Code Geass: assorted thoughts
Apr. 9th, 2018 02:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackI talked about this briefly before, it's an anime about a world where a Britannian Empire has conquered much of the world including Japan, and a young Britannian noble who wants destroy the empire. Through a bunch of complicated stuff, he acquires a mystic power to compel obedience, and ends up setting up a resistance movement. And there are giant robots.
There's a lot of stuff about the limitations of his power, and how he uses it effectively and judiciously -- he can only use it; he tests how long it lasts; he uses ingenious tactics many times; he does the sensible thing and keeps an aura of mystery and power, that he can do impossible things, but he only has to prove that boast under circumstances he can contrive.
I've often thought that's a good premise for a fiction or roleplaying scenario, where the protagonist has some unique advantage but needs to use it ingeniously to overcome a much stronger enemy, partly because I love it, but partly because it lets you write a tactical genius with fewer awkward questions like "why hasn't someone thought of that before?"
I've still to watch season 2, but am rewatching season 1 first. My impression is that it's a tragedy, that Lelouch slowly succumbs to his megalomania doing increasingly unethical things in pursuit of his very justified goal. But I don't know, I haven't got to season 2 yet. I admit, I glossed over a lot of ominous foreshadowing because I liked the protagonist, which I shouldn't have done -- you can only say "well, that was clever but not really ethical but it was probably a one-off" so many times :(
Complicating it is that Japan is under occupation by a brutal occupying force, and the protagonist and his best friend have opposite opinions on how to deal with this: he wants to overthrow Britannia; his friend thinks fewer people will die if you never try to overthrow an oppressor but be honourable and work towards changing the system incrementally. And... both of those viewpoints are hard to refute. Britannia routinely slaughtered civilian populations, it's hard to criticise fighting back, but if you're in a firefight with occupying soldiers, innocent people will die sometimes. And pacifism is always laudable, but it won't necessarily change a system if people don't already have some sympathy for you. Ideally you'd have some of both, one to force the regime to pay attention, one as an acceptable alternative. But here both people are *so* uncompromising.
That makes it hard to evaluate the moral choices :(
Does anyone know how the name was translated from Japanese? It seems like "Geass" is a reference to "Geas" (described on wikipedia with the wonderful beginning "an idiosyncratic taboo..."). Which is a pretty good translation, Lelouch's ability is powerful but also finicky. But I wonder what the connotations of the Japanese name are: apparently 'Geass' is a general term, and people have had abilities before Lelouch, but that don't necessarily involve commanding people, as opposed to some other power.
A disclaimer, as with many anime, most of the female characters wear inexplicably revealing clothing. At least, there *are* many female characters, the characterisation is mixed, but often they're perfectly badass -- except for piloting giant robots in leotards, or wearing school uniforms with nonexistant skirts.
And in general anime convention observation, you'll be surprised but not surprised to know that half a dozen of the most important people in the country are teenagers on the student council in the same high school. I don't think we even HAVE student councils, and seeing how implacably powerful they inevitably become in Japan, I guess I see why not :)
There's a lot of stuff about the limitations of his power, and how he uses it effectively and judiciously -- he can only use it; he tests how long it lasts; he uses ingenious tactics many times; he does the sensible thing and keeps an aura of mystery and power, that he can do impossible things, but he only has to prove that boast under circumstances he can contrive.
I've often thought that's a good premise for a fiction or roleplaying scenario, where the protagonist has some unique advantage but needs to use it ingeniously to overcome a much stronger enemy, partly because I love it, but partly because it lets you write a tactical genius with fewer awkward questions like "why hasn't someone thought of that before?"
I've still to watch season 2, but am rewatching season 1 first. My impression is that it's a tragedy, that Lelouch slowly succumbs to his megalomania doing increasingly unethical things in pursuit of his very justified goal. But I don't know, I haven't got to season 2 yet. I admit, I glossed over a lot of ominous foreshadowing because I liked the protagonist, which I shouldn't have done -- you can only say "well, that was clever but not really ethical but it was probably a one-off" so many times :(
Complicating it is that Japan is under occupation by a brutal occupying force, and the protagonist and his best friend have opposite opinions on how to deal with this: he wants to overthrow Britannia; his friend thinks fewer people will die if you never try to overthrow an oppressor but be honourable and work towards changing the system incrementally. And... both of those viewpoints are hard to refute. Britannia routinely slaughtered civilian populations, it's hard to criticise fighting back, but if you're in a firefight with occupying soldiers, innocent people will die sometimes. And pacifism is always laudable, but it won't necessarily change a system if people don't already have some sympathy for you. Ideally you'd have some of both, one to force the regime to pay attention, one as an acceptable alternative. But here both people are *so* uncompromising.
That makes it hard to evaluate the moral choices :(
Does anyone know how the name was translated from Japanese? It seems like "Geass" is a reference to "Geas" (described on wikipedia with the wonderful beginning "an idiosyncratic taboo..."). Which is a pretty good translation, Lelouch's ability is powerful but also finicky. But I wonder what the connotations of the Japanese name are: apparently 'Geass' is a general term, and people have had abilities before Lelouch, but that don't necessarily involve commanding people, as opposed to some other power.
A disclaimer, as with many anime, most of the female characters wear inexplicably revealing clothing. At least, there *are* many female characters, the characterisation is mixed, but often they're perfectly badass -- except for piloting giant robots in leotards, or wearing school uniforms with nonexistant skirts.
And in general anime convention observation, you'll be surprised but not surprised to know that half a dozen of the most important people in the country are teenagers on the student council in the same high school. I don't think we even HAVE student councils, and seeing how implacably powerful they inevitably become in Japan, I guess I see why not :)
no subject
Date: 2018-04-09 05:10 pm (UTC)The part of the Japanese title that is written in English as "Code Geass" is not in Japanese in the first place (which is why it's written with katakana instead of the customary blend of kanji and hiragana).
The part of the Japanese title that is in Japanese is translated as "Lelouch of the Rebellion".
no subject
Date: 2018-04-09 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-09 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-09 09:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-09 10:04 pm (UTC)On Wikipedia it lists the title as "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ Kōdo Giasu: Hangyaku no Rurūshu)". "Kōdo Giasu" looks like "Code Geass" in a thick Japanese accent; probably the actual pronunciation sounds closer to the English than it looks, if my experience with other anime is anything to go by.
So one interpretation is that "Geass" is a word that started in Gaelic (with variable spellings, including "geas"), got loaned into English (as "geas"), loaded again into Japanese for the title (as ギアス) and then back into English with the funky new spelling "geass".
no subject
Date: 2018-04-09 08:02 pm (UTC)History ain't what it used to be
Date: 2018-04-11 06:29 am (UTC)Re: History ain't what it used to be
Date: 2018-04-11 06:44 am (UTC)Re: History ain't what it used to be
Date: 2018-04-19 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-19 01:46 pm (UTC)One of the things Code Geass is very much doing, as I understand it, is taking the kind of somewhat hotheaded character full of warrior spirit who is in an awful lot of anime unexaminedly expected to be heroic and sympathetic, and putting him in the position of antagonist, and giving Lelouch contrasting character traits that are much more often associated with empathy-lacking villains. Which makes it very much more to my taste than those tropes normally are, I really can't think of anything quite like it (though I have just started watching Valvrave the Liberator and that seems to be in an appealingly similar space.) I look forward to seeing what you think of season 2, I am right in reading this as meaning you intend to do so soonish?