Stuck in the Present (Code Geass analysis)

 After giving it some time to soak in:

Code Geass is one of those shows that entertains from the moment Lulu puts a noble in check to the second the plan has come to full fruition. I couldn’t help but want more week after week: Whether it was C.C.’s cryptic responses or the plot progressions that came out of nowhere. This show has received high praise and extreme criticism alike. The often zany juxtaposition of a high-school comedy and serious war drama left the viewer dazed, but always entertained.

Whether or not you liked Code Geass the show has some overreaching moral questions that it raises in an over-the-top cinematic fashion. Can you find mech pilots duking out their ideologies with brightly colored weapons anywhere besides anime (maybe if you watched the sci fi channel long enough)? Conflict is something that I believe Code Geass truly did well. Although I’m sure many will disagree the conflicts in Code Geass were a constant escalation that followed a progression based acomplia on character development. The characters never acted particularly illogically nor did Sunrise constantly have to introduce new faceless bad guys for the hero to fight. The cast was huge and sometimes I would have preferred more time spent on particular members (More Anya please!!!) Sunrise always made clear why everyone was choosing the sides they were. Resulting from this I found a much more compelling story. Despite your own preferences I didn’t come to despise any of the characters (except for Charles maybe, but the world of C thing was the biggest complaint anyway). Even when it came to Rolo, who killed Shirley and tried to kill Nunnaly, I couldn’t help but get emotionally caught up in his death.

Although from the outset we’re encouraged to root for Lelouch and hate Brittania we quickly discover that neither side is really evil. They are all propelling their own form of right and wrong; or just trying to survive. Their actions are understandable which makes the conflict all the more heartbreaking.

buy ampicilin href=”http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j268/Chaoticdust/Code%20Geass/?action=view&current=Lulualone.png” target=”_blank”>

One of the core themes in Code Geass is inherent in the name itself: rebellion. What Lelouch is actually rebelling against though is not the literal Brittania but the figurative rule that has been placed on the young by the old. As a college student I felt particularly inclined towards this anime as I walk into a world with no power and a system so big I could never hope to “rebel” against it. There are limited choices for the future and to become a “successful” citizen you must become a cog in the machine or get your college degree and go join a company. Lelouch promises that future when he overthrows imperialism and breaks apart the morals instilled by his father. It’s an age old story reminiscent of Transcendentalism and the hippie movement here in the U.S. while also being the supposed cause of the growing NEET population in Japan.

In a world like Code Geass we’re given the benefit of seeing the people who end up leading nations alongside the lower crust who can only be assimilated by the system. The purpose of the Lelouch-Suzaku feud is two very different approaches to the complicated problem of social change. Of course Code Geass makes sure to point out that for both of them to attain the positions they need to actually change anything they must make incredible sacrifices. They lose everything. Code Geass presents war, and ultimately life, as a game to be won or lost with masterminds pulling the strings. Are we any different? The amount of freedom you have directly correlates to the amount of power you have to assert that freedom, however the more power you have the more responsibility you bear in all aspects of your life therefore limiting your freedom. Revolution and terrorism often border on interpretation (By the way U.S. government I’m not encouraging terrorism: Just trying to write an interesting blog); just like truth, justice, courage, and love are variable entities that have their individual meanings to individuals. To be a symbol of justice as Zero claims invites a clear definition or moral rightness and wrongness as it is impossible to have an actual embodiment of something without the embodiment being concrete. The moral gray area that results is a clear indication that justice itself has no answers. If the ends don’t justify the means can the means still justify the ends? In context: If you work with in the system to stop a radical dictator but produce no results are you justified for playing by the rules? These questions of course cannot be answered by me and Code Geass does a great job of posing them… however, as it has been noted it does not do wonderfully when trying to answer them.

As riveting as the rest of the series may be I will probably still be haunted the most by the final scene of Nunnally crying over her brother. “This is unfair, I would have been happy just being with you, brother. I can’t bear a future without you… I just can’t…” (I just teared up a little again writing it…) One of the last idealogies Lelouch struggles with is his motivations. He originally wanted to create a gentle world for Nunnally but ends up having to look at all the world’s inhabitants. I suppose this brings up a fundamental point in human association. If put in a ridiculous situation where you had to choose between letting your best friend die or a complete stranger that you have never met (nor will ever meet) who would you choose? If you chose the stranger you must have a terrible best friend or a stranger relationship with your enemy. In a globalizing world it’s often strange to think how close we are to inhabitants so far away, but truthfully all of our worlds are still relatively small. We may have friends in faraway places like Singapore but the size of your world depends solely on the people you know and care about. Why when watching Code Geass do you feel nothing as nameless soldier after nameless soldier is slain by one of the main characters, but as soon as a character you know is killed it’s a big deal. Code Geass effectively kills an uncountable amount of people, but the deaths that stick with you can be counted on your hands. What can be done when thousands of people are losing jobs? You don’t really care if lots of people you don’t know lose their jobs (you might even think they deserve it) but if someone close to you is put in dire financial straights it becomes a personal battle that you need to blame someone for. Once again I have no answers, just lots of half-assed theories of personal responsibility.

Three systems for peace were proposed in the series. Charles involved the past by merging everyone in the world into one person thus creating a world with no conflict and no progression. Schneizel proposed creating peace through fear and force thus creating a world with the loss of some personal freedom. Lelouch proposed peace through taking the hate of the world upon himself and dying allowing people to finally understand each other. I’m not sure how I could possibly metaphysically create Charles theory, but Schneizel’s was the only one that had any chance of succeeding. I’m not trying to be cynical nor do I think universal understanding is a pipe dream; I just think that war and disagreements exist because there is still not enough wealth in the world for no one to want. As long as there is still pride and need for resources their will be war unless there is an even greater threat. Oh well that’s why it’s an anime.

The true problem with Lelouch’s purpose of destroying those that controlled him unfortunately put him as the exact person he hated. By using the Geass he undermined other people’s freedoms which in the end created the final conflict. Creating a gentle world will come with its costs. Freedom and safety are two sides of the same coin: One of my favorite speeches was actually one of Charles. I can’t find the specific order online tabs quote but in it he outlines that people who impose laws like thou shalt not murder are just afraid of being murdered and so order cheap pills on and so forth. Although not as extreme as Charles I do have to agree that the more laws you have the less freedom you have. That’s the nature of law don’t you think. I don’t believe we should be allowed cheap zithromax to murder, but when it comes to having firearms I can’t say I’m opposed. Oh well that’s a different can of worms and I should wrap up this post pretty soon.

Alright the morality in Code Geass can be pretty heavy handed and you can read more into a single line than the writers at Sunrise ever intended. However, I’m going to give them credit as I think the writers at Sunrise aren’t necessarily all ridiculous and terrible. I believe there’s some actual talent there and they have a knack for creating stories that develop in complexity even if most of the social narrative is on the surface. I like shows to be a little more subtle but I can’t say I didn’t enjoy Code Geass’s fast paced brutality that kept me glued to my laptop. At the very least there is a lot going on with good fictitious characters that we can project a lot of our current problems upon. I hope you enjoyed reading this, here’s a picture of Yin for your time and please leave a comment as I’m anxious for your words on the matter.

If you liked the idealogies of Code Geass you will probably also like V for Vendetta. It’s personally one of my favorite movies and Geass borrowed a lot from it.