Code Geass season 1: episodes 1-5

[edenfalling]

I have now watched the first five episodes of Code Geass.

Overall impression: this series is on crack.* And it is awesome.

Lelouch is a bastard. And a melodramatic little shit. I love him to pieces. Funny how he's so sweet with Nunnally, but doesn't even blink when taking advantage of her blindness to get CC out of the room. Such a manipulative bastard. But we see inside his head, so we know why he does what he does, and I love watching him think his way out of problems.

Kallen is fucking awesome. I love how she's the most competent person in her little rebel cell, and her willingness to go out despite her doubt and nervousness, to take crazy risks, and to pull them off through sheer force of awesome.

Suzaku is adorable and principled and he is just going to get ground into the dirt, isn't he? I can feel it. (Also, damn he looks good all scruffy and in his long coat and bad-ass shades.)

No real opinion on CC yet; she hasn't appeared enough. Though I do rather like her ability to effortlessly get under Lelouch's skin. (That boy needs to be taken down a notch now and then, seriously.)

Hmm. Also, I really like the mirroring that's done with Lelouch and Suzaku, where they keep thinking about each other and saving each other's lives and interfering with each other's plans, and half the time they don't know that that's what they're doing. They both have points, you know? Suzaku was absolutely right to go back and face trial, I think, but Lelouch is right that the empire is too corrupt for Suzaku's approach to do any good in the foreseeable future, and also Lelouch sees perfectly well that Suzaku's approach is going to destroy Suzaku. (I think, based on stuff I've read, that Suzaku may know that too, and be counting on it in a way.) But anyway, I love the little picture drama thingy where they meet as little kids and the first thing they do is get into an argument that degenerates into a fight. Boys.

(Tangentially, why do fics tend to gloss over Suzaku's motive for piloting the Lancelot that first time? He was trying to save Lelouch. That's pretty important, don't you think?)

Come to think of it, pretty much all the main characters are the sort who pull off the impossible through sheer force of awesome. The show seems to be going for the same effect.

So far, it's working. :-D


*The show is on crack except, of course, for when it's deadly serious, at which points it is sometimes even more shocking than the crack. The massacre in the Shinjuku ghetto is pretty sobering. It's also necessary to set the tone -- to say that in this world, awful, unspeakable things really do happen. The cold-blooded murders and the utter contempt and dehumanization displayed by Clovis and his commanders put Lelouch's actions into context, so to speak, and also make Suzaku's insistence on noble means come off as an even more dramatic moral stand.

But mostly it's still on crack. I mean, honestly, giant robots on rollerskates? Yeah sure, and I have this nice bridge downstate that I'd like to sell you...

-----

My DVD came with both sub and dub options, which I think is very nice. I've been using the original Japanese soundtrack with subtitles. I may watch the episodes again in the dub version just for curiosity's sake, unless general consensus is that it's awful.

Is there a general consensus about the Code Geass dub?

Comments

[branchandroot]

Giant robots rollerblading down the highway, no less. Yeah, total crack.

And, um, yeah with the Suzaku angst. Just when you think it's all better, too.

[edenfalling]

I think one of them even rollerblades up the side of a building at one point in episode one or two. *rolls eyes* At least it looks cool, which is the main point.

*gets very worried for Suzaku and the people around him*

[autumnia]

It's been a long time since I've seen Code Geass, so I'm finding your comments on it very interesting in that you're seeing more into the show (at the start) than I did.

I didn't like Kallen at much at first, but she was awesome towards the latter part of the series. CC continued to be mystery for me even at the end; in a way, I wish there was a continuation of the show because I felt there were still a good number of things that were unresolved.

As for the watching the show, I've only seen it subbed, so I don't know how the dub is -- I normally prefer the original language because sometimes you can't get the same emotion across once it's subbed.

[edenfalling]

I like subs for the same reason -- and also because I think Japanese voice actors tend to record live together, which adds a kind of spark to the performances. (I have been listening to some of the audio commentary tracks, and it's neat how they treat voice acting as a very serious profession rather than a younger and lesser sideshow to 'real' acting.)

in a way, I wish there was a continuation of the show because I felt there were still a good number of things that were unresolved.

This, of course, is why we have fanfic. :-)

[tjalorak.livejournal.com]

Kallen is awesome.

Suzaku isn't well liked among the groups I read mainly because he's a hypocrite and sanctimonious idiot. Lelouch is just as much of a jerk but at least he's slightly more honest about it.

[edenfalling]

I love Kallen.

Hmm. Yeah, the honest-about-it bad guys do tend to be better liked than people who are trying to do the right thing and put themselves into stupid and/or contradictory positions because of that. I will reserve judgment, however, until I have more context. (I do find Suzaku's earnest hopefulness adorable, and it's interesting to me that he went from a closed-off and angry child to someone who seems idealistic through pure determination to be so rather than any overwhelming natural inclination in that direction.)

[deralte.livejournal.com]

The crack, especially around the school, does go to surprisingly high levels considering the massacres and serious business that are happening, often at the same time. It works well to take the edge off of the tension.

I really liked Suzaku at first, but as he got more and more paladin like, my like declined. Lelouch can be a total douche, but at least I always understood why he was doing things (though the series ends up going to a place I never expected it to).

Have fun watching!

[edenfalling]

Judging by the 'next stage' preview at the end of episode 5, the next disk should contain some noteworthy school hijinks. *anticipates*

I will have to see how my reaction to Suzaku develops as the series continues.

[angel-love-song.livejournal.com]

Code Geass is a series on crack. But you have to love it.

Do continue watching. It gets better. :D

[edenfalling]

I will! :-)

[(Anonymous)]

I really love this series, too--I've noticed that a lot of people seem to like either Lelouch or Suzaku but not both, but I don't necessarily think it's an either/or thing. I actually love them both, pretty much as far as I've seen (but I haven't seen all the way to the end of season 2). One of the things I like about this series is that all the characters have understandable, sympathetic flaws.

Also, FYI, you can watch the entire first season on the official YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/show?p=_ibnU74o6y4&feature=fvsp either subbed or dubbed. Second season's not up, though, and you may need a YouTube account. :(

[edenfalling]

Oh, thank you!