Code Geass attempt at comedy opinions

[zoombie]

What are your opinions on the episodes of Code Geass Lelouch Of The Rebellion which try to provide comedy relief? Typical episodes centered in Ashford Academy are comedy relief episodes. Though I would never call it filler, ever episode contributes to the plot.

Most people I have dicuessed this with, don't like the comedy. If you don't like the attempt of comedy, may I ask why?

Do you think it is forced? Not properly executed? Or just too out of place for the subject of the show?

I don't know too many animes that are 100% serious with no comedy at all. I do get the vibe, the comedy is just out of place. A show like Bleach or Naruto Shippuden, have much more goofy comedy things, and it doesn't feel out of place, but the main plots are serious.

[bigdeath]

The only people I know of who dislike the comedy episodes I know from online forums like this one. My anime club love code geass, even the silly comedy.

An anime can't satiefy everyone though. I think people rather would have more focus on the main story and the sillyness isn't their type of comdey so it just annoys them.

[zoombie]

Personally I need some comedy relief to break the tension. I don't know if I could watch a show that is 100% seriesness. It be to depressing.

But my question to the people that don't care for the comedy, why don't you like it? Is is the comedy itself, or the execution of the comedy?

I don't hate the comedy relief episodes also. They can be fun, though they are not nearly as funny as Bleach. Though Lloyd, he is as funny as any character on any show. My overal opinion, the comedy is good, but I have seen funnier.

[purplehairedwonder]

I am not a fan of the Ashford episodes of Geass, not going to lie. I generally skip them when rewatching the series except for the two-minute tidbits of actual good stuff. It's partly because the male-oriented fanservice was most excessive in those episodes, but mostly because the tone shifts so drastically. The execution is significantly better in season 1 as well, but I prefer the overall darker tone of the series, so the random more light-hearted episodes often just didn't feel like they fit. Again, it was worse in R2 (episode 12, anyone?), but overall, those were not episodes I loved.

[NelStone]

I don't know why, maybe there is something I just don't "get", but most comedy attempts in anime do nothing for me these days.

Over the top wacky dialogue, stupid situations, obnoxious sex humor/fanservice type things and anime cliches such as sweatdrops or a person suddenly 180 degrees flipped with their head on the floor (though I don't recall that in Geass) are all I usually see.

Now, give me Lloyd's or someone else's witty dialogue or something like Ichigo and Rukia arguing or Rukia's childish drawings and yeah, I'll probably chuckle.

[bigdeath]

It might be a cultural thing where japanese culture finds such silly humor more funny than say western fans.

There are few comdey episodes in the show so I've never seen it as a big deal.

[zoombie]

Now, give me Lloyd's or someone else's witty dialogue or something like Ichigo and Rukia arguing or Rukia's childish drawings and yeah, I'll probably chuckle.

I think we have the same taste in comedy. Though for me, add the antics of Yachiru. She never fails to make me laugh. At least the Japanese version.

[Taekmkm]

Over the top wacky dialogue, stupid situations, obnoxious sex humor/fanservice type things and anime cliches such as sweatdrops or a person suddenly 180 degrees flipped with their head on the floor (though I don't recall that in Geass) are all I usually see. Present anime doesn't do most of that stuff nowadays.

[anime_guru]

I'll be the one to say it
save from the fanservice (which was way too much) I liked the comedy centered episodes. It washed the stains of flair for the overly dramatic out of the series. But then regarding fanservice elements, it is all over code geass ad nauseam. I actually do enjoy the strange and unpredictable situations these assumingly serious characters have - and usually episodes do expose some sort of character weakness (pizza for C2, lelouche being more out of shape than an obese man running a marathon) I think its priceless humor. Again perhaps after season 1, me and code geass couldn't hang because of the use of so many tropes, but the comedic episodes were a minor saving grace to a series that almost made me strongly dislike giant robot anime.

[GWOtaku]

I can understand using comedy to lighten the atmosphere up to a point, but I'd definitely identify with the "forced" complaint. A lot of the comedy involves things that happen or people that show up for absolutely no good reason. The catch is that in the rest of the show Lelouch is winning or losing by virtue of his planning, intellect, and mental wit, so crazy comedy can feel like a completely different show. It's almost--almost--akin to Light of Death Note doing a song and dance number while holding a cane and wearing a top hat. It wouldn't work, right?

The issue with that is mostly assorted moments in R2's first half, including R2 12, which is the worst Geass episode of all time. In season one things were relatively balanced, and that episode toward the end with the giant pizza was an exception. And even there, they remembered to move the plot.

[HellCat]

There was a line etched in the sand. This line was the season 1 finale, when the show took a darker turn and in theory said 'From this, there is no going back'.

The problem is, the comedy moments completely ignored this. At a time when the narrative should have been more focussed on the morality issues that had been pushed to the forefront, we got fanservice and hijinks. The result being they undermine the plot. Geass focus is much like a yo yo; it delves into dark questions of human motivation and the expansion of cultures, before sharply snapping back and giving us some tasteless fluff. Like if you did a serious film about the Holocaust and then halfway cut to some Allied soldiers judging a wet t-shirt contest and one of them trying in vain to find a toilet to deal with his bad case of the runs.

Then again, this is the series which has officially licensed books of yaoi 'For Girls' and yuri 'For Boys'. It's like some Mobile Suit Gundam fanboys wrote a lemon fanfic, pitched it to a studio and ran with it convinced they were making some credible morality tale.

[johnny139]

I absolutely hate the comedy - honestly, coupled with the fact all of the characters are so OVERWHELMINGLY dry, it's the single reason I gave up on Code Geass.

The show simply cannot decide what it wants to be. Is it a serious tale of morals? Is it a story of one man's revenge? Is it a silly schooltime variety show? A series of fanservice shots? Drama? Comedy? Action? Geass tries to juggle too many plates and virtually all of them shatter - and the ones that don't, I'd imagine, are simply thanks to the laws of chance.

If you want to be silly, be silly. If you want to be dramatic, be dramatic. If you want to be both - for the love of God, do it well.

It's a shame, honestly, because I wanted to like the show, and I did find a some hidden gems; however, it simply isn't worth wading through the crap to get to it.

...

Wow, that was harsh, wasn't it? I need to go take a walk or something. :sweat:

[anime_guru]

harsh but sadly true about CG...it felt like it didn't know what it wanted to be and it showed with the needless death and betrayals of everyone in hopes to save the fans and give the aha if you keep with us something good will happen.

Then it kept coming and coming and coming. It wasn't groundbreaking just poorly executed. And it made me as a watcher regret the series a lot. But then the comedy episodes made me go away and make me forget about what the series struggled to be and poorly executed plot decisions concerning the turn of the series.

I think I see the comedic episodes like I could see haruhi chan, something that wouldn't happen normally but it is fun to wash out some inconsistencies within a franchise. But then again that's just me. btw is it bad to actually like the parody series for code geass more than code geass itself. Dunno...

[zoombie]

Ashford Academy does suttle reprents a world that we all should strive for. It is open to people of all nations, and they try to push the liberal ideas of being civil with one another regurdless of nationality. Principal Ashford, he is very idealiest. So I think these Ashford Academy comedy episodes, as its own message.

Anyway you notice this show is a robot machine show, in which the main character does not have a star machine. The Lancelot and the Gurren, as well as maybe a couple of others, are the star knightmares, none of which is used Lelouch / Zero.

[HellCat]

Ashford Academy does suttle reprents a world that we all should strive for. It is open to people of all nations, and they try to push the liberal ideas of being civil with one another regurdless of nationality. Principal Ashford, he is very idealiest. So I think these Ashford Academy comedy episodes, as its own message.

Anyway you notice this show is a robot machine show, in which the main character does not have a star machine. The Lancelot and the Gurren, as well as maybe a couple of others, are the star knightmares, none of which is used Lelouch / Zero.

Ashford Academy was pretty clearly a school for spoiled Britannian brats. Look how much difficulty Suzaku encountered at first, to the point he even encouraged Lelouch to distance himself.

[zoombie]

Ashford Academy was pretty clearly a school for spoiled Britannian brats. Look how much difficulty Suzaku encountered at first, to the point he even encouraged Lelouch to distance himself.

You seem to have a predijeges against kids that come from family that don't actively fight. When we disguessed Mobile Suit Gundam 00, you called people spoiled brats than also. If my memory is correct, you referred to Saji Crossroad as a spoiled brat? He was a just an adverage Joe that lived in a regular apartment with his sister. Nothing spectatulor about that.

Back to the topic at hand, Nina is the only Ashford character (not counting the nameless extras) has a raciest attitude. But I give them the benefit of the doubt, because Suzaku was an accused murderer. It is like having OJ Simpson as a classmate. It is natural to be a little apprencive of someone after hearing he might have killed somebody.

Anyway, still I give Mr. Ashford credit for not being a segerist like Emperior Charles incouraged, but also for not holding a grudge against Lelouch and Nunnally, and looking after the kids of the woman who single handedly ruined his families social standings by being murdered. Most people would be resentful in that situation.

[HellCat]

You seem to have a predijeges against kids that come from family that don't actively fight. When we disguessed Mobile Suit Gundam 00, you called people spoiled brats than also. If my memory is correct, you referred to Saji Crossroad as a spoiled brat? He was a just an adverage Joe that lived in a regular apartment with his sister. Nothing spectatulor about that.

Anyway, still I give Mr. Ashford credit for not being a segerist like Emperior Charles incouraged, but also for not holding a grudge against Lelouch and Nunnally, and looking after the kids of the woman who single handedly ruined his families social standings by being murdered. Most people would be resentful in that situation.

Um, I'm a very active defender of Saji Crossroad. You clearly have me confused with someone else.

And without giving my life story- I think I have every right to dislike people who have everything handed to them on a silver platter. Especially when in a story you base characters on that and give them no likeable qualities.

[zoombie]

Um, I'm a very active defender of Saji Crossroad. You clearly have me confused with someone else.

And without giving my life story- I think I have every right to dislike people who have everything handed to them on a silver platter. Especially when in a story you base characters on that and give them no likeable qualities.

Maybe so. I remember I wanted to disguess Saji and Louise, and their original roles on the show. And this person said they were two spoiled brats. Must have been somebody else. Louise I grant you, but Saji is not. Though still coming from wealth doesn't make someone less of a person. It was still terrible and unexcuseable what happened to Louise's family. And those that know the reason why that happened, makes it even more reprensible. If that wasn't you, please except my humble appology.

Listen I am not saying the students are perfect tolerent people. I really meant was the attempt of indegrating the schools was a good symbolism of an ideal world. The ideal world that Nunnally wants and Lelouch is determained to make happen. Just because something indegrated, doesn't mean they aren't raciest people. But still just an indegrated school is a very idealist thing to attempt in the Code Geass world.

[Beat]

Ashford Academy is why I never finished Season 1 of Geass, let alone glanced at Season 2. It was THAT bad. Out of place, about as funny as an episode of Tim and Eric, and just plain stupid. If the damn place burned to the ground a few eps in, the show would have been way better.

[bigdeath]

No, if your watching it on AS now then the comdey episodes are over. I think there are only 3 or 4 in total anyway. For a 50 episode show thats not much.

[HellCat]

WARNING- Code Geass is an irritant. Do not attempt to ingest Code Geass. If Code Geass enters your system, consult a doctor immedieately.

[bigdeath]

Then again, I am resistant to poison.

[GWOtaku]

Geass has its issues which I could go on about for awhile, but I wouldn't have bought season one if I didn't want it. If you can get past the distractions (i.e. aforementioned comedy) the core story is actually rather good. Almost like an anti-Death Note, in fact, given that Lelouch is actually capable of having a conscience. And I will never say more than that in a thread without a spoiler warning.

But I digress. If you're deep in and haven't left it by now, you might as well keep going. It's still better than a fair number of alternatives that I could name (Rahxephon and all of its ilk, for example), and it's one of those mecha shows that isn't actually about the robots, which is a plus.

[NelStone]

Hmm.. Minus that cat episode, I haven't really had many issues with the series so far. (Battle of wits has grown onto me.) I haven't seen many episodes, so I can't really speak about fanservice, but if it's as overbearing as I've heard from other people, I could end up dropping it over that.

Ah, yes, Rahxephon. I'd take that over NGE in a heartbeat, but I dropped the series just the same lol.

I wouldn't drop it. There's plenty of flaws, but it's still a pretty good story. I don't remember the first season too well, but the second season has a lot of "look at the giant cleavage!" shots that get a bit annoying (or awesome depending on what kind of viewer you are) after a while.

[HellCat]

I wouldn't drop it. There's plenty of flaws, but it's still a pretty good story. I don't remember the first season too well, but the second season has a lot of "look at the giant cleavage!" shots that get a bit annoying (or awesome depending on what kind of viewer you are) after a while.

Kallen: "My boobs give me super piloting ability!"

[Zipp_Rezzeppa]

I thought all 50 episodes were pretty damn funny. I can remember many times, while watching, when I would say, what the hell! And then just start laughing. :anime:

[bigdeath]

I always thought there were a lot more views of her butt.

[veemonjosh]

This reminds me of a clip Adult Swim's site had of a Code Geass episode involving a really comedic race, and the video description was something along the lines of:

"Let us remind you that this immediately follows an episode where a large amount of Japanese civilians were murdered."

:lol:

[Beat]

Which is the big complaint. Totally out of place, and none of it is funny. I mean, what was the point? "You know what our war drama/death to Gaijin propaganda needs? Generic anime school humor! That's really going to fit in well!"

(Watching stupid comedy scene with idiot kids I could care less about) Not funny...

(Cat episode) Not funny...

So Not Funny + Not Funny = NOT FREAKING FUNNY!

Ashford Academy- Why anime tropes hurt more often than they help.

[Speedy Boris]

I didn't really like the comedy episodes, not because I object to lightening a dead serious story with some comic relief, but because said comic relief wasn't all that funny most of the time. There's a natural way to combine the two tones, but I don't think Geass did it successfully. I agree that the end of season 1 was the point of no return. You can't have something that tragic happen and then later have an episode all about having tons of dates. It just feels out of place.

For the first part of season 1, the comedy made sense, though. The rebellion and war hadn't engulfed the campus yet, and Lelouch had to hide his cover amidst daily school life, which of course can be prone to silliness.

[airfighter]

Code Geass R2's Turn 12 was probably the worst of the comedy episodes but also, thankfully, the last one. I can't say I enjoyed them, not most of the time at least, yet they didn't annoy me to the point of hatred and some of the scenes were still fairly amusing once in a while. Most importantly, I can understand what their role in the show was, whether I like it or not.

There was a line etched in the sand. This line was the season 1 finale, when the show took a darker turn and in theory said 'From this, there is no going back'.

I think you should blame that on the time slot change, which created an artificial need to re-introduce the story to a prime time audience as opposed to the first season's late night viewers.

This isn't news at all and I must sound like a broken record by now, but when something needs to be repeated there's no other way to go around it. I don't think the staff suddenly felt bored and decided that maybe the story demanded that we should have more Ashford episodes now, just for the heck of it.

They've made clear, in several ways, that their original plans were in fact affected by the time slot change, so it wouldn't be fair, in my opinion, to interpret this as a sign of incompetence on their part, as opposed to having to fulfill the demands of the real world (read: marketing, ratings and so forth), which can override those of the story.

Among several things I've posted before, here's something else to back that up.


- ...the writers had to speed up the tempo in R2 because from the very beginning they had intended for the first season to be equivalent to the national qualifiers, and the second to be the World Championships. However, because of the timeslot change, they were sent back to the national qualifiers.

Source: Okouchi x Yoshino x Morita interview, R2 DVD/Bluray Booklet #1. Translation/Summary by Celiss Galvea.


That said, I do think the Ashford episodes still had something of a story purpose, even in R2, in that they represented the kind of carefree life that Lelouch would normally have outside of his rebellion and revenge. It was also, in a way, precisely the kind of life that he wanted to protect, since that was where he, Nunnally and all their friends had some of their happiest moments.

The first season had already gone over this and yes, it looked like there was no turning back to that kind of world, that's clear enough, but the second season was forced to make this point all over again, as redundant as it may seem in the eyes of a critic, and so it did.

Once all those procedural steps were out of the way, the entire second half of R2 had essentially nothing to do with Ashford and focused on increasingly darker situations. That's what people, and even the writers themselves, probably expected the show to do in the first place.

Maybe too late, you can certainly say that the show suffered because of this, but there it is. I still feel that the central aspects of the story were still good enough in spite of this and other problematic issues, though I understand this isn't the case for other viewers.

[Master Moron]

I watch it here and there on AS, but I'm mainly watching it on demand. (ep 15... started with ep 13 of season 1.)

Why are you starting on episode 13? They have all the first season eps on Youtube and Crunchyroll. Hmmm...I'd better use spoiler tags for events that happen after episode 15. I look at the comedic episodes very differently than everyone else in this thread. When I first saw the cat chase episode I hated it. I would probably have agreed with what everyone else on this thread is saying. I felt like, what on earth does any of this have to do with the rest of the story? Then I saw the episode where Shirley's dad died and I realized that Lulu's life as Zero and his life at the academy are related. The decisions he makes as Zero affects the lives of those around him. He can't simply seperate his personal life from his life as Zero. Even though you at first believe that the characters at the academy have nothing to do with the other characters in the show, almost like they're in two different shows, you soon learn that they're closely linked together.

This continues even further in R2. I can't believe so many people complained about episode 12. I admit that it wasn't very funny, but I think it was extremely important because

It developed Lelouch's and Shirley's relationship. Remember, back in season 1 Lelouch at first considered Shirley's feeling for him to be an annoyance, and even considered killing her at one point, but eventually he realized how important she was to him. This was made all the more tragic when Shirley died in the very next episode.

I think complaining about the comedic elements in episode 12 without contrasting it with the tragedy of episode 13 misses the point entirely. The characters at Ashford, for the most part, are comic relief characters. In most shows you would never see characters like this die. The fact is, if episode 12 wasn't so carefree and silly, the impact of episode 13 wouldn't be nearly as strong. If you remember a few episodes prior to episode 12 Lelouch went to the Academy where he thought he was going to be alone, only to be greeted by Milly, Shirley, and Rivalz, who told him that they couldn't celebrate without him. Lelouch at that time realized how much he enjoyed the company of those at the academy. He actually had fun and enjoyed his life. He even told Kallen that she should come back to the academy after this is all over. Contrast this with season 1, where Lelouch saw his life at the academy as simply a waste of time. He was simply biding his time until he had enough power to strike back against Britannia. But, this completely turned around in season 2, as his life at the academy became the ideal. This came to a peak in episode 12, as he and Shirley finally became a couple, and this happiness was shattered in episode 13 when Shirley was killed. Without the comedic episodes, Shirley's death wouldn't have had nearly the impact that it did.

I've been very satisfied with the series so far, and I hope that the last 11 episodes don't disappoint me.

[airfighter]

This continues even further in R2. I can't believe so many people complained about episode 12. I admit that it wasn't very funny, but I think it was extremely important because

It developed Lelouch's and Shirley's relationship. Remember, back in season 1 Lelouch at first considered Shirley's feeling for him to be an annoyance, and even considered killing her at one point, but eventually he realized how important she was to him. This was made all the more tragic when Shirley died in the very next episode.

I think complaining about the comedic elements in episode 12 without contrasting it with the tragedy of episode 13 misses the point entirely. The characters at Ashford, for the most part, are comic relief characters. In most shows you would never see characters like this die. The fact is, if episode 12 wasn't so carefree and silly, the impact of episode 13 wouldn't be nearly as strong. If you remember a few episodes prior to episode 12 Lelouch went to the Academy where he thought he was going to be alone, only to be greeted by Milly, Shirley, and Rivalz, who told him that they couldn't celebrate without him. Lelouch at that time realized how much he enjoyed the company of those at the academy. He actually had fun and enjoyed his life. He even told Kallen that she should come back to the academy after this is all over. Contrast this with season 1, where Lelouch saw his life at the academy as simply a waste of time. He was simply biding his time until he had enough power to strike back against Britannia. But, this completely turned around in season 2, as his life at the academy became the ideal. This came to a peak in episode 12, as he and Shirley finally became a couple, and this happiness was shattered in episode 13 when Shirley was killed. Without the comedic episodes, Shirley's death wouldn't have had nearly the impact that it did.

I don't actually disagree with you, not much anyways, but I didn't really want to talk about that character since it involves spoilers beyond the episode's comedic nature.

In a way, this was also something that could have turned out a little differently if that character's subplot set up near the end of the first season had continued on without any external resets. Then again, there was already a tragic aura present, but it could have been developed in a different and more natural way, perhaps even away from Ashford. Hard to tell, outside of the realm of speculation.

I could say a little bit more, but it's probably too early for anything else.

I've been very satisfied with the series so far, and I hope that the last 11 episodes don't disappoint me.

Hopefully you will, by the time it's all over, although the next few episodes, after this weekend's, will be controversial.

[HellCat]

Ultimately, what they wanted to do is eclipsed by what they did. I appreciate if they had better ideas which never made it to screen because of the execs, but ultimately you have to go with what was made. I know Geass director is especially unhappy, but that still doesn't change the final work that was made public. All those problems remain and anything else is ultimately just an excuse.

[airfighter]

I'm not telling people to rate or review the show based on what never was, no, but there is a rational and factual explanation behind why certain things happened the way they did and this should be taken into consideration.

In my opinion, the circumstances surrounding a production cannot be artificially separated from the resulting work when they are largely responsible for how it turned out. I've said before that this doesn't mean the staff isn't responsible for their own decisions as well (in my opinion they are guilty of overreaching, above and beyond what they should have when faced with a new scenario), but ignoring the surrounding environment may lead to increasingly gratuitous ways of patronizing and lecturing, as certain reviewers from other websites who shall remain unnamed exemplify when they make what are essentially veiled insults. This isn't the case here, I believe, but it is something that needs to be addressed.

Valid complaints about the show's contents have been made in this discussion topic and elsewhere, naturally, since there are real issues which can be brought up. This is completely fine, just as they can also be disputed or debated, based on the production's own flaws and merits.

[Master Moron]

So, does anyone know what the director's original plans were for R2, besides Rolo not existing? I mean, I can't imagine how events would happen in the series without Rolo. Would some characters who were killed by Rolo be left alive, or would they be killed by someone else?

[airfighter]

I don't think anyone outside of the staff knows exactly what those were.

In publicly available sources like a couple of interviews and booklets, some of which have been translated or summarized by fans, there's just bits and pieces of either alternatives they had considered or hints about ideas/subplots from the first season that didn't really have much screen time in the second.

One thing that does seem to be clear, from an interview with the writer, is that the ending didn't go through that many changes, but talking about it or citing sources would involve even more spoilers.

So I'm not sure if this is the right time and place to discuss this at length, but probably not... :sweat:

[Raguoc]

I haven't seen that much of this show (I am very out of the loop), but I think that attempting comedy even a little is good for a show this dark. Death Note was dark, but there wasn't any room to put any lighter moments in. A chunk of the main or recurring characters of Code Geass are high school students that aren't heavily involved in the darker elements of the series as much, so there is room for zaniness.

[Beat]

No.

The whole point of this misaligned woe is Japan tale is that genoice and cultural revision is going on a mass scale and one man is supposed to be trying to fix it via his own murderous quest.

If Ashford Academy had burned to the ground say...five episodes in, there would be no issue. But it stayed. And it was NEVER funny. The students were never interesting. The existence of that dump was a giant vacuum of boring on Tim and Eric levels of awful. That's the issue here. I could not watch Code Geass because of Ashford Academy. It was that bad.

[Master Moron]

No.

The whole point of this misaligned woe is Japan tale is that genoice and cultural revision is going on a mass scale and one man is supposed to be trying to fix it via his own murderous quest.

If Ashford Academy had burned to the ground say...five episodes in, there would be no issue. But it stayed. And it was NEVER funny. The students were never interesting. The existence of that dump was a giant vacuum of boring on Tim and Eric levels of awful. That's the issue here. I could not watch Code Geass because of Ashford Academy. It was that bad.

But, it didn't stay. I mean, it didn't blow up(at least, not yet), but nearly all of the characters leave Ashford Academy and we don't see it anymore.

[HellCat]

I haven't seen that much of this show (I am very out of the loop), but I think that attempting comedy even a little is good for a show this dark. Death Note was dark, but there wasn't any room to put any lighter moments in. A chunk of the main or recurring characters of Code Geass are high school students that aren't heavily involved in the darker elements of the series as much, so there is room for zaniness.

I'd say not really. See, there's a partial argument that Ashford represents the people Lelouch is lieing to but overall it sticks out like a sore thumb. When you have plot threads like Lelouch accidently causing a mass genocide, the Japanese praising him without knowing he caused it, Suzaku hating his guts and willing to go to extreme lengths to get back at him for it.....Milly running around in a Bo Beep costume and encouraging mecha pilots to slam into the library to capture Lelouch as part of a campus game really doesn't fit. Some shows can pull off the teen drama angle very well- I'd definetly say it's a hallmark of Gundam, which is clearly a massive influence on Geass. But Geass never really blends the two sides well, instead awkwardly switching at its leisure. The result is like the show wants to explore very dark issues of humanity, keeps backing off but insists this is what it's doing. The approach should be all or nothing...sadly, Geass seems to favour nothing.

[Taekmkm]

The biggest WTF is after Kallen gets captured. What does Lelouch do? DATE TIME!

I don't care if you "trust" your friend to take care of her, the rest of the troops must've popped a vessel.

[Katsumara]

To be fair, I really never looked at Geass as a show that was too "dark" or to ever be taken serious. That said, I laughed a lot, even in "serious mode" moments. I mean.. the show at times was more worried with how fabulous it looked compared to the actual quality. Not to say I enjoyed it, because I did, but when even the serious moments are making me chuckle, I dunno.

So in my opinion, it makes a valiant attempt at comedy, but I feel it's comedy comes at bad places, especially for me.

[zoombie]

The biggest WTF is after Kallen gets captured. What does Lelouch do? DATE TIME!

I don't care if you "trust" your friend to take care of her, the rest of the troops must've popped a vessel.

To be fair, it really wasn't Lelouch fault or idea. It just kind of happened. It was really Sayoko's fault for what she did as Lelouch body double, giving him a reputation of a ladies man.

[HellCat]

The biggest WTF is after Kallen gets captured. What does Lelouch do? DATE TIME!

I don't care if you "trust" your friend to take care of her, the rest of the troops must've popped a vessel.

But how else would the producers get to indulge their increasingly creepy bondage fetish?

[Beat]

But how else would the producers get to indulge their increasingly creepy bondage fetish?

By not writing a poor excuse for a war drama and writing a show that is more inclusive of that type of content?

Forget dropping it, I don't know if I could even pick up Geass after hearing some of the poor excuses for comedy it had while trying to be somewhat serious.

[zoombie]

At least all Sayoko did was make dates with girls and kissed Shirley. At least she didn't sexual assult all of Lelouch's female classmate like Kon did the first time he was Ichigo.

[GWOtaku]

Forget dropping it, I don't know if I could even pick up Geass after hearing some of the poor excuses for comedy it had while trying to be somewhat serious.

Well, FWIW, it's mostly restrained within R2 5 and 12. Mercifully, when the show focuses on serious business, it's generally not constantly interrupted by ridiculous comedy. It's more like an on/off switch, and there is nary a scene played for laughs after the twelfth.

Apparently the mileage varies for some, but R2 does start off well (1-2), 4 is good (Lelouch's first big operation of the season), and 8-11 is good (China arc). Not that 6-7 suck, but I'm of the opinion that what happens there could have been done in one episode instead of two.

The cheesecake fanservice, however, does persist, manifesting itself at various points throughout the season. Apparently they thought this was necessary, even though season one had more moderation and kicked ass in an inferior time slot.

[HellCat]

I can see how the R2 attitude would work in season 1:

*CC lies scantily clad on a table. Zero manuvers a model Knightmare Frame across her butt* "For this operation, we shall ascend the mountain and create a landslide *spreads sprinkles to illustrate* I trust I have your full attention?"
"Zero, are these visual aids in good ta-"
"Shut up, Ougi!....Ha ha..running jokes.."

[airfighter]

I'd say not really. See, there's a partial argument that Ashford represents the people Lelouch is lieing to but overall it sticks out like a sore thumb. When you have plot threads like Lelouch accidently causing a mass genocide, the Japanese praising him without knowing he caused it, Suzaku hating his guts and willing to go to extreme lengths to get back at him for it.....Milly running around in a Bo Beep costume and encouraging mecha pilots to slam into the library to capture Lelouch as part of a campus game really doesn't fit.

I think you could still say it represents a bit more than that and I'm tempted to go into more detail about it. But the thing is, here you're making it sound like the "accidental mass genocide" which, for the record, was part of the later stages of the first season, was directly followed up with Milly's antics as per R2 5 or R2 12...that's not exactly a fair representation of the situation if you ask me, especially if any and all context is left out.

That plot thread was taken in one direction during the first season and had a clear thematic outcome during the same. The surrounding situation changed during the second, that is clear, but even so, that plot thread was still present, just as more of a background element, until it actually re-emerged under very different circumstances. Yet it still played a role and had a purpose in the end, in spite of everything else, so I don't think the Ashford episodes undermined it or anything.

The result is like the show wants to explore very dark issues of humanity, keeps backing off but insists this is what it's doing. The approach should be all or nothing...sadly, Geass seems to favour nothing.

Or, like some of us can and do argue, somewhere in between. I'm not an "all or nothing" person though and I suppose this is well reflected in my interpretation and analysis of this show. Whether that really was such a "bad" thing is up to each person and what they could (or couldn't) take away from the series. It could have been better, but for me it didn't amount to "nothing" in the end.


Apparently the mileage varies for some, but R2 does start off well (1-2), 4 is good (Lelouch's first big operation of the season), and 8-11 is good (China arc). Not that 6-7 suck, but I'm of the opinion that what happens there could have been done in one episode instead of two.


I'm of the opinion that the entire first half (1-12) could have been shorter and didn't really like the China arc that much. On the other hand, on re-watch I actually appreciate 6 and 7 a lot more, so there are certainly different ways of looking at this.


The cheesecake fanservice, however, does persist, manifesting itself at various points throughout the season. Apparently they thought this was necessary, even though season one had more moderation and kicked ass in an inferior time slot.

The late night slot allowed them to get away with actual nudity though, not just once but at least three different times from what I can recall, so that would have to be a relative moderation.

They couldn't actually do that on prime time so I suppose that's part of why we got more of the standard kind of fanservice instead, since someone, either the executives or the staff, felt it was needed (to attract more viewers?).

It's true that fanservice is still present throughout the show, but I'd argue most of it is concentrated around the first half of R2, with episodes 5 and 12 still being the biggest individual offenders, if you want to put it like that. It didn't disappear after that point, but at least for me, it was barely an issue in comparison.

Let alone compared to, say, the amount of cheesecake in a series such as Godannar (which IMHO is pretty good regardless).

I can see how the R2 attitude would work in season 1:

*CC lies scantily clad on a table. Zero manuvers a model Knightmare Frame across her butt* "For this operation, we shall ascend the mountain and create a landslide *spreads sprinkles to illustrate* I trust I have your full attention?"
"Zero, are these visual aids in good ta-"
"Shut up, Ougi!....Ha ha..running jokes.."

As admittedly funny as this is, there's only like one exposition scene which vaguely resembles what you're describing, near the end of R2 11 in fact. I don't think it actually got in the way of any of the more important dramatic moments though, just in case someone cares, but you never know.

[GWOtaku]

I'm of the opinion that the entire first half (1-12) could have been shorter and didn't really like the China arc that much. On the other hand, on re-watch I actually appreciate 6 and 7 a lot more, so there are certainly different ways of looking at this.

There are, to be sure. One is a character piece for Lelouch and the other is high-stakes battle. I'm just a bit divided about whether we really needed Lelouch doubting himself so soon after he had come back into his own as Zero. As you say, though, it's a subjective matter.


The late night slot allowed them to get away with actual nudity though, not just once but at least three different times from what I can recall, so that would be a relative thing.

They couldn't actually do that on prime time so I suppose that's part of why we got more of the standard kind of fanservice instead. Yeah, but at least it could be in context sometimes. For instance, the shower scene in 3 had Lelouch throwing Kallen off of his trail. I can accept something like that. It seems to me that's a bit different from drawing C.C. in a fanservicey position for seemingly its own sake. Although, I'll grant that what happened on the Island in season one probably can't be justified in the same way.

It's true that fanservice is still present throughout the show, but I'd argue most of it is concentrated around the first half of R2, with episodes 5 and 12 still being the biggest individual offenders, if you want to put it like that. It didn't disappear after that point, but at least for me, it was barely an issue in comparison. Oh, no doubt. My aim was simply to acknowledge that they never completely quit offering some fodder for the otaku audience.

[airfighter]

There are, to be sure. One is a character piece for Lelouch and the other is high-stakes battle. I'm just a bit divided about whether we really needed Lelouch doubting himself so soon after he had come back into his own as Zero. As you say, though, it's a subjective matter.

He had abandoned his duties because of his sister once before and I guess this was another one of those points which the show wanted to re-establish during the first arc or two, even though preexisting viewers like us already knew enough about it. Still, I think it also serves as foreshadowing or at least thematic build-up for later events.


Yeah, but at least it could be in context sometimes. For instance, the shower scene in 3 had Lelouch throwing Kallen off of his trail. I can accept something like that. It seems to me that's a bit different from drawing C.C. in a fanservicey position for seemingly its own sake. Although, I'll grant that what happened on the Island in season one probably can't be justified in the same way.

Yeah, which is why I did find that scene with C.C. in R2 11 to be among the most gratuitous, since at least you can say that the comedy episodes are fanservice-y in a more consistent and straightforward way. The only other thing I can say there is that they may have wanted to make way for episode 12, as some sort of transition and to have a break between the action, but in my opinion the end of the China arc suffered precisely because of that.


Oh, no doubt. My aim was simply to acknowledge that they never completely quit offering some fodder for the otaku audience.

I certainly can't deny that.