i really don't know how i feel about this show. the first 12 or so episodes were so unengaging for me, i was very tempted to drop the show entirely.
i think this show tried to be too many things at once. it had elements of mecha, political intrigue, supernatural powers/fantasy, psychology, even horror too, and on top of that there were the school and slice-of-life aspects too. and there was a lot of nudity which i was quite taken aback by and didn't like at all, it ruined the mood for me. i don't think it successfully managed to balance everything, there were many times where the change in tone felt quite jarring.
the idea behind the show is interesting, i liked it. there is a lot of potential with supernatural powers and i am curious about the other types of geass and all their details and limits etc. also i liked seeing how lelouch would use his geass on different people and how he would manipulate situations to his advantage. his motivations were solid too.
the action was pretty great with the knightmares, there was a lot of tension in the battle scenes, and seeing lelouch use his tactical skills was entertaining. the colours were bright, and the worldbuilding was done quite well.
now the negatives. eek.
i didn't like the art style of the characters, they looked far too elongated and it took a long time for me to get used to seeing it. but that isn't a huge negative aspect and i'm willing to look past it as a unique element of the show.
i definitely did not get as attached to the characters as i have with other shows. there were so many characters and i didn't care about most of them because they added nothing interesting to the show (like all the generals, and the black knights and even the student council team, especially nina, girl you stupid). i was only interested in lelouch and cc tbh, nobody else was compelling enough to keep my attention, except cornelia i guess. and maybe lloyd because he was a bit wacky which was a nice change from the rigid mentalities of some of the other characters
plus there are so many loose ends and unexplained plot points, we know nothing about cc which really annoys me because she seems interesting, and some characters were so overly naive and idealistic it was painful (i understand that it helped move the story and was a good comparison to lelouch's attitudes, but it still annoyed me)
however, i think the negatives aren't all awful enough for me to say i hated the show. i just had to struggle through it a lot until i became invested
--- watched from 29/04/2020 to 06/05/2020 ---
