened a bit. At least, he isn't using his Geass to command people to kill others anymore. Instead, the fighting is mostly fair and square- pitting his strategic skills against Cornelia the elite tactician, confronting Lancelot with his Guren. His reasons for commencing the battle for "justice" seem more clear-cut as well. To change the world entirely, so that the weak may coexist in harmony with the strong, who would otherwise pick them off, one by one. (For his sister Nanaly) To overthrow the empire, to exact revenge upon the competitive royal family who had taken away his happiness and childhood. To ensure that the blood spilt thus far has not gone to waste. All very noble, yes. He has to assume the bad guy persona and smear his hands with the blood already splattered, as well as harden his heart to become chaos incarnate to succeed. I get it. Good leaders make hard decisions, not popular ones. Still, the ends don't justify the means. How can he blast the mountain and send shuddering lahars down the slopes just to wipe out the Britannian soldiers? Didn't he think of the inordinate number of casualties that would be incurred? There should be a better way. Of course, it was good that he was shaken when he found out that Shirley's dad was killed in his attack. Finally, a more human, more fallible side of him. Finally, he discovers that what he does has reverberating consequences on people, on people around him, on his friends. He isn't that removed from the suffering and grief anymore. But I just can't believe that he didn't realize the scale of his attacks and their lingering effects with that brilliant mind of his. Still, perhaps experiencing it first-hand made it more stinging than he expected. Lelouch, ah, Lelouch, I don't quite know whether to hate your guts or love your sacrifices. It must have really hurt him to erase Shirley's memories. Losing a friend suddenly, losing the times they have spent together, losing her care and concern while he suffers with the knowledge that he was the root cause of everything, alone with the memory that they once were great friends and had good times. My heart aches for him already. At least, this hardens his resolve, whether for good or ill, I cannot fathom just yet. Code Geass is pairing heaven man haha. I'm all for Lelouch x Kallen especially. But Lelouch x C.C. seems most plausible and compaitable. Well, we'll just see, won't we? [30th Dec 2007]
That being said, I still like Lelouch though. I can understand his thirst for revenge, his desperation and his desire for revolution. I just don't like the way he uses his power as a weapon to kill people. He could always command them to repent, make up for their sins, join him in his quest or whatever. There's no need to spill blood. After all, blood breeds more blood and in the end, it's the public that is caught in the crossfire. Soft power is the way to go! Haha but Lelouch is so fricking cool when he's eviiilll. And he looks good with neko mimi. I had a nosebleed (figuratively) when I saw him in that get-up. MOE MOE~~! Hahaha
Anyway, other than anime, I have been doing little else. Oh, I keep eating too, which is really bad. Went to school for football again today. The state of our fitness was despairing to witness. Took a little tour around the school compound after that. Nope, I still don't feel any pangs of sadness. Nostalgia, maybe. 5 more days to the start of JC. Ambivalence. Time to watch Code Geass now, up, up and away!
Code Geass is a really good show, as far as I can tell. At first, I was apprehensive because it had mecha and I'm not really into that. Full Metal Panic + Fumoffu + Second Raid left me feeling uncomfortably bloated as well. But boy, was I wrong. The mecha action sequences were a spruced-up version of those in FMP. They were so fricking exciting! The animation's really clean, vivid and fastpaced, like wham, bang, boom! The plot's pretty absorbing as well. There are some elements that remind me of Death Note. For example, his Geass power to make anyone buckle to his command is rather like what Death Notes can do. Lelouch is similar to Light as well- his intelligence, his caution, his ability to scheme and strategise, his composure under pressure, his beliefs, his double life ie. Zero with Raito's Kira. And then there's the nemesis who's a friend, Suzaku. But it's not fair to say that it's like Death Note, there's so much more to Code Geass than that.
One thing that turns me off though, is Lelouch's belief in punishing the "evil" Britainnians. Don't get me wrong, Lelouch is my favourite character, but his method of punishing people for "justice" is too extreme. What gives him the right to pass judegement on others and kill them? Oh, what, because he was a victim and thus has the moral high ground on the issue? Because his mother was killed and his sister was handicapped in the assassination attempt? True, he did suffer and suffer alot, having his loved ones wrestled away from him, but he had no right to inflict death upon those he deemed as evil and bring mourning upon their families. He would be the same as his perpetrators like that. Prince Clovis was begging for his life and he had told Lelouch everything, yet Lelouch still shot him. And telling the platoon as well as the kidnappers to commit a mass suicide was so atrociously wrong as well. And sacrificing people who supported him as decoys to ensure his safety or check the accuracy of his plan was wrong too. His cold-blooded murders of all these people- humans with families, humans who err, humans with emotions, humans who are blinded by their emotions and stray on the wrong path- degrades him, really. He is the same as the monsters that murder the Japanese civilians, who see human lives as worthless trash. By antagonizing the Empire so brazenly, he is risking the lives of so many commoners too. He can't protect everyone. Sure, he may have said he would stand up for the weak and only those who are prepared to die should fight. But what he is doing- using the Geass to command people- is different. It gives the prepared individuals no freedom to make their own choices to fight. It is cheating, to say it simply. And is killing people, taking their lives away with the victims unable to make a single attempt at resistance, really the best way to punish someone? No, and it's a violation of human rights, to say the least. And here's the guy fighting for the liberation of Area 11. Irony, irony. There are definitely better ways to punish them. One could be let the remorse crush the guilt-stricken. For the unrepentant though, I have no idea.
EDIT: Okay, after watching up to E14 of Code Geass, my stance towards Lelouch has softened a bit. At least, he isn't using his Geass to command people to kill others anymore. Instead, the fighting is mostly fair and square- pitting his strategic skills against Cornelia the elite tactician, confronting Lancelot with his Guren. His reasons for commencing the battle for "justice" seem more clear-cut as well. To change the world entirely, so that the weak may coexist in harmony with the strong, who would otherwise pick them off, one by one. (For his sister Nanaly) To overthrow the empire, to exact revenge upon the competitive royal family who had taken away his happiness and childhood. To ensure that the blood spilt thus far has not gone to waste. All very noble, yes. He has to assume the bad guy persona and smear his hands with the blood already splattered, as well as harden his heart to become chaos incarnate to succeed. I get it. Good leaders make hard decisions, not popular ones. Still, the ends don't justify the means. How can he blast the mountain and send shuddering lahars down the slopes just to wipe out the Britannian soldiers? Didn't he think of the inordinate number of casualties that would be incurred? There should be a better way. Of course, it was good that he was shaken when he found out that Shirley's dad was killed in his attack. Finally, a more human, more fallible side of him. Finally, he discovers that what he does has reverberating consequences on people, on people around him, on his friends. He isn't that removed from the suffering and grief anymore. But I just can't believe that he didn't realize the scale of his attacks and their lingering effects with that brilliant mind of his. Still, perhaps experiencing it first-hand made it more stinging than he expected. Lelouch, ah, Lelouch, I don't quite know whether to hate your guts or love your sacrifices. It must have really hurt him to erase Shirley's memories. Losing a friend suddenly, losing the times they have spent together, losing her care and concern while he suffers with the knowledge that he was the root cause of everything, alone with the memory that they once were great friends and had good times. My heart aches for him already. At least, this hardens his resolve, whether for good or ill, I cannot fathom just yet. Code Geass is pairing heaven man haha. I'm all for Lelouch x Kallen especially. But Lelouch x C.C. seems most plausible and compaitable. Well, we'll just see, won't we? [30th Dec 2007]
That being said, I still like Lelouch though. I can understand his thirst for revenge, his desperation and his desire for revolution. I just don't like the way he uses his power as a weapon to kill people. He could always command them to repent, make up for their sins, join him in his quest or whatever. There's no need to spill blood. After all, blood breeds more blood and in the end, it's the public that is caught in the crossfire. Soft power is the way to go! Haha but Lelouch is so fricking cool when he's eviiilll. And he looks good with neko mimi. I had a nosebleed (figuratively) when I saw him in that get-up. MOE MOE~~! Hahaha
Anyway, other than anime, I have been doing little else. Oh, I keep eating too, which is really bad. Went to school for football again today. The state of our fitness was despairing to witness. Took a little tour around the school compound after that. Nope, I still don't feel any pangs of sadness. Nostalgia, maybe. 5 more days to the start of JC. Ambivalence. Time to watch Code Geass now, up, up and away!
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Date: 2007-12-30 05:33 pm (UTC)