Hmm, I thought that Lelouch was just like Kira/Light in Death Note, who didn’t feel any repentance towards what he had done to the world… And yet, after ascending the throne, he planned to “erase” the people’s memories of the “Massacre Princess”, Euphemia, by creating more bloodshed. So that’s not really the best way to atone for his sins, but he has recognised that he had committed many sins and that’s what matters… Okay, I’m really feeling the motivation to continue watching the show, now that I know Lelouch is not totally “evil” (or not evil, depending on how you see it) like Kira/Light… I’ll talk more about this after I finish the entire series.
-Back. And back to my ranting.. I almost cried when I saw Lelouch get stabbed by Suzaku (who was crying behind the mask) and rolled down the platform and Nunnally realised in a flash that all the evil her brother has done was to “create a new world”, in the sense that the people will no longer feel hatred towards the empire that has caused them misery (I’m talking about the “Numbers” here, the members of the colonies of Britannia). In fact, Lelouch did everything perfectly, didn’t he? He made himself the sole target of hatred, and gets all his accomplices out of trouble by telling them his plan right from the beginning and telling them to say that they were threatened by him to assist him. Though it was a shame that so many of his friends and people around him had to die too. Euphemia, his own sister he killed by mistake; Shirley, his “sort-of” girlfriend; Shirley’s father; Lelouch’s own parents (killed by his own hands because he realised that they were doing the wrong thing); Rolo, whom he treated as trash and yet came back to help him; Suzaku, in the manner that his death was announced and he had to live with the identity of Zero forever (but I secretly think that Lelouch gave this “punishment” to him to protect Suzaku from being hunted by the people as his knight), he had already died; and Lelouch himself, on his path to atonement.
Not to be making comparisons, but this series is far more worth it than the Death Note… Even if it talks about similar things in the beginning, where the main character thinks that the world is in need of change. In CG, it’s the idea that power is everything. In DN, the idea of seeing crimes being committed everyday and the law is unable to pin down the culprits. The main characters have had the idea in their heads for a long time, but are unable to act on it until somehow, they get a mysterious power that will allow them to fulfil their wish. A wish that, in the process of being fulfilled, would stain the main characters’ hands and make them lose the people around them whom they treasured. The reason I say this is far more worth it than DN is because ultimately, Lelouch was sort of brought back to his senses, by the supposed death of Nunnally, and cooperated with Suzaku to bring an end to all the wars. And also, Lelouch died by his own will, so I guess you could say that he won, while Kira/Light died because he lost in the battle of wits against Near. Self-fulfilling prophecy, isn’t it? This ending makes me more able to come to terms with the fact that the series has ended. In fact, Lelouch has achieved his objective – to destroy that world where power is everything, and created a world where there is peace. Kira/Light, however, did not achieve what he set out to do – to gain peace by having no crimes happen in the world. So I think that Lelouch is more human than Kira/Light and because he has a human side, he achieved what he wanted to do.
Like most animes/mangas, CG reveals certain aspects of life that we, as humans living in this world, probably couldn’t see. As the Chinese saying goes, 旁观者清, which means that the people not involved in the situation would be the ones who can see the situation most clearly. And CG does reveal quite a few ugly aspects of humans too. Humans are selfish. If they had a great power bestowed on them, the first thing they would do would be to fulfil their own wishes. And in the process, they wouldn’t care how many people died, so long as the people and the things that they want to protect are still safe, alive and happy. Isn’t war what that is about too? Selfishness on the part of humans. The desire to gain power, to control the world. To fulfil that desire, they start wars, and the winner takes all. I like what Lelouch said. “To shoot others with a gun, you must be prepared to be shot too.” If not, they are just cowards hiding behind the facade of power, oppression. Also, to fulfil their own desire, people can trample on the wishes of others, no matter how despicable the move might seem.
But even though CG shows quite a lot of the ugly side of humans (which I can’t seem to explain in writing, so my argument probably seems weak), I still want to believe that there are more beautiful sides to humans too. Take Lelouch for example, though he started wars and caused many to lose their lives, in the end, he realised his mistake, and when he used his geass on Nunnally to force her to hand over the trigger (thing – I forgot its name), what he really wanted to do was to atone for his sins with his death, and creating a new world for the sake of the world.
I probably seem very biased towards Lelouch… So I should probably go and modify this thing someday when I feel like I’m capable enough of rewriting this whole mess of thoughts. And I think that CG is definitely worth rewatching – I shall watch the second episode tomorrow on Okto. Haha.
[EDIT]
Edited title cause I realised that I was talking more about the second season instead of the first – and I didn’t want to confuse anyone.
Added in a few details that I’d missed out earlier.
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[EDIT2]
Haha, looks like I made a mistake. Lelouch didn’t die! Okay, that’s a good ending. I’m happy now. The death was only that of Emperor Lelouch/Lelouch vi Britannia, not Lelouch Lamperouge. That means that C.C. gave Lelouch her Code… And wouldn’t it be funny if someday, Lelouch gave C.C. geass again? XD Nah, I’m just joking. I’m really happy how this one turned out now. Even if Lelouch is doomed to an eternity of loneliness (seeing that C.C. would die someday too). And Lelouch is actually reborn, without the pressure of being Zero and the emperor of Britannia. No matter how I look at it, he seems to have gotten the better deal (when you compare it to Suzaku, who has to live as Zero for the rest of his life). Though he won’t be able to see Nunnally again. I wonder if Lelouch would call himself L.L. after this… XD
[/EDIT2]
[EDIT3](I really am going overboard with this editing thing, but I found people on the net trying to say that Lelouch didn’t die, and thought that it was good, so..)
MASSIVE SPOILERS
Lelouch is still alive. He has Charles’ Code which he received when the man choked him. The Code activates first when you die, which happened. And before you say can’t have Code and a Geass at the same time, the Code wasn’t the one C.C. had, meaning that Lelouch was the first one to achieve Code Geass. He’s now travelling the country-side with C.C., living as immortals.
That’s the only reason for C.C. to be suddenly so happy again. Also, before you say that C.C. was just talking to the dead like with Marianne, that’s not true. She could only talk to her because of the nature of her Geass which allowed her to implant herself into the “hearts” of others. That’s how she was able to talk with Marianne. Lelouch’s Geass was entirely different, meaning that she could only have spoken to him if he was there.
Also, the screenie of the cart driver who is masking his features competely supports this.
What further supports this is that Nunnally got Lelouch’s memories when she touched her, just like Lelouch did when he touched C.C. back in Narita. The only way this could have happened is his Code activating. This pretty much confirms that he has the Code and is alive.
C.C.’s words in the end translated: “Geass is the power of kings, it will isolate you… well, I guess thats a little wrong… eh, Lelouch”
So HE LIVES.
Plus this picture: http://i34.tinypic.com/rr1bpx.jpg
Sorry about the hugeness of it. Click on the link, would you? The picture’s too big (and the anime missed this out too! I wonder how they got this one).
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