Well, considering where things went in the story today; the spoilers I posted certainly aren't true. My apologizes to Garten and everyone else who was excited by the possibility.

Hmm, I wonder what Geass would have been like if Taniguchi gets to present his real version? Maybe it would have been less silly and more direct?

Not necessarily. There are still 6 more episodes for this story to develop. And if what a lot of people are speculating is true about Marianne's geass being one of possession, who knows who Anya truly is. True, that alot of those spoilers had their chances of coming true badly damaged by this episode.

"I wonder if the so-called rumor about how Code Geass not turning exactly how Taniguchi envisions it is true after all. It'd be unfortunate if that's the case and I would like to know how far back into the past these changes happened."

His words had to do with the original planning for R2 after season one ended.

The original plans apparently had to be changed because of the time slot move, but they were not a statement on the actual R2 or its current direction. In others words, it's not about how it's turning out now per se, but about how work on R2 had to begin from a different point.

Most people seem to agree that those changes affected the first half of the show, which was in retrospective an obvious season one remix, while the second half, where we currently are, would follow the original plan even if without as much time.

Hence why I think this episode, among others, was rushed.

Rushed and poorly animated at that in this case, but I don't find anything particularly weird plotwise.

The Anya = Marianne bit had been foreshadowed and was one possibilty, though linked her to Nunnally was another popular theory.

Maybe it could still be true, we haven't seen next week's episode which should answer some questions since Lelouch and Charles are going to have a long talk.

Also, keep in mind that even V.V. himself stated, back at the Geass cult, that they weren't talking about literal "Gods", so it's more of a cryptic statement than that. The term has come up a few times in R2 though, so it's not that surprising either.

David: "Hmm, I wonder what Geass would have been like if Taniguchi gets to present his real version? Maybe it would have been less silly and more direct?"

A lot of the silliness in the first half of R2 would be toned down and unnecessary, since the original plan was to continue right from Stage 25, without a time skip.

But Geass, even in season one which did turn out like Taniguchi planned (he even got the ending he wanted...yes, that cliffhanger was intentional, it's in the same interview)....has always had over many the top sequences, some ridiculous gestures and even comedic bits. I don't think a list is necessary, just think back.

It could have still been more direct and less rushed though, so I think you are right on that part.

Something I have to clear up... I am assuming you don't know what Ragnarök is. "Never mind that, it's kind of abrupt for the story to suddenly introduce the concept of Gods when it has never done it beforehand." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnarok

The story has introduced this since the beginning. It even mentions Ragnarök in episode 1. This show has been based on the fall of the gods since the beginning, well from Charles point of view. If you knew Ragnarök and what it meant/was, you would have realized that this is how it would turn out in the end. Sorry if this sounds like I am mad or something, but I have studied Ragnarök for some time now. Please do not take offense from this. And when you say, "Wouldn't it be silly if he later on finds out that there's no God?" I really doubt this, but heck, it would be kinda funny.

And lastly here is a quick quote of what would happen if the sword of akasha was activated: "In Norse mythology, Ragnarök (IPA: /rɑgnɑrɔk/, Old Norse "Final destiny of the gods"[2]) refers to a series of major events, including a great battle foretold to ultimately result in the death of a number of major figures (including the gods Odin, Thor, Freyr, Heimdall, and the jötunn Loki), the occurrence of various natural disasters, and the subsequent submersion of the world in water. Afterwards, the world resurfaces anew and fertile, the surviving gods meet, and the world is repopulated by two human survivors. Ragnarök is an important event in the Norse canon, and has been the subject of an amount of scholarly discourse and theory."

not sure if ppl know this already, but i read a translated/shortened interview with tanaguchi at code tranwrecked that hehad a way different vision ofor R2, but the execs f**ked it up badly.

lol, my bad, i completely missed all the other comments.

That's doesn't surprise me. Nothing new for studios to want things done their way when they are ponying up the cash.

So who's the real bad guy here? The Emperor? Schneizel? Or Marianne. Poor Lulu, with family like this, I'm not surprised he's gone insane.

@Hikaru

The problem with viewers being expected to know Ragnarok history is that most of them do not want to read up on something just to find out about the story of an animated series. Most viewers are not aware of Norse mythology beyond the names. Besides, it's unreasonable to expect them to know that kind of details in advance.

At any rate, I'm intrigued to know where the story is going to end? I agree that this has turned into a completely different story now. I wonder if there will be a reset towards the end and everyone including Nunnally will be revived.

@Queena
I'd rather not have Code Geass go as far as to replicate Ideon.

Not as good as last week, IMO. I wasn't surprised that Marianne is still alive though. She's been conversing with C.C for a long time to begin with.

There is still plenty of details that are not resolved. For example, The reason for suzaku's hax, kallen's parents, her brother. Something tells me that if the timeslot was not changed, the plot would have touched upon all of these, especially the suzaku's hax.

Wait, does this mean that C.C knew all along that Marianne is still alive? Why didn't she ever tell Lelouch about this? He'd be spewing once he finds out about it.

I'm been thinking and it makes sense if Nunnally is supposed to actually play Anya's role. Marianne takes over Nunnally's body and that is why Nunnally never opens her eyes (geassed eyes!). I mean Marianne died in on top of Nunnally. So Marianne can use her transfer hax onto her daughter.

Nunnally's seiyuu was also supposed to use some evil voice for Nunnally. Anya's role is merely a tool for people to buy mecha's toys. =/

Damn the new timeslot and demand for more mecha for changing the plot.

About Marianne's ally, it may be the third voice that C.C was talking to in season 1. In season 1 she talked to 3 different people: V.V, marianne and unknown person.

From what's written in italian in the last screenshot, there's gonna be something about Hell like the one in "La divina commedia" by Dante Alighieri. Looks like there'll be a lot of dead people.

Shou: Agreed, it's not as good as last week's, but I trust and hope that next week's will be better and that the finale itself turns out well, even if we may still get one or two sub-par episodes in the meanwhile.

elvadrieng: Suzaku's "hax" could still be addressed, if briefly and in a different way than originally planned.

There is no particular reason to give much attention to Kallen's parents and her dead brother at this point, I'd think. They are part of her past, nor her present, as the series has turned out. Maybe things would be different, but I don't mind in this case.

Wormhole: That's what the next episode is for, among other things.

Wish they would make a movie/OVA using the original plot... I wanna know Suzaku's relationship with Cecile and Geass...

Ps. Can anyone tell me why did Suzaku and Bismark fight using 'traiditional weapons' like swords?? XDD

During this episode, Marianne finally showed up (Well, not in person, but still). However, Marianne's characteristic is quite different compare to the memories and images from other people...........seem actually quite evil. (Even C.C. said no doubt that she is Lulu's mother......)

But, it is a mess right now. There are still so much that we do not know about. And somehow I have this feeling that the emperor might actually turn out to be a good guy that is doing the right thing at the end lol

The scene between Suzaku and Nina was my favorite part of the episode. Suzaku's been my fave throughout the entire series so seeing him show this meaner side of him is really nice. I'm still not sure he really knows what he's doing though... ^_^;;;

I'm kind of confused over the story now too... It's like there's this explosion of plot threads during this episode and I think I'll just leave it to fate to decide what will happen next rather than speculate too much on it...

Though the thing about this episode that really taxed my brain the entire time -- and that I'm pretty curious about -- is the whole Anya = Marianne deal. About Anya's eyes staying red the entire time... I wasn't sure if it's the same like Lelouch's where it doesn't turn off, or that she's been geassed a long time ago by Marianne so the empress can soul-jump from one body to the next (or something like that). And exactly what type of geass power was bestowed upon Marianne? @_@; ... Ah, I'm very confused... Maybe I should just wait and see @_@.

Does anyone knows what does the sentence in the preview mean?

http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/images/codegeassR2/20/codegeassR221pre3LG.jpg

Does anyone besides me think that this episode's animation is different than the previous ones'?

Putting that aside, why can't Lelouch just seal the exit from the front and let Charles and Charles ONLY die in Akasha? So dumb. I know, I know, he's being emo and the big deal is Lelouch experiencing ultimate despair until he no longer cherishes his life anymore. But that's... I mean, c'mon... >_

This is the most dysfunctional family ever. EVER.

@Accie: He wanted to be prisoned in there, too because he wanted to seal Geass completely away. Who would have thought that Anya and Bismarck had Geass to. And if he wouldn't be there he couldn't be really sure if the Emperor is in there.

This Episode was great. Suzaku is now a real Man and not just a fucking Emo and Schneizel made his Turn to.
I really want to know how de coup'e'tat is ending, because there are still many Knights of Round and Family Members around.

And I don't think we must talk about the Black Knights, they are just completely Idiots, who will soon be no more, is it beeing crushed or dissolved.

But you made me really interessted in the true Story of Geass. Does someone has a Link to the Interview with Taniguchi in english?

btw, the Episode 22 is named "Emperor Lelouch". Maybe it is all over then and the last 3-4 Episode will clear all things from the past.

@ Sui
"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" means "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"

I mean not to be rude, but I have a hunch that a lot of people looked at this episode on a very shallow surface level. They saw the inconsistent character design and that tiny part where Suzaku appears to warp from Schneizel's office (or whatever) to Kaminejima. Just to make it all seem even worse, we have people throwing in ridiculous "OMG, ANYA IS MARIANNE!" exclamations which clearly imply that a) they either weren't paying attention while watching this or b), they didn't watch this episode at all.

Seriously, I felt this episode brought together a lot of plot threads (despite it feeling rushed only toward the end) and I have high hopes that all of these will be brought together into one giant conflict (people call this a "trainwreck", but heck, I have respect toward people who die in such tragic accidents, so I prefer to use a more befitting term). The stories are definitely connected and I am not sure that you were looking at the anime as a whole, Garten, when you surmised that the CG will end with three different stories connected by a “thin thread called Geass". Geass has been the driving force behind this whole show and so it certainly isn’t just a “thin thread”.

In that interview about CG not turning out as expected, Taniguchi was more or less just expressing his disappointment with himself (and to many people, he sounded somewhat melodramatic, almost as if he was making fun of himself). At the end, he even thanks the staff for allowing him to create the ending he wanted despite of all the problems they had, but I still understand why people feel that the ending will be a big, fat mess. Not everyone likes plot twists or perhaps even ambitious story-telling, so they have the right to express their misgivings, but labelling it as “crap” simply because they don’t like it is just very unnecessary. In the end it’s just an anime’s popularity attracting a lot of groundless adversaries.

I mean not to sound rude, I repeat, but this constant bad-mouthing does tend to ruin other people's enjoyment of this anime (and many others). A lot of people feel unhappy now that this rumour about CG-not-as-expected is floating around. Just lay down the random criticism and use arguments that make you sound more like you watched the episode, than, "OMG, ANYA IS MARIANNE, that makes no sense though the show has been implying Anya's connection with Geass for who-knows-how-many episodes now" or "WTF, Charles wants to kill the Gods, that makes no sense though we had the word Ragnarok coming up since episode one of R1".

@Kurogane
Thank you so much for being sensible about all this. Paying attention to what's happened throughout the series is the key to understanding new developments. But people do tend to jump to conclusions.

@Kurogane

Get a life! Some people will dislike a series and some people will like it. There's no need to be a drama queen just because you like it and others find it a bit confusing. "Tend to ruin other people's enjoyment of this anime"? What a joke. It's your own fault if you can't take other people's opinion.

Lelouch will be very angry at Marianne if he finds out that she's still alive and doesn't do anything to tell him about it. He might be willing to live in peace with her and Nunnally but since he thought she was dead, he wanted to take revenge for her.

OMG, ANYA IS MARIANNE!" exclamations which clearly imply that a) they either weren't paying attention while watching this or b), they didn't watch this episode at all.

That's the most over-the-top statement ever. Sure, Anya has been behaving in a weird manner. But to expect everyone to figure out that she might be possessed by Marianne is kind of above and beyond the original scope of the show. We didn't know that a supposedly dead person can actually cheat death by using Geass. It's like the show went from "it's impossible for dead person to stay alive" to "everything that you believe beforehand is out of the window". In fact, that's the idea of this episode in that even Lelouch should not trust what he previously know (ie. that Marianne is dead).

Garten, when you surmised that the CG will end with three different stories connected by a “thin thread called Geass". Geass has been the driving force behind this whole show and so it certainly isn’t just a “thin thread”.

It is your feeling that this episode hold a lot of things together very well but others also feel that it doesn't. I'm sorry that you dislike my analogy but that's honestly how I feel. Geass hasn't been thoroughly explored throughout the show. It's mostly been used only as a tool for the political shenanigans in the show. Even when we were shown the cult, we didn't find out much about them. Why they were there? What was their origin? What was the original structure of their leadership?

Not everyone likes plot twists or perhaps even ambitious story-telling, so they have the right to express their misgivings, but labelling it as “crap” simply because they don’t like it is just very unnecessary. In the end it’s just an anime’s popularity attracting a lot of groundless adversaries.

I don't see anyone labeling it as "crap" but it sure has some flaws. The problem with anime fans these days is that they are so quick to attack anyone who dislike their favorite anime. They think that these people are attacking their own pride. Popular anime like this or Evangelion (or Haruhi) will always attract people who like them and people who hate them. If I jump up and down at every person who hates Evangelion, I'd have lost a lot of energy by now. You have to accept that this series, no matter how great it is according to you, will be viewed by others as lacking.

I mean not to sound rude, I repeat, but this constant bad-mouthing does tend to ruin other people's enjoyment of this anime (and many others).

I agree with Eradium in that you are being ridiculous. You want to control opinions as if they belong to you and anyone who like the series. Ruin other people's enjoyment? You have no one to blame but yourself for taking other people's opinion so seriously and get insulted in the process. Geass isn't even your property in the first place so why acting as if others have insulted your hard work. What astonish me is that people actually expect bloggers to gush over every single anime that they cover and when they don't, they get lambasted for it. It becomes ridiculous and makes it difficult for blogger to express their own personal feeling for the series.

Look, when I started watching the series, I wanted to like the series but as time goes on, the series does disappoint me. I'd praise a series through and through if I feel that the series deserves it and I will criticise a series if I think the series deserves it. In the end, however, it's just my personal opinion and no one should get bent out of shape just because I disagree with others. I didn't say the opinion to hurt anyone but merely out of frustration that a series that could be better than this doesn't turn as good due to circumstances.

People die when they are killed

And I'm kind of glad I wasn't the only one who jumped to the assumption that Marianne might have a "ghost" geass. But seriously, this show is just for the entertainment value now, there's really no point in looking into the mechanics of anything. I mean, seriously, you can't take a show seriously when your main character geass'd everyone into forming a lance arc over him so he can walk through it while flames and explosions occur behind you. I'm not saying the show's bad, but really I've given up any hard effort in trying to comprehend the unmentioned.

Hey did anyone else noticed Bismarck's missing eye glowing? Does it mean he has a Geass???
Marianne was awesome in this episode man wat a twist!

@FlyTaggart: here ya go http://trainwreck.ggkthx.org/2008/08/19/taniguchi-on-geass-not-as-planned/

@Garten: LOL at the comments...btw, I'm guessing that in the next episode:
*Charles and Lelouch are playing chess and talking about the past
*Origin of Geass
*Flashback on how Marianne got killed
*what the heck, it will be just like Evangelion epi 24 and 25....

btw, I have the link of the 30 sec preview of epi 21 (i found it out just now)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyE8YqrFI78

*Charles and Lelouch are sitting together then the scene changes into a library where Charlie wants to read a storybook to Lelouch----um, never mind that
*Bismarck, bowing down in front of Schneizel...guess Schneizel changed his mind in making Suzaku the Knight of One

@Ophy

Thanks a lot!!

Garten: I have a feeling that we will also get some info on the Geass cult's origins next episode. Not exactly the best way to do so, but it could help a bit.

I understand where Kurogane's coming from, since I share a few of his thoughts, but I agree with other commentators in that we should respect other people's opinions even if we partially or completely disagree.

maki:

"@FlyTaggart: here ya go http://trainwreck.ggkthx.org/2008/08/19/taniguchi-on-geass-not-as-planned/"

A translation for the interview, not just a summary, is here:

http://trainwreck.ggkthx.org/2008/08/22/taniguchi-interview-from-the-roman-album/

"Putting that aside, why can't Lelouch just seal the exit from the front and let Charles and Charles ONLY die in Akasha?"

Ha, tell me about it. I was wondering why he didn't just seal it while he's outside the gate. Maybe he feels he needs to watch over the old man?

@EVO: Like I posted above:
"He wanted to be prisoned in there, too because he wanted to seal Geass completely away. Who would have thought that Marianne was alive and Bismarck has a Geass to.
And if he wouldn't be there he couldn't be really sure if the Emperor is in there."

I knew this would happen. This is another example of people not paying attention. I never said people don't have the right to criticise this anime. I said people should use more "reasonable" criticism that makes sense.

I am sorry if you feel that my statements were over the top, but I was just quoting what other people have said. You might be right in saying that it's too quick to assume that Anya is possessed by Marianne, but that would also go for Anya=Marianne. And anyway, if you feel disappointed with a show, it’s better to state thus than make it sound that your opinions are some kind of fact. Again, I have no problem with people criticising a show! I have a problem with people using criticism that in itself uses no valid reasons. It ruins people’s enjoyment because some will start to believe it (even though it’s not a fact) and I hope that isn’t what you want. You can argue with me on that case, but there is no need to need to start insulting me. I have already apologized if I sounded rude.

"This is another example of people not paying attention. I never said people don't have the right to criticise this anime. I said people should use more "reasonable" criticism that makes sense."

Your problem is that you assume too much about other people and not giving them enough credit that they can think for themselves. You assume that people are not paying attention while the fact is that maybe they actually did pay attention but they just don't like the way the plot is revealed. Also, you're assuming that everyone's level of 'reasonable criticism' is the same as your level. What others perceive as 'reasonable' might be your idea of 'bad criticism' and vice versa.

"And anyway, if you feel disappointed with a show, it’s better to state thus than make it sound that your opinions are some kind of fact."

Opinons are never facts. It's not anyone's fault but you if your interpret someone's opinion as facts. Plus, I'm more confused and annoyed than disappointed with this particular episode.

"I have a problem with people using criticism that in itself uses no valid reasons."

Just because in your eyes someone's criticism is not valid, it doesn't mean that it isn't for them. Your problem is that you judge everything through your eyes and to you any harsh criticism towards a show = unreasonable.

"It ruins people’s enjoyment because some will start to believe it (even though it’s not a fact)"

Huh? I'm sorry to say this but neither I nor those who have criticised the show are responsible for how someone might feel about a show. I am a believer that everyone must take responsibility for their own action and feelings. Do I like Evangelion less because many people bash it? The answer is "Hell no" because I have confidence in what I like and that will never change even if someone says otherwise. If someone starts to believe that the show is bad because someone else said so then it means the person probably has an inkling that the show is not as good as he/she thought it was and another person's opinion simply solidifies that feeling.

"I hope that isn’t what you want. You can argue with me on that case, but there is no need to need to start insulting me. I have already apologized if I sounded rude."

What I want is to be able to say whatever I want to say, whether it is positive or negative, without some fanboys telling me what is a valid opinion and what is not valid opinion. Whatever effect it may has on other is left to the person itself. People are not dumb. They have the ability to filter information using their own values and belief system. Just because they read my review it doesn't mean that they'll automatically agree with it.

As for your other issue, I'm sorry but I'm going to return fire with fire. I am not usually one to pick a fight but this is one issue that I refuse to back down from. My opinion is my opinion and no one and not even you should be able to tell me what I can or can't say. Especially not on my blog.

I wonder how much better Code Geass would've been without the whole supernatural geass power plot device. Just a straightforward anime about an former prince wanting to find out the secret behind his mother's assassination and a resistance group who wants their country liberated.

Do you think it you would enjoy it more if it was like this?

LOL@Kurogane. How nice of you to care that some of us are going to see the series in less pleasant manner due to the criticism. Wow, if this is your reaction to a criticism about an anime, what happens if you see criticism about a movie/game that you like or a criticism about yourself?

Take a chill pill man. It's just an anime. Save your passionate speech for something more deserving like the starving children in Africa or the endangered species.

Excuse the double post, but I am just going to repeat what I said in as simple and clear terms as possible, before this discussion escalates into some kind of skirmish.

In my first comment, I pointed out that many people appear to be looking not at the overall plot itself (note the word “appear”, which shows that it is just my opinion), but at other flaws that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the story (the animation). If that is not to true, just saying so wouldn’t harm. Again, if somebody points out the obvious like, “The animation was really inconsistent this episode”, or states an opinion like, “I thought this episode was really ridiculous”, that’s your opinion. I do not “own” other people’s opinion nor will I try to control them. But I do think it’s always fair when criticising an anime to differentiate between “fact” and “opinion”. People make opinions sound like facts by stating things like, “the entire story is just connected by a thin thread of Geass” . I avoid this by saying, “I feel that this story.....etc”. This is your blog, Garten, so you can write whatever you want to, but it is always important to keep opinions and facts separated because quite frankly, some are prone to believe it, others will argue against it. You did make it clear that you felt the story is all over the place, which is perfectly fine, but suddenly claiming that “the idea of God” had never existed and that it is getting “quasi-religious” sounds more like you haven’t taken into account other subtle hints or that your frustration has clouded your judgement.

Both ways, calling my statements over-exaggerated appears highly hypocritical, when your statements didn’t sound any less histrionic. You have the right to create any melodrama, but I hope that doesn’t mean others don’t. It’s not intention to create any melodramas anyway. I do have a life, for other people’s information.

If you want my opinion on Code Geass: I do think the plot has its flaws and I don’t think it’s the greatest anime ever, but I do think it should be criticised on valid grounds — calling the Marianne and Anya twist ridiculous makes it seem that people forget, this is a show about a dethroned prince who has the power of absolute authority bestowed upon him by a green-haired immortal. If you think the entire idea is ridiculous, that’s fine, say so, but pulling out arguments out of thin air will reduce an opinion to groundless doom-saying. I think claiming that I am so in love with a show and can’t stand other people’s criticism is just plain insulting, let alone the fact that it is again, just your opinion and that it would be wiser to make it sound as such. I was never trying to be insulting. I was just giving an impression and if you don’t agree with that, feel free to express thus. “Get a life” is just creating unnecessary conflicts.

"I wonder how much better Code Geass would've been without the whole supernatural geass power plot device. Just a straightforward anime about an former prince wanting to find out the secret behind his mother's assassination and a resistance group who wants their country liberated.

Do you think it you would enjoy it more if it was like this?"

Hmm, personally I think I would. It's not that I mind Geass element so much it's just that as far as element of plot goes, it's not well-developed until now. It was never the focus of the story. It was just a convenient tool for Lelouch to achieve his aim. If this is just Lelouch trying to figure out his mother's murderer, then the writers can at least focus on the mystery of the murder and the reason behind said murder. Having focus on your story is not a bad thing, especially with this amount of characters.

If they wanted Geass to be a strong element in the story, the writers should have made it more prominent earlier in the story. However, the series has mostly been about: mech fight vs Britannia, student council hijinks, Lelouch trying to maintain his cover. These 3 elements are then repeated many times while both Geass and Marianne's murder was swept aside until very recently. What could have been a short and tight 24 episode series ended up being a 2 season series full of the 3 elements I mentioned above. They are not bad but when they are repeated too often, one can't help but wonder where the story is going.

"Excuse the double post, but I am just going to repeat what I said in as simple and clear terms as possible, before this discussion escalates into some kind of skirmish."

I think it's kind of too late for that.

"People make opinions sound like facts by stating things like, “the entire story is just connected by a thin thread of Geass” . I avoid this by saying, “I feel that this story.....etc”.

*eyeroll* Just because I don't say "I feel...", "I think...", it doesn't mean the statement is anything more than an opinion. It's my opinion and it's your fault for seeing it as a fact when it's not. How could it be a fact when you clearly disagree with it?

"but suddenly claiming that “the idea of God” had never existed and that it is getting “quasi-religious” sounds more like you haven’t taken into account other subtle hints or that your frustration has clouded your judgement."

Tell me when God has been introduced prior to Charles' crazy rambling about wanting to destroy these 'Gods'? Have we ever seen glimpses of these Gods? Have we ever get a side plot exploring the possibilities that C.C and V.V might be descendant of Gods? The answer is "NO".

"Both ways, calling my statements over-exaggerated appears highly hypocritical, when your statements didn’t sound any less histrionic. You have the right to create any melodrama, but I hope that doesn’t mean others don’t. It’s not intention to create any melodramas anyway. I do have a life, for other people’s information."

Over-exaggerated statement like yours deserves equally histrionic response. I never said that my response is not histrionic. You're assuming that I think my reaction is calm and collected whereas I feel the opposite. Like I said before, I respond to fire with fire. You expect that after all you said you'll get a nice courtesy comment here? Get real!

"calling the Marianne and Anya twist ridiculous makes it seem that people forget, this is a show about a dethroned prince who has the power of absolute authority bestowed upon him by a green-haired immortal."

That green-haired immortal can be killed and once a character is dead, so far no one has come back alive. Is it any surprise that people are shocked about Marianne's sudden wellbeing?

"I was just giving an impression and if you don’t agree with that, feel free to express thus. “Get a life” is just creating unnecessary conflicts."

Err, I think you're confusing YOUR own words with my words. Never have I told you to get a life during my argument with you. You're the one who had the need to point out that you have a life.

Kurogane, you come to someone's blog and then tell the person what he should write? And you're surprised you get lambasted for it?

The episode was pretty poor as well that I don't even know why you're defending it. For a twist to be a good twist, we should have seen hints of it in the past. This one came out of nowhere. If one of the flashback had shown that Anya was there or that Marianne has Geass that can transfer soul or whatever then you have a point.

@Maki

Thank you for the preview. I can't wait to see how awkward the whole thing will be when Lelouch finds out that his father never killed his mother......and she is actually still alive. It makes one wonders what was he's fighting for all of these times if what he believes to be true was a lie all along. And now Nunnally is dead.

Garten, I agree with most of what you said:

Hmm, personally I think I would. It's not that I mind Geass element so much it's just that as far as element of plot goes, it's not well-developed until now. It was never the focus of the story. It was just a convenient tool for Lelouch to achieve his aim. If this is just Lelouch trying to figure out his mother's murderer, then the writers can at least focus on the mystery of the murder and the reason behind said murder. Having focus on your story is not a bad thing, especially with this amount of characters.

If they wanted Geass to be a strong element in the story, the writers should have made it more prominent earlier in the story. However, the series has mostly been about: mech fight vs Britannia, student council hijinks, Lelouch trying to maintain his cover. These 3 elements are then repeated many times while both Geass and Marianne's murder was swept aside until very recently. What could have been a short and tight 24 episode series ended up being a 2 season series full of the 3 elements I mentioned above. They are not bad but when they are repeated too often, one can't help but wonder where the story is going.

However I also think they could still keep the plot of Lelouch forming an army out of the resistance groups to fight against Britannia. Instead of making Charles into some 'world is full of sh1t, needs to be re-made' (which occurs too often in Sunrise productions), they could've made him just a simple emperor who is trying to conquer every nation on earth and rule the world, Schneizel as someone who also wants to conquer the world but someone who also wants to overthrow Charles and become Emperor himself instead of having to wait for something to happen to the crown prince Odyssus.

I also like Geass, however as a plot device due to lack of sufficient background history, I feel it's lame. After all, back in the early episodes of Season 1, Lelouch himself stated that he was already planning and almost ready to start his rebellion even without the power of Geass, but with that power he was able to move up his timetable by a few years.

Anyway, after seeing several Gundam productions (also by Sunrise) and seeing how Code Geass is turning out to be, I don't think I personally will ever trust another Sunrise production ever again. I still like Code Geass, but with all these repeats (as you stated) it isn't living up to my expectations anymore.

Finally Nina realizes what she's done and seems a little more human and less psychotic than usual. Suzaku's reaction to her was much needed and I applaud him. Hopefully Nina will stop making bombs and go live a normal, or at least more peaceful life. I don't think a mentally unstable person should be making bombs, no matter how smart or talented she may be. It just seems like too much stress on the girl.

About the plot; the series started off with Lelouch wanting to find his mother's killer (killing Clovis and asking if he knew anything about his mother's death) and wanting revenge but somehow it went off course from that ended up as something else. Somewhere along the way, Lelouch became convinced that it was Charles' fault that Marianne died and stopped investigating. Instead, he focussed all of his attention on destroying Brittania. I think the stress of battle and the deaths got to him and turned him a bit crazy. I mean, the evil laughter didn't start until midway through the series...

No, he wanted to destroy Britannia in the very beginning, just now in this Episode his goal has changed.
And if you see what ways his life has gone, the person he is now isn't a surprise.

@Maki

Thanks for the preview~!! And post on Taniguchi interview ^_^ Things are making more sense to me now after reading it.

this blog is getting serious business

from code trainwreck:
I saw the sample of this Japanese voice actor GPS system before. They made GPS systems using various JP voice actors, such as Kugimiya Rie. One of them is using Emperor Curly’s VA, Wakamoto Norio. Maybe Britannia uses GPS like this in their cars and KMF’s. After each driving instruction, yell ALL HAIL BRITANNIA or YES, YOUR MAJESTY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lzG9MnkVlA

How come Diethard has injuries at the second part of the episode?

I guess we just have to agree that we don't agree, Garten. I was not referring to you with that "Get a life thing".

Anyway, I have thought about it long and hard, and at last: "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate" comes from Dante's Inferno! (sorry if someone has already pointed that out) I haven't read that poem in a while, but the moment I saw that quote I had this feeling that I have read it before. Some might feel that the religious themes are coming out of nowhere, but being a bit of a theologist, I can't help but fawn. I think the Emperor was not referring to “real Gods”, because V.V has pointed out that these aren’t the kinds of Gods they are fighting. Though this episode wasn’t as good as it could have been, I hope that the next will make up for where it was lacking (in terms of pacing especially).

I think Ougi punched him to mud for the Blackmailing earlier ^^

Wow, I REALLY didn't like this episode. The animation was awful (though I expect they're just saving for an all-out finale, which'll be nice), everything felt very rushed, and my head sort of died from the overload of plot-important things just suddenly HAPPENING. It's especially odd and noticeable when contrasted against R1, which felt like it took it's merry ol' time in presenting questions, which are just now, in a sorta sloppy "gotta finish this thing up!" manner, getting answered.

I, for one, would've liked a liiitttttllleee bigger build-up on the Marianne side of the deal, and more screen time with her, as well. The whole "Anya is possessed by Marianne" thing happened so fast (and all to the soundtrack of some crappy pop song, which sorta killed the mood) that it left me kinda pissed off at it's presentation, and bewildered.

Also, I feel like they down-played this "gods" and "Ragnarok" business too much. If this is essentially what the series is about, what the series finale will hinge on . . . why do I feel like it's quite removed from the rest of Code Geass? I don't know, maybe that's just me, but it was mentioned in a little snippet in R1, disappeared, we had Lelouch drama and his new Japan and the fight with Britannia to worry about for the entire second season, and they're just NOW getting to this epic, end-of-the-world type stuff? Seems odd to me. Dunno.

ALSO ALSO. If Sunrise is seriously so rushed that that is indeed the last we see of Nunnally ever (as the official website now implies, no longer listing her as "missing," but as "dead") . . . I will be so incredibly angry. Freakin' Shirley gets an entire episode, but not Nunnally? Anyway, here's hopin' she's just off chillin' with Charles in his Happy Land or wherever. XD

P.S.

What purpose did moe-blob C.C. ever serve? And her "omg, I'm married, tee-hee~" thing, too. WHAT PURPOSE, SUNRISE? That just disappeared in two-seconds flat, and made me annoyed that it'd even been introduced in the first place. They just as well as shoved her in a brown, boring box labeled, "Be a dull and useless character for a few episodes so we don't have to waste screen time on you! LAZY WRITING, ACTIVATE." Oy vey.

I did previously say that I could see where Kurogane was coming from initially, but that doesn't mean he should tell the blogger (or other people) what to do.

Moi: "It's especially odd and noticeable when contrasted against R1, which felt like it took it's merry ol' time in presenting questions, which are just now, in a sorta sloppy "gotta finish this thing up!" manner, getting answered."

R1 had plenty of plot twists too though, and if anything it posed too many questions for a 25 episode show. We would have been better off if the original series was 50 episodes long, I guess.

"The whole "Anya is possessed by Marianne" thing happened so fast (and all to the soundtrack of some crappy pop song, which sorta killed the mood) that it left me kinda pissed off at it's presentation, and bewildered."

It was a little rushed, yes, but I actually like that song a bit because it's been used as something of a C.C.-theme. Don't mind it at all.

"Also, I feel like they down-played this "gods" and "Ragnarok" business too much. If this is essentially what the series is about, what the series finale will hinge on . . . why do I feel like it's quite removed from the rest of Code Geass?"

It's not all the series is about, but even if it's been left quite unclear, there have been a few hints in both R1 and R2 that Charles / V.V. had been working on a grander scheme behind the scenes, and there were several mentions of "Gods" in R2, though once again these aren't literal "Gods", according to V.V. and the late Bartley.

The series is obviously about Lelouch and his struggle against his father to get revenge for his mother and Nunally, on a personal level, and Britannia, on a strategical one, but some supernatural elements have always been involved in one way or another. Sometimes it's worked in favor of the plot, sometimes it drags it down. We'll see what happens next, now that the plot is being turned on its head a bit. If anything, however, right now the Geass-plotline does serve to re-focus things on the personal confrontation between father and son, even if it takes things away from the global strategic battle momentarily.

"What purpose did moe-blob C.C. ever serve?."

It's not like I ever liked moe C.C., so I'm not too interested in trying to explain it further, but right now I'd guess it was a product of C.C.'s subconsciously reacting to Lelouch's words or something along those lines. Maybe yes, maybe not.

I think what Charles wants to do is actually prevent people receiving Geass in the future.By receiving Geass, people can ''play gods'' like commanding people to do anything like Lelouch or to stop time like Rolo.Some of them even become immortal(C.C.). It just looks like cheating to normal people. So by destroying the root of Geass, the world can become fair and ''lies'' will disappear.
(These are just my supposition, so sorry if they're not correct!!!!)

i haven't watched the latest episode yet so i'm not going to complain about the plot or anything but after seeing those captures, i think it's so obvious that the artwork got worsre. does anyone know why? is it because they were in a rush???
whether this is the best anime in the universe or not, no one can deny that this is the show that got people talking about the most.