Story: During the course of the series I was starting to wonder if the writers were big Shyamalan fans. The number of twists and "gotcha" moments were starting to get almost tiresome, but then they were wrapped up nicely at the end. I'm sure a lot of fans will be disappointed at the ending, but it's really a good one and the most satisfactory one that could be reached by that point. I also felt that the part of the series around episode 20 was written by someone who hated the end of Evangelion as much as I did and seemed to be a combination tribute/"up yours" moment.
Oh, I almost quit watching when the truth about what happened to Lelouch's mother is revealed. I have to ask why the writers even bothered including it because it just cheapened the whole thing and didn't affect matters in the slightest.
Art: The one change in art between the series that I found intriguing is how they managed to make Suzaku look older and less trusting in this series. It was just a slight narrowing of the eyes and lower eyebrows but it nicely mirrored the changes in him. I think they almost skimped on illustrating Lelouch because of it. He had only showed three emotions the whole time, shock, boredom, and arrogance.
Sound: It was a nice soundtrack. The final ending song was probably the best credits song of the series. The singing of soft melodies during prolonged combat scenes stands out in both series.
Character: As with the first one, this is where this series really shined. Lelouch matures and grows in this one, but alas in a very predictable trajectory. His acknowledgment of the evil in his actions is the only surprise. His willingness to sink to any depths to achieve his goal becomes a real drag as time goes on. The pleasant surprise is Suzaku, who makes a slow but steady change towards coming more and more like Lelouch. His ambitions for a better future and the geass that forces him to live eventually force him into a mirror image of Lelouch and the end result makes sense no matter how shocking it is when it happens. Even the outward changes in his appearance and dress reflect this and his original plan to interrogate Karen is right down evil.
C.C. actually became more boring, which is sad because she had a lot of potential. Most of the characters remain static or don't matter much except as plot drivers.
I found Schneizel as a villain to be interesting, simply because he seemed to lack the motivation. He's as calloused as Lelouch but lacks his passion and will to succeed. His eventual end was almost a snore since you could see it coming a mile away. They never explained his point of view well.
Enjoyment: At times I loved it, at times I hated it. The ending makes it all worth so don't give up before watching it all the way through.
Overall: It was inferior to the original, maybe just because of novelty. The whole first half and the return to school theme made me gag reflexively but it recovers from that and has one of the best anime endings I've seen. I can't help but wonder if the rumors of last minute rewritings due to it's timeslot and what shows were on at the same time were true and affected the scattershot nature of the first half of this series. It definately could have been "stronger" emotionally and in scope. I can definately say that I enjoyed the fast pace and the lack of recaps and long drawn out internal debating.
