First off, I would like to say that "R1" was an amazing premise, with massive twists, good characters, good plot, interesting premise and overall good execution. I did honestly like R1. R2 keeps the crisp artwork and sound style of R1, so I give those a high score, but R2 has some deep recurring flaws that pretty much butcher the series in my opinion.
All spoilers are appendixed, you can read through without spoilers of this or the first series, but some spoilers will be included to show where I'm coming from at the end of the review (but will be forecast in advance)
These are the two biggest elements of a character-driven story: The character development and the plot progression.
I'll begin with Character development, and quite frankly, there was none. I used my basic litmus test of character development and every single character failed. This test is simple, I ask "would this character have done anything at the end of this series that they weren't willing to do at the beginning?" Note: WILLING, not ABLE. for example, Lelouch may have been willing to do all the things he did, but unable to do them until he gained his Geass. However, his objectives, his desires, did not change at all during the whole show. This applies equally to the whole cast. Not a single one of them changes their opinions about anything, they simply change in the methods they use to achieve their goals (if even that), which is indicative of a plot without development. Now this wouldn't be such an issue to me if development hadn't been the writer's goal. When a certain character dies halfway through the series, (1) there are effectively no ramifications on the characters who should have been deeply influenced by the act. Now what this said to most viewers would have been "this was proof of Lelouch's inner strength, a test of character". However, to me it plays out like such: the character died, which the writer had intended to happen. The death did not have a significant impact on the plot. Thus, the character was only included to be killed off and prove Lelouch's strength. However, this also means that the character who was there was only there to be killed, which means this character was effectively treated like an object to be played with by the plot, and I feel no need to sympathise with an object. When viewed in this light, the fact that Lelouch's inner strength was tested is a moot point, because his character could have been tested in so many other ways that did not involve the writer using a character as if he/she were an object.
This is the biggest problem with R2, the complete lack of character development. They "explain" characters, they "test" characters, sure, but they do not "develop" them. Essentially, the only development that does occur happens about 10 seconds prior to the credits rolling, which is far too late to warrant me giving this series a good mark.
The second major problem is that R2 broke my willing suspension of disbelief. There are three main examples of this: one, where a cliffhanger fell into a cliche and overused trope area (2), which from that point on, trivialised all other cliffhangers and was a major detriment to the series. Two, the fact that a certain character survived halfway through the series despite the fact that they should have died (3), this trivialised death- if one character could survive, then they all should be able to, but they did not, which further proves to me that the writer was only killing off characters to try and induce character development, which again, proves that the writer was objectifying characters, which is the exact opposite of character development. And thirdly, the fact that there was two recurring elements effectively ignored (or "handwaved") as the series concludes (4/5), which shows to me that the writer was putting stuff in to make the series more interesting, not because they were actually useful as plot devices in of themselves, which trivialised the role of almost every nonmajor character and filler event.
The final biggest problem is the plot. In essence, about a dozen or so episodes of R2 are filler. While the series always seems to be doing something, apart from the final arcs, all it really does is tread water. Most of the subplots are irrelevant to the final outcome, as (6) shows. Basically, the plot waves its arms and creates a lot of fuss, but doesn't really *go* anywhere for almost the entirety of R2. And when it finally does pick up, it fails to have any twist at all. Cliffhangers, sure, twists, no.
So overall, R2 took the brilliant effort of R1, but failed to run with it, effectively adding in a whole bunch of filler arcs, characters and subplots that really were irrelevant to the main plot, and failed to really develop any of the charters. As such, R2 was a major letdown for me, as it basically undermined all the efforts of R1 apart from the artwork and soundtrack.
WARNING++++SPOILER APPENDIX++++WARNING
(1)Shirely's death, Lelouch doesn't so much as mourn, which is fine, if it weren't for the fact that they had no need to kill her, so the lack of mourning is effectively a double-negative, they cancel out the contrive death by having a contrived funeral, which breaks my willing suspension of disbelief and still fails to deliver any meaningful development.
(2)When the "double" turned out to be a "latex perfection" (Tvtropes term) ie: a chick wearing a mask. Pretty much a completely trivial and very unbelievable (where did they get it, why doesn't anyone else use them, etc), bending heavily my willing suspension of disbelief.
(3)The maid, she was ON the ship that was destroyed by the "FLEIJA" blast. Sure, Nannuly should have survived, but how the heck did she? She may be ninja, but come on, seriously? This SHATTERED my willing suspension of disbelief. Bandages do NOT solve all problems. She only survived by plot induced invulnerability, which completely trivialises the many deaths in the series.
(4)Li's recurring cough. essentially not mentioned at all by series end. What was the point of even including the thing? Fake drama, that's what. Pretty much sums up this whole series.
(5)The fact that "if Lelouch's geass gets stronger...." Well, he just puts in two contacts lenses. Again, fake drama. That's not interesting, that's disappointing.
(6)He TOLD THE VIEWER THE PLAN in R1. Like, literally. Sure, it wasn't for long, nor was it step-by-step, but he still did it. Pretty much forecasts the ending perfectly to someone who'd been paying attention and knows even the first thing about how martyrs work.
