Code Geass: How To Ruin An Ending
My campadre Darkmane put me on to Code Geass and I was totally absorbed in it for the last few days. I was blown away by the depth and scope of the story. Not since Berserk have I watched an anime that conveyed human relationships and emotions in a totally realistic way. So you can understand how upset I am that the first season of Code Geass ends with a whimper instead of a bang.
Revenge stories like The Count of Monte Cristo and Cask of Amontillado are classics because the objects of revenge are ignorant of the hero’s plot. If a powerful, intelligent foe learns of the main protaginist’s plans before they come to fruition, the hero will perish or lose his chance to take revenge. Once the Britannia Emperor found out that Lelouch is Zero, I knew that I didn’t need to watch Code Geass any longer.
The ending is the largest problem among other small unnecessary plot twists towards the end. In only 3 episodes, Nanaly is kidnapped; Nina starts powering an mysterious overpowered Knighmare Frame; Orange returns as some cybernetic freak; and V.V. makes an appearance. None of these side plots are fully resolved even in the beginning of Code Geass season 2.
Code Geass disappointed me becaue the ending proved that the anime is no where near classic. Instead of closing the ending out with a complete win, revenge, or loss for the main character, I was left with a cliffhanger. The worst part about this cliffhanger is that it makes no sense in terms of Code Geass’s original plot and characters. If you watch the beginning of the Code Geass R2 (the second season), you will see what I mean. This is why I am going to have to recommend that you guys pass on watching it. What do you guys think? Is Code Geass overrated? Or am I missing something?
Code Geass: An Awesome Beginning
On Saturday, April 26 of 2008 at 1:30 AM, Adult Swim on Cartoon Network premiered the anime series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, a new edition to their night time line up. I honestly don’t know how well it did or if there was any hype about Code Geass before it dropped on the network, but I know one thing… I loved it. That first episode I saw on that night propelled me into a Code Geass two day marathon ( I know i’m hella late to this one, thanks all mighty Internets!!!) that left me thrilled, entertained and yearning for more. That being said, lets talk about this anime series that’s got your old boy darkmane in a tizzy.
Written and directed by Ichiro Okouchi and Goro Taniguchi respectively, with the art styling of the CLAMP ladies (not surprised that they’re involved with this one), comes the story of Lelouch Vi Britannia under the alias of Lelouch Lamperouge who exists in an alternate reality of our own where the mighty Britannia super power has taken over most of the world, including Japan. Unfortunately, like all the previous nations Britannia conquered, Japan is given an area designation number ( Area 11) and Japanese people are robbed of their freedom and rights.
About seven years after Japan was conquered a fated incident occurs which brings Lelouch into contact with his old childhood friend Suzaku Kururugi and the mysterious C.C, who would give him the ability to command others by bending them to his will called Geass. With this power he attempts two things: to destroy the nation of Britannia so he can build a new world for his disabled sister and exact vengance on its’ royal family for the murder of his mother.
Code Geass’s story is adult and by adult I mean brutally honest. People die and questions of morality come into play as Lelouch and his friend Suzaku pave their own paths for the future of Japan and the rest of the world. The “Nightmare Frames” (the stories name for its big Gundam like machines) are beautifully designed and much cooler than the ones you would find in anime’s like um, I don’t know, lame ass Eureka Seven. I felt none of the characters in the story were irrelevent. All of them were basically memorable and had good roles to play like Shirley a love interest for Lelouch or the nerdy, filthy racist Nina who’s utterly terrified of 11’s (what the Japanese are now called)
In the end, Code Geass is well written with all of the right elements needed to make a great story excellent. This one will play with your emotions and tug at your heart strings. To be honest, there was a point in the story which almost brought me to tears. That is no easy feat, let me tell you. I doubt I need to comment on CLAMP’s art style because it is already famous. There’s a manga for Code Geass as well, but from what I’ve read of it so far on onemanga.com it’s not as good as the anime but down the line it may flesh out some aspects of the story the anime leaves out. If for some reason you haven’t seen this one yet, I suggest you get on it now especially since the second season started to drop in Japan this month. Trust me, it won’t be a waste of your time like Naruto, hehe.
(Manga) Blade of The Immortal 無限の住人
What would you do in nothing could kill you? What would your life be like if you could survive any attack? Blade of the Immortal is an action packed manga written by Hiroaki Samura about Manji, an immortal ronin (masterless samurai), and Rin, his kid sister like employer. Manji and Rin set out on a quest to kill master swordsman and Itto-Ryu leader Anotsu Kagehisa. Things are not as they seem as Manji and Rin have to deal with murderous Itto-Ryu sub captains, rogue intelligence groups, and even the top assassins of the Japanese bakufu government.
I like Blade of the Immortal because of its’ unique art style. Hiroaki Samura’s drawings are more like sketches of art which give Blade of the Immortal a very rugged yet surreal feel. The fight scenes are fast paced and sometimes hard to follow, but they are always hectic and entertaining.
The characters are also highly entertaining and mature in unique ways. Manji is a decent fighter, but he is pretty stupid because he relies on his immortal body too much underestimating the creative resolve of his foes. Later on he learns that he should practice more and get hit less often, but the reader knows Manji is often times a much better fighter when he gets a few limbs cut off.
Rin blossoms before your eyes because she starts off as a helpless girl and matures into a daring escape artist, intelligence agent, and leader. She is constantly saving Manji’s ass and she learns how to manage a team.
If you are looking for a new kind of manga, you should check out Blade of the Immortal. The art style is weird and unique, but it is also fresh and cool. Sometimes I wish that Hiroaki Samura would learn how to draw women better because they all look the same, but then I realize he is limited in what he can do because his anime is more realistic and less fantasy. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Bleach Anime Wallpaper
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I spend hours on the internet searching for new Bleach anime wallpapers, so I decided to share some of my favorites with you. I use different sites, so check them out if you want some of that hot Bleach fire.
This is my favorite because Ichigo looks like he is losing his marbles.
You can find this one at Bleach Anime Wallpaper.
Ulquiorra barely has any emotion so I can’t call him emo, but I like his design because he has that half horn head and crazy looking eyes. Check The Otaku for this one.
Yoruichi about to pounce on a bro. Got this one at Bleach Anime.
This is probably the best wallpaper you can find with all the Gotei 13. Go to Anime Wallpapers for this one.
All the Bleach ladies. This guy’s site has some rare Bleach Wallpapers. Check out Bleach Wallpaper for more.
Have fun with your background screens and tell me which one you like the best.
(Manga) Vagabond バガボンド
Vagabond is a manga written by Takahashi Inoue about the life and times of Miyamoto Musashi. For those who don’t know, Miyamoto Musashi is arguably the best warrior/strategist in Japanese history (besides Hideyoshi Toyotomi, Ieyasu Tokugawa, Oda Nobunaga, and Minamoto Yoritomo) Musashi never lost a battle in his lifetime and often beat people without using his swords. His warrior manual, the Book of Five Rings, contains life lessons that are still relevant today.
The manga pretty much follows the life of Miyamoto Musashi with more than a few liberties taken for the sake of fantasy sword action and plot drama. The series starts with Takezo before he becomes Musashi hanging out with his friend Matahachi. Takezo dreams of becoming the best swordsman who ever lived and will kill any soldier or thief on the battlefield. Matahachi is engaged to a woman named Otsu, who really likes Takezo. Being the stereotypical coward, Matahachi eventually abandons Takezo and lives most of his life as a liar, parasite, gigolo, and thief.
After Takezo becomes Musashi when befriends a monk named Takuan, Musashi fights against the best samurai dojo in Kyoto, challenges damn near unbeatable foes to deathmatches, and eventually meets his ultimate rival, Sasaki Kojiro (their meeting is quite different in real history….)
I just finished the story arc where Musashi finishes his battle with the Yoshioka school. I like to let manga breathe for a few months and then come back to it. I hate reading too much and having to wait for the new ones to come out.
I like Vagabond because the main character is ultra cool in real life and is basically a wandering bum who can whup anyone’s ass. He lives off the land and doesn’t answer to anyone. Instead of learning his swordsmanship in a school, he heads out to the woods and trains Rocky Balboa style on cheap shit like trees, rivers, and forest animals. Takahashi’s animation is always fresh, spiratual, and photo visual like he is drawing a real photograph. Have you read Vagabond? If you have what do you think?
Blood+
When I first saw Blood +, I caught what later I found out to be around the end of the second to last episode. In my humble and honest opinion, it sucked. It was crap. Not only did I hate the english voice acting for Blood +, the art looked lame, and so did the action. Of course after that memories of the crappy anime floated from my mind and I moved on to better things like Buso Renkin. Not too long though, me and Japan Man were discussing the crappinest that is called Naruto when he mentioned the anime to me. He said “Yo, you ever heard about this anime called Blood +? Supposedly it’s really good, you should check it out then write about it. Oh yeah, check out Lucky Star too, it’s also hot right now.” The name had rung a bell with me so I responded with, “Yeah I think I might have seen some of that Blood + thing before. Yo man , if my memory serves me correctly, it was trash. I’ll watch the crap then tear it a new one in a review.” His answer to that was a chuckle and he said please do. You’re probably wondering why the hell i just rambled on with that story just now and just didn’t get straight to tearing Blood + a new one like I claimed I would. Well, it turns out that the little of what I saw of the anime on Cartoon Networkand my assumptions about it from that were not only premature, but also unjust.
Blood + revolves around a teenage girl by the name of Saya who has lost her memories. She’s been adopted into a Japanese man named Georges’ family, a family where everyone is not blood related. As she goes through her new daily life, sinister enemies and an old friend from her lost past appear throwing her and her new family into a deadly hidden war that threatens all of humanity.
At its’ heart, Blood + is just a vampire story with a slight twist. Nothing truly new happens here, you’ve basically seen all of this before. But it’s done in such a way that the old idea seems interesting and almost fresh. I found myself compelled to know what actually happened in Saya’s past and her deep connection with her enemies. The animation and action wasn’t as bad as I thought and since I watched the entire series subbed, I didn’t have to deal with the English voice acting. With that said, I also had an issue with Blood +. At times I found Saya’s mental and physical strength to be inconsistent. She’ll be focused and deadly at one point then girly and weak the next. I get that she’s teenagerish (yeah, i just made that word up), but for some reason, it really annoyed me, maybe cause that character type has been done a thousand times.
Overall, Blood +’s story is solid, with well written sub plots which add on to the main story, rooting it in reality. And with only 50 episodes total, it doesn’t pointlessly drag on like so many other anime’s out there. A great watch and definately worth your time, so check it out if you get the chance. Check the info for the live action movie for Blood+ at Anime Banzai.
Berserk ベルセルク
Berserk was one of the first anime I watched years ago. This was before anime was popular, so I had to go to the bootleg dvd shop in Downtown Brooklyn and this shop called Games and James on 41st and Broadway (which is now a T-Mobile shop….) I asked the clerks at Games and James about which anime was the best and they recommended Berserk. The middle evil European setting, exciting swordplay, and out of control main character really really captured my interest and now I’m an ultra fan of the series.
Berserk is about the life of Guts, an orphaned mercenary and his relationship to Griffith, leader of the mercenary group the Band of the Hawk. The anime (but more the manga) explores the themes of betrayel, love, ambition, and ultimate loss among men who never had a country, family, or friends until they meet each other.
Similar to Naruto and Sasuke, Guts and Griffith are rivals who are also best friends. They only seek to acknowledge the other as their equal. Whereas Griffith seeks to conquor the world, Guts struggles to find out the true meaning of his own life, which has always been about fighting and merely staying alive. I don’t want to ruin Berserk for any of you guys, so read the manga at One Manga. If you have seen Berserk, what do you think about it? Check out this video of the Berserk video game after the jump.
(Manga) Black Lagoon ブラックラグーン
Black Lagoon ブラックラグーン is a brilliant manga and worth reading if you don’t mind philosophy. I stumbled unto Black Lagoon 2 years ago at this manga shop in Nihonbashi. The beautiful cover art caught my eye, but when I attempted to read it, I was kind of turned off by all the ultra violence and the similarities to Cowboy Bebop. I thought Black Lagoon was just a Cowboy Bebop rip off, but I was wrong…..very wrong.
There are no heroes in Black Lagoon. Just about everyone in the manga has their own agenda and demons they are running from. The main character, Rock, used to be a Japanese salaryman until his company abandoned him. He decides to shack up with the Black Lagoon mercenary pirates who kidnapped him. Revy is a loose cannon murderer who kills for fun but she develops feelings for Rock throughout the manga. Dutch is the black leader of the crew who is tough and wise. Benny is the technical expert who has a heart almost as cold and barren as Revy.
Black Lagoon is about existentialism mixed with hardcore graphic violence. Damn near super powered female assassins carry out most of the intense action scenes. Everyone in Black Lagoon must create their own meaning in life. Rock tries to stay neutral, but he eventually has to choose between staying with the Black Lagoon crew, going back to Japan, or finding some new meaning in life. Since there is basically no right or wrong in this manga, Rock could possibly decide to become a monster or return to being just another average joe.
I think that Black Lagoon is worth checking out. If you are into Bleach or Naruto, you will probably have a hard time getting into it, but everyone needs some adult themes in their manga selection. Have you guys read Black Lagoon? If you have, what do you think about it?
(Manga) Sasuke Wins?! Itachi Dead?!
This is what happens when you don’t read Naruto religiously. While I was off taking an extended vacation, Sasuke ends up beating Itachi. But from what I have been hearing, Itachi overdosed on his sharingan and collapsed. But you can hardly call that a victory for Sasuke. He set out to kill Itachi by his own hand, but Itachi ends up committing suicide. Kishimoto just loves robbing Sasuke of every “win” that he gets. But I kind of like that. Sasuke deserves to get robbed of his vengeance just like he got robbed of his win off of Naruto. Sasuke gets the wins, but he never attains victory or satisfaction. Sweet! Check out 00Avalon for more information about the fight and the manga download of the fight aftermath.
Soul Eater ソウルイーター
Soul Eater is another manga that I picked up, leafed through, quickly put down, then picked up again. The character designs look cool and the manga name, Soul Eater, reminds me of the Soul Eater rune from the first Suikoden. So why didn’t I pick it up and continue to read it? Basically for same reason that I picked up Bleach and then put it down repeatedly. Soul Eater only impressed me at a glance at best. But now that the Soul Eater anime is about to drop and I finally took the time to read up on this promising anime, I think it deserves my attention.
What do you get when you mix the best elements of Naruto, Bleach, and HunterxHunter together? Well that mixture just might be Soul Eater, but I’m not totally sold yet. The story seems like it might be strong. In the Soul Eater world, there is a shinigami weapons training school (cough cough Naruto). Just think of the school as a community college or Devry for weapon’s trainers. The two types of students that attend the school are the trainers and the weapons. Their mutual goal is to feed 99 demon egg souls and 1 soul of a witch to the weapon creating Death Size, the most powerful shinigami weapon evar!
Shinigami Devry students Maka Albaan (trainer) and her death scythe Soul Eater (weapon) have to bump heads with other trainers and weapons in order to reach their goal of creating Death Size. Assassin trainer Black Star and his weapon Chuumuharu (prolly fucked up the spelling…) as well as “Death’s Son”, Death The Kid, and his twin glocks The Thompson Sisters are two other trainer/weapon pairs out to create their own Death Size. The Soul Eater story revolves around these 3 groups and their path to greatness. Check out this video that I found on Danny Choo and tell me what you think.
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