hontou ni
15Apr/0816

Code Geass R2 01-02 – Judeo-Christian inspiration?

This is a rewrite of the original since the entry got eaten while I was meddling with the title. Uguu!

Code Geass R2 manages what most sequels fail to achieve convincingly - a credible restart. No character reset like Kugimiya Rei’s loli tsunderes roles but a circumstantial reboot with plenty good justifications. Lelouch begins with his remnant Black Knights while Suzaku remains on the opposing side as an honorary Knight of the Round.

I probably will get plenty of flak for this but Suzuka remains my favourite character (non-bishoujo) of Code Geass. His warped sense of righteousness keeps me intrigued at his true motives in light of his conflicting moves. What did he mean exactly by change from within? A heretic and a traitor aren't too different after all even if their paths are divergent.

The fresh season introduced new characters of whom I have my eye on the light haired loli of the Chinese Federation and Suzaku's pink haired comrade, presumably a Knight of the Round. Surely the latter's distinctive hair color is a big giveaway to whom she's filling in for. I'd loooove to see her hook up with Suzaku though the OP suggests that Suzaku and Kallen may become an item. With so many loli debuts, one wonders if Kaguya would retain her reign as loli-hime.

Not all new characters are welcomed for example Rolo. Rolo infringed a taboo by going ‘nii-san’ - a term reserved for moelicious bro-con imoutos on this blog. Lelouch could either do him in next ep or someone with a sex-change geass needs to appear soon to turn the affair into non-blood related siscon.... NOT!

Storywise, the series seemed to draw much inspiration from Judeo-Christian traditions. The tower of Babel appear to allude Britannia to Babylon, the world power who annexed Israel (Japan in this case) in antiquity. The first Lelouch rebellion has parallels with the Jewish uprising against the Romans (which is also referred to as Babylon in John's apocryphral writings in Revelations) which saw the destruction of their temple and marked the beginning of the Diaspora. The fact that Jesus, who walked the lands about 30 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, was believed at that time to be the Jewish liberator against the Roman occupants is not lost on Code Geass viewers. So is R2 Lelouch's 2nd coming? Will the harlot that is Britannia be finally crushed in this season? Would Suzaku show himself to be Peter or Judas?

Man, I can't wait for ep 3.

Related posts:

  1. Code Geass R2 Ep 25
  2. Crown jewel of SUNRISE works – Code Geass 22
  3. Code Geass R2 Ep 2

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Comments (16) Trackbacks (1)
  1. Kabitzin
    April 15th, 2008 - 07:21

    Nina will keep the faith, even if Suzaku doesn’t. I like Suzaku too, just because he is so overpowered physically that it is ridiculous. Of course this is balanced out by how weak he is mentally, so that he doesn’t turn into another unbeatable Kira Yamato.

    I really wonder about the pseudo-reset. You know the Emperor didn’t think that Lelouch would be a normal kid forever, and if he cared that much about C.C. finding Lelouch, he would have sent some non-scrub units for recon. Rollo didn’t really try that hard, so I figure it was all part of the big plan.

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  2. IKnight
    April 15th, 2008 - 07:27

    I must admit I feel some sympathy for Suzaku too.

    Rolo infringed a taboo by going

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  3. kaz3phyrous
    April 15th, 2008 - 09:52

    it is said that that new guy from the chinese federation has the intelligence of lelouch and the physical prowess of suzaku… now that’s hax… bu at least he’s on the side of the light haired loli…

    if you can’t wait for the next ep, there was a leaked clip of ep 3 floating around TT…

    rolo is really hax and it seems his a brocon too… maybe lelouch willl use the fact that rolo has a brocon to his advantage…

    ps: yay my comment wasn’t eaten while the comments were closed…

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  4. Camario
    April 15th, 2008 - 10:01

    Btw, Kallen x Suzaku isn’t impossible, just hard to do convincingly at this point. Yet the only hint in the OP is their relative position (they’re not even looking at each other, in fact) during a cast montage, so…too early to tell.

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  5. Stripey
    April 15th, 2008 - 10:10

    Kabitzin: I suspect Lelouch is still in running as Crown Prince. I’m certain Lelouch qualification as Britannia’s next ruler is not lost on the Emperor. This might be his ‘trial’ for Lelouch to gain the throne. It’d be interesting to see Suzaku serve Lelouch as King next. :P

    IKnight: SUNRISE always to be a forerunner of anime fetishes. Pity their daddycon from Mai Otome didn’t quite catch on XD

    kaz3phyrous: LOL! Well said! Now to hunt down that ep 3… :)

    Camario: Being classic matchup for Knightmare battles, Suzaku X Kallen are very possible indeed though I admit I may have been reading too much into the OP. :P

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  6. Zyl
    April 15th, 2008 - 10:18

    I smell an Evangelion comparison post coming up from somewhere within the dark depths of the animu blogdoms… Just like the Bible, almost any anime can be compared to Evangelion… remember that whole ‘Haruhi is the New Evangelion’ ruckus? LOL

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  7. Koji Oe
    April 15th, 2008 - 22:16

    I think you are looking too deep into things. Sunrise has no fucking clue what they are doing.

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  8. Stripey
    April 16th, 2008 - 06:05

    Zyl: I blame Sunrise for baiting me with the Tower of Babel :)

    Koji Oe: Heh, I have high hopes for CG. :) Hoping they have the ruthlessness to see the series through.

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  9. Kaioshin Sama
    April 16th, 2008 - 16:35

    @Stripey: Believe me they do. Ever hear of a series called Densetsu Kyojin Ideon?

    @Koji Oe: Yes they do. They’ve been in the business long enough to know what they are doing, that’s just an internet trend to say something like that. Seeing as I have a massive amount experience with the companies anime compared to just about anyone else I have ever come across in the english speaking community online (to the point where I would consider myself an expert), I will say right now, they have a strong staff working on this series, specifically a good director (which they lacked in Seed Destiny) that will see the project through. Go ahead and quote me on that. There are also numerous Roman Catholic themed parallels in the series so Stripey is not reading to deeply into this.

    IKnight and myself have also made a note of this such as with his analysis of the Divine Comedia appearance in episode 1 and my relation of Suzaku’s betrayal of Lelouch to that of Brutus’ betrayal of Julius Caesar. Betrayal is considered the greatest sin of all by the way in the Divine Comedia. If people don’t know about Virgil’s seven lairs of hell, Judecca which is named after Judas Iscariot is where traitors to masters and benefactors are sent and is the deepest lair of hell and closest to Satan.

    See copping out on such analysis by just carrying the popular and proven to be untrue meme that Sunrise doesn’t know what they are doing is not something any of us should be encouraging. It’s time people started giving their writers there due instead of being ignorant and just dismissing everything out of hand.

    Besides if there’s anybody who doesn’t seem to know where they are going recentely it’s Gonzo.

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  10. Kanon_fan82
    April 16th, 2008 - 19:16

    @ Stripey:

    I hate to be an ass….but I’m a Religious Studies major and can’t let it go…..the destruction of the Temple (70 CE)and the expulsion order of Hadrian (135 CE) did not mark the beginning of the Diaspora………

    The Diaspora actually took place when the Babylonians captured Judea in 585 BCE…..but you’re right in a certain sense because the expulsion order forced Jews to spread out to neighbouring provinces and the Diaspora population exploded :)

    As far as Code Geass R2 I still have to make it through season 1 (sitting on my HDD as we speak)

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  11. Stripey
    April 17th, 2008 - 07:57

    Kaioshin Sama: Wow, I checked it out… it’s dated. I’m probably one of few bloggers old enough to talk at that time XD My doubts from the mighty sunrise pen comes from Mai Hime’s closure. only if they had the testicular fortitude to effect some REAL sacrifices :)

    Kanon_fan82: thanks for clearing it up! I was always under the impression it was the roman one since they didn’t have a land of their own until 1948. Of course there’s also the 10 lost tribes of Israel after Assyrian invasion of the northern kingdom but suppose that don’t count :P I urge you to begin on CG. It’s embodies true SUNRISE drama. :)

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  12. Kanon_fan82
    April 17th, 2008 - 08:44

    See that’s what scares me……while I like Sunrise, the series they produce cause multiple face-palms and usually have a RESET ending which I loathe…..Top that off with my general dislike of Mecha shows (where the power-ups never end) and that is why CG is still sitting idle……

    However many people told me it was one of the best shows from last yr, so I plan to watch it after I finish my last exam :D

    ya I don’t really count the fall of the Northern Kingdom as part of the Diaspora either, seeing as the 10 tribes were effectively wiped out :S……

    Israel did have a land of their own both in the Monarchic period (under David and Solomon et al.) and also after the Exile under the Hasmonean dynasty c. 165-30 CE (with the Maccabean Revolt and cleansing of the Temple; which is commemorated during Hannukah)

    As for the actual state of Israel, that had a lot to do with the rise of Nationalism in the 19th century where Jews (many of whom were living in European ghettos) saw what was happening in Italy, Greece, and the unification of Germany and started to develop a national conciousness and express a desire to return to the land……

    A collective sense of guilt among the Allied forces over the Holocaust led to the United Nations partitioning the Palestine region, forcing many people out of their homes and declaring Israel a state in 1948……Sadly, the region has never been stable since

    /end rant :)

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  13. Stripey
    April 17th, 2008 - 09:04

    heh, that’s exactly why I was misled to think the diaspora was marked at 70AD since it was from then they didn’t have a land called their own :P Give CG 3 eps. If you don’t enjoy the style than there’s plenty more anime more suitable for your palette :)

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  14. Kaioshin Sama
    April 17th, 2008 - 10:45

    @Stripey: Yeaaaaaah, I kind of neglected to mention that the Mai Hime/Otome staff are kind of balls and THEY really don’t know so much what they are doing. If they weren’t allowed such privilige as of recently you’d probably see more series like Code Geass and Gundam 00 and less like Gundam Seed Destiny and while I sort of liked it, Idolmaster Xenoglossia for it’s awkard pacing. The reason people seem to think they USUALLY have reset endings is because they haven’t seen enough of their work. Even Xenglossia didn’t have a reset ending. Chihaya’s still dead, the R.I.F.F.A.S are still dead, Haruka and Yukiho are no longer friends…..

    The reset ending came out of a really bad 2 year period for the studio where they gave projects to some really bad staff and I’m pretty darn sure we’re past that now if you just look at some of the names involved in the writing and direction department. All that’s left is for Code Geass to end without it and people will see.

    And I’m guessing you haven’t seen Gundam 00 yet Stripey. Go watch that and you’ll see the testicular attitude my friend. No other studio in history has murdered their characters more than Sunrise, believe me. It should be common fact that they are character butchers, but because of a few high profile series in the distant (we’re talking 2 years) past where the opposite is true, the falsehood that they ALWAYS trainwreck and ALWAYS push the recent button is allowed to foster. Believe me, I was furious with Gundam Seed Destiny (as well as a little worried myself) because I knew from experience that they weren’t up to their usual standard and copping out and was very disappointed, but that was a long time ago and they are pretty much back to the way they were in the 90′s-early 2000′s now.

    I’ll just leave with one last thing:

    Tell me that was not testicular attitude. :)

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  15. Beowulf Lee
    April 20th, 2008 - 17:53

    >>>I think you are looking too deep into things. Sunrise has no fucking clue what they are doing.

    I have high faith in Sunrise that they’ll screw this up by episode 12, but give credit when credit is due.

    Not to mention this image: http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/images/codegeassR2/02/codegeass0230LG.jpg

    Is he the devil? Or an angel? Oh, the moral ambiguity!

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  16. Stripey
    April 22nd, 2008 - 07:41

    Kaioshin Sama: Now that’s a brutal clip. :P I’m assuming those were pretty important characters. I enjoyed many of SUNRISE’s deaths as hope that their pens for Code Geass will not falter :) I really need to catch Gundam 00…

    Beowulf Lee: Heh, I enjoy so much the Clamp motifs! That’s why I’m sooo in love with the ED. :)

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