Code Geass

We'll see. I'd like to find out more about that too. I suppose time constraints are the biggest obstacle, compared to a full-length series, but I'm hoping they'll try and address other parts of the E.U. government system later on in order to back that up a little bit.

As for the a.t.b. changes...I guess if it's not set in stone during the show itself, then re-interpreting such things is fair game. Like how there have been a few changing canon dates or general facts in the UC Gundam universe thanks to the tons of stuff they've made over the years.

Whether or not an idea is too black-and-white or "generic" is ultimately irrelevant for me, if it still makes for something interesting or otherwise entertaining, in combination with either a set of different elements or simply a good enough execution of already common ones. Not everything needs to be re-invented or "never seen before" IMHO.

edited 29th Sep '12 8:53:31 PM by Madonis

Yeah, like the date of UC Starting has slipped around a lot to the point that it's now just "The Future"; though the EF Canonically is formed around 1999 or the turn of the Millennium and I personally like the UC starting after A.D. 2045.

I'm just afraid they'll go the easy route of having Malkal be a lone, idealist who see humanity in the men immediately around her while the rest of the EU is shown to be ignorant bores. I mean, not to say it isn't easy to see them that way, you can easily see them that way irl too. But it'd be more meaningful if they could step back and show that we share, despite our faults, a common humanity that makes the principles of Democratic Republicanism work.

I do like that so far it kinda matches up to what in my head I see the politics working out. I like how 'French' the EU is, and I like how Britannia has sorta adopted the idea that they are making the world better by saving them from the 'False God of Democracy' and bringing them Enlightened Absolutism.

edited 29th Sep '12 9:13:08 PM by Scherzo09

So basically what you're saying is: you only like a show based on how close it is to your established opinion, and dislike a show when it deviates from that and shows someone else's opinion?

Heh, I'm just saying personally I like that it's getting into those intricacies and I like that it gets into some of the worldbuilding shit I've been pondering. I just appreciate it.

One of the things I really do like about it is indulging the Alternate History stuff more whereas in the original series the fact that it was Alternate History was rather inconsequential. Seeing them have things like this in there shows that the guys making it did do some research about world history.

edited 30th Sep '12 12:45:08 AM by Scherzo09

It's not the genericness that really does racism as motivation in for me. Well, I guess it kind of is, the same way romance is a boring motivation that I prefer to only exist as far into the back ground as possible. Where they go with it and how entertaining they make it is what matters. I just won't give any sort of shits about any points they have to make about it since they've gone this route.

Are you saying that you'd've preferred if they'd actually shown the Europeans having some reason to dislike the Japanese refuges? I can agree with you there; so far the Europeans just sorta dislike them Beacuase, and while I'd like to think they'd have the depth to show why racism happens, this is CG we're talking about so I don't have much hopes in it being handled subtly or maturely.

I'd still say it's a bit better than how Gundam shits on the Earth Federation, but it's still the easiest route to take.

edited 30th Sep '12 3:10:34 PM by Scherzo09

I don't expect it to get too sophisticated either. So far the OVA at least suggests one of the most typical yet still inevitable reasons for racism is involved, which is the Japanese having a very different culture that leads to a bunch of stereotypes.

More indirectly or implicitly, there's also the fact that some of them appear to be engaged in various criminal activities and the refugee issue as a whole was also brought up in passing, but both of these have not been addressed as such.

edited 30th Sep '12 5:47:13 PM by Madonis

I get that, and really they could show that the Europeans have legitimate reasons for being wary of the Japanese even if abject hatred of them on a whole goes too far. I would say that cheesy moments aside, it's a bit more restrained than Code Geass. And again, Europeans irl do have a problem about discriminating against foreign cultures living within their midst.

This is interesting enough to make me feel sad that the next installment is ?months? away.

The racism bits were hard for me to take seriously, especially when that European driver couldn't tell Akito was Japanese until he checked his ID. (Akito looks European?)

Maybe it was because he was a refugee, not a naturalized EU citizen. I think Johann was the most "Geass-y" of the characters, in just being OTT lolevil; him and the opening commander of course.

edited 1st Oct '12 12:29:41 AM by Scherzo09

All Asians Are Alike

Well, it can be hard to tell a Japanese person from a Korean from someone of Northern China, so...

That and Mukokuseki.

Anwyay, racism is the wrong word, here. It's xenophobia (loathing the stranger) and aporophobia (loathing the poor). Any refugees get easily treated that way. Or do I need to remind you about the fate of the Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, just to give one example?

edited 1st Oct '12 5:30:27 AM by TheHandle

I am trying to remember whether the Chinese (in the Code Geass universe) were allied with the Europeans or with the Brits. Maybe the CG Europeans get along smashingly with the Chinese and that driver thought Akito was Chinese.

It was a Mêlée à Trois; the three world Superpowers locked in a cold war over colonial possessions before the invasion of Japan. Also for China tries to avoid confrontation for the most part, seems like the EU are the ones who butt heads with the Brits the most.

He could've also been an Asian from one of the EU's Southeast Asian colonies that had recently been annexed by Britannia, from the soldiers perspective I mean.

edited 1st Oct '12 12:00:46 PM by Scherzo09

Especially since the Brits have gotten their hands on JapanArea 11's sakuradite supply, that must have been quite a blow for everyone else. I'd even guess it rightfully sparked the world war.

I see the capture of Japan and its Sakuradite supply as the means to prosecute war on the EU and reclaim its lands for the Aristocracy. I think the Invasion of Japan was like the Invasion of Iraq; a strategic and tactical cakewalk but logistically demanding. With control of over 70 Percent of the world's known Sakuradite reserves though, they could prosecute war however they saw fit.

Whoah, the character designs are even more CLAMP-y than I expected.

EDIT: Maybe it's just the war scenes, but this felt more like Gundam than Code Geass, apart from the CLAMP-y designs.

edited 1st Oct '12 1:39:08 PM by Arilou

They're way more kinetic, yeah. I wish there were more of them though; Mid-section got a bit slow paced.

It's not as dour as Unicorn at least.

edited 1st Oct '12 6:28:02 PM by Scherzo09

Did a little research, and yeah... Code Geass has an entry in the Mukokuseki page.

Every time I encounter Mukokuseki, my appreciation for FMA, Hetalia, Naoki Urasawa and other works that try to avoid such increases.

I think it's more on CLAMP than the storywriters; Akito seems to be a Palette Swap of Lelouch, though their designs in general seem to suffer, alongside Noodle People, an acute case of Same Face.

edited 1st Oct '12 9:24:43 PM by Scherzo09

It's Only Six Faces.

Thinking about writing a retelling of Geass; you think if instead of Cornelia coming in the way she does, Jeremiah could stick around longer as Viceroy/Governor-General?

I think at this point I might just have to face the fact that it's just not Code Geass for me without everything Code Geass had.

Well it could be, but such a combination reoccurring is possible but incredibly unlikely.

edited 2nd Oct '12 6:33:55 AM by UltimatelySubjective

...are you sure that you aren't referring to Only Six Faces instead?

Only Six Faces worries me (less) than Mukokuseki.

For example, Hetalia has Only Six Faces but the characters follow racial phenotypes - the (East) Asian countries are all dark haired while the European countries are blondes.

FMA is Cast Of Snow Flakes and avoids Mukokuseki.

Code Geass is both Only Six Faces and Mukokuseki, apparently.

Btw, usually - I don't even notice Mukokuseki. I'm used to blond blue eyed characters (ex. Naruto) being identified as Japanese.

The thing with the driver and Akito was just a little too WTF and reminded me too much of the race problematic aspect of Mukokuseki. Not to mention that when I visited this thread - people were talking about race also. So, yeah...