Code Geass: Akito the Exiled Ep 2
Alrighty! So, we finally get chapter 2 of Akito, and I must say, it was a lot better than the first one. I'm still not completely sure if I'm enjoying it, but hey, it's Code Geass. As a fan, it's my duty to keep up with the canon. So, onto some semi-coherent fangirling and ranting about the second installment of Akito the Exiled.
Okay, so this episode mostly deals with team building, Shin becoming one of the Four Dukes of Uraniborg the leader of the Knights of St. Michael, and other Euro-Britannians being jerks. Besides all of that, I'm still kinda lost on the plot. It's clear that this OVA is all about the fall of the EU, but what actually brings that about? Will it be purely because of Suzaku and Julius' side, or could it actually be due to a bunch of kinks in the EU itself?
Either way, while I understand the reason behind it, I thought it was a little excessive to be doing team and trust building exercises, when we only have four episodes. I'm not sure if said exercises really worked, since Ryo's group still committed an act of mutiny against Leila, but they seemed to start coming around, at the end.
With that said, I honestly doubt I'll be shedding any tears, when the three terrorist brats bite it. No, I'm actually looking forward to those moments. After their shenanigans in the past two episodes, I'm very hard-pressed to find any sympathy for them. I don't even really care who takes them out, even though I'm hoping it'll be Lancelot. (Hey, Suzaku's gotta earn his "White Grim Reaper" nickname somehow.)
Shin and Ashley ("Ashley"? Isn't that a girl's name?) aren't much better, either. Shin is definitely one of those types, who will kill anyone or anything, just to climb the social ladder. Considering that Villetta was one of my least-liked characters, I can't really say I like Shin all that much. His little chat with Alice, during the party, kinda creeped me out. Well, if Alice is the Euro-loli from the Miraculous Birthday picture drama, at least I know she's going to be okay.
As for Ashley, he reminds me of Luciano, a bit too much. His line about, "To survive on the battlefield, what is the one thing you have to have?", was very reminiscent of what Luciano used to say. So, I don't really like him, either. There are a couple of different ways to pull off mentally unstable characters, and this guy and Yukiya aren't doing it, for me. If you're going to go full-Dilandau, at least be more over-the-top about it. :\
Anyway, it was good to see more of the Wyvern team. Sophie and Joe are pretty amusing. Sophie, carrying out her comatose husband's research, has become a subplot that has my attention. I'm interested in what she's researching, and about the brain raid system. On another note, if Sophie and her husband have been friends with Joe, for so long, why does she insist on calling him by his full name?
Klaus is another likable guy, because I find him to be the most entertaining member of the Akito cast, at the moment. Yeah, it's kinda sad that he's a spy, but I'm going to assume it's for his daughter's sake. At least, it would be a good enough reason for me to care about his backstabbing. I'm wondering what happened between him and his wife, too, and I wouldn't doubt it also ties to his spying. He'll probably be the only EU character, that I'll care about dying, if he keeps up being entertaining, like this.
Hammel continues to exude Guilford, that it's adorable. The way he conducted himself, was exactly what I'd expect from the handsome knight. I loved his little reaction, to the mission being successful, at the end. That was cute. ^^
Anna, despite having a somewhat dull personality, is pretty cute, too. Of course, I'm going easy on her, due to her job and appearance. Plus, she was sporting a nice pair of glasses, early on in the episode, which just adds to the amusement. Still, I'm fully expecting her to go out, in a rather dramatic way; probably right in front of Leila. That's the only thing that I can really think of, when I see her. She's going to be the character, with an overly dramatized death scene. However, before if or when that happens, I'm hoping to see some sort of unintentional science/Knightmare rivalry between her and Lloyd, pending he and Cecile show up. (I find it much too hard to believe that Lloyd would be away from Lancelot, for too long. Besides, Lancelot's probably gonna need an upgrade, or a tune-up, in between chapters 3 and 4, and there's no way in Hell that Lloyd would let any other team touch his precious baby.)
Speaking of Leila, I felt let down by her performance, in this episode. She may have decent sense in military matters, but her understanding of people is pretty bad. First of all, she allows three suspicious people into her ranks, and they cause all sorts of problems. First, they try to run away, and later, try to kill her. Next, she's being totally naive about Akito's situation with Shin. She's gonna have to give up her idea of Akito and Shin understanding each other, when Shin clearly wants Akito dead, for whatever reason.
Now that I think about it, her idealism might lead to some serious consequences, later on. She's dealing with a group of mentally unstable people: three who wanted to kill her, and one who wants to kill his older brother. And one of the unwritten laws of Code Geass is that if you're idealistic, you're more than likely going to die. Someone might want to hand her that memo.
As for our two cameos...I'm only supporting Suzaku, in this mission, because I desperately need to see Lancelot in action, again. If my mechagasming from this episode was anything to go by, watching Lancelot destroying stuff would probably give me the biggest mechagasm, I've ever had. (Might be an exaggeration, but you know. -shrugs-) Can't say I'm looking forward to Suzaku being in Super Uzaku Mode, though, especially with "that guy" around.
Speaking of "that guy", I'm positive that Julius Kingsley is indeed Lelouch. The way Suzaku fumes over him, kinda confirmed that, for me. The first time I heard about it, I wasn't too keen on the idea of Lelouch playing a role, here. I was thinking that he'd show up in the final episode, at Ashford, talking with the others about some shake-up in the EU. Plus, I automatically thought that they were capitalizing on his character, to drum up more interest. Lelouch is the face of Code Geass, after all. However, after seeing him, I guess I won't be too displeased about it. (Loved his extremely egotistical, 4th wall-breaking introduction, at the end, there, too. That was, very much, a Lelouch thing to do. lol)
Although, the whole thing does give me another reason to hate Suzaku, because I'm pretty sure he had a hand in all of this. Yeah, I should be a little more easy on him, since the Princess Genocide incident is still fresh in his mind, but really; he lost any and all sympathy I could've given him, long ago.
Anyway, with another episode down, I'm definitely interested in seeing the next one. Supposedly, it should be out in the spring, but considering the history of delays, I won't be surprised if this one gets delayed, as well. However, with MJP's completion, Studio Orange should have more time to focus on animating more sweet Knightmare action. And that's mainly why I'm so excited for episode 3. More mechaporn! Hey, the plot and the characters may not be too interesting, but the mechaporn has been excellent, so far. Of course, watching Lelouch just being Lelouch (and I use the term loosely, in this case) would be fun, too. And if mai husbando and Nee-san show up, that would just be the icing on the cake. So, by all means, Sunrise, bring on chapter 3!
Okay, so this episode mostly deals with team building, Shin becoming one of the Four Dukes of Uraniborg the leader of the Knights of St. Michael, and other Euro-Britannians being jerks. Besides all of that, I'm still kinda lost on the plot. It's clear that this OVA is all about the fall of the EU, but what actually brings that about? Will it be purely because of Suzaku and Julius' side, or could it actually be due to a bunch of kinks in the EU itself?
Either way, while I understand the reason behind it, I thought it was a little excessive to be doing team and trust building exercises, when we only have four episodes. I'm not sure if said exercises really worked, since Ryo's group still committed an act of mutiny against Leila, but they seemed to start coming around, at the end.
With that said, I honestly doubt I'll be shedding any tears, when the three terrorist brats bite it. No, I'm actually looking forward to those moments. After their shenanigans in the past two episodes, I'm very hard-pressed to find any sympathy for them. I don't even really care who takes them out, even though I'm hoping it'll be Lancelot. (Hey, Suzaku's gotta earn his "White Grim Reaper" nickname somehow.)
Shin and Ashley ("Ashley"? Isn't that a girl's name?) aren't much better, either. Shin is definitely one of those types, who will kill anyone or anything, just to climb the social ladder. Considering that Villetta was one of my least-liked characters, I can't really say I like Shin all that much. His little chat with Alice, during the party, kinda creeped me out. Well, if Alice is the Euro-loli from the Miraculous Birthday picture drama, at least I know she's going to be okay.
As for Ashley, he reminds me of Luciano, a bit too much. His line about, "To survive on the battlefield, what is the one thing you have to have?", was very reminiscent of what Luciano used to say. So, I don't really like him, either. There are a couple of different ways to pull off mentally unstable characters, and this guy and Yukiya aren't doing it, for me. If you're going to go full-Dilandau, at least be more over-the-top about it. :\
Anyway, it was good to see more of the Wyvern team. Sophie and Joe are pretty amusing. Sophie, carrying out her comatose husband's research, has become a subplot that has my attention. I'm interested in what she's researching, and about the brain raid system. On another note, if Sophie and her husband have been friends with Joe, for so long, why does she insist on calling him by his full name?
Klaus is another likable guy, because I find him to be the most entertaining member of the Akito cast, at the moment. Yeah, it's kinda sad that he's a spy, but I'm going to assume it's for his daughter's sake. At least, it would be a good enough reason for me to care about his backstabbing. I'm wondering what happened between him and his wife, too, and I wouldn't doubt it also ties to his spying. He'll probably be the only EU character, that I'll care about dying, if he keeps up being entertaining, like this.
Hammel continues to exude Guilford, that it's adorable. The way he conducted himself, was exactly what I'd expect from the handsome knight. I loved his little reaction, to the mission being successful, at the end. That was cute. ^^
Anna, despite having a somewhat dull personality, is pretty cute, too. Of course, I'm going easy on her, due to her job and appearance. Plus, she was sporting a nice pair of glasses, early on in the episode, which just adds to the amusement. Still, I'm fully expecting her to go out, in a rather dramatic way; probably right in front of Leila. That's the only thing that I can really think of, when I see her. She's going to be the character, with an overly dramatized death scene. However, before if or when that happens, I'm hoping to see some sort of unintentional science/Knightmare rivalry between her and Lloyd, pending he and Cecile show up. (I find it much too hard to believe that Lloyd would be away from Lancelot, for too long. Besides, Lancelot's probably gonna need an upgrade, or a tune-up, in between chapters 3 and 4, and there's no way in Hell that Lloyd would let any other team touch his precious baby.)
Speaking of Leila, I felt let down by her performance, in this episode. She may have decent sense in military matters, but her understanding of people is pretty bad. First of all, she allows three suspicious people into her ranks, and they cause all sorts of problems. First, they try to run away, and later, try to kill her. Next, she's being totally naive about Akito's situation with Shin. She's gonna have to give up her idea of Akito and Shin understanding each other, when Shin clearly wants Akito dead, for whatever reason.
Now that I think about it, her idealism might lead to some serious consequences, later on. She's dealing with a group of mentally unstable people: three who wanted to kill her, and one who wants to kill his older brother. And one of the unwritten laws of Code Geass is that if you're idealistic, you're more than likely going to die. Someone might want to hand her that memo.
As for our two cameos...I'm only supporting Suzaku, in this mission, because I desperately need to see Lancelot in action, again. If my mechagasming from this episode was anything to go by, watching Lancelot destroying stuff would probably give me the biggest mechagasm, I've ever had. (Might be an exaggeration, but you know. -shrugs-) Can't say I'm looking forward to Suzaku being in Super Uzaku Mode, though, especially with "that guy" around.
Speaking of "that guy", I'm positive that Julius Kingsley is indeed Lelouch. The way Suzaku fumes over him, kinda confirmed that, for me. The first time I heard about it, I wasn't too keen on the idea of Lelouch playing a role, here. I was thinking that he'd show up in the final episode, at Ashford, talking with the others about some shake-up in the EU. Plus, I automatically thought that they were capitalizing on his character, to drum up more interest. Lelouch is the face of Code Geass, after all. However, after seeing him, I guess I won't be too displeased about it. (Loved his extremely egotistical, 4th wall-breaking introduction, at the end, there, too. That was, very much, a Lelouch thing to do. lol)
Although, the whole thing does give me another reason to hate Suzaku, because I'm pretty sure he had a hand in all of this. Yeah, I should be a little more easy on him, since the Princess Genocide incident is still fresh in his mind, but really; he lost any and all sympathy I could've given him, long ago.
Anyway, with another episode down, I'm definitely interested in seeing the next one. Supposedly, it should be out in the spring, but considering the history of delays, I won't be surprised if this one gets delayed, as well. However, with MJP's completion, Studio Orange should have more time to focus on animating more sweet Knightmare action. And that's mainly why I'm so excited for episode 3. More mechaporn! Hey, the plot and the characters may not be too interesting, but the mechaporn has been excellent, so far. Of course, watching Lelouch just being Lelouch (and I use the term loosely, in this case) would be fun, too. And if mai husbando and Nee-san show up, that would just be the icing on the cake. So, by all means, Sunrise, bring on chapter 3!