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ファイト／ステイナイト 
I still haven't fully recover from the nasty flu/cough combo so I'm afraid I'm just going to resort to bullet points for summary. I'm sorry about this but this is as much as I can come up with the remaining energy I have left at the moment. Anyway, I'm surprised at how a few mere months are all that it takes to decrease my interest in the series. I mentioned before how I can't feel that much attachment to any of the characters. This turned out to become a slight problem when I watched the finale. I mean, here we have the characters dropping left and right like flies and I can't seem to care at all. I think there's something wrong with a series where I can't seem to care if a character lives or dies. I am interested to know more about C.C's past but if she were to die as well, I don't think it will bother me at all.
OMG, this is so awesome. More than I thought possible. Remember how I previously mentioned that I have difficulty connecting with the character? Well, this will sound heartless but that little problem turns out to be pure joy for me right now because it means I can enjoy the carnage without feeling depressed about it. After all, unlike series like Evangelion, I have no favourite character here so I can just relax and marvel at the destruction and mayhem. And what carnage this one turns out to be. I have to give it to the writers for having the courage to wipe out characters left and right like this. By the time the episode ends, almost everyone is either powned, completely messed up, or will get unpleasant surprise in the future. The only thing bad about this episode is that we have to wait until summer to watch the last 2 episodes, which I think will wrap up the Lelouch's rebellion part of the story.
Wow. Just wow. Now this is what I was talking about. A show which doesn't show black/white characters but instead characters who are borderline grey due to the circumstances they get thrusted in. I am glad that the writers decided not to make Lelouch a simple villain like Light in Death Note but instead put him in a situation in which he has little control. In the end, the circumstances which happened around him was not really his doing. The same can be said about Euphemia. I'm glad the writers finally decide to take her out of her goodie two-shoes role and put her in a situation which complicates her well-meaning intention. With only 3 more episodes before the end of the season, I hope the series goes out with a bang before returning for a second season later on this year.
I wish I can pretend that the last 5 or so minute of this episode never happened because then this would have been a good episode. Unfortunately Sunrise has the subtlety of a sledgehammer when it comes to plot and character development so we ended up with that last 5 minutes, which throws all of Lelouch's character development out of the window. If the writers want this series to be Death Note's clone, then I think they've effectively set the tone for this with that last 5 minutes. Now that this happens, I'm not sure which character to root for anymore. I do like Euphemia's plan but unfortunately she has little to no idea of what she has unleashed with her announcement. Why would anyone want to root for a leader who has no idea of the consequence of her action? Or maybe I can just watch and stop caring about the characters.
This is probably one of the most cheese-tastic episode ever and it doesn't have anything to do with the amount of product advertising that Pizza Hut placed in the series. I just don't think Zero and Suzaku are at a point where they can work together yet and here they are doing exactly this. Plus that background music that they use during the collaboration scene is really bad. Add to this a confession scene that comes out of nowhere. I realise that this series has just received a second season but this feels needlessly filler-ish to me. At any rate, I'm hoping that the 2nd season will feature more C.C than this Britannia vs. Black Knights stuff. I just think it will be a lot more compelling to see C.C's background and the rest of her 'people'.
What a surprisingly pleasant episode this one turns out to be. I always like it when a series goes through a character development, showing what this character would be like if the circumstance is changed a little bit. Interestingly enough, the more they know each other, the less hostile they tend to be. I guess it's a lot harder to shoot someone when that someone happens to be someone that you actually know very well. There are also several surprising revelation which makes me wonder about the murder of Marianne, Lelouch's mother. At this point, it seems the main suspect would be either Schneizel or the Emperor himself. It would be ironic if all of these times Lelouch was blaming his siblings only to find that it's just his father was responsible.
February 23, 2007 | 
92 Comments
Kaidoku Funou (2nd Ver) (17MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Well, they scramble the opening again but except for one single shot of Orange-kun, there's nothing exciting about it. Thankfully the episode itself is interesting and the ending is the kind of cliffhanger that I usually hate but for some reason it's kind of exciting here. At any rate, I hope this episode serves as some kind of eye-opener for Suzaku. I realise that he's willing to sacrifice his pride to save his people but this episode shows how much Britannia , 2-3 people aside, do not care for him. Anyway, it's clear by now that there's no way the writers can solve the majority of the plot by the time episode 24 ends. No wonder they need another set of season to complete the series.
February 8, 2007 | 135 Comments
Well, this turns out to be a surprisingly effective episode. I'm not too keen on some of the set up scenes but they are necessary in order to facilitate the plot progression. At any rate, I am glad the writers decide to go towards this direction this early in the story. It would have been annoying if they keep postponing it until the last few episodes of the season. I am also surprised to see a previous subplot reappear so quickly after the writers made an attempt to put it aside not too long ago. With this and the above plot progression, I think they want to make Lelouch's life as miserable as possible. C.C was right when she said taking the power would have made Lelouch lonely. I, however, am more interested to see how awkward the student council meeting would be should there be one anytime soon.
February 8, 2007 | 18 Comments
Sunset Swish - Mozaic Kakera (48MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Mozaic Kakera is the 2nd ED theme for Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch. The song is definitely the better half of the new OP/ED for that series. The full version sounds a bit weird to me since I'm not used to the elongated lyrics but in general it's still good. As I suspected, however, the lyrics used in the ED theme are actually the last few lines in the full song. The PV itself is okay. I generally dislike collage-styled graphics and this one is not an exception. I just don't think they blend well with the shots of the singers walking/performing on screen. Anyway, I've provided the PSP version of the video but if you want the fullscreen version, you can either check Butterfly Dreams or Tokyo Toshokan. If you're looking for the lyrics, the Kanji and Romaji versions are available after the cut as usual.
February 2, 2007 | 52 Comments
The main plot in this episode feels a bit unnecessary, especially since the subplots scattered all over this episode (Millay's engagement, Villetta's status) are far more interesting. I think the only reason the writers decide to have this is because they want to incorporate that revelation towards the end of this episode. However, I think we've always suspect this revelation to be true so I think the writers could have written it in a different manner. I just hope that this will allow some kind of character development for Suzaku, who so far hasn't had interesting personality and story. Although it's unlikely, it would have been interesting if Suzaku ends up being the main villain of the series. At least that would give him a much more interesting role than a simple Britannian's loyal servant who romances the 3rd Princess.
January 26, 2007 | 39 Comments
This is a bit disappointing after last week's episode. I think the result of the mindwipe is a bit unrealistic. I mean what's the point of doing this if it actually puts Lelouch in even bigger problem? In addition to this, there aren't that much plot going on apart from Mao and C.C's story. I am glad that this particular arc seems to be over for now. Mao is probably the worst character on this series. He's way too over the top and ridiculous. His character design is also a disappointment especially compared to the other characters. I think the only subplot that interest me at the moment is the possibility of Ougi/Villetta pairing. There's so much conflict to be mined out of this. On the other hand, what happened to her and Shirley reminds me a bit too much of Death Note, so I wonder if the writers unintentionally use Death Note's plot points in this series.
January 18, 2007 | 47 Comments
Eh? What the hell? My copy of this week's Code Geass uses COLORS as its opening theme again. Can anyone else check if you get the same thing? I wonder if Sunrise got a lot of bad feedback about the 3rd opening that they end up changing it back to the 2nd opening. But that's ridiculous considering they've paid a lot of money for it. So my second guess is that they made a mistake when making this episode and ended up attaching the second OP for the episode. Strangely enough, the ending theme is still Mozaic Kakera and the sponsor's music still uses Kaidoku Funou on the background. But never mind that. OMG, this episode is a shocker in all sort of aspects. I never thought the event to last week's episode will be resolve in this matter. It's unfortunate the ending seems to backpedal on everything that has happened. Having said that, there are some repercussions to this and this episode also proves that Zero has a conscience when it comes down to his friends.
January 11, 2007 | 52 Comments
Opening Theme: 「解読不能」- Kaidoku Funou
Performed by Jin - AVI version (31.8MB) | PSP version (14MB)
I like this better than last week's episode mostly because there is more urgency to the storyline. This episode, however, makes me really annoyed with Suzaku's self righteous attitude. He acts as if he's someone who is not aware of the idea that there will be casualties in a battle. Thankfully that is offset by some interesting moments in the story especially the ones involving Shirley. Moving along, the new OP is not as bad as I thought it would be but it's not as good as Colors so I don't see the point of changing it since the imagery are almost similar anyway. The new ED, on the other hand, is quite good. Although I like ALI PROJECT's song, this one is equally good and features some new stills to go with it.
Hmm, for some reason I'm starting to lose interest in this series. At first I thought it's because of post-holiday fatigue but now that I think about it, it's because there's a lack of characters that I like. Lelouch is an interesting character but I find it hard rooting for him. Suzaku is the complete opposite but there is nothing special about him which makes me want to root for him either. The only one I find mildly interesting is C.C but the series rarely gives her enough focus. I also have a little bit of issue with the storyline which seems to be stalled heavily to open up the possibility for the series to continue after the first 24/26 episodes. Oh well, I hope the series will improve soon or at least shows some important progression for the characters since there is a lack of this at this point in the story.
December 22, 2006 | 30 Comments
Sorry for the late entry but I was suffering from a migraine which last for a few hours and had no choice but to sleep it off. I'm glad holiday will come soon because I really need a break. Anyway, this is a fun, no-holds-barred episode that features a confrontation between Guren Nishiki and Lancelot. There is also some development on C.C's background, which I feel a lot more interesting than the entire Britannia vs. Zero story which starts to feel a bit repetitive at this stage. It seems almost every two or three episode, there will be a battle between the forces of Britannia and Zero's troops and yet these battles rarely produce any kind of important change to the current situation. Thankfully the fight between Guren Nishiki and Lancelot is quite entertaining to watch and turns out to be a lot more balanced than I originally thought it'd be. I just hope that these two Frames will have the opportunity to fight each other again next time.
December 14, 2006 | 36 Comments
Woot! Guren Nishiki looks so cool in this episode. In fact, it reminds me a little bit of EVA-02. And that twist towards the end was quite surprising. I am not sure if the person in question actually survived the attack. The only thing that I'm worried about is that despite its power, Guren Nishiki will still be outmatched by the ridiculously over-powered Lancelot. I hope that won't be the case because I don't see the point of giving Karen this new Frame if in the end it's still not as good as Lancelot. Anyway, this episode makes me wonder if Zero is going to stay honorable in his intention. There are moments where I believe he will do this but then he always shows this smirk which makes me doubt his sincerity in Black Knight's ideal.
December 7, 2006 | 30 Comments
OP Theme: 「COLORS」by FLOW - AVI version (31.8MB) | PSP version (16.3MB)
Now with new opening! I personally think there is nothing wrong with the old one but it's nice to see a new opening after only 8 episodes into the series. I get the impression that from here on, the series takes on a slightly different direction. I am especially intrigued with the inclusions of the ancient civilisation shot from C.C's memory. I assume this will eventually become a part of the plot once the whole Britannia affair is over. This episode itself is basically a character development on Karen. I have to say that I'm a bit surprised to see this since so far the episodes have been seen either through Lelouch or Suzaku's eyes. I didn't expect Sunrise to focus on another character for a change. I think it's a good idea to do it this way so that if the writers feel that they don't have anymore story left for one or two of them, they can go on and develop the other characters.
November 24, 2006 | 25 Comments
This turns out to be an interesting episode which reveals that different factions have their own reasons and ways of approaching the current situation. Some are radical, others are totalitarian, while Zero seems to choose a wait and see approach and treats situations on a case by case basis. So far, however, his motivation seems kind of noble and actually lessened the gravity of Clovis' murder. After all, whether you like it or not, there would be some casualties in war. In Zero's case, however, he chose Clovis for a rather noble reason. It's remains to be seen if Zero will be able to keep up his good intention without turning into dictactor like Light from Death Note. So far, however, the writers of Code Geass seems to tackle Zero's ascend to power in a different manner. It's unfortunate, however, that the animation is not up to par this time around. It's quite noticeable that there are many reused frames featured in this episode.
November 16, 2006 | 33 Comments
This is another action-filled episode for the series only this time around, Lelouch gets to be the loser. It's hard not to feel sorry for him though, as it appears that his entire family (minus Euphemia, probably) are a bunch of cold-hearted bastards. There is also another interesting revelation from C.C and I think this will end up becoming the focus of the series once Lelouch has his way with Britannia. Animation-wise, the episode is still quite good despite 7 episodes into the count. Some character designs are a bit off but that's to be expected around this time. Sorry for the delay. Nightmare host decided to die on me as they do....almost every single day.
November 10, 2006 | 33 Comments
Hmm, nothing much happens in this episode but we have some harmless fun thanks to a cat that Euphemia found one episode ago. This episode also shows that the series actually contains quite a lot of characters. Having said that, it remains to be seen if all of them will be utilised effectively. I also notice that Lelouch is a lot less manipulative and more silly in this episode. It's kind of amusing and bizarre at the same time because it's a bit hard to believe that this is the same guy who killed Clovis and effectively framed Jeremiah in front of the public. As as side note, the producer also ramps up the Pizza Hut in-show promo by blatantly showing C.C eating said Pizza. I personally don't really mind this if it means the producer gets more budget to produce better anime. I do wonder what you guys think about this though.
November 3, 2006 | 34 Comments
I'm pretty sure now that Pizza Hut is definitely one of the series' sponsor judging by the amount of exposure it gets. Even C.C (who by the way is called 'Shiitsu' by the other characters) loves Pizza! Sponsorship aside, this is one good episode that finally goes beyond the imperialism tone of the first few episodes. I think it's undeniable, however, that imperialism is used as a concept to highlight the recent political climate. The opening scene is a good indication of this. This episode also introduces some new characters but the most notable ones are Cornelia and Euphemia, the 2nd and 3rd Princess of Britannia. I was amused when I saw Euphemia asks Suzaku to call her "Yuffie" because it reminds me of similarly-named character from Final Fantasy VII. Her excursion out of the castle also reminds me of Audrey Hepburn's film, Roman Holiday. In both cases, a Princess pretends that she is a commoner so she can go out unnoticed.
October 27, 2006 | 21 Comments
It's a relief to know that at a time of imperial occupation, Pizza Hut is alive and in business. I mean, we don't want the poor people of Eleven to miss out on Pepperoni Pizza after all. Seriously though, the amount of in-show product placement is unusually high. This episode also shows a lot of CLAMP's influence either on the character design or part of its storyline. First, there is a shot of Tokyo Tower, a landmark in any CLAMP series. This episode also marks the first appearance of a Kurogane (of Tsubasa Chronicle) look-alike. Then there's the disturbing similarity between Suzaku and Shaoran of the same series. He even comes in kinky, collar-equipped clothing just like other CLAMP stable bishounen. And there is one scene here which looks like a shounen-ai fanfic material waiting to be written. Anyway, I hope you don't mind that I change my summary style to a less formal one for this episode. I just think this episode calls for it.
FLOW - COLORS (27MB, for PSP/Quicktime) | YouTube version
Yeah, I realise it's kind of late but with everything that happened during the weekend I could not find the time to insert an extra entry for this. In addition to this, I wasn't sure if I had enough bandwidth to spare for the month. Anyway, this is basically a PV for Code Geass OP theme. Unfortunately as far as PV goes, this is one of the least interesting ones I've seen lately. The only thing that entertains me is the antics of its two lead singers, Kohshi and Keigo, as they jump around from one area to another. I realise that this song has been criticised for its similarity to Days, but I think the two lead singers have really powerful vocals that make this song worth listening on its own. Between the two, I actually prefer Keigo's singing voice since I think it is far more refined and easier to listen to than Kohshi's voice. Having said that, the combination of their voice is the reason why their group stands out from other similar J-pop groups.
October 20, 2006 | 12 Comments
I'm impressed at the way the plot progress in this series. Last week I was thinking how problematic Lelouch's and Clovis' confrontation will have on future episodes. This is why I'm glad to see the series taking the brave and realistic outcome from the confrontation even though this is only the 3rd episode in the series. I also love how the writers conclude the possible stand off between Karen and Lelouch and the interesting revelation that emerges out of this. Top this off with the shocking ending and this becomes one hell of a thrill ride. The only criticism I have about the series is that the art starts to downgrade slightly here. It's nothing bad but the quality is not as good as the first and second episodes.
October 13, 2006 | 18 Comments
Just like Kanon, the second episode of this series makes me want to see the series a bit more. It's probably because in comparison to the first episode, this one is very action-packed and filled with surprising revelations. There is one particular scene in this episode which reminds me a lot of Light and L's confrontation in Death Note. And although I am not interested in other Knightmare Frames, I think 'Lancelot' is quite a sexy piece of work. I like the fact that its movement is a lot more fluid and less robot-like in comparison to the other Knightmare Frames. This episode also give Suzaku a good character development, which I think will explain a lot of his action in the future. Overall, this is a good follow-up to the first episode and if the third episode is as good, I think I'll follow this regularly.
Opening Theme: 「COLORS」 by FLOW
Download: HIGH-RES AVI format (34.2MB) | PSP format (16.4MB)
While I watched this, I was wondering if Sunrise for some reason receives an order from the Japanese government to create a nationalistic series. To tell you the truth, I am kind of disturbed to see such display of overt patriotism. This is probably why I don't watch too many political-based series because I will then have to end up talking about politics as well and I hate doing this. The storyline itself is okay, I suppose. It has almost everything from mecha to telekinesis power. The animation also looks good although the video's aspect ratio is kind of strange. It appears as if it's not a 4:3 and not a 16:9 either. If your copy is 640x480 instead of 640x440, then it means the video has been stretched vertically.
