If he claps one more time, I'm going to hurt something
Several things to comment on Geass tonight. And since I now know that other people on my friends list partake of the mind-fuckery goodness, I shall utilize the tried and true SPOILER CUT.
Seriously, what was the point of giving a freak like Mao a chainsaw. I'm going to say right now that I have never liked Mao. His character design is sloppy and it's made worse when he does that super annoying clapping thing of his. Is it possible to give a character one action to make you really want to see them unconscious? Even Mao's child design was half-assed. I don't blame him for that and mostly hold the directors/artists/possibly CLAMP accountable. But I was hoping when I first heard about Mao that he could be someone to be a thorn in Lelouch's side. He had the potential for that when he kidnapped Shirley and beat Lelouch at his beloved chess. Yet I could tell even from 14 that Mao was being set up to be obnoxious. I feel somewhat bad for him with the inability to turn off geass and having to listen to everyone's thoughts at once, but his crazy is just not appealing to me in the least. I think maybe if he hadn't been a quipping, clapping fiend and had just been bouncy psychotic AKA Andrea from Gankutsuou, I could have accepted his issues and appreciated him as a temporary obstacle for Lelouch. Sadly, he was just a poorly written and poorly designed failure of a character.
I'm not glad he's dead because I think he died too fast for what it seemed the creators were setting up his role to be, but I can't say I wasn't rooting Lelouch on during that entire ending scene. Mao could not die fast enough for me. The only thing that made his character worthwhile was further developing the Lelouch/C.C. relationship and showing C.C. to be, more or less a user. She dumped Mao for whatever reason and left him to fend for himself. What would cause her to do such a thing, especially given her closeness to Mao when he was a child? Why did she give a child geass in the first place? I hope now that Mao is gone, we will still get some more of C.C.'s backstory with him since their connection is the most interesting part of Mao's entire existence in the series.
I really want the translation for this episode because I want to know what exactly Lelouch and C.C. were saying to each other throughout. I also want to know exactly what Mao and Lelouch were saying to each other during their final scene. The anime blogs are only good for a general feel. I also loved watching dumbass try to geass C.C. I thought you were supposed to be a genius, Lelouch. Of course it doesn't work on her. I can't figure out the point of Shirley returning to school when she's supposed to be forgetting about Lelouch. I hope the series isn't planning to bring her back ala Death Note as many fans speculate. As far as Villetta's amnesia, I have no opinions one way or the other. As long as she continues to be a potential problem for Lelouch, I'm all for it. They better not keep her in the dark too long. People also need to stop bitching about the nude scene. So she has nipples. It wasn't a gratuitous scene by far. At least she didn't try to seduce Ougi right on the spot, although that would have been funny. I realize the series overuses its fanservice with the shower scenes, Nina's lesbianism and now Villetta's quick show, but whatever. I do think Ougi is a real jerk for not finding Villetta an over-sized shirt to wear after he dressed her wounds. Pervert!
Overall, I'm happy to see Lelouch bringing out his killing streak again. I enjoy watching the anime blogs bounce between respect and loathing for this series. Also Suzaku referring to Lloyd as "hakushaku" makes me smile. It would be even better if it was Lelouch AKA Jun (Albert from Gakutsuou) using the name. Suzaku getting a check-up makes me think we might be delving more into the boy's nuttiness in the near future. We need more Suzaku in the series in general. How am I supposed to write my gay pron without material?
It seems that Geass enjoys depriving me. I either get pretty art or gay subtext. A classic example of this is the new Counterattack chapter. It features more than a few questionable scenes between Lelouch and Suzaku, some with my favorite element of tension, but the art quality has dropped from the original chapter. The change isn't so dramatic as to call it ugly, but every page isn't up to the beautiful standard set before. Suzaku fairs better than Lelouch when it comes to this point. In exchange for the quality decline, the chapter does throw in some more scenes with Suzaku, Lelouch and Nunnally and manages to make Cecile and Lloyd more interesting than the anime. I love Cecile's design. But the notion of Lancelot as a super suit is just a bit cheesy. Its only saving grace is that it means Suzaku will have the pleasure of beating the living snot out of Zero in person. I wish I knew what the hell was going on at the end of the chapter.
Suzaku also proved to be a very violent and vicious boy in the picture drama that came with the first DVD. I can't be sure but I think a good portion of the drama was child Suzaku again beating the living snot out of child Lelouch after Lelouch and his sister sneaked into Suzaku's secret spot. I see it's another one of those "my only love spurned from my only hate" relationships. I'm glad Nunnally was around to keep crazy-ass Suzaku from killing Lelouch. No wonder Lelouch thinks Suzaku is a muscle-headed jerk in the episode where Arthur steals his Zero mask. I would like to know how things went from Suzaku fleeing in shame to Lelouch and Suzaku being bestest best buddies. Look, Geass is making me think again.
ETA: People are saying Mao could still be alive. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet other than "WRY?"
I could be making some new manga icons in the near future or some partner ones of Lelouch and C.C.
Seriously, what was the point of giving a freak like Mao a chainsaw. I'm going to say right now that I have never liked Mao. His character design is sloppy and it's made worse when he does that super annoying clapping thing of his. Is it possible to give a character one action to make you really want to see them unconscious? Even Mao's child design was half-assed. I don't blame him for that and mostly hold the directors/artists/possibly CLAMP accountable. But I was hoping when I first heard about Mao that he could be someone to be a thorn in Lelouch's side. He had the potential for that when he kidnapped Shirley and beat Lelouch at his beloved chess. Yet I could tell even from 14 that Mao was being set up to be obnoxious. I feel somewhat bad for him with the inability to turn off geass and having to listen to everyone's thoughts at once, but his crazy is just not appealing to me in the least. I think maybe if he hadn't been a quipping, clapping fiend and had just been bouncy psychotic AKA Andrea from Gankutsuou, I could have accepted his issues and appreciated him as a temporary obstacle for Lelouch. Sadly, he was just a poorly written and poorly designed failure of a character.
I'm not glad he's dead because I think he died too fast for what it seemed the creators were setting up his role to be, but I can't say I wasn't rooting Lelouch on during that entire ending scene. Mao could not die fast enough for me. The only thing that made his character worthwhile was further developing the Lelouch/C.C. relationship and showing C.C. to be, more or less a user. She dumped Mao for whatever reason and left him to fend for himself. What would cause her to do such a thing, especially given her closeness to Mao when he was a child? Why did she give a child geass in the first place? I hope now that Mao is gone, we will still get some more of C.C.'s backstory with him since their connection is the most interesting part of Mao's entire existence in the series.
I really want the translation for this episode because I want to know what exactly Lelouch and C.C. were saying to each other throughout. I also want to know exactly what Mao and Lelouch were saying to each other during their final scene. The anime blogs are only good for a general feel. I also loved watching dumbass try to geass C.C. I thought you were supposed to be a genius, Lelouch. Of course it doesn't work on her. I can't figure out the point of Shirley returning to school when she's supposed to be forgetting about Lelouch. I hope the series isn't planning to bring her back ala Death Note as many fans speculate. As far as Villetta's amnesia, I have no opinions one way or the other. As long as she continues to be a potential problem for Lelouch, I'm all for it. They better not keep her in the dark too long. People also need to stop bitching about the nude scene. So she has nipples. It wasn't a gratuitous scene by far. At least she didn't try to seduce Ougi right on the spot, although that would have been funny. I realize the series overuses its fanservice with the shower scenes, Nina's lesbianism and now Villetta's quick show, but whatever. I do think Ougi is a real jerk for not finding Villetta an over-sized shirt to wear after he dressed her wounds. Pervert!
Overall, I'm happy to see Lelouch bringing out his killing streak again. I enjoy watching the anime blogs bounce between respect and loathing for this series. Also Suzaku referring to Lloyd as "hakushaku" makes me smile. It would be even better if it was Lelouch AKA Jun (Albert from Gakutsuou) using the name. Suzaku getting a check-up makes me think we might be delving more into the boy's nuttiness in the near future. We need more Suzaku in the series in general. How am I supposed to write my gay pron without material?
It seems that Geass enjoys depriving me. I either get pretty art or gay subtext. A classic example of this is the new Counterattack chapter. It features more than a few questionable scenes between Lelouch and Suzaku, some with my favorite element of tension, but the art quality has dropped from the original chapter. The change isn't so dramatic as to call it ugly, but every page isn't up to the beautiful standard set before. Suzaku fairs better than Lelouch when it comes to this point. In exchange for the quality decline, the chapter does throw in some more scenes with Suzaku, Lelouch and Nunnally and manages to make Cecile and Lloyd more interesting than the anime. I love Cecile's design. But the notion of Lancelot as a super suit is just a bit cheesy. Its only saving grace is that it means Suzaku will have the pleasure of beating the living snot out of Zero in person. I wish I knew what the hell was going on at the end of the chapter.
Suzaku also proved to be a very violent and vicious boy in the picture drama that came with the first DVD. I can't be sure but I think a good portion of the drama was child Suzaku again beating the living snot out of child Lelouch after Lelouch and his sister sneaked into Suzaku's secret spot. I see it's another one of those "my only love spurned from my only hate" relationships. I'm glad Nunnally was around to keep crazy-ass Suzaku from killing Lelouch. No wonder Lelouch thinks Suzaku is a muscle-headed jerk in the episode where Arthur steals his Zero mask. I would like to know how things went from Suzaku fleeing in shame to Lelouch and Suzaku being bestest best buddies. Look, Geass is making me think again.
ETA: People are saying Mao could still be alive. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet other than "WRY?"
I could be making some new manga icons in the near future or some partner ones of Lelouch and C.C.