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Hosts: Evan "Vampt Vo" Minto, Hisui and Narutaki
Topic: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (both Season 1 and R2) (2006)
In part two of the Reverse Thieves' podcasting extravaganza, I chat with them for a lengthy hour-plus podcast about the 2006 TV anime Code Geass, from studio Sunrise. The show, a modern take on the classic 50-episode Sunrise mecha formula, follows the events of a political and military revolution, masterminded by the exiled prince Lelouch Vi Brittania. We get pretty in-depth regarding the series, so a massive SPOILER ALERT is in effect throughout the episode.
Let us know what you think of the episode, and please feel free to chime in with your own thoughts on Code Geass in an e-mail or the comments thread. Show notes and links are after the break.
(Runtime: 1 hour, 22 minutes)
[00:00] Opening Song: "COLORS" by FLOW (Code Geass Season 1 first OP)
[00:20] We've got the beat! And we've got the Reverse Thieves back on for more anime podcasting shenanigans.
[01:46] Let's get right into things with the summary of Code Geass, provided by Alain because Evan gets too confused when he tries to sum up all of the ridiculous events going on in this show.
[7:53] Is Lelouch a hero or a villain? Is he neither? We also begin comparing him with Light Yagami from Death Note, who is also a morally gray mastermind, despite distinct differences in their personalities.
[20:01] Discussion of Lelouch's blind, parapalegic sister Nunnally, and how she's totally the best character in this show.
[25:48] Everybody else seems to hate Suzaku, but we find him really interesting, especially in how he interacts with both Lelouch and Nunnally.
[35:14] Evan's not a huge fan of C.C. (pronounced "C-Two"), but Al and Kate are fascinated by her vague past and subtly revealed motives.
[44:01] Promo: Viga the Otagal Podcast
[44:33] A big argument ensues around our hosts' opinions about Princess Euphemia. Evan hates her "stupid pink hair" and the "accidental Geass" scene, while the Thieves think she's a particularly strong character.
[52:30] We discuss how much we love the ending of Code Geass, while reminding shippers and wishful thinkers of THE TRUTH about the ending. Shut up Cart-Driver-Theorists, we will hear none of your lies!
[1:03:10] Finally! Time to talk about the robot fi — aw never mind, the fights suck in this show. It's not really about the robots. Also, we make fun of Kallen (a.k.a. Karen) and her badonkadonk for about five minutes.
[1:10:10] Uh-oh, now we're talking about Ashford Academy. Evan thinks it's a ridiculous waste of time, but Alain cites Shakespeare in defense of the comedy episodes.
[1:19:20] End of the show. The Reverse Thieves pimp their awesome blog and their new podcast, The Speakeasy. Follow us on Twitter (Ani-Gamers, Evan, Alain, Kate) and please leave us a review on iTunes.
[1:21:59] Ending Song: "WORLD END Instrumental" by FLOW (Code Geass R2 2nd OP)
[1:22:15] Enabled by the story of a futuristic robot revolution, Kate's trying to usurp Evan's host powers once again!
2 comments:
Pretty good discussion overall, though I do have a few comments.
I liked Code Geass but I'm also pissed off about the changes that the staff had to make between seasons, most of which were for the worse. I think that explains many, if not all, of the problems involved, such the cuts many subplots received and the time that was wasted with Ashford Academy antics in R2.
Regarding your description of the robot fights in general, that applies to about three or four fights in the second season. You did mention the last fight in the show, thankfully, but we also saw better ones in the previous series that had relatively little or no beam spamming. I thought those were interesting myself.
And it's not like I expect you people to agree...but I'd argue that Suzaku didn't entirely throw the fight with Kallen. He actually had a pretty hard time from the beginning and the outcome was more of a tie, only with a planned out for him at the end. Sure, he had to escape for the sake of Lelouch's plan...however, it's not like he was suddenly fighting below his skill level or anything, to say nothing of their earlier encounters which were fairly evenly matched.
Speaking of Kallen, I agree that she's not the most interesting character in the show. Still, I guess she tried to understand Lelouch and be loyal to him, more than the rest of the Black Knights in fact, but the overarching story didn't exactly favor someone in that position. Lelouch's crazy Zero Requiem stunt meant that he couldn't tell her what his plans were, which led to her fighting on the opposite side. I guess they could have done more with her character though.
Oh, here's a fun fact: Daryl Surat hasn't actually seen the show. Not that it stops him from talking about the subject as if he had, mind you, but it's an amusing truth.
Forgot one thing I also wanted to add though...the fanservice in this show was rather trashy all along, but especially so in Code Geass R2.
You guys mentioned Kallen and so on, but there were some pretty exploitative shots for just about the entire female cast. C.C. wasn't exactly spared, what with her temporary turn into a "moe slavegirl" and the whole "Pizza Butt" thing...not to mention all the yaoi fodder, which was made most blatant when Rolo came into the picture.
I imagine that was the result of trying to appeal to a wide audience as far as otaku go, which became even more of an issue for the second season, but the show would have certainly benefitted from cutting back on a lot of this.
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