the help of 'code geass' - a power you unexpectedly obtained..
Say you are a kinda genius and into the hobby of seriously playing chess or gambling..combined with 'geass' - a code that manifests as the power of all kings to command absolute obedience from anyone..
Bingo - don't you think you can foresee your future ruling the world?
i'm talking about the series version 'lelouch the rebellion' seasons 1 & 2
(-warning: SPOILERS-)
_______show setting________
An imperial government(technologically advanced) - Britannia - is trying to bring the rest of the world under its foot oppressing the natives of the conquered
country. Lelouch lives in one of the conquered regions - former Japan now named area 11.
Here, Lelouch seemed to have gotten lucky. One day his life is saved by a mysterious girl by transferring him the power of geass and sealing a contract, in the nick of time, without even terms of the contract being revealed. Why lelouch desperately wants to live is because he has a reason to live - he wishes to create a world where he can see his little sister happy.. and the bring out the truth of his past, when he and his sister were sent out of their homeland and put in area 11, after their mother was killed.
- nobles, royal hierarchy, aristocrats
- commoners
- natives/called 'numbers' and slaves
- honorary britannians - natives with higher citizenship status
_______The grand theatrical performance _______
high school drama and mecha - 4 main characters - two major protagonists - same objective but different ideologies - friends choose different paths to achieve the the same objective - end up fight against each other in battles - Also they happen to be going to the same school.
The protagonist makes his moves to secure justice in the world, as though he is playing a grand chess board game - the battles are like small chess matches within a larger game - the show focuses on the causes and effects of the game movements although the movements are itself are not shown in detail (because if that were to be told it would take ages to narrate an epic story)
Great strength of character shown by lelouch to see his plan through - from gathering mass support to losing support of the masses and even accumulation of hatred - severing relationships and losing loved ones.
His friends/comrades/accomplices/enemies - among them we see strong notable characters - along with a disguised classmate who ended up fighting along side him and an childhood friend who fought against him (they all had the same objective and ended up going to the same school - tensions between them maintaining their discretion in regular school life sometimes turned into comical events )
As the show on folks! in the end don't fain to notice that an epic war between nations went down kinda led by teenagers who happened to go the same school in Japan/area 11
_______questions that arise_________
-weight of lives in battle strategies, are they merely chess pieces?
-sacrificing lives for the greater good, how is it justified?
-can peace be achieved through kindness alone?
-are the lies said to protect relationships justified?
-what is the meaning of life? the purpose of existence? are emotions serve any purpose in reality?
-is destruction to re-create new world, justified?
what is a country without its people? there is a limit to destuction and the second season shows meets that limit where the chess game finally
ends. Then it is up to the people to begin their lives anew in a just peaceful world.
_______Technically_________
-The show scores well in battle strategies, tactics and sci fi(decent enough)
-This being a show of alternate history with historical events, they have put in credible efforts in music to blend appropriately with the -situations and the cultures depicted.
The art scores in the bringing out the character very well in the faces.
-the animation of machines is ok shows the outcome effectively enough.
detailed movements are not shown, time management involving lelouch's actions are not explained. Sometimes we see his personal emotions and reactions to situations as though he hadn't planned for it, when in the end they show how he planned based in predicting the possible outcomes.This kind of makes him appear more genious than he might have actually been.
(-minor spoiler-)
Anyhow it adds to the grand theatrical performance of him leading the show as a masked man who moves a nation(area 11) by season-1 and moves the whole world by during season - 2.
The tide of the battle sees a lot of 'nick of time saving' by an unexpected command/involvement of their leader(Lelouch). The clash of strategy driven rebellions and the tactically motivated imperial army is entertaining(for mecha lovers to observe). The plot is closes with the end if the big game which comprised of three wars between the rebellions and Britannia. The masked man goes down in history as the hero who led the liberation of Japan and lead the world - is symbolised as the hope of the future - for the sake of the future.
((It definitely was a great watching experience (Y)))
