Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Part 3 Episodes 8-10

Zero shockingly agrees to participate in helping Nunally establish her Special Administrated Zone of Japan.  A tear splits down the center of the Black Knights, who begin to question Zero’s leadership.  But is there a bigger play in mind?  Then Zero and his comrades get caught up in a Coup d’etat in the Chinese Federation that could play to their advantage.  And while all of this unfolds, allegiances shift, plans are made in secret with old enemies, and Lelouch confronts two siblings.  Three nations find themselves on the brink of war in the next chapter of Code Geass.

Is it wrong to say I really, REALLY don’t care about anything going on directly related to the Chinese Federation plotline?  The introduction of Xinghe, the (incredibly annoying) High Eunuchs and the sort of expanded role for Kaguya have done nothing to further the plot of Code Geass along.  If anything, they’ve stalled things quite a bit.  There are more interesting details that could use the screentime here, like expanding on V.V.’s role and clearing up some details about the Geass itself.  Right now though, the attempt at world building is only hurting this series more and more.  It doesn’t help matters much that the story cant make up it’s mind who is on whose side.  In the last few minutes of this set alone we had…2 or 3 double crosses?

So we have Lelouch who’s taking advantage of a volatile situation to take out an enemy (I think).  We have Xinghe who is dead set on protecting the tiny Empress while slaying the High Eunuchs who’d use her as a bid for more power.  And the High Eunuchs who…well as I said, just trying to score brownine points with Britannia but will use Xinghe for their own ends, even forgiving him for his coup d’etat before pulling the reigns on him AGAIN!!!  This is making my head hurt and I miss the days when Britannia was the only threat Lelouch had to deal with.  But Code Geass R2 is determined to make all the world a stage by the end, at least I think so.  It’s just a lot to keep up with though.

Not everything was totally bad here…most of it was but still.  Lelouch and Schneizel finally came face to mask against each other.  Their chess game was a nail bitter and im curious if Schneizel knows Lelouch is Zero.  It’s kind of unclear who knows and doesn’t know at this point…or who’s just being a gulliable idiot (i.e. Suzaku).  But I’ve liked Schneizel since his first appearance.  I feel he’d be sharp enough to piece it together quickly.  Hell Euphie did and she only met Zero once.  We also got a brief but promising glimpse at Jeremiah 2.0.  Conversing with V.V. and sporting a calmer, but still theatrical, appearance, I cant wait to see how this season puts one of Season One’s most entertaining characters to work.  Plus, for all the crap I give Xinghe and his story arc, his Knightmare’s capabilities allowed for some cool action scenes between him and Kallen.

Cant really close this out without mentioning the big, “I AM SPARTACUS…er…ZERO” scene.  In a move probably inspired by V for Vendetta, Lelouch got one million Japanese to don Zero costumes and follow him in his exile to a new island homeland.  This was a smart way to avoid the potential outcome of another Special Zone massacre, something most of the Britannians seemed dead set on carrying out.  It was one of the biggest surprises that reminded me of why Season One worked so well.  The unexpected occurred and laid the foundation for better buildings from it.

Oh and Nina was back this week…still a pain in the ass…still hopped up on crazy pills and…yeah just so unlikeable, calling Milly out for being too caring and bad mouthing Suzaku and Kallen cause of their heritage.  As much as I praise Schneizel, I have to dock points for him using such a fragile and potential plan screw up mind to his advantage…did I just feel sorry for Nina?  Yeah better cut this out before I start sounding a little crazy.

We left Zero and the Black Knights boxed into a one way out fortress, Kallen captured…and all the while I say they could have avoided this if they’d just ignored this whole storyline all together.  Maybe Schneizel coming into the fray will spice things up a bit…cause God knows Code Geass R2 needs it more than ever right now…oh my poor series.

T5W#50-Top 5 Otakon 2013 Moments

Going into 2013, my expectations were a bit low compared to 2012.  Little did I know, this Otakon was going to explode without me realizing it.  The guests list was legendary, there were screenings I really wanted to attend.  But two things stood out more so.  Firstly, this would be my first year staying at the Hilton Baltimore, which is connected to the Baltimore Convention Center via skybridge and has events from the Con inside as well.  It would be, in my eyes, the first year I was staying WITHIN the convention itself, the events being only an elevator ride away.  And second, or rather this should be first, was not expecting to meet so many amazing new people who I would go on to reunite with over the next few years at the forthcoming Otakons.  2013 is one of 2 cons that came really, really close to topping 2011.  Here are the 5 best moments to explain why.

 

#5-The 18+ Hentai Panel

Judge all you want, but you have not had a true convention going experience until you’ve attended a late night Hentai panel.  Unlike the one I went to in 2010, this one was thankfully held in one of the larger programing rooms in the Hilton, instead of a small cramped one in the convention center.  The crowd was having a grand old time as our lovely hostesses…whose name escapes me sadly, showed us the good, the bad, the ugly and the…rather impressive sexual fantasies of the darker side of Anime (and man are some of those acts astounding, let’s just say one of the most astounding videos shown involved a photographer, a mafia higher up and three rolls of film going where it really shouldn’t…oh Yaoi fandom).  Top it off with a volunteer audience voice improv of a very naughty scene and you’ve capped off the first night right.  Oh and did I mention it was in the Hilton too?  Yea, I only had to hop on one short elevator ride up and crash in my room after depositing photos from camera to computer…now that’s awesome. 

 

#4-Dance Off Round 2

 

It was the ultimate case of déjà vu.  A circle starting small before enlarging as more people came to watch and more people came to participate.  With some rocking beats, the final day ended on a strong note with this entertaining show of fun.  I got pretty close to it this time and from simply dance to break dance to combat simulation to leaps and flips, it was in your face and full of energy.  The combat sims were the best part, even if it was for play (and you’re not really supposed to be doing this lol), these guys pulled it off with style, one duo even threw in a Sho-ryu-ken move for good measure.

 

#3-Rurouni Kenshin: The Movie

I feel like id been waiting for this my whole life, ever since I saw the Anime, especially after I finished the Manga.  A Rurouni Kenshin film had become a reality and I was dead set on seeing it.  In all my life, only Star Wars and The Avengers have gotten as huge a response as this screening did.  The reaction was HUGE and very positive.  There were cheer worthy moments ever 5-10 minutes of the film and when they happened (the appearance of any familiar character, the action sequences, Kenshin donning his characters trademark outfit) you wanted to cheer, you wanted to scream your enthusiasm.  The film was awesome and while it took some liberties with the events of the manga, it remained mostly faithful and true to the story originally told ages ago.  Oh and there was a very nice introduction by Karou Kurosaki, wife of Kenshin’s original author Nobuhiro Watsuki, which included confirmation that two more Kenshin sequels were about to begin filming for release in Summer 2014 and she hoped to bring them to Otakon after they come out.  Watsuki himself had a video message prepared for us in which he expressed his amazement at the production quality of the film AND his enjoyment of Pacific Rim.  I did write a review of this one and might post it sometime down the line…after it comes to DVD with the other two sequels this fall, YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

#2-Crispin Freeman & Vic Minogna

Two legends of Anime voice acting made their grand appearances this year…and I got to see both of their panels back to back.  First off was Crispin Freeman.  The man has an impressive resume of roles under his belt including Alucard from Hellsing, Togusa from Ghost in the Shell, Jerimiah from Code Geass and Kyon from Haruhi Suzumiya.  Crispin was an amazing guy, full of humor, honesty and the ability to be just an all around great guy.  I finally mustered up the courage to ask him my dream question: what would happen if Alucard, Kyon and Shizuo from Durarara roomed together?  While he didn’t act it out like I hoped, he was still very entertained by such a question, caught off guard.  But he did answer the question regardless: Kyon wouldn’t last long lol (and yes I found my appearance on Youtube).  Vic Mignogna was a strong follow up.  He was a true comedian and a very humble host.  In fact he loved hanging out with his fans and answering their questions so much…he even let a fan propose to his girlfriend on stage through a skit he had worked on with Vic via email leading up to this point.  Top that off with Vic’s reminiscence about Star Trek inspiring him to act and his fondness for Edward Elric and you’ve got a panel for that ages that was an awesome way to kick off the weekend.

BTW Vic revealed that he had crabs with William Shatner (you know, Captain Kirk) at a Baltimore resturaunt nearby a week or so prior…and I was at a family dinner around the same time it would have happened.  How mind blowingly awesome would it have been to meet Ed Elric and Captain Kirk at the same time?  I love to dream about that “What If?”.

 

#1-New Friends

 

Otakon 2013 succeeded in my eyes for a number of reasons.  But all come second to the fact that I met a large number of new friends, many of whom I have seen regularly at each Otakon since.  It was the magic of the first con all over again, meeting people in the most unexpected ways: a screening, a cosplay photo request, a random hallway while charging a camera battery, or even just randomly getting a positive comment about my shirt.  For all of last year feeling so alone, this year I was meeting people at every panel, every photoshoot, every screening.  And those ten or so plus people I met, I have continued to keep in touch with to this day and rely on them for a good laugh or soul support.  These people have become family to me, very dear family and I would do pretty much anything for any of them.  This was the year I rediscovered about Otakon, “You are not alone”.  It was good to run with a pack again.

Long story short, 2013 KICKED ASS!!!  But would lightning strike twice?  Spoiler alert, not exactly.  In fact the darkest year thus far had yet to come.  Ok that sounds dramatic but 2014 was not nearly as good for a number of reasons.  But I’ll get to that next week.

 

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Part 2 Episodes 5-7

With his Geass power back and Rolo now under his thumb, Lelouch begins to rebuild the Black Knights in preparation for a new revolution.  All seems well until Suzaku returns to Ashford to keep an eye on him.  And just when Lelouch thinks he’s gotten the upper hand, it’s revealed the Nunally is set to be the new viceroy of Area 11…and she plans on reactivating the Special Zone for the Japanese.  With his younger sister being used as a pawn against him, will Lelouch be able to continue his battle as Zero…when the cost could include killing the one person he started this all for?

Hard as it is to accept, the problems that started with the season premiere look like theyre here to stay…and theyre bringing friends too.  Rolo’s still an unnecessary pain.  The attempts at school humor are back (even another crack at a giant Pizza).  And for some reason that little girl from the Chinese Federation, Kaguya (?), thinks she’s still important to Zero…sigh.  Plus we got a little more of Suzaku’s fellow Knights of the Round, Gino (who looks like Graham Acker’s cousin…not a good thing) and Anya, who is Code Geass’s equivalent of our modern day social media twitter junky…with no emotions…God can we not get anymore interesting characters in this show.

Well on the plus side, once we got past the School Festival, things started to seem a little normal for a bit.  And by normal I mean the story got good again.  Having Nunally become the new Euphie is a bold move and was a fun shake up for Lelouch, who found himself unable to continue fighting because of his sisters new role.  Seeing him wander aimlessly, try to get Kallen to “console” him, and best of all, using Geass on random people to do his bidding were all things I feel we have been bound to see if Lelouch ever really broke and it was good stuff.  But wow, I never expected the Student Council to ever come through.  But if Lelouch found a reason to continue fighting through them…though why he’d imagine Nina in the same mental image of them I don’t know…id just erase her but that’s just me…then I guess I have to give credit where credit is due…not bad you guys.

For all the crap I give the Knights of the Round, they do make for some pretty entertaining mecha pilots.  Gino’s double scythed mech was pretty cool, think if Wing Gundam and Gundam Deathsythe had an offspring and boom.  Also, apparently everyone can fly now, including Kallen and her Gurren and im oddly ok with that, if only so we can see things go a little Macross for a little bit.  On a side note, is there like a hidden camera in the bottom of the Gurren’s cockpit.  I can look past Kallen becoming a bunny girl in the premiere but the botty shots are just wow…there’s smart fanservice (Like Violetta in a swimsuit at a maid cafe) and then there’s the desperate kind.  Sorry, Kallen’s ok hot (there are hotter on this show) but even gratuitous booty shots aren’t going to help me forget about this seasons problems.

The season isn’t back on track, not even close.  But at least it looks like we’re stepping back in a better direction.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Part 1 Episodes 1-4

The Black Rebellion has failed.  The Black Knights have fallen…and Zero is dead.  That was one year ago.  The chaos of that Rebellion is now a faded memory in the mind of Lelouch Lamperouge.  He’s just a student again, skipping class and getting into trouble gambling.  That life is a lie…put into place by the man he sought to destroy, his father the Emperor.  But contrary to popular belief, the Black Knights are far from finished.  If the revolution is to begin again, Zero must return.  All hope lies with an immortal witch who owes Lelouch her life.  If she can find him, Zero will live…that time is now.

 

Well…here we go again.

I really want to sound enthused by the start of this second half of Code Geass, especially coming off that legendary season one finale.  But really, I cant help but feel disappointed.  The excitement kind of died when I realized that in their efforts to start things up again, the staff went and did almost a beat for beat retooling of the series premiere: Lelouch getting his powers back, making a dramatic reveal and escape following his power returning, a prisoner rescue.  It just felt like the reset button had been pushed in a literal sense and it was just time to do something familiar only better…only it wasn’t better.

Jumping ahead a year will always have drawbacks.  Mostly leaps of logic like: why didn’t the Emperor just kill Lelouch and his comrades and get it over with.  Hell why did he keep Oghi, Todo and, especially, Tamaki, alive?  Now if the real punishment was meant for not just Lelouch, but for us viewers as well, to see everything reset, slightly altered and not in the least bit right…then damn that is a cruel joke.

But it’s not all the same.  No, for all the cool potential of having Violetta as a gym teacher (the sexiest dressed one ever), there’s the biggest flaw the season introduced right out of the gate: ROLO.  Yes, this little complicated douche is supposed to be Lelouch’s younger brother.  I call him a douche because he is the most see saw teetering character ive seen so far on this show.  One second, he’s a cold, time pausing bad ass who could easily be a threat to Lelouch.  The next, he’s a wimpy kid so lost in his own lie.  For the life of me, I get why Lelouch will want to keep him around…cause Lelouch is a sadistic brat like that.  But…for the life of me…I cant understand why Lelouch would keep Rolo around.  This just screams bad things bound to happen.  It’s sad when you can identify weak links in a seasons chain right away and sadder when you get the feeling a lot of time is going to be dedicated to Rolo.

But come on, there’s gotta be some good right?  Well the small bits of backstory we get involving the aftermath of the finale was great.  The Emperor wiping Lelouch’s memory was a chilling scene, easily reminding us why Charles is such a huge threat.  Taking Nunally out of the equation will definitely get Lelouch’s blood flowing again (so why didn’t he kill Rolo just for this?)  And even though it was a grander rehash of Season One’s Suzaku prison rescue, Zero’s mission to free Oghi, Todo and the other Black Knights was a lot of fun.  What the Chinese Federation is going to serve in the long run besides a temporary haven to run to, im not sure…but im already bored with that story as is.

And did I mention Suzaku yet?  No and that’s because all he does in every scene he’s in is stand around and scowl, barely saying a word.  It’s like he’s saying, “oh im a big bad ass now.” In the most annoying way.  Granted I’ll take that over his other Knights of the Round comrades who just feel like additions we don’t need, the cast is large enough as is.

Man, I wish I could be hyped for the second half of this season.  Season One ended so great and in a couple of episodes, Season Two’s already undone a lot of it without much consequence.  Code Geass needs that spark that made it great again and it needs it fast.  I want to love this season, I really do.  But I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Part 6 Episodes 22-25

With one single act, the hopes for peace come crashing down around everyone.  There is only one path now: an all out assault on the Britannian Forces occupying Area 11.  This is the moment Lelouch has been working towards since he first became Zero and now it looks like victory is within his grasp.  But new players and horrific losses await, ones that will change the destinies of Lelouch and Suzaku forever.  When the two friends finally confront each other, who will be left standing in the shocking season one finale of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

Well that just freaking happened. 

You wanted a Season Finale of epic proportions, well it didn’t get any more high stakes than here.  Just to get the ball rolling lets do a quick notes version: Lelouch lost control of his power, Euphie caused a Genocide as a result, Lelouch killed Euphie, the revolution began, Nina got her hands on a nuclear bomb and Lelouch and Suzaku had a stand off as everything went to hell around them…hooooo deep breaths.  Let’s back it up and wrap this first half of Code Geass up right.

We all knew something was bound to go wrong with Lelouch’s Geass but man, even he couldn’t have forseen such a tragedy.  Geassing Euphie at the wrong time and saying the wrong thing in conjunction…he couldn’t have predicted that right?  I mean yeah, Lelouch was against the Special Zone all along and this push would be what he needed for his all out war…but come on, he’s not that dastardly…is he?  That’ll be a question that plagues me for a long time to come.  Honestly, im content with saying it was an epic accident…but I guess we may never know.

Of all the characters I felt for following Euphie’s death, I think I’d tie that with Suzaku and Cornelia.  Suzaku got a tear worthy farewell with the woman he loved.  Cornelia, on the other hand, only had a handful of quick glimpses, the amount of loss she felt ever present on her face…and then she got back to work leading her troops.  I feel truly sad for her, she’s one of my favorite characters in this series but props to her…she can mourn later, it was time to get to work.  Which is more than what I can say for Nina.  You know even if she hadn’t gone totally insane, im sure she would have gladly given the Geass driven Euphie her nuclear bomb to kill the Japanese…ive hated a ton of Anime characters but none nearly as much as ive hated her.  God help Ashford Academy in the state we left them.

This brought us to the two part finale where we finally got the war Lelouch had been building toward since day one as Zero.  The best action and animation had clearly been saved for last.  Mechs clashed and sword were swung…and Suzaku was PISSED!!! (he even socked Lloyd good when the stingy scientist wouldn’t give him the keys to his mech).  He put that Lancelot through it’s paces and we got some of it’s best action out of it.  Speaking of best action, ORANGE WAS BACK!!!  Yep, reborn a Cyborg and given a Sonic the Hedgehog style mech (ok it didn’t look like Sonic but it spun a lot), he tore through the Black Knights just to get to Zero.  I was totally digging the unhinged Jeremiah.  He’s only gotten more amusing as the shows progressed, it was good to have him back.

This was war and even though it seemed things were going Lelouch’s way, no one was really safe.  It was only a matter of time before something went wrong…but maybe too wrong?  Ok so I get that Lelouch is basically the God Mode Cheat (ok that’s a bit much) to victory.  But as soon as he checked out, everything fell apart almost instantly.  The Black Knights became helpless, Todo was freaking out, Oghi got shot…ok don’t care too much about that but I am glad Violetta got her memory back, ive missed that ice queen…yeah.  The Black Knights were on a roll and they could have pushed forward on their own no problem.  We left them all in dire straits, with the outcome of the battle not revealed.  Im sure we can guess how it all goes though.

Which all lead to easily one of my favorite scenes in Anime.  I’ll get to the guy who kidnapped Nunally in a sec but this paragraphs gonna be all about that perfect stand off.  Finally, after a season of waiting, Lelouch and Suzaku confronted each other (with Kallen as an audience cause…whatever?).  The verbal backlash each “friend” gave the other stung hard and when Suzaku told Lelouch that his existence was a mistake…the time for talk was done.  We’ve seen these two as the best of friends, so kind to one another despite their positions.  To see them finally fall out with each other was huge.  Not as huge as the gunshot that we had to leave things on.  No resolution, no victor, only Nunally wailing in despair silently…THAT IS HOW YOU DO A FREAKING SEASON FINALE!!!!!  Man I cannot wait to start up Code Geass R2 and see what happens next.

There were some problems with the finale and they all kind of stemmed from the character department.  You know my thoughts on the size of this cast…so why add in a tiny Chinese royal diplomat who we’ve seen sporadically throughout the season, has barely said a word and suddenly appears just to tell Lelouch he’s gonna be her wife?  I’m sure Lelouch was being kind in his reply, but I’m sure he and I were thinking the same thing, “Who the hell are you and why should I care?”  And then there’s V.V.  God I don’t think I’ve automatically disliked a character so instantly before (at least with Nina I needed an episode or two to see how despicable her racist tendencies were).  His arrogance is apparent even in his couple of lines of dialogue and his character design strikes me as a haughty kid who’s as old as C.C. and is even more snobbish…ugh he’s gonna be a problem for me in Season 2 isnt he?   Lastly, after such a stellar intro last time, why wasn’t Schneizel present for this battle?  In fact he was barely seen in these last few episodes.  I’m guessing theyre saving more for him to do in the next season…but it seemed wrong to sideline him here at such an important point of the story.

And…well that’s it.  Season One of Code Geass COMPLETE.  What did I think?  I think that the cast could be trimmed down a little, along with a couple of pointless side plots.  But this was a solid Anime and if it had just been one season…well I’dve been upset cause of that cliffhanger but THAT CLIFFHANGER was just too damn perfect.  Lelouch always amused no matter what he did.  The Britannians had some strong stand out figures in Euphie, Cornelia and Schneizel while others like Jeremiah got better with time.  This season knew how to end episodes on the right notes, begging you to just marathon your way to the end.  Not a lot of Anime nowadays have that type of binge quality to them.  It’s kind of refreshing really…and we’re only halfway done.

But I’m concluding this first season with a very solid

8/10

The continuation of the saga with Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, kick off Monday. 

“I Lelouch vi Britannia command you…See ya then.”

 

T5W#49-Top 5 Otakon 2012 Moments

After the tremendous success that was Otakon 2011, Otakon 2012 had a lot to live up to…and it kinda didn’t.  Most of it was me desperately trying to find a friend to come with me to experience it all with me…and failing miserably.  The rest was a mix of so-so events, not as stellar a guest list as last year and just a general downer feeling.  My expectations were high and in truth that wasn’t fair.  There was still a lot of good to come out of 2012 but expecting a repeat of last year hampered the overall experience.  No two con experiences are alike and youre doing yourself a disadvantage if you think otherwise.  I learned this in 2012 and still stick with it (though I did have re relearn it with Katsucon this year).  Anyway, onto the 5.

 

#5-The Hotel Room

 

When I first thought about getting a hotel room this year, I really wanted to go for the Hilton.  But I looked too late and all of the rooms were taken.  There was one still up for grabs though, at the Hyatt across from the opposite skybridge.  There would be no roof over my head if it rained and I had to get back to my hotel room, but it was close enough.  Thing is, the room was designated a “Parlor Room” and I had no idea what that meant.  Would I be in a broom closet, or something as small as my college dorm room?  The answer was neither.  Holy freaking crap.  Basically they locked down the living room portion of a condo and handed it to me for two nights for a pretty reasonable price.  There was no standard bed, but there was a couch bed and TV and a lot of space.  And one helluva view too.  It was big…a bit too big.  Made the notion of no one coming with me feel a bit more real.  But as far as staying rooms for a convention go, this wasn’t bad at all.

 

#4-Maid Cafe

To my knowledge, Otakon had never attempted a Maid Café before.  True or not, this was my first year to try going to one.  I was a little stunned as to how it all worked out.  It wasn’t your typical Starbucks, that’s for sure.  No the Maid Café was a rehearsed show that restarted every hour or so for a new audience.  There were mini games, dances, skits and of course, cute girls and handsome young men serving drinks.  It was a little bit costly but it was a fun little experience all the same.  Kinda wished it was more of a come in, sit down and have a drink without all the theatrics, but still, wont complain.

 

#3-Otaku Idol

 

It’s exactly what it sounded like.  Anyone with the vocals to belt out Anime tunes stepped up to participate in an American Idol showdown in the Otaka-Café (again not really a café), aka the Karaoke room of Otakon.  I only sat in on the first round of contestants, as I knew of a couple of people participating.  Themes from Haruhi Suzumiya, Durarara and various other shows were heard.  But it was one girl who belted out “Shinjitsu no Uta” from Inuyasha who clearly stole the show first round, even the people I was cheering for were impressed.  From what I learned later on, I think that girl won the competition overall.  Hard to argue with that result since even I could see she was attracting a ton of outsiders during her Inuyasha theme performance.

 

#2-AMV 101

Back in 2012 I was really into AMV crafting and had a ton of my own videos under my belt.  An alliance of AMV makers under the banner PixelBlended Studios, came together to do a special panel on AMVs and I was excited to attend.  Turns out, our philosophies were pretty similar-Why choose certain Anime, what songs work better and which don’t, why use a ton of special effects when sometimes none will do, and what kind of story do you tell with your AMV?  I loved that they took the time to show us samples from all across the board: comedy, action, dramatic, movie trailers, music videos, the works.  In the end, I gave them a sample DVD of some of my work.  I heard one little bit from them not long after but never went on to work with them.  And since 2013 my AMV churn out rate had dipped drastically.  Still this was probably the heyday of my AMV making experience and it was a fun presentation that I really enjoyed.

 

#1-LittleKuriboh’s Shout Out to My Sister

After sitting out 2012, LittleKuriboh returned to Baltimore for another Otakon.  Not only did I manage to get a cool Duke Devlin shirt from his booth, not only did we take a picture that is eerily similar to the one we took two years prior, but he ALSO was happy enough to do a short video shout out to my sister.  Otakon is an experience id really like to share with her but things just keep getting in the way.  So each year I try to bring back something she’d like, like plushies or a DVD.  In this case, had to get a popular Anime celebrity to say hi.  This was on the last day of the convention so he was super beat.  He couldn’t do the shout out in the voice of the villainous Melvin, but LittleKuriboh was still happy to say a few words and promise “Free hugs” from Melvin should my sis attend in the future.  I’ve run into LK a few times over the years but this was my favorite run in with him.  It’s one of my best Otakon moments and one of the best gifts ive gotten for my sis.

So 2012 was a little bit of a bust.  But yeah, next week we get to the first of two years that have come tremendously close to matching if not surpassing 2011’s greatness.  See ya then.

 

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Part 5 Episodes 18-21

With Mao out of the picture at last, Lelouch returns his attention to his campaign against Britannia.  Adding the scientist Rakshata and the military legend Todo to his forces, the Black Knights are stronger than ever.  Suzaku, meanwhile, finds himself elevated to one of this highest positions imaginable: personal Knight to Princess Euphemia.  When the two friends reunite on Kaname Island, will Lelouch jeopardize all he’s built in order to bring Suzaku over to his side?  Or will the arrival of his older brother, the legendary Schniezel, crush the Black Knights and their allies in one fell swoop?  Whatever the outcome, the winds of change are upon Japan.  All it needs is one more push for an all out revolt to begin.

Is it really a thing where royals hijack military coms to tell their Knights that they love them?  It is so out there you cant help but be amused when Euphie does this with Suzaku.  It’s like, “Is this really the time for this?  I mean yeah I love you too but trying to stay alive here.” 

Kind of a random point to start at.  But this was a busy set of episodes.  Unlike the partly unnecessary but interesting Mao diversion, this set of episodes wasn’t as directly focused and kind of all over the place in terms of developments. The Black Knights helped Suzaku stop a rebellion; we discovered ancient technology on an island that probably has to do with Geass; Lelouch’s brother, Schneizel, finally arrived; Nina risked her life to see Euphie…busy, busy, busy.  Oh and we got a school festival added to the mix.  I felt just as exhausted as Lelouch by the time it was all over.

I’ll say this for Lelouch, he’s certainly persistent.  Even after learning Suzaku is his enemy and the pilot of the Lancelot, he STILL keeps trying to bring him over to the Black Knights.  He’s gotta know that’s a lost cause by this point right?  I’m not saying kill him like some of the Black Knights are suggesting.  Just knock him out and throw him in some random place until the revolution is over.  Still, seeing Lelouch and Suzaku team up to stop a premature rebellion at Kyushu kind of puts and damper on that mindset.  Last time we saw them in action as normal students.  Here we saw them take to the battlefield in two powerful Knightmare Frames…the results speak for themselves: they’re an effective team.

The Kaname Island stuff was a good breather for things following everything that’s come so far and I liked it far better than the School Festival episode (more on that in a second).  Euphie may seem a bit naieve at times but I’m glad she figured out that Lelouch was Zero.  This allowed for the man behind the mask to chill for a rare second and we even got to see some fun at his expense, trying to dig a hole to catch food for Euphie.  Suzaku trying to sway Kallen over to his side was a little less successful, if only for the viewers to get some full nude footage of Kallen (this shows main fan service girl, there’s no getting around that).  As for that stuff Lloyd and his team found under the island, I’m not sure how much detail we’re going to get out of that this close to the end of Season One.  It had a reaction with Lelouch’s Geass so it must be important.

The arrival of Schneizel has been a long time coming (he’s been popping up in the intros since the get go).  Any Gundam Wing fans out there will be pleased to hear me say this is as close to a successor to Treize as we might get outside of that show.  Schneizel is charming and ruthless, soft spoken but with a dark edge.  He’ll sacrifice Suzaku at the drop of a dime to kill Zero, but he genuinely cares about Cornelia and Euphie (and got Cornelia flustered…if he wasn’t her brother I’d be jealous).  If it weren’t for the rarely seen Emperor Charles, Schneizel would make a really great central baddie for Code Geass and I cant wait to see more of him down the line.  Plus he’s got plans for Jeremiah it seems.  Cant wait to see what kind of a state that guy is in when he comes out of the…orange tank haha.

Speaking of all over the place, EVERYONE seemed to converge on the school festival: Lelouch, Suzaku, Euphie, Nunally, Kallen, Oghi and Violetta (are we really supposed to care about them?  I miss the old, cold hearted hottie that is Violetta, not this peace loving one who’s falling for Oghi), Lloyd and Cecil, this is probably the closest to seeing all of these characters interact in unique ways as we’ll get for a bit.  Still, the humor was really, really weak.  I mean the world’s largest pizza?  There’s time for this?  I suppose it was worth it to see C.C.’s reaction when the dough got tossed into a tree by accident…pure sadness and disappointment.  But that was nothing compared to Euphie’s bombshell: establishing the Specially Administrated Zone of Japan where 11’s can be called Japanese and can co-exist with Britannian’s as equals.  Boy did that get a reaction…mostly WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING??!!  This just feels wrong, even though Euphie’s trying to bring back the good days for her, Lelouch and Nunally.  Lelouch is pissed though and I get the feeling any semblance of peace he bore towards his sister just went right out the window.  That look in his eye…I don’t think Euphie’s got a lot of time left.

I gotta say, the look on Nina’s face when Euphie dropped this news was about what I’d expect from her at this point.  She looks horrified.  A unified world where Britannian’s and Japanese co-exist?  That’s her ultimate nightmare.  And this news came from the mouth of the girl she’s madly in love with?  If anything Euphie’s idea is an amusing one just to watch Nina squirm at the thought of a world of equality.

The balls in Lelouch’s court now and next time we hit the Season One finale.  I’d say anything is game at this point.  I think I say this a lot but most certainly for Code Geass, this is gonna be one helluva finale coming up.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Part 4 Episodes 14-17

The sins of the past come back to haunt Lelouch and C.C.  For Lelouch, he must contend with the fact that Shirley knows his secret, that he is Zero.  How far will he go to protect his power and identity?  Will he risk killing a friend?  For C.C., she must confront a man who she gave a Geass power to years before she met Lelouch.  He’s found her again and wants to make her and Lelouch suffer.  It’s a war between two Geass powers collide, everyone is caught in the crossfire.  But only one Geass user will emerge victorious.

There were a couple of places I could think of to start this review.  In truth, im still a little torn.  Do I start with the Mao arc or the Todo breakout?  Guess I’ll just go chronologically.  There’s a lot to get to with this set.

Is Mao a potential future for Lelouch?  That question was asked pretty clearly with the three part Mao story arc.  A crazed, Geass infused maniac from C.C.’s past posed a pretty interesting “What If” for Lelouch and shook up his world in more ways than one.  The biggest of these was Shirley.  I don’t know if Lelouch really was in love with her or just considered her a dear friend.  Whatever the case, whipping her memory of him entirely was a real gut punch for him.  I guess the question now is how long until Shirley regains her memories?  Call me crazy but it seems bound to happen, even if it goes against the rules of Geass. 

Mao himself started out pretty interesting.  With a different kind of Geass with it’s own drawbacks, he still managed to trip up both Lelouch and C.C. quite a bit.  Still, I feel like maybe a little too much time was focused on him.   Frankly he should have died after the second part.  The only reason to drag Mao’s time out any longer was to give us some insight into Suzaku’s past and give an excuse for a pretty cool Lelouch and Suzaku team up.  There’s a very “Sherlock” quality to this pairing isn’t there?  Lelouch being the detective and strategist.  Suzaku may not be dumb but he is the brawns of the two…and superhuman apparently as he outruns a sentry gun with Stormtrooper aim…ok.  And I gotta hand it to Lelouch.  Geass-ing himself was a clever move…but one I wish he’d saved for later on in the series.  Though necessary, just seems like a waste to use it against Mao, unless he can use it again on himself but I doubt that.  Anyway, if these two, Lelouch and Suzaku, did team up, it’s doubtful Britannia would stand a chance.

Sadly, these two are on different sides and that brings us to the Todo breakout (that either sounds really cool or really dumb the more times I write that).  Now not to knock Lelouch too much, but you figure he would have found out about Suzaku piloting the Lancelot sooner.  He’s got eyes and ears pretty much everywhere.  You think he wouldn’t have had someone look in on Suzaku’s activities with the military.  This trip up in logic cost Lelouch a key ally even though he managed to get Todo out in a pretty spectacular action sequence.  Plus Suzaku seems keen on sticking to his “change the world from within” stance…so it looks like he and Lelouch are unknowingly enemies from here on. 

Couple of side notes.  In a cast of dozens, is adding more really a smart move at this stage?  We’re almost into the final act and now we have Rakshata, a cute Indian scientist who’s essentially the Black Knights equivalent of Lloyd (Lancelot’s creator and Suzaku’s boss…more or less).  We’ve heard Lloyd mention her once or twice in passing but I never thought we’d see her in person.  Cute but necessary?  That remains to be seen.  Oh and Oghi tried to squeeze in some importance by finding an unconscious Violetta (Jeremiah’s second in command) and with amnesia following Shirley shooting her to protect Lelouch.  This…just feels down right unnecessary.  Oghi hasn’t been one of the best or most fleshed out characters, so I guess this is just giving him something to do…and to have some shameless nude shots of Violetta…cause fan service.  We did finally get some cute sister time with Cornelia and Euphie, just chilling out.  Hearing them talk about Lelouch and Nunally makes me wonder how theyre gonna react when they find out he’s Zero.  At this point, it’s only a matter of time.

One last thing: can we at least confirm Mao is actually dead this time?  I wont be fully satisfied with the outcome until we actually see C.C. double tap him with her pistol…you know incase of Zombie virus or…you know surviving a hail of police bullets…

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Part 3 Episodes 10-13

The revolution heats up.  With the Black Knights now equipped with their own Knightmare Squadron, Lelouch seeks to bring the remnants of Japan’s resistance forces together.  In his attempt to secure allies, however, Lelouch brings more sorrow to those around him.  A tragic death strikes someone close to Lelouch and drives them to seek revenge against Zero.  The madness of Geass spreads as those affected by Lelouch’s powers close in around him.  Factor in Cornelia and Suzaku with their own weapons and tactics and it looks like Lelouch’s rebellion could end before it truly begins.

 

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So…yeah….we uh…oh boy how do I describe what we saw in the middle of this set?  Well…let’s just say Nina’s admiration with Euphie turned into infatuation and she…well…we were all that age once right and…oh God I just saw that girl hump a table there I said it, let’s move on…and poor Nunally had to ride in right after she finished…(SHUDDER!!!!!)

Lelouch’s tactics came back to bite him big time in this set.  While we did get some spectacular battle sequences and some strong turning points for a lot of characters, most of this came from Lelouch’s plans producing some unforeseen side effects.  Personally I was hoping for the Student Council to become involved with Zero’s storyline if only to give them something to do and shake up their boring and unnecessary inclusions.  Shame it had to be Shirley on the main receiving end.  But again, this was good for her character to get bumped up a bit…even if she had to endure great pain.

The big center piece of this set of episodes was the Battle of Narita, which served as a backdrop to bail out what was left of the Japanese Liberation Front and sway them to Zero’s cause.  Once again, you gotta hand it to Lelouch and his tactics.  While the battle may not have gone his way completely, it did end up becoming a huge victory for the Black Knights.  Though, come on, Lelouch has gotta realize by now that the Lancelot is just going to keep showing up and Deus Ex Machina-ing a way out for the Britannians.  He’s always so shocked.  No battle can go THAT well now can it?  We did get some solid action with Suzaku vs Kallen with her new Gurren Knightmare Frame (Gurren Lagaan inspired I wonder…actually this might’ve been before that, not sure).  Also, we got to see the legendary samurai sword wielding Todo in action.  Knightmare’s with Samurai Katanna’s…that are kind of like chainsaws…that is all.

Narita was also the source of some stand out character moments.  I loved Cornelia on the battlefield.  She’s the perfect commander: beautiful, bad ass and actually cares about her subordinates, whether it’s saving their lives or standing back to let them have their moment in the spotlight.  She’s got that ruthless streak sure but Cornelia has proven to be one of my most favorite characters on this show.  And then there’s Jeremiah.  I wasn’t a fan of his at first because I thought he was too over the top.  Here though, it was actually pretty amusing watching him lose his mind trying to defeat Zero and clear up the false “Orange” conspiracy that’s ruined his life.  I doubt he’ll be seeing much action after this, seeing as how he ended up following the battle.  But hey maybe that group of random scientists will be able to do something about that.

Which leaves us with Lelouch having to deal with the fact that Shirley’s dad was killed in the battle.  This is the first time we’ve seen him feel guilty about hurting someone.  Think what you will of the Student Council, I cant stand them personally.  But they are people Lelouch cherishes.  As to whether or not he’s actually in love with Shirley…between Kallen and C.C. also vying for his attention, doesn’t change the fact that he screwed up big and looks like he’ll be paying the price real soon.  With Shirley holding him at gunpoint, while he’s unconscious, this looks like a good turning point for both characters, well Shirley more than the steady coursed Lelouch.

Last up, I’ve got no theories on those images C.C. showed Suzaku and Lelouch during their brief encounter.  Planets, burning churches, horrific Akira like imagery?  What does it all mean I wonder?  Cudos to the writers though.  They actually made a pretty entertaining scene out of a secret we’ll probably never find out for ourselves: C.C’s real name.

Halfway point of Season One reached…there’s no going back now for anyone on this show.  Now will someone…GO CLEAN UP THAT TABLE OH GODDDDDD!!!!

(PS if youre wondering what im talking about in regards to that…Google it.  I use some language in reviews but this is definitely an 18+ scene that I wont discuss beyond what I have here.  I’ll post my freak out but that’s all…sorry guys.)

T5W#48-Top 5 Otakon 2011 Moments

Otakon 2010 was my first convention ever.  Thought it’s been a long time, I cant really think of a negative thing about it.  Cant really say it set a high bar but it was a life changer.  Now the setting of the bar, that came a year later.  Otakon 2011 still stands as my favorite Otakon ever (nearly topped by 2013 and 2015 but we’ll get there).  It felt like the culmination of so many things: the friends, the guests, the events…so yeah choosing 5 favorite moments is always going to be incredibly tough when it comes to this year.  This was my Godfather Part II, my Empire Strikes Back, my Dark Knight, a sequel that far surpassed the original experience.

 

#5-KON/Eyeshine Acoustic Concert

 

It was really hard to choose which one I liked more between these two concerts.  Sure K-ON was more Jpop/JRock craziness and Eyeshine was more mellow and relaxed, but both were just really damn good.  The K-ON concert found me hanging out with two girls who gave me the background info on the series and also displayed awesome singing and voice acting talents of their own.  It may have only been for a short time, but hanging out with those two was a highlight of the entire weekend.  As for Eyeshine, when you promise JYB and his band that you will be there to see them play, you get your ass in line ASAP.  Their acoustic concert was more meditative than their all out rock fest on Thursday.  However, they still had plenty of energy to spare as they jammed out their favorite tracks and even an unreleased one.  Topping it all off was JYB and co.’s ability to do improve music as Johnny churned out three on the spot tunes focusing on his Power Ranger days, the origins of Ichigo Kurosaki and the Ballad of Eyeshine, their origin story.  A well put together rock band and five very attractive women playing a rock band, tell me if you can choose which one is superior to the other?

 

#4-Otakon 2011 Dance Off

 

 

It started small but grew larger and larger…TWICE.  From out of nowhere, a small group of Otaku started a dance off in the fountain area of the Convention Center (where all of the group photos were taking place).  As the circle that was their arena grew larger, more and more people joined in to show off their moves.  From street smart hipsters to cosplaying fanboys to total hotties, there were no exceptions to entering the ring.  It was a nice event to see on Saturday and it was a perfect send off for the convention as a whole on Sunday.  “Here at Otakon the party never stops,” the leader of the Dance Pack declared.  No truer words have ever been spoken.

 

#3-KON Girls

K-ON was the big series du anee at Otakon 2011.  To help promote it, the four main voice actresses of the English Dub (Cristina Vee, Cassandra Lee, Stephanie Shae and Shelby Lindley) participated in several autograph signings and mini concerts such as the one described above.  I had the rare opportunity to see all four girls, but I got to have brief conversations with Cristina, Stephanie and Cassandra.  I had met Cristina at Otakon 2010 while she was promoting Haruhi Suzumiya and was excited to see her again (still so very nice and so very pretty).  Cassandra was my friends first voice actress encounter and she was awesome taking some time to answer some of his questions about the voice acting field as well as share some West Coast tales with us.  Stephanie was nice enough to sign a Gundam Unicorn poster for me as well as my DVD copy of Bleach the Movie.  Sadly, I didn’t get to meet Shelby until the final day and I didn’t get to have a conversation with her.  What I did get on the final day of the convention was a copy of K-ON Vol.1 signed by all four girls and a photo with them.  Those who say girls can’t love Anime are pure idiots if they haven’t seen what these girls look like.

 

#2-Meeting Eyeshine/Johnny Yong Bosch

The A lister of Voice Acting and former Power Ranger Johnny Yong Bosch was the highlighted and most sought out star of the convention this year.  Johnny had also brought his band, Eyeshine, along for the experience and what an experience it was.  My friend and I got to talk with them in person for a few minutes while wandering the Dealer’s Room.  We had met Johnny before hand, but because of the length of his autograph line and the strictness of his signing session, we could get much signed by him.  But once he came over to his band’s table shortly afterward, he was happy to sign artwork for my friend and an album for myself.  I have never really met a lot of bands that have made it big.  But I’m sure most of them are not as welcoming or funny as this bunch: Johnny and Maurice with their hilarious banter, Ji-Ho with his quiet Zen Master disposition, and Crystal, who may look tough and serious on stage, but is one of the biggest sweethearts I have ever met.  My one hope is that they return to Baltimore to play again one day.  In think the Indy Rock scene here would appreciate their sound, pleasantness and general bad assery.

 

#1-Perfect Moment

There was a brief instance during the Eyeshine acoustic concert where something very strange happened.  During their performance of their unreleased track “Satellite”, I started to tear up, and not in the sad kind of way.  For some reason, listening to that song and thinking about all that had gone on during the last three days, culminated in one instant.  It was arguably the happiest I had ever felt.  Like work and family issues or even the future didn’t matter.  I was exactly where I wanted to be and never wanted to leave: at an Anime convention with a friend, surrounded by people whose love for the genre was equal to, if not greater than, my own, and listening to a bonified great band.  It was a perfect moment and I wanted to hold onto it as long as I possibly could.  Only an Anime convention could bring such a sob story out of me.

And that was 2011.  Would 2012 hold the same wonders?  The journey reaches it’s half way mark next week.