As code geass came to an end, I think we can finally discuss this series in a more general sense.

Code geass is a fusion/ mixed genre anime. The first fusion anime, in my opinion is EVA. EVA mixed the growth of an introverted boy, with awesome mecha fight, some fan service and comedy. However, the more famous fusion anime would be Nadesico. It mixed mecha anime with comedy, parody and a serious tone about wars in the eyes of otaku. Despite what others think, Nadesico is definitely on my top 10 list in terms of anime.   

I personally like fusion anime, and I have no problem switching back and forth in my serious/ relax mindset. However, I know there are people who hates it, claiming a disconnect between the genres. However, is there a really a disconnect or is the connection just too subtle for someone to see? In Nadesico, we knew that is a serious anime the moment Gai dies such a non heroic death - displaying the true nature of war. Yet there are many who make such a claim "Nadesico is booooooring because all the character is boooring and only Gai is cool and they kill him off early".

In code geass we knew that is a serious anime from the very beginning, yet there are episodes focus almost entirely on comedy (cat chasing, partner swapping on deserted island, cupid's day...etc), in addition to that there are action sequences who are simply downright ridiculous (Susaku outruning machine guns and "suzaku kicks", Lelouch/ Zero various "cool" pose...etc), Are these bad for the series?

It seems to me that audiences generally like to tune in for a certain wavelength when watching code geass. After watching all the comedic/ ridiculous scenes, the audiences set their minds into relax mode (like when you watch lucky star). When you are in relax mode you are not watching the show as intensely as you should (nobody trying to think through each conversation in lucky star, right?), and Taniguchi likes to throw in important plot twist in between the silly little scenes. The result is many audiences miss the hints given in the episodes and starts blaming "bad writing". The most blatant example would be Nanally's "survival" of Fleja,  Kaioshin-sama noted the decoy plot long before it is actually shown. Is Kaioshin-Sama a genius? One step above the rest of the internet society? I personally don't think so (sorry^^). It is only that Kaioshin-Sama is paying attention while others are not.

Finally, I want to comment on how audience view anime (or fictions in general) nowadays. If you see a potential plot hole, what would you do? To me, I would rewatch the scene a couple times to make sure I didn't miss anything. If I indeed didn't miss anything, I would try to speculate what's going on. Finally I will step back and think through my speculation to see if it makes any sense at all. If it didn't make sense then I would proclaim it "bad writing". However, it seems to me that nowadays audience simply skip through to the final step right away - blaming directors when they didn't see what they see. In a way that is how our society is heading to, my students always try to blame their teachers when they did bad in a quiz/ exam, instead of rethinking what they should do to get a better score (that is, to study!).

The one thing people keep saying are things like "Sunrise/ Taniguchi" couldn't let people stay dead. I wonder how many of these accusations are true:

It is not surprising at all that Cornelia is alive. Her "death" scene in turn 23 looks even less "dead" than her scene in stage 25 from season 1.

Guilford is abit far fetched, though not impossible. If he is able to push Lelouch out of the Fleija range, that means he is pretty close to the edge too. If explosions of Fleija works the same way as explosions we know, Guilford should get the minimal damage from Fleija, which makes him blind (because of the shades) and crippled (because of the walking stick). Wait, doesn't that make Guilford another Nanally? lol

Bring the dead from the netherworld is a pretty standard drama rule. It is just GSD had gone too far on Mwu La Flaga so everyone is bitching about bring the dead back.

So what is the significance of Guilford being alive? My guess is Cornelia will become ruler of Britainnia and Guilford will be supporting her.

With one episode left, let me revise my prediction of the fate of the remaining character.

Cornelia will become the ruler of Britainnia working to amend the world with Kaguya, the representative of Japan
Kaguya will become the representative of Japan
Lelouch and Suzaku will die together.

Toudo, Chiba and Ohgi had death flags all over, but at this rate I don't see how they would get killed.
Kallen will return to school, living with his biological mother.
Xingke will finally die, with TianZi continuing his ideal.

I have no clue on what Nanally's fate would be. I doubt Lelouch will kill her, but then her death will serve the purpose that both Suzaku and Lelouch lose their most precious person.

With 4 episode remaining, I guess it is time to predict how code geass is going to end and see who survived the final war

Ohgi MUST die, given all the hate he generate throughout, it is unthinkable that he would survive the war and have a good ending.
Viletta would die with Ohgi, give them the die together ending.
Lelouch and Suzaku will share the same fate, either die together or leave the center of power after all is settled.
Toudou and Chiba will die fighting against Lelouch and Suzaku
XingKe will die through illness, afterall what is the whole point of making him terminally ill if it is not going to use in the plot?
TianZi will survive, succeeding XingKe's ideal and rule the world with...
Kaguya. Yes, I think Kaguya will end up being the most powerful person in code geass universe after everything is settled.

That is so far my predict will go, I have no idea about Schneizel's fate as we probably want to see what "mask" he is wearing (episode 23 title)

My impression is that Charles didn't really try to protect Lelouch and Nanally. That is why they are silent when Lelouch ask the question. Charles and Marianne simply wants the plan to succeed. Afterall, they could "unite" with the dead after the plan succeed so it really didn't matter if Lelouch and Nanally lives or dies.

Charles ordered the attack on Japan because of the sites related to the geass tribe, which is essential to the plan (that's why schneizel and even clovis investigates the geass tribe secretly). Of course obtaining the sakuradite didn't hurt their plan as they probably need to invade other countries as there are numerous sites related to the geass tribe.

What I wondered is what Schnezel did during the 1 month time frame. Lelouch and Suzaku is of course planning their big day to crown as emperor of Britainnia, which includes geassing people in Britainnia. I have no problem with the director showing that part as after a while, geassing can just be assumed to be done. I don't think it is necessary to show how Lelouch geass every single person. With Schneizel that is a completely different story: What did he do during the whole month? Shouldn't he be trying to take control of Britainnia (He said he is going to rebel against his father, with his father dead there is no one in between him and the crown)

Boston won the first game of the NBA final. The game today, while interesting, is kinda expected. The Big Three did their work, scoring approximately 20 points each and Celtics defence limit Kobe Bryant to ONLY 24 points. Despite all those hype surrounding the matchup, as someone who neither lives in Boston nor L.A and isn't old enough to live through the Bird - Magic rivalry. This matchup for me is simply two best teams in the league playing each other.

I believe the key of this series lies in Kobe Bryant. If Kobe turns on his invincible mode 4 times during this series, then LAC will win the championship. If not, Celtics will win. Kobe only looks like a good player, but not MVP tonight and that certainly isn't enough.

Testing for the blog. I haven't decide what to write on this blog, but it should be something either related to anime, environmental issues and current events.

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