I never lost respect for J.C. Staff ever since they did Shingetsutan Tsukihime and Honey and Clover. As with most studios, they have had their own failures and missteps with regard to quality anime, but two of their anime belong to my top three, and that must mean something. I almost forgot, however, with their releases of Zero no Tsukaima and Shakugan no Shana. The two are by no means bad anime series, but I don’t think they’re good, or at least in the possession of that lasting quality that series like Honey and Clover will possess in the years to come.

A broken beauty

It has always been a pretty girl.

Exactly what I was thinking about.

I wished there was a true kiss between them.

Well, I think this hammers another nail in Lelouch’s coffin:

I just want to point out that the official Geass-net mobile site explains in Nunnally’s profile that her blindness gives her the ability to see through the hearts of people just by touching their hands, and in the final episode she found out everything with said ability. Officially, that flashback scene had nothing to do with Lelouch and Codes.

C.C.’s profile has also been updated, and the final part of it now says: “Knowing that Lelouch does not hate her for giving him the Geass, she is now able to show her true feelings. With the realization of “Zero Requiem”, her time with Lelouch, who was able to forgive and accept her, came to an end, but the memories created with him has, without doubt, saved her from eternal loneliness.”

Having read this, C.C. appears to have been talking about herself when she said this line in the end: “The power of the king will isolate you… I guess it turned out a little different after all… right, Lelouch?”. The power of the king eventually leads to immortality (Code); C.C. had the power of the king and for a long time led a lonely existence, but she is now no longer lonely, thanks to her time with Lelouch.

Unless they update Lelouch’s profile with some kind of “but maybe he didn’t actually die” line, it seems to me that officially, Lelouch is 100% dead. None of the magazines seem to think the ending is at all ambiguous, and none of the staff and cast members seem to think so either. Okouchi, especially, appears to be pretty final about Lelouch’s death in his interview (”His life had not been in vain. That was why he smiled in the end”, along with his explanation as to why the punishment was necessary from the beginning). As for Taniguchi, he said only 2 things: (in the NewType interview itself) it’s up to the viewers whether they want to think of the ending as a Happy End or a Bad End. He thinks of it as a Happy End. As for what the epilogue meant, the viewers ought to work it out for themselves. The meaning behind C.C.’s final line appears to be part of what he wanted viewers to think about, though Geass-net’s already given us the answer to that. Lelouch’s fate, is, IMO, not part of what he wanted viewers to think about, because as far as the staff members are concerned Lelouch’s fate wasn’t at all ambiguous.

By the way, Shimomura Takaharu, one of the staff members involved with advertising, wrote in his “Parting message to Lelouch” (from Animedia):

“Let’s all go to the World of C” (For more details, refer to the R2 drama CDs)

Looks like SE6 will feature a track about everyone going to the World of C.

Tomikawa Kiyoharu (Production Desk) has this to say to Lelouch:

“Rest in peace. I’m begging you, please don’t come back ever again. (The animating process was just too much trouble!)”

Most of the staff members’ parting messages for Lelouch are pretty hilarious, and are in keeping with the Geass sense of humour.

The quote was taken from Celiss Galvea, among the most trusted translators of Code Geass information on the web.

Knowing more and more about the ultimate fate of Lelouch brings me closer to accept that Geass has finally ended. My only misgiving is that CC and Lelouch never really had a true kiss between themselves: I don’t mind if his ultimate fate is death, but I would want something to have happened before he passed away. I simply wish that, if ever there is going to be an OVA, they’d at least clarify Lelouch’s dedication and love for CC and vice versa.

See you space cowboy.

P.S. Taken from Zetsubun (thanks!)

From massive section dedicated to Geass in “Continue” volume 47:

Lelouch’s name is on the ‘deceased’ list. ;/

—–Congratulations on the completion of “Code Geass”!! It was a shocking final episode; did you have a difficult time writing it, Mr. Okouchi?

Okouchi: “No. The last episode wasn’t difficult at all; in fact, it was the middle parts of R2 that turned out to be rough going. For the final episode, [I'd/we'd] already decided on the ending when writing the script for the first episode of the previous series. Episode 1, Episode 25 (Episode 1 and the final episode of the previous series) and episode 25 of R2 — these episodes did not deviate much from our original plans.”

—–”Some unresolved mysteries still remain.”

Okouchi: “From the very beginning, [I/we] never planned on explaining everything. In fact, if you ask me, I think we might have overdone the explanations. While it’s undeniable that Lelouch’s story has ended with a full stop, the other characters’ stories are still on-going, and it’s not like the world [of Code Geass] itself has come to an end either. [I/we] didn’t want to end it by closing it up for good.”

—–”Still, isn’t it possible that defeating the wise ruler Schneizel, the person who was supposed to have brought order to the world, might lead to some [viewers] interpreting it as a Bad End?”

Okouchi: “That’s true. There are probably a lot of people who think of it as a Bad End, a tragedy, considering the protagonist’s, Lelouch’s end as well. However, Lelouch says in the first episode: “Only those prepared to be shot are allowed to pull the trigger themselves.” If you were to think of that as his pride, then I think his getting shot (killed) in the end was a logical end. Of course, I understand that not all of the viewers will accept this ending. There were people who wanted a happier ending, after all.”

—–”Was there a dispute among the staff members regarding the ending?”

Okouchi: “No. It was decided fairly naturally. During the “Code Geass” script meetings, there are many cases in which there were a number of disputes, but there were barely any when it came to the scripts for (the previous series’s) episode 25 and the final episode. I think everyone felt the same when it came to the end of the character that is Lelouch.”

—–”Why were you so bold as to choose this ending when the viewers might see it as a Bad End?”

Okouchi: “Bold… yes, we were so bold as to chose this ending. Perhaps the show that is “Code Geass” ending up this way was decided the moment Director Taniguchi and I teamed up. I suppose you can call it our sense of aesthetics, or perhaps a part of our psychological makeup.”

I can’t dwell on Code Geass forever, despite its lack of closure as regards Lelouch’s life or death. I have re-watched the last episode for about five times already; and what I got was that whether Lelouch lived or died, he still made the world a better place.

I dawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwed

Despite what you guys think, I have read all of your comments in this post of mine. While a lot of the comments are the product of intelligent analysis, I can’t help but highlight a recent comment made by Sean (thanks, Sean!): the comment links to a translated version of the Code Geass R2 site, and there is a line which frankly gave me a lot of optimism as regards the clarification of whether Lelouch lives or dies. Quoting the site itself:

The regular broadcast of TV ended, but
As for the one which that scene would like to see once more and the one which is overlooked please enjoy with net transmission!
105 Yen (including tax)/in the story, with anytime it can enjoy “[rurushiyu] of [kodogiasu] rebellion” from 1 stories to 25 stories!

The emphasis is mine. There is a big chance that it is an error in translation, but would someone like to hazard a try? We Lelouch hopefuls would like to finally have the closure that we want.

P.S. I will be posting on other things soon, but I’m just as fixated on Code Geass R2 as you guys.

P.P.S I’m not sure whether this is a troll or not, but the Wikipedia page on Code Geass says: ‘a final ‘post-series’ episode entitled Lelouch of the Rebellion is scheduled to air on October 5, 2008, to answer questions remaining about the series that were not addressed in the series finale.’ Thanks, `Nergal!

I’m now officially a Geass addict. I was skeptical of most of the unresolved plot threads during R2, and I still don’t think that R2 is the best series ever, but after that awesome ending I couldn’t help but place it as one of my favorite series, whether bad or not. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, who do we have here?

We all like our happy endings, even if they’re impossible, ephemeral, or incredible. As a fan of CC and Lelouch ending up together, I’ve dug some pictures off the Internet which would delight fans like me. I won’t say anything as to whether they’re fake or not, but I would like you guys to enjoy them despite their impossibility or improbability.

This made me smile.

Everyone, enjoy!

P.S. More sweetness.

I d’awwwwwwwwwwwed

P.P.S. The driver of the cab has black hair:

Click for a bigger picture

SPOILERS AHEAD HURR DURR
OKAY GUYS I’M IN TOTAL FANBOY MODE RIGHT NOW SO I’LL USE CAPS ALL THE WAY

- SUZAKU AND KALLEN FIGHT AND SUZAKU BEATS KALLEN BUT SHE’S RESCUED BY GINO.
- LELOUCH GEASSES NUNNALLY AND HE GETS THE KEY BACK BUT NOT BEFORE SAYING SORRY TO HER AND SAYING HE LOVES HER
- NUNNALLY IS BUTTHURT SO SHE CHASES LELOUCH
- LATER ON, SUZAKU AND LELOUCH TALK
- CC PRAYS FOR LELOUCH SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE
- LELOUCH WANTS SUZAKU TO BECOME ZERO AND HE DOES
- SUZAKU AS ZERO STABS LELOUCH
- ALL HAIL ZERO ETC.
- LELOUCH SHOWS THE DEATH TEMPLATE AND ‘DIES’
- NUNNALLY CRIES OVER HIM
- VILLETTA AND OUGI MARRY
- VILLETTA IS NOTICEABLY PREGNANT ALREADY
- ORANGE AND ANYA BECOME ORANGE FARMERS
- NUNNALLY IS THE NEW RULER I THINK, I’M NOT REALLY SURE
- IN THE END A MAN DRIVES A CARRIAGE
- CC IS AT THE BACK, LOOKING HOT AND LOOKING RURAL
- THEN SHE IS ALL SMILES
- THE EPISODE ENDS WITH HER SAYING SOMETHING AND THEN
- ‘NEE, LELOUCH?’

CC X LULU END YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

OKAY R2 IS ONE OF THE BEST SERIES FOR ME RIGHT NOW NOT BECAUSE IT’S GREAT BUT BECAUSE IT’S AWESOME.

I have been unusually quiet these past few days; that was primarily because I did not have an Internet connection in the first place. The wire that connected my ‘modem’ (and I encapsulate the word in quotation marks because the machine isn’t actually one yet serves a similar function) to my computer finally gave in. Try as I might to reconnect to the Internet, I was not able to.

The tagline is indeed catchy.

I absolutely, absolutely loved that episode. It was also very good. Yes, that came from me.

YES. ABSOLUTELY. AT FULL FORCE.

Although it still stretched my suspension of disbelief quite far … I actually forgot what I was going to say. All I want to say is that I absolutely, absolutely loved the time between CC and Lelouch, and I’m glad that after 48 episodes the two have finally confessed to one another. I d’awwwwwwwwwwwwwwed; I clapped; I laughed: those were one of the best scenes I saw in R2. Oh, and I don’t mind if Kallen dies now. Not only was she blinded by her fervor, she also cockblocked Lelouch and CC! She was the only eyesore in this episode.