Boy, was I wrong. Look--I tend to go along with the notion that things don't get extremely popular unless there's a good reason, whether that thing suits my personal tastes or not. But now, after struggling through sixteen episodes of this show, I can honestly say that I have no idea how this show became at all popular in the first place, much less considered a rival to Death Note. That is, in my personal opinion, a complete insult to DN. I could go on for hours about the reasons why that is, but I'll sum it all up with this: the beauty of DN is in its subtlety, and how rooted in reality the concepts and events are despite the supernatural themes of it all. CG, on the other hand, wouldn't know subtlety if it ran up and spat in its face. From the first episode, the series comes off as spastic, frantic, and downright desperate to convince you that you're being entertained. While DN has a clear point and sticks to it; CG has no point. There; I've addressed the whole DN/CG comparison. Moving on.
This is the first show that I have ever made it past the second episode of and then didn't complete. How did that happen? By me clinging to the hope that the series would make a turn-around at some point and start impressing me, proving me that my first impressions had been wrong. What I got instead was a slow, steady spiral into absurdity that eventually became so unbearable that I had to abandon a series for the first time. Since spoilers are discouraged, I'll instead have a list at the bottom detailing the worst examples from my list of ridiculous, inexplicable, plot-holey moments that I managed to get through. I'll say this though, since it shouldn't count as a spoiler: the thing that finally broke me was the clapping guy. I almost turned off my Xbox after his first episode, but I was willing to press onward since it looked like his role had been concluded. When he turned up again, I just couldn't handle any more. Ironically, this guy had one of the more interesting backstories, and his was a premise that I think, in different hands, could've become something pretty compelling. It's a bad sign when the most obnoxious character in the whole show is also the only one that manages to pique my interest even 1%. The completionist in me wanted to know how the story ended (or didn't, as the case turned out to be) so I read the summaries of the remaining episodes, half hoping that I would read something mind-blowing that would make me kick myself for not sticking with it. I didn't. It should go without saying that I will not be watching the second season.
Anyway, I won't get too deep into a discussion of the art, soundtrack, etc. since it's been echoed a million times on this site already. All I'll say is that the female characters looked totally generic, and the two leading males, Lelouch and Suzaku, were shameless Gary Stus. It's no coincidence that the last episode I watched included Suzaku turning into a Spiderman-Flash chimera and outrunning/round-housing a machine gun. Aye-yay-yay. To the art's credit, Lelouch was very, very cute, and being able to stare at him may have subconsciously been what carried me (partially) through the series.
I'll conclude with my list of ridiculousness, but I want to point something out, too. My extremely harsh review of CG may make me seem like the type that simply doesn't think any anime is good enough, but that's not true. I'm usually not that tough of a critic, and I tend to give cut shows a lot of slack. All of my favorite series have their flaws, even the ones I give 10s. I suppose the difference is that those other series managed to entertain me and get into my heart and/or soul and/or mind despite their shortcomings. CG, on the other hand, tried my patience and fortitude like no other series I've ever seen. To the millions who loved it and got a lot out of it, I'm glad for you, but I really can't understand it. To each their own, I suppose.
****SPOILER ALERT****
Where did Lelouch get that helmet? Did he buy it? Are the high-tech customized villain gear stores in this alternate reality, ones that can link with your brain and reveal only your left eye whenever you will it so? Some may consider this nit-picking, but these sort of things bother me, especially in series that try to be somewhat realisitic.
The whole resolution to Lelouch and Shirley's...whatever it was. So I'm supposed to buy that all of their friends, not to mention the entire school, are cool with playing along with Shirley not recognizing him and knowing nothing about him? For like, ever? I would love for someone to look me dead in the eye and tell me with a straight face that that whole plotline wasn't completely idiotic.
In the same vein, the fact that no one ever tried to pin Lelouch down about his suspicious behavior, as well as how conveniently MIA he was each and every time something big with the Black Knights happened, really bothered me. Coupled with the fact that Zero has his exact height, build, and practically the same voice, and you've got yourself a supporting cast that's dumb as rocks in order to protect the "story" from falling apart after episode 4.
There are other little things I could get into, but it would quickly become redundant, and this review has gotten too long already. Perhaps shockingly, however, I will answer "yes" to the "would you recommend this" question, with one stipulation. I would recommend this to someone who has never seen any other anime before, so that I could then show them some decent series and be able to use CG as a baseline. As in, "see how great that was? SO much better and more sensible than how they did it in Code Geass."
