I think this episode's greatest achievement was its humanization of Akito. There's finally more to him than the stoic mysterious drone we've had for the first two episode, whose only emotions seemed to be detached calm or unstable anger. Here we got to see him express a whole host of emotions, from fear to anger to happiness. There were other little things to that went a long way to making him feel more real and adding color to his character, like his dislike of fish. I also liked the subtle indications that he's grown to care about his teammates, enough to attempt to protect them in his own way at the very end. We received yet another great window in his damaged psyche (the scene where he ran away from the party simply because of the graphic event in his past that it brought to mind was a very effective means of communicating the extent of his trauma. I really appreciate his dynamic with Leila, who, by the way, this episode did a great job of characterizing as well. She doesn't feel as banal anymore, and her general uselessness at the most basic tasks provided some nice comedy as well as insight into her upbringing and so her character, all in one neat bundle.
Really, the whole first half of the episode, as odd as it was sometimes and as ridiculous the circumstances surrounding it were (it was obviously contrived for the sake of providing a situation through which the characters could be explored), was necessary and more than fulfilled its function of adding much-needed depth to these characters. More so, it seemed to confirm that contrary to what Akito's first episode may have suggested, this anime has no problem embracing the silly and outrageous in much the same way its parent show did (though it still attempts to combine this silliness with a surprising amount of realism, like the whole space launch last episode).
I really enjoyed JULIUS KINGSLEY this episode. Honestly, his over-the-top demeanor and Spinzaku's classic wacky kick (of course it made an appearance, where would Suzaku be without it) clash somewhat with Akito's other more grounded characters and tone in general, but they were so great I didn't mind. Some of the best scenes in this episode were the ones involving those two. A lot is communicated in very short scenes without the use of much dialogue. In this episode, like the last one, we had a scene Lelouch begging Suzaku for water, and him ignoring his desperate requests. In his own way, Suzaku is torturing Lelouch, causing him suffering when they are in private despite appearing to value his safety in public. He's generally apathetic to Lelouch's suffering; see the scene when Lelouch "Kingsley" broke down after the chess match (also, hope that this isn't the end of his tenure on Akito); Suzaku barely reacted, simply telling Shaing to leave in a detached manner. It's a chilling demonstration of the extent of Suzaku's hatred of his former best friend at this time. I actually hope they go further in showing Suzaku's devastated mental state; after all, this takes place shortly after the death of his lover and his discovery that her killer was his best friend. Of course the guy's in a bad place right now, and Lord Shaing specifically points that out.
Speaking of him, Akito's brother has become a very interesting character indeed. This episode gave us a hint of his motivations- he's lost faith in humanity and wants it destroyed- but that far from explains his end goal and the deal with what he did when he was younger. More so, who gave him his Geass? What's he doing at the end to Alice, and why is he hurting her if he actually loves her? I'm very interested to see where this all leads to. Each episode just keeps opening up more mysteries instead of resolving old ones, with the barest tantalizing hints given. I still have no idea what the ultimate point of all of this is, and until then it's very difficult to judge Akito as a whole; a fair assessment will really only be possible when it's finished and all has been explained.
Still, C.C., Suzaku, Lelouch, Charles, even a mention of Nunnaly, all in the same episode? Consider me one happy fan. |