Are any of you familiar with Chinese history in the 1900s? The death of tens of millions of innocents was sort of a theme, along with intense autocratic political control. If a country like China is “stereotyped” as being “fascist” it is only because China has never had a democratic/liberal/progressive government in its entire history. Even Germany had democratic periods before the rise of the Nazis, whereas China has been nothing but emperors and dictators since the Middle Kingdom’s foundation. Their portrayal wasn’t that far-fetched.

RE: this show being shitty

Code Geass is largely a discussion of the pains of being a gifted person. Gifted people often are very clever at somethings, but when it comes to interpersonal relations, they can often make incredible stupid mistakes, as was the case with Lelouch. My second degree was in education, and I watched Code Geass during that time, and I found his experience to be very similar to that suffered by many gifted students. Of course, it is an exaggerated allegorical version of that, but much of Lelouch’s actions made more sense to me after my studies.

So that’s one person who liked the show and is able to write properly. :p

As someone who has taken offense to anti-Chinese propaganda before, I actually didn’t find Geass’ portrayal of the world to be that offensive. Sure it was very nationalistic on the surface, but I could hardly find any ill intent in the way things are done. It was more funny than anything else.

The music of Geass deserves praise. Several insert songs by Hitomi were fantastic (episode 19 and 25 of R2 come to mind), while the soundtrack didn’t disappoint either with the likes of ‘Madder Sky’ and ‘Across the Borderline’. While the repeated dependence on brass can be a little exhausting for the listener, the overall orchestration and themes were quite good I’d say!

Overall, I don’t think any other series appealed to me in so many ways as Geass did. It was moving, philosophical, thought provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.

Some inconsequential characters were poorly developed and rationalized, but most of the important ones weren’t. In my opinion, Lelouch’s character development throughout the series was fantastic. Rolo was also a very well-conceived character.

I think we can all agree that some plot developments were fueled by direction rather than rationalization (eg. Orange’s defect for Zero), but more of it were rationalized in ways that viewers simply couldn’t understand prior to the ending, and thus been deemed ridiculous (eg. Suzaku’s aliance with Lelouch at the end).

Geass was ambitious, but I don’t think it failed all that badly as you describe. The ending made a very strong point (actually, several), and the plot served to build everything up to that moment.

Then again, I think reviews on these type of series can be very subjective. As Keith suggested above, those that look for thematic depth and ‘grand pictures’ in anime tend to find Geass much better than those that focus on finer details.

My good kids, i don’t hold a grudge with what’s popular or with those who like mindless entertainment at all. I repeat i also love mindless shows ever now and then. Should i hate myself for that? I guess no.

I really hate just those who being superficial blabber sentences without the proper judgement or reasoning, and also indulge in gratuitous offences.

Shallow fun is still fun, there are plenty of things in Code Geass well done. I don’t think it’s the masterpiece a lot of people make it out to be, but come on, aren’t some of you trying a bit too hard to be controversial by bashing everything popular?

Thats a pity.

Geass has got tons of mindless action, fights and mechas. That does mind. Good plot, char developement or acting is nothing to said people as long they see explosions and blood.
That’s not a crime at all.
I even enjoyed mechas wars, silly shows or fanservice feasts, but i’d never call those masterpieces ;)

But my main problem with Code Geas, is the false advertisement. At the first episode, we have Lelouch being portrayed as an intellectual, a genius. Of course as a viewer you’re expecting that there’s going to be a lot of mind games, complex plots, great strategies that makes sense . . . So I bought the dvds based on that. When after watching through all those episodes, and when all those expectations were not met, crushed to dust, sent to oblivion, I felt short changed, pissed off even.

The series is completely over-the-top so anyone who tries to review it as a serious drama anime is doing something wrong, that’s like reviewing a operatic rock album as an emotional acoustic album, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Either you’re not the right audience for this show or you should’ve adjusted your expectations. I mean, it’s not like the setting is believable…?

As an over-the-top show it has a really good premise and delivers on almost every front, it’s highly recommended if you just want to watch something enjoyable with lots of plot twists. 2nd season got a bit mediocre halfway through though.