Code Geass R2 (Preview)
Return of the Pizza Hut Revolution
While I’m not pooping my pants, aka Macross Excitement Level over this, I’m glad to see Pretty Boy LeDouche come back to attempt to liberate helpless Japan from the wrath of the honkies in the name of siscon once again.
Like a bitch!
Story
Lelouch is still in school in the Tokyo settlement, but things seem a little off. He has a younger brother Rollo, his gym teacher looks a lot like Villetta (and her name’s… Villetta?), and he doesn’t seem to have a Geass Eye anymore. Plus, he’s back to gambling on chess games.
Something is... off.
Most of the Black Knights are in prison, including Colonel Toudou. The remaining ones have fallen under the temporary lead of C.C., who makes it her mission to recover Lelouch. Her scheme to lure him into a chess game and have undercover bunny girl (yar?) Kallen grab him doesn’t go quite as planned, but in the end it’s a successful recovery after a good bit of chase stuff.
Yes, with chest! Er, chess...
With a bit of a smooch, C.C. restores Lelouch’s memory, and it’s bye bye Brittanian soldiers.
This time, its a SEXvolution! yeeeah.
It seems that the Emperor/King himself has now employed Suzaku, and possibly V.V. is on his side as well, so I’m guessing this season will be a little more of a personal fight staged over the backdrop of the revolution.
Thoughts
This episode very cleverly paralleled Geass’s first one, with the re-awakening of Lelouch’s powers happening in a similar scene to the initial bestowing of them. But Zero’s introduction, complete with gothy poses and Mikuru Stare, was played for far more of a Fuck Yeah Factor than anything previously in Geass.
Dance with me! We shall go to the Goth club and smoke clove cigarettes and do that taffy-pulling dance while they spin Sisters of Mercy records! FOR NIPPON!
We still didn’t get a real answer to the cliffhanger of the first series. It seems that Suzaku and Lelouch did indeed come to a truce in order to rescue Nunally, but what happened after is anyone’s guess. How would they be a match for V.V.? Lelouch already used the Geass on himself, so how was his past wiped so effectively? Perhaps C.C. did it to hide him. And speaking of all that, where is Nunally?
Kill whitey! Wait did I really capture a tooltip in my screenshot? Where is QC in here?
Overall, the animation quality is still up to par, not to mention HD now — say what you will about Sunrise (aka Studio Gundam) but they have the cash to keep things consistent. I think Geass is one of the more stylish things they’ve ever done, in spite of the somewhat Gundam-esque mechs. Scoring is still epic and dark, theme songs (both by Orange Range of Bleach fame) still unimpressive. I think the only one I really liked was the first ED by Ali Project, and even then, you heard one of their songs and you’ve heard ‘em all.
But let’s hope they keep track of what made Geass so cool to begin with: It’s an action-packed robot fight, a dramatic collection of emotional cruelties and deadly secrets, all wrapped in a Death Note-style rumination on what happens to people when they gain unspeakable power. Oh — and a Pizza Hut commercial.
