Top 25 Anime Characters: #15-#11

Time for another batch of my Top 25 Anime Characters with #11-#15. I was unable to embed the Speed Racer video to this post so if you want to check out the tribute video just click on the link I provided for it. Now #11-#15:

#15. Speed RacerCreated by: Tatsuo Yoshida

First Appearance: Speed Racer Episode 1 – The Great Plan
Voiced by: Japanese – Voiced by: Katsuji Mori; English – Peter Fernandez

If you want to talk about the ultimate car you want how can you go wrong with the Mach 5? Just like the entry with Astro Boy earlier, what elevates Speed Racer is how he help usher anime to the states. Even 40 years later you can mention Speed Racer and there will be plenty of people who will know who you are talking about. Like most anything we watch or read we know that the hero would win but it was always fun to see what Speed would be able to do with the Mach 5 to pull out the win and how Racer X would help him win/survive the race.

Tribute Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AMh2Ho346c

#14. Naruto UzumakiCreated by: Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance: Naruto Episode 1 – Enter: Uzumaki Naruto
Voiced by: Japanese – Junko Takeuchi; English – Maile Flanagan

In terms of popularity you won't find a more popular series than Naruto here in the states with the manga making it in the Top 10 best selling list in TPB and manga whenever releases a new volume. And recently Disney XD started showing the Part II of Naruto called Naruto: Shippuden. I still question why Cartoon Network allowed Naruto to escape their grasp especially since the series has yet to reach its best as the Part II of Naruto is even better in the manga and the anime should follow suit.

But enough of my bitching on that subject. Naruto Uzumaki on his own right is probably a character if I was making this list 10 or 20 years down the line would most likely break my top 5 favorite anime characters. Even though it has been shown that Naruto isn't the most popular character of his own series I actually prefer him over Sasuke, who is the #1 fan favorite character of the series.

Naruto is a much more relatable character as everything he does and accomplishes is through hard work and dedication. He has to earn the respect of everyone in his village that has vilified him since he was born because of being the container of the Nine Tailed Fox. Throughout Part I of the series he work hard to get that respect and now in Part II we see how much Naruto has matured so far as he goes from being a kid looking for respect to a young man out to protect his friends and village. Though Naruto: Shippuden has only started up if the manga is any example the anime should only get better as there are a lot of great fights that Naruto and everyone in the series get into.

Tribute Video:

#13. Lelouch Lamperouge

Created by: Sunrise
First Appearance: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Episode 1 – The Day a New Demon was Born
Voiced by: Japanese – Jun Fukuyama; English – Johnny Yong Bosch

For those who have read my reviews of Code Geass you will know I questioned how rushed the story in R2 as well as a lot of the character development that happened at the end of the series. But the one thing that always kept the anime series enjoyable was what Lelouch Lamperouge did throughout the series. Even though many of the characters around him become very unwatchable due to how the writers of the series developed them in the latter half of R2 Lelouch was still the well writing master strategist until the end. And throughout the series, from beginning to end, it was a mystery of how Lelouch's story was going to end as there were many ways it could have gone. And man when we got to the ending it was a jaw dropper.

What is interesting about Lelouch is that it is a bit hard to describe him as he is a mix of Light Yagami and some of your typical Sunrise heroes like you'll find in the Gundam series. And if you take a look at his murder record he is probably only beaten out by Light Yagami. But still unlike Light who is the villain of his series Lelouch is unquestionably the hero of Code Geass. Everything Lelouch did was not necessarily for himself but to create a much better and safer world for his sister and friends he cared about.

And there are many interpretations of if Lelouch actually did die at the end of R2, with some believing him alive and others believing him to be dead. I myself fall under those who think he did die as it is a much better ending for his character and think it is actually cruel to think that he is alive in the end making his little sister he cared so much about think he was dead. Also his death really gives a lot more weight to what his character did and why he should be seen as a true hero who put others above himself as he committed the ultimate sacrifice by sacrificing not only his life but his name in order for the world improve and work together to make better tomorrow.

Tribute Video:

#12. Monkey D. LuffyCreated by: Eiichira Oda
First Appearance: One Piece Episode 1 – I am Going to be King of the Pirates
Voiced by: Japanese – Mayumi Takana; English – Colleen Clinkenbeard

As I mentioned earlier with Roronoa Zolo it is a shame that One Piece never got a shot at catching as it is my favorite manga and anime's. And if you want to think of who is this generations Goku it is Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy has just about the same simple and overeating personality that Goku have. And you think I am lying about this than go try and find the Cross Epoch one-shot manga crossover between Dragon Ball and One Piece that was written by Akira Toriyama , creator of Dragon Ball, and Eiichira Oda. Also if you can find the one-shot anime that both Luffy and Goku appeared in that was only shown at an event over in Japan.

Even though Luffy is this generations Goku he is a great character in his own right. It helps that I am a sucker for stories based about pirates, which is why I love the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. One Piece is an epic story centered around Luffy's trying to become Pirate King. And like any great character Luffy does have a great supporting cast in his crew The Strawhats. Each character is a great balance for Luffy's simple personality.

Also like most a lot of Goku-type characters, even though Luffy has a simple personality he is pretty smart when it comes to fighting his opponent. With his powers from the Gum Gum Devil's Fruit his elastic ability, that is similar to Mr. Fantastics powers, make him a very unpredictable fighter. And unlike his second mate, Roronoa Zolo, Luffy is one of those that creates' attacks as fight goes along and is a great improviser in fights. And because of this it makes his fights fun to watch.

Tribute Video:

#11. Light YagamiCreated by: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

First Appearance: Death Note Episode 1 – Rebirth
Voiced by: Japanese – Mamoru Miyano; English – Brad Swaile

For me there has never been a show that had me more captivated and on the edge of my seat waiting to see what was going to happen in the next episode more than Death Note. This is largely takes to the protagonist of the series Light Yagami. It is a rare thing to have the protagonist of a series to also be the villain and it's even rarer for it to be so much fun to read and watch. But in the case of Light that is what happened as I tuned in every week to see what was going to be the next brilliant idea and strategy to outwit his nemesis, L.

Though Vegeta was the original bastard character, the king of bastard characters is Light. No one else took more pleasure in killing people of he judged as not worthy to be part of his world where he thought himself as God. And the only reason he would allow people to live on for as long as they did was just to use them for his own master plans (cough*Misa*cough). And though we are all thought that murder and death is wrong watching Light do his thing by planning out his next brilliant strategy to really become the God he already was in his own mind.

Tribute Video:

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 25

"Re;"

Review
Holy crap! That was a hell of an ending. With how season one and the early parts of season two (R2) went I never expected it end like how it ended. Even with how rushed everything started to feel during the latter part of R2 I did not see this coming. But now that I think about it, with how these last few episodes went buy I feel like I should have seen this coming.

All the problems that have been hampering my enjoyment for these past few episode still exist with this episode as there were many parts that felt rushed. But for me I will over look these problems as this show did an excellent job with the overall character growth of Lelouch, Suzaku, CC, Kallen, and a few others that I became emotionally invested with the characters and really cared what happened to the characters at the end. And that is the true testament of how good a show is when all is said and done.

Over the past few episodes one of the things I have noticed that I have not mentioned before is that the mecha fighting since the fight between Kallen and Xhing-Ke has been sorely lacking. While Code Geass has always made it clear that the mecha battles are always just the backdrop to the true war going on between Lelouch, his father the (former) Emperor, and Schneizel there have been times I wished we saw more intense mecha battle.

With this episode I got just that with the final battle between Suzaku and Kallen that had been building up to since the beginning of the series. From how cool the battle look it seems that the team behind this anime used up all of the animation budget they had been saving from the last few episodes for this specific battle. It was a great battle though I wish it would have lasted a bit longer.

For the conversation between Lelouch and Nunally even though I thought there was a possibility that Lelouch would use his Geass on his sister. I actually thought that he would use some sort of emotional brother/sister talk to get the control from the FLEYJA from her. But the moment were he does use his Geass on her and then tells her that he loves her I did get the feeling that things would not turn out good for our hero.

And as Lelouch declared himself the winner and was about to execute all of the Black Knights I knew something was going to happen. When Suzaku appeared as Zero I said out loud "Oh shit! They are going to kill Lelouch." At that moment I was couldn't believe that this was the ending that our hero got.

Still when I started to think of this ending more and more I found it to be the logical move and that the death of Lelouch is a nice commentary of what a world needs to right itself from the chaos of war. Lelouch's plan draws a similar to what Adrian Veidt did in Watchmen, without the plan being revealed to the public. In the end sometimes the world's population needs a person to blame for everything, which is what have been doing with the current war and economic disaster. It is really hard to blame something on a non-living being. But if we have one person to blame for everything wrong with the world, no matter how screwed up it may be, it is much easier to do.

Before coming into this review I actually went on around to different reviews for this last episode of Code Geass and there seems to be a lot of arguments going around in the bloggesphere about the finality of the death of our main character Lelouch . In my opinion it is much better to think that Lelouch is dead as his death is the price that he had to pay to make the world in his image. And for him to still be alive due to getting the Code from CC or some other way kind of cheapen that sacrifice Lelouch made. I do not think Lelouch is the type of character to fake his own death and leave Nunally alone. What Lelouch did in the end showed that he was a true hero because he does not care if he is seen in the history books as it is something he had to do in the end to change the world for the better.

Now was R2 as good as the first season of Code Geass? I would say no. Did the creative team rush the ending? Yes they did. But even with all that Code Geass did an excellent job making me, and a lot of fans, emotionally invested in everything that happened. And Code Geass was a great ride and I hope we do not get a sequel. I highly recommend anyone that did not watch this show to go out and watch it as this is one anime that I sure many people will love.

Episode Rating - 8.8/10

Double Shot Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 23 & 24

Ep. 23 - "Schneizel's Mask"

Review
With Nunally shown to be alive in the last episode it was no surprise that Super Maid survived. Still it was nice to see her return and continue to be loyal to Lelouch to the end.

As for Nunally, while her reappearance was surprising and was effective in shaking Lelouch's confidence it kind of feels like they brought her back to late in the game and I thought her death like Euphy's death affected Suzaku in the first season Nunally's death served as the final motivation Lelouch needed to strike out on his own and continue to make the world better. But now that she is back I feel bad for the kid as she has always been used against Lelouch to shake his confidence. It kind of feels like her character just has not grown since the beginning and it is to bad because I did like her character, and still do, but since she has not really had much character growth like Lelouch, Suzaku, Kallen, and C.C it seems like she is only steps back instead of forward compared to the others.

Still I did like Lelouch and Nunally's confrontation as it helps to show that Lelouch is not a villain as he has shown to the whole world but that, like with what he said to Kallen in the last episode, he needed everyone close to him to not be by him as he is going to a place that he will not be able to return from. And with how vulnerable he was shown to be in front of Suzaku and C.C. and then later alone with C.C I continue to wonder what exactly the Zero Requiem plan and if it means that he will get the happy ending that he deserves with his sister.

Also while the quick montage in the beginning of the episode served as a nice calm before the storm it is the kind of scene(s) that show the creators are rushing to the end. Instead of showing us what these characters are saying to one another and giving them so much needed moments to show there motivation they aren't and only Lelouch, Suzaku, C.C and Schneizel are the only one's getting there moments to shine. Also I got to say that the "death" of Cornelia at the hands of Schneizel doesn't help to make him a bigger villain than his father was and I kind of see it as a pointless death.

Speaking of this rush am I the only one finding myself hating the Black Knights, especially Ohgi, more and more with each episode since they betrayed Lelouch. They continue to look like a bunch of little kids that had their toys taken away with the lame excuse that they are not puppets to be manipulated when that is exactly what they are as they allow Schneizel to control them. And it seems that the writers are scared to piss of any fans by killing off any of the major characters as the battle by Mt. Fuji would have served as a perfect time to kill some of the characters that could have help motivate some of the other characters during the war

But I will say I did like the chess match between Lelouch and Schneizel but this time instead of chess pieces they are using actual Knightmare Frames. It is this type of strategy battle that shows the difference between Code Geass and your typical mecha animes (cough*Gundam*cough). The little strategy made the battle even more dramatic when it came to all of the Knightmare Frames to finally starting to fight and I loved seeing that Lelouch never stopped thinking and was prepared for anything as he set up Mt. Fuji to erupt. It was a cool move that sets up the final battlefield for the last two episodes.

Episode Rating - 8.3/10

Ep. 24 - "Sky of Damocles"

Review
After the last episode I started thinking why is it that I have not been enjoying these past few episodes of R2. The thing I keep going back to is that each episode feels rush but now with this episode I finally figured out why I have not liked the previous episode as much as season 1: fan-service. I am not talking about naked anime chicks but that this series is trying to make fans of each character happy by not killing them off. In one episode we think one character is dead but then in the following episode they turn out to be alive and well, except for Euphy and the Emperor (so far), which is what happens here as we find out Cornelia and Gilford are alive. Then you add the massive amount of characters there is on this series it only makes it harder to juggle all these characters which is what the creative team are trying to do which makes R2 rush to the end. I will probably mention it again in the last episode next week.

Outside of the annoy thing of the creative not having grown a pair and actual kill off characters the other complaint I have is that after everything the writers did a very bad job with convincing me that Schneizel was a good end boss for Lelouch to face. After everything I would have much rather prefered Lelouch's father to have been the end boss as he was build up for that and Schneizel wasn't until these past few episodes. If anything Schneizel only seemed to prove a minor annoyance as Lelouch was quickly able to defeat his big brother. But now I guess that Schneizel is taken care of I guess Nunally will serve as the end boss for Lelouch as she holds the key to the FLEIJA bombs.

Still the one thing I found odd is that Lelouch did not tell Schneizel to obey him like he has done to everyone else he has putting under his control but instead he told him to obey Zero which even though Schneizel knows he was Zero Lelouch isn't that character anymore. Odd and I wonder how that will play into what will happen in the end.

I got to say that I did like how Lelouch treated Diethard in his last moments. It was great to see a character that was never looking out for anything but creating a story of a God. Diethard was probably that I never really like and it was great to see Lelouch pay the ultimate disrespect to him by saying that he was not even worth using his Geass on. That was the ultimate burn.

I did like the battle between Lelouch's two "girlfriends." While it was clear that Kallen would easily beat C.C. it was a nice show of how far both characters have come from how they portrayed themselves at the beginning of the series. Both Kallen and C.C. were harsh characters, C.C. moreso, with hard exteriors but now both characters have become much more emotional due to their relationship with Lelouch. It was interesting seeing how C.C. actually said she actually cared about winning and then saying that Kallen wins. It probably will be taken in many ways for those pairing fans and I guess the fight was more for them than anything else.

Also it was cool seeing Lelouch and Suzaku teaming up together to destroy the FLEIJA bomb before it exploded. It was a great moment and showed that even though these two were enemies for the whole series when they work together they make an excellent team. The best part of the team-up was seeing how Lelouch was able to make all of the calculations needed to make the plan work in such a short time. It continues to show how smart he is and that in the end with how he beat both his dad and Schneizel that he is probably the smartess person in the series.

And it was interesting that Lelouch told Lloyd, Cecile, and Sayoko to free the UFN leaders and to tell the Black Knights he forced them to work for them. It is clear that this was all part of that Zero Requiem plan he came up with and it will be interesting to learn what the Zero Requiem actually is as we still have no clue other than it involving Lelouch pushing everyone closest to him away for the plan to succeed.

Overall this was a good episode, though just not as good as the previous episode, that builds the final confrontations between Lelouch and Nunally and the final battle between Suzaku and Kallen. If anything else the final episode of R2 should be one hell of an end that will either piss me off or think this was a great series and ending.

Episode Rating - 7.7/10

Also I just wanted to add that for the final episode I think I will try and catch it during the first showing and Twitter throughout the episode so if you watch this series and have a Twitter be sure to log on to twitter about the episode.

Double Shot Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 21 & 22

Ep. 21 - "The Ragnarök Connection"

Review
Holy Crap! This episode was totally mind blowing with how many surprises we got in this episode. Still while there were some great surprises in this episode there were still some noticeable faults to the episode that have continued from the past few episodes but I'll get to that later. I liked the opening to the episode as it added a little comedy with Lelouch's mom Marianne, who is using Anya's body, trying to draw a mustache on Suzaku only for him to wake up before she could.

The biggest surprise is that Marianne was not only returned but that she was not the perfect mother that we were lead to believe. She is actually the Emperor's accomplise and lover in his plans to destroy God. It was a great twist as both of Lelouch and Nunally's parents were villains with how they used their kids in their plans without remorse. Also it was a cool reveal that Marianne actually had a Geass that transferred her mind into other people that she used right before she died.

The philosophical battle between Lelouch and his parents was fun to watch as it was two arguments that are understandable but the viewer still sides with our hero Lelouch. And it was awesome to see how Lelouch was able to turn C's World on his parents and had them destroyed. It was a great moment that made Lelouch look like a complete badass with how he not only activated the Geass on his other eye but also basically commanded all the dead to be under his control. And him becoming the Emperor with Suzaku was an interesting twist that I did not expect to see until the very end of the series.

Now even though I dug the battle between Lelouch and his parents as well as him becoming Emperor this episode continues to have the rushed feeling that all the past few episodes have had. Even though it was cool to see Lelouch basically declare himself as Emperor it felt like it was a rushed decision especially with the two month time skip. By having the two month time skip it only looks like a convenient plot device so that the Black Knights don't reach Kamine Island in time to find Lelouch even though they were on the island while the stuff in C's world was going on. Up to this point it feels like we are going to get very little development with the Black Knights now that Lelouch is not their leader anymore and they continue too look like dumbasses for what they did as they seem to be directionless without Lelouch as they did not accomplish anything in the two month time skip other than standing around.

Also with only 4 episodes to go we have yet to learn what Schneizel's endgame is as it has not gotten very much development. And with the Emperor, or former Emperor, gone it seems that Schneizel will play the role of final boss for the series. And up to this point it only feels like they are going to be forcing the ending and that the creative team are just coming up with stuff out of their asses hoping it fits. But by doing this it seems they are overcomplicating things as everything for the last 4 episode will be rushed.

Now even with the continued faults this episode had like the past few episodes I would be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued with what will happen in the last few episode. And with Lelouch as Emperor I have no idea how the creative team behind the show are going to end this series which should make these last few episodes fun to watch and will at least give me, and all of the fans of the series, plenty to talk about.

Episode Rating - 8.5/10

Ep. 22 - "Emperor Lelouch"

Review
For some reason I was very underwhelmed by this episode. This is not to say that this was a bad episode as there was stuff that I did like, but for some reason this episode did not click for me and it felt that it was just an average episode. The big problem was that it felt like it was a very slow paced episode that was not needed when their is only 4 episodes, or 3 after this episodes, left before the end.

I did like the action we got in this episode between Suzaku and Bismark, who was shown to have the Geass power to see the future, and the other Knights of the Round. Now even though it was some good mecha battle I thought it was rushed and only made the Knights of the Round look like weak chumps since we have not seen them fight much before this episode and makes Suzaku look like Kira from Gundam Seed Destiny when he got the Strike Freedom since he clearly has the strongest Knightmare Frame that no one other than Kallen, who I guess would be the Athrun of this show, can match. Still I guess this episode helps to build up the inevitable fight between Suzaku and Kallen as they both are the best pilots on the show and have the strongest Knightmare Frames. For that the action got its point across though the fact that the Knights of the Round looked like a bunch of weaklings really hurt a fight that should have gone a bit longer.

Also with the fact that we only have three episodes left to go it is still hard to see Schneizel as the final boss for the series. I know I am repeating myself from the my reviews for the past few episodes but this just feels very rushed and really comes across as unbelievable. Even the cliffhanger with Nunally appearing at the end, who I was surprised to see though since we didn't see her body I didn't think she was dead, wasn't very interesting as it doesn't help the fact that Schneizel's endgame has been vastly underdeveloped. It would have been better if it ended with Nunally opening her eyes since that would have been a great ending. If there was still 6 or 7 episodes left in the series I think there could have been more development in making Schneizel as big of a threat as Lelouch and Schneizel's dad but right now I can't believe that he turned out to be the final boss of the series.

Now I did find a few things interesting about this episode, the biggest being what Lelouch's real plans are now that he is the Emperor of Britannia. From his conversation with Suzaku it seems that Lelouch is only playing the role of an evil Emperor, which is obvious, and that it all has something to do with the Zero Requiem he mentioned. And I wonder now that how many people actually know what Zero Requiem is and how Lelouch's plan works now that Schneizel and Nunally are in his way. Also I found it interesting that after playing a character that had a serious screw loose most of the season that the creative team are setting Nina up for a redemption type arc now that she will be working with Lelouch.

The other thing that I found interesting is the kiss between Lelouch and Kallen. While I could care less who Lelouch ends up with it does seem that the creative team are giving a lot of the different fans of the LelouchxShirley, LelouchxCC, and LelouchxKallen pairing some scenes during R2 to satisfy them and give them hope that Lelouch ends up with one of the girls, sans Shirley since she is not around anymore. Still now that Lelouch has distance himself from Kallen by acting cold to her after the kiss it could be interesting to see were this goes as it seems Lelouch has feelings for both CC and Kallen.

Overall this was an average episode that does not live up to some of the great episode quality this show has been known for. The biggest thing going against this show right now is that it is rushing to the ending and it seems with only 3 episodes left we will see this show rush even more now as there still a lot that has to happen before the last episode.

Episode Rating - 7.1/10

Double-Shot Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 19 & 20

Ep. 19 - "Betrayal"

Review
Man just when you think you know were the creative team behind Code Geass is going to take this series they throw us this curve ball of an episode. R2 continues to be an interesting second season for this show. As this season continues to move closer to the end I am starting to finding a lot of things to like and hate about each of these past few episodes.

The best thing about the second season continues to be how the second war between the Black Knights and Britannia has slowly been taken away everything from Lelouch. I this episode, like many episodes in this season, we see Lelouch break down and act out of character. With the death of Nunally it is understandable the mental breakdown Lelouch had at the beginning of the episode as without her the reason he was doing everything was thrown out. If the death of Nunally wasn't enough Scheizel was able to convince the Black Knights to betray Lelouch as he reveal's Zero's true identity to them. And then you add the death of Rolo, Lelouch is basically all alone in the world. It will be interesting to see how Lelouch will be able to work alone as he has had an army working for him for a while. Also I will be interested to see if Kallen will abandon the Black Knights and look for Lelouch with what he said before Rolo rescued him.

Speaking of Rolo's death I was very surprised that the creative team behind Code Geass was able to sort of redeem the Rolo character by giving him such a heroic death. After the death of Shirley it did seem that Rolo would get some sort of horrible death in the middle of this season but I got to hand it to the creative team for giving fans a moment heroism to Rolo as it may be questionable if he should have gotten the kind of death he did. It was a cool bit of action and a sad ending to Rolo who did everything for the only family he ever knew.

Now the problem with this episode is that like the past few episodes it is feeling like the creative team is starting to rush to the end. I found that the reasoning the Black Knights used was actually kind of stupid. From the beginning almost every member of the Black Knights especially the Oghi, Todoh, and Diethard have all know and reinterated that they were all pawns in Zero's army. And for them to feel betrayed just because they found out something that they've known all along just made all of the Black Knights look very stupid. This is a freaking war what did they think they were a bunch of buddies having a good time. It was a very rash and stupid decision that only makes it look like the creative team needed Lelouch to get on his own and needed to do it quick as they were running out of episodes to do it.

Also I thought that we should have seen more of the aftermath of the FLEIJA bomb detonation as we only see a small bit of reaction from Suzaku, Nina, and other supporting characters. These characters should have given them more time to show their reactions but again it is only an example of rushing through things that we don't get those moments. Also I found Suzaku's maniacal laugh at the end to weird and come out of nowhere as we get no internal monologue from him.

Overall this was a good episode that had the bad parts of the episode actually weigh it down from being better.

Episode Rating - 8/10

Ep. 20 - "Emperor Dethroned"

Review
In the aftermath of the last episode we get another episode that was a mix of good and bad. And with how close we are getting to the end it seems that this is going to be how these last 5 or 6 episode will be like as the creative team behind Code Geass are rushing through the plot of this series.

Now I got to had it to the creative team as Lelouch has become a much bigger badass now that he is alone. Just from how he acted in this episode I would even say that the Black Knights were the ones weighing Lelouch down from defeating the Emperor and Britannia. Lelouch actual accomplished more on his own to take down Britannia on his own than when he was the leader of the Black Knights. I loved how Lelouch used his Geass to make Britannia have a little Civil War in order to cause enough of a distraction to reach his father. And the moment that Lelouch appeared on Kamine Island was one the best moments in the series and the background music and the Knightmare frames bowing down to him was perfect as it gave Lelouch's march a hail to the emperor feel to it. I am really looking forward to his second confrontation with his father and what he has up his sleeve to take down his immortal father.

Also it was a big surprise to me that Marianne, Lelouch and Nanally's mother, has been inside of Anya's mind this whole time. While I knew something was off with Anya since she could not remember her past and have moments in battle were she would freak out for no reason but I was not expecting it to be because Marianne resided in her mind. Though know with her being alive, in a sense, and her and CC, who got her memory back, headed towards were Lelouch and the Emperor are having their confrontation I wonder what kind of role they will play.

Now just like in the last episode I continue to have a problem with how stupid the Black Knights are look like little whining babies in this episode. There really is no other way to put it other than that they are acting like babies that got their toy taken away and I guess it is only right the biggest baby in the group, Ohgi, is leading them. I hope that Ohgi really isn't the leader of the Black Knights as he showed in this episode that he isn't a very confident leader and that Kaguya or Todoh are much more fit to lead the Black Knights now that Lelouch is gone.

Also this bring me to my next point in that I kind of wonder how much time will actually be devoted to the Black Knights and Scheizel's plan in the next episode as the next episode will probably be mostly about the confrontation between Lelouch and the Emperor. And if that is how the next episode is framed up than there will be less than half a dozen episodes left before the finale. And right now we still have yet to know what Scheizel has planned in order to become the new Emperor. The Scheizel plotline has been one of the plots in Code Geass that has really lacked development and I hope they don't rush through things and we get more of a sense of what Scheizel has planned.

My last complaint with the episode is that I am really starting to dislike Suzaku as a character. At the beginning of the series Suzaku was one of my favorite characters but his constant flip flopping with his loyalties from being loyal to the Emperor, to forming an alliance with Lelouch, and now being loyal to Scheizel. I am kind of hoping Kallen or Bismark (the Knight of One) takes him done just to show him that he needs to stop being so annoying and actually pick a side.

Overall this was another mixed bag episode and I am hoping the creative doesn't start rushing things though that is what will probably happen as R2 is running out of episodes. Still I am hopeful that we can get a great episode(s) next week.

Episode Rating - 8/10

Double-Shot Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 17 & 18

Ep. 17 - "The Taste of Dirt"

Review
Finally after a whole season of both Lelouch and Suzaku playing a game of cat and mouse they finally have a face to face meeting were they are their true selves in front of the other. I got to admit the meeting actually went the opposite way I actually thought it would go when this series started. I always thought that it would be Suzaku that would call Lelouch for help and/or to join him. But seeing how it was Lelouch who was actually the one to call Suzaku for help was a nice twist. And the meeting did not disappoint as just as it looked like things were looking up for the two former best friends, and after Lelouch ate some humble pie, everything went to hell with the meeting.

It was cool to see Shneizel was the one to interfere in the meeting and not the Emperor. He really put the final nail on the coffin for the death of Lelouch and Suzaku's friendship. It was cool to see that Lelouch was prepared for Suzaku's "betrayal" as he escape the situation by using his Geass to make Guilford think he was Cornelia. With their relationship dead it makes the eventual battle between Lelouch and Suzaku during the war in the next episode much more compelling. And it was cool to see that power neutralizer that Lelouch tested early in full use in this episode as the anger Lelouch has gained should add to how brutal he will be during the upcoming fight.

I also liked that while the meeting was the main part of this episode that we got to see the start of the war between Britannia and the Black Knights. This episode did a nice job building up the Knights of the Round members especially the Knight of One. I dug the Knightmare he uses as it may be the strongest Knightmare frame their is currently with how easily beat Xingke. With how strong the Knights of the Round members are the Black Knight will need to get back Kallen within the next few episodes if they want to win the battle over Tokyo as they don't have enough power yet to actually beat Britannia.

Another thing that was cool that was underlying this episode is the growing dissension within the Black Knights. With how much bad blood there is within the Black Knights with Zero I kind of wonder what would happen if Lelouch does help to beat Britannia if Todoh or someone else will backstab Lelouch if the war is won.

Episode Rating - 9.2/10

Ep. 18 - "The Second Decisive Battle of Tokyo"

Review
Finally after a long build up the second war between the Black Knights and Britannia is here. And man this episode definitely made up for the missing mecha fighting that has been missing from the previous episodes. This episode had a lot of action going on and this might actually be the most action we have gotten in one episode of Code Geass.

This was definetly were it was not only the writing but also the animation behind this show that was at had to be at the top of their game. And when all that was combined with the battle music all the action and strategy behind the fighting was pretty awesome. I like that not only did we have the battle above Tokyo happening but also that Lelouch had his best hand-to-hand fighters on a rescue mission to save Nunnally and Kallen. It was a nice balance with what was happening above and below ground.

And it was interesting that while Lelouch did send Rolo to save his sister that Rolo only agreed to find her but not save her. It adds to the brother complex Rolo has with Lelouch. With what happened at the end of the episode it will be interesting to see how the relationship between these two "brothers" goes from this point in future episodes.

One of the things that was interesting about the beginning of the battle was that Lelouch was so focused with destroying Suzaku and the Lancelot that he was actually surprised when the other Knights of the Round members entered the battle. With the appearance of the Knights of the Rounds it put the odds against Lelouch and the Black Nights which gave the reappearance of Kallen to the battle field a much more dramatic punch. It was cool to see how Kallen handled her new super Guren. With how much power Kallen's new Guren displayed here in this episode I would have loved to see her go up against the Knight of One with how easily she took care of the other Knights of the Round members.

Now while I enjoyed the battle that took place in this episode I thought that the creators kind of rushed through this episode and it might have been better to stretch out the battle over Tokyo to one more episode as a lot of the characters, especially the Knights of the Round members, weren't given an opportunity to stretch their muscle and show the viewer how strong they actually are. I am kind of wondering that the creators didn't give more time to this battle was because we still have yet to get much more information about the Emperor's and Schneizel's endgame. I hope that with only a little over a half-dozen more episodes to go with R2 that the creators start rushing through the plot as the battle in this episode did feel rushed due to how many episodes are left.

Also I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get more deaths of major supporting characters during the battle. Now with the FLEIJA bomb activated it does seem that a lot of characters did die with the biggest being Nunnally. Now I will wait until we actually some dead bodies in the next episode as it is a rule in TV shows, movies, comic books, mangas, and literature that until we see the dead bodies that no one is actually dead. So I will wait to see if my complaint is valid till the next episode.

With the FLEIJA bomb launched it will be interesting to see the aftermath of the events of this episode in the following episode. But even with that the rushed feel of this episode did take away from how good this episode could have been. Hopefully the next episode doesn't have the same rushed feeling as this episode.

Episode Rating - 8/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 16

"United Federation of Nations Resolution Number One"

Review
After a two month absence we finally get a new episode of Code Geass. And after a two month absence this was a very methodical episode as it sets up the upcoming war between the Black Knights and Britannia. And this was a much better episode than the last new episode we got.

The only complaint I had with this episode was that we have to go through CC acting like a dumb slave girl. This whole reverting CC to her former self before even coming in contact with the Geass just smells of the creative team having nothing for the character to do but because they like her to much they don't want to kill CC off. Even though I am a fan of the character I still question why they did not just kill her off as there isn't a much more to do with character development and her death would probably have impacted the series much more than keeping her around and making her act as a slave girl.

Also I hate that Ohgi did not die from what happened in the last episode as he is pretty much a useless character that would be better off dead.

Even though this was all of a set episode what this episode does set up is some exciting stuff as Lelouch and the Black Knights finally take their plans to the next level and officially create the U.F.N. While not surprising it is great that Lelouch basically made the Black Knights as the army for the 49 countries under the U.F.N.

What made the scene even more interesting was the "surprise" appearance of the Emperor. The Emperor definetly does a nice job having a powerful presence when on screen. It is rare to see Lelouch be so riled by words and seeing him how he goes through so many possibilities to get Nanally out of the Emperor's grasp in such a short time was very effective with showing how unstable he became in a short time span. And as soon as Lelouch called Suzaku the viewer knows that Lelouch has become desperate and the meeting between them will be very interesting to see in the next episode when they meet face to face.

Also I like how the creative team quickly re-introduce the viewer to the players that are going to participate in the war between Britannia and the Black Knights. It was quick but effective and it will be interesting if the creative finally takes the chance with this war to kill off some characters as the cast of supporting characters on this show has become to much. And with the FLEIJA bomb is put on the Lancelot I am guessing that bomb will be used as a deus ex machina to kill off a bunch of characters.

Overall this was a nice return to this show though still is not a similar level as some of the better episodes of this series but with the war coming up it looks like this show will return to form soon.

Episode Rating - 7.7/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 15

"C's World"

Review
The first half of R2 has been one great episode after another. With the minor exception of the School Festival episode each episode of R2 has been able to stand out on its with each episode giving us at least one "Oh Shit!" moment. But for some reason I did not get that same feeling from watching this episode.

The episode started off strong with Lelouch coming up with a brilliant plan in order to "kill" his dad without having to look eye to eye. The plan in a nut shell was that Lelouch used a bunch of mirrors that were shot out of his Shikiro in and quickly used his Geass that bounced off one mirror to the next to reach the Emperor and ordered to kill himself. Now even though I knew the Emperor was not dead since he is one of the end bosses for this series it was still a cool move by Lelouch and it was as close to an "Oh Shit!" moment we would have in this episode.

After that first 5 minutes I couldn't help but be disappointed with the rest of the episode. This is not to say this was a bad episode but more like the whole story structure felt a bit to predictable with telling of CC's origin story and what her wish is. It might be because I have read to many books, comics, and manga that have some sort of immortal character but it is predictable that CC's wish(es) was to die. From what I can tell CC has been around for at least sometime before the American Revolution since I could not tell if were she was living during her time with only her Love Geass was somewhere in Great Britain or in one of the 13 colonies. So it was predictable that since the start of her contract with Lelouch that she wanted to be killed.

And you know what I would have been fine if that was her only wish since her origin story and the Love Geass she had before becoming immortal gives reason why CC is such a cold and detached person that she would want to die after living so long. But now that CC has lost her memory and turned back into being the slave girl she used to be before she got her Geass it feels like they regressed her character in order to just keep one of the most popular characters on the show. More than any other character death CC's death would have been the most shocking to see at the half way point and could have made this show even more unpredictable than it already was. But now I kind of feel like I can predict how this story is going with this move and that this adds nothing but filler for the story.

Now the most interesting part of this episode other than the first five minutes was the sub-plot involving Prince Schneizel and what looks to be some sort of Atomic Bomb-like weapon Nina created. Even though we only got about two minutes dedicated to this sub-plot it was cool to see since I have thought that Schneizel has his own endgame in mind that no one, not even the Emperor, knows about. I have found it weird that after the China arc Schneizel had disappeared and not been given any lines since the arc but hopefully with this new development we will see more of what Schneizel has planned and how it will ruin the Emperor's and Lelouch's plans.

For the other two sub-plots that went on during this episode I found them to not be very interesting. If there has been one character I could care less about it is Ohgi. Nothing against the character but the writers have not really developed his character enough for me to care about or hate. So I kind of hope he is dead since that will trim some of the cast down a bit since it is getting ridiculous how large the cast of characters, both main and supporting, they have that have played a much larger role than Ohgi has at this point.

Also the whole scene with Suzaku tempted to use Refrain on Kallen and later him lying to Nunnally to be a bit forced into this episode that does not develop his character any further. It wasn't hard to tell Suzaku would not use Refrain on Kallen since that would be to extreme for his character. And though I found him lying to Nunnally to be forced I do wonder how long he can keep up lying to Nunnally since she is like a sister to him

Overall while I did not hate this episode I did not like it and felt disappointed about how predictable this episode's story was. For how strong R2 has been this is probably my least favorite episode so far of the series and I hope this show gets back on track and we find out more about the endgame of various characters in the show since not much was revealed in this episode and we go back to the war aspect of this show.

Episode Rating - 6.2/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lealouch of the Rebellion R2 14

"Geass Hunt"

Review
I forgot to mention this in my review for last weeks episode that now that R2 has passed its mid-point the series got a new opening credits and theme song. Evidently the new song is called "World End" by a Japan band called Flow. And I have to say that out of the five opening credits and songs this series has this is my favorite one so far. It does everything an opening theme should do by having a lot of energy to the music while showing a some great anime action to go along with it. Now I wonder if like in its first season if R2 will have an new ending theme song for the last two episodes and if it does what it will be and look like.

With that said I have to say after the surprise death of Shirley in the last episode I really did not know were the writers were going to take this episode. I knew that Lelouch would look to get revenge on those who caused Shirley's death but what I didn't know what approach he would take to get that revenge. Even though Lelouch has usually maintained a calm and always in control persona due to genius intellect he has shown in a few episodes to be very erratic when he becomes emotional. Other than the last episode there have been two other instances were we saw that emotional side of Lelouch that has caused to throw caution at the wind: in episode 25 of R1 when VV kidnapped Nunnally and most recently in episode 10 of R2 when Kallen was captured by Xingke. In both instances it is what caused Lelouch to lose the battle he and the Black Knights were involved with at the time.

So because of those previous two instances were someone close to him was taken away it almost felt that it was being set up for another loss in the battle field for Lelouch. But luckly for us the writers were able to take the ending from the last episode in order to further the plotlines that were build at the end of R1 and at the start of R2. And if there was ever a point in this show were the comparison between Lelouch and Light Yagami, from Deathnote, was most evident it was in this episode. Not only was Lelouch able to come up with an intricate plot to destroy the Geass Order and VV but he was able to do it in manner that felt like one of the biggest massacres in anime. Just the amount of blood spilt on this episode was incredible. No one was safe from Lelouch wrath. Not children. Not women. Not men. Not old people.

The animators were at the top of their game in this episode with all the action and killing that went on in this episode. Along with the battle music the animation was top notch. The battle between VV and Lelouch with his Black Knights was just as good as any battle seen in Code Geass. My favorite part of the battle was the look on Lelouch's face when he wasn't able to blow up the Vincent to kill Rolo and cripple VV.

I was glad that after the massacre and VV's defeat the writers finally used the ending to finally show us what the Emperor's plan with the Sword of Akasha. It will be interesting to see if the Emperor will able to succeed in his goal to kill God and what role Lelouch, VV, and CC play in his plans. And I wonder what connection CC and Lelouch's mom had in the past since we saw them together in the flashback that started this episode.

Along with this plotline add in Suzaku's threat to use Refrain on Kallen to learn who is Zero, Kallen and Nunnally conversing about Lelouch, and the Black Knights having some internal conflict in the group the next few episodes look to continue the dark path the second half of R2 is walking towards. At this point I really don't know were all the various plotlines are going which is what is making Code Geass such a fun anime to watch.

Episode Rating - 9.3/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 13

"Assassin from the Past"

Review
Well damn. Though Code Geass has always done a fantastic job with each episode this was the first time in this series that the ending completely overshadowed everything that came before it.

In my review for the last episode I said that now with Shirley getting all of her memories back their were numerous ways the writers on this show could take her character. Throughout the episode I really did not now were they were going to take her character. And that unpredictability made the ending that more shocking. In my head as the episode went along I was thinking that Shirley would join Lelouch's cause by helping convince people that Lelouch and Zero were two different people like Suzaku and Anya who seem to be getting close to figuring out they are one and the same.

But right when Shirley meets Rolo at train station asking him were Lelouch is as well as telling him that she knows the truth it is a moment that gives the viewer an uneasy feeling. We already knew that Rolo had an unstable brother-complex with Lelouch and right when Shirley mentions Nunally it you can see that unstable part of Rolo come out as soon as he activates his Geass. Since the scene cuts to Lelouch and Jerimiah the next time we see Shirley is when Lelouch finds her in a pool of her own blood. The animators, as well as the voice actors for Lelouch and Shirley, did a fantastic job portraying the immense sadness that overcame Lelouch as he held Shirley in his arms. It was a emotional scene only made more emotinal as we see a desperate Lelouch trying to use his Geass to order Shirley to live. The whole scene cements that even though Lelouch may be playing a role as a student in Ashford he really cared for Shirley and that the relationship between the two could have been romantic if Shirley did not die.

With already having "lost" Nunally and Kallen to Britannia as well as having his best friend on the side of his enemy the loss of Shirley looks like it could drive Lelouch over the edge as he becomes even more driven to defeat his father and destroy Britannia's whole empire. It will be interesting to see that with Shirley's death how much more proactive Lelouch will be in trying to protect all his friends in Ashford in order to insure they don't meet a similar fate to Shirley.

It will also be interesting to see is how Lelouch will react when he finds out that it was Rolo who killed one the people he cared most for. Knowing Lelouch it wont be pretty. If anything this episode makes Rolo into a much less sympathetic character.

As I said earlier the ending overshadowed what happened in the episode. Before the death of Shirley there was some great moments in the episode as we saw Lelouch and Suzaku have a moment of true friendship along with Shirley as well as seeing Jerimiah hunting down Lelouch. The Jerimiah subplot added even more suspense into the episode and it was great Sayoko in Super Maid form take on the now cyborg Jerimiah. In the end it was surprising to see Jerimiah end up joining Lelouch because of him being an admirer of Lelouch's mom and former bodyguard. I don't think this aspect of Jerimiah's character was mentioned before and was a cool twist that gives Lelouch a little extra power in order to make for losing Kallen a few episodes ago.
Also of note I continue to wonder were the whole plot with VV is going. From the looks of it even though he is working with the Emperor VV has own plans in mind. And with Cornelia now involve it will be interesting to see what she finds out from VV and if we figure out more of VV or the Emperor's plan in the upcoming episodes.

While the whole episode was very good it was the ending that made this episode go from another good R2 episode to being one of the top episodes of the series. The ending really sets up various characters, especially Lelouch, into an interesting positions. It will be interesting to see how the aftermath of Shirley's death will go down once the other main and supporting characters learn of her death.

Episode Rating - 9.7/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 12

"Love Attack!"

Review
Outside of the school festival episode and moments for fans Lelouch/C.C. and Lelouch/Kallen relationships R2 has largely dealt with the serious tone of the war being fought. This episode was a nice break from the actual war between the Black Knights and Britannia.

Seeing how Lelouch dealt with the "problem" of Sayoko making the playboy of the school with so many dates scheduled and then having to deal with Milly's going away party was fun to see. It was pretty funny seeing everyone, even Lelouch, overreact to how Sayoko was over doing it with her trying to get away from everyone chasing her while she was Lelouch. It is cool seeing that the writers made Sayoko into a super martial artist and hopefully we will see more of the Super-Maid in action against real opponents in future episodes.

Also I was glad that the writers of the show have move the subplots of Milly and Shirley. For Milly it looks like her overall story arc is over and we will only be seeing her occassionally as a reporter on TV. Also from the looks of the end of the episode the things aren't looking good for Shirley since she now remembers everything about Lelouch and her being brainwashed. I kind of wonder were they are going to take Shirley now since there are multiple ways her character can go from here.

As always though the writers continue to develop all the other plots, except for the Emporers endgame (weird!?), going on during the war. We get to see that Nunally will be spending time with Kallen, the remaining children of Emperors (sans Cornelia) meeting to talk about the Chinese Federation, Cornelia learning about Geass, and V.V. and Jeremiah starting their endgame. All these subplots helped to balance out the light moments of that we got over in Ashford. And probably being seeing more of these little moments during this mini Return to Ashford arc.

Though at the same time while it was good to see the writers continue to work on all the subplots of the war this episode has me question if R2 has to many plotlines going into the halfway mark. We probably get two or three more episodes of Lelouch in Ashford so that means even less time to wrap up the war. While we got the plotlines mentioned above moving along we also still have the to learn what both the Emperor's endgame involving the Sword of Alabaska is about, what Schneizel has planned, Lelouch getting Kallen back, what are V.V. true intentions, and what C.C. wish is (death?) to name a few. The other problem is that with such a huge cast unless they start killing of some of the supporting cast it will be harder to end all the various plotlines running across R2 to were they can satisfy all the fans. Though since this show is not known for killing off their major characters or supporting cast I hope the writers don't start rushing through all the various plots.

Still this isn't anything against this episode but it will be interesting to see how the writers will deal with this and if these concerns will grow in later episodes. Overall while not one strongest episodes, this was a fun episode that help bring some comedy to the show before getting back to the serious tone R2 is has set for itself this season.

Episode Rating - 7.8/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lealouch of the Rebellion R2 10

"When Shen Hu Wins Glory"

Review
For the past few episodes we have seen the mecha fighting take a back seat to all the various characters setting up what is looking more and more like a World War. While this episode continues that development this episode brings back the mecha fighting to the forefront.

Though unlike other anime were the mecha fighting is just some senseless fighting Code Geass has proven that anytime there are big mechas fighting it is more about the strategy than the actual fighting. The difference from this battle to all the other battles in Code Geass I found it hard to root for one side over the other. Xingke ha quickly become one of my favorite characters and he definitely moved up the bad ass ladder in this episode. Not only is he a great Knightmare pilot that can go toe to toe with Kallen but he is also a brilliant strategist that he was able to go tactic to tactic with Lelouch. Though it seems that with his illness (Leukemia?) it may be foreshadowing that he may be a casualty of the war.

And speaking of Xingke able to out strategize Lelouch this episode, with the last episode, we have started to see Lelouch get raddled more than previously seen. While deciding try and get back Kallen at first glance seems like an uncharacteristic decision I actually think it is in line with Lelouch's character, especially in R2. It is moves like this that remind the viewer that for as brilliant as Lelouch is that he is still a teenager and continues to allow his emotions over power his mind. With that decision it lead to the Black Knights to be back into a corner and it will be interesting to se how they get out of it. Also it will be interesting to see who Lelouch has posing as himself in Ashford.

Episode Rating - 9.2/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 9

"A Bride in the Vermilion Forbidden City"

Review
I have to hand to the writers of this show for making the talking heads moments are just as compelling, if not more, than the action scenes. That is rare no a days especially when the anime/cartoon main mode of fighting are with huge mechas that there characters pilot (cough*Gundam*cough). But as Code Geass has shown it is one of those rare shows that we get every once in a while that we get that keeps the viewer on the edge of there seat whether it is during all the mecha fighting or if it is characters siting around a table talking and playing chess. In this this episode all the mechas basically serve as nothing more than statues that are shortly seen in the beginning part of the episode. Instead this episode was basically based on the latter with a big party and wedding that Zero and The Black Knights crash.

This episode basically had everything a person may expect from Code Geass (minus mecha battles). There was fanservice (LelouchXKallen), usual CC comedy, meeting between two leaders of the war (Lelouch and Schneizel), betrayal (Zero kidnapping the young Chinese princess), and the appearance of characters we haven't seen in a while (VV and Jerimiah).

The best part of this episode was the chess match between Lelouch and Schneizel. It is rare to see Lelouch sweet in these types of moments since he was obviously on edge throughout the match continuously thinking of a new strategy to beat his older brother. During this match I remembered what was a throw away line in R1 that is said again in this episode before the match. That was Lelouch telling himself that Schneizel is the only person that Lelouch could never beat. It is going to be interesting to see were the writers will take Schneizel since we have seen more of him than the emperor this season and he seems to have his own endgame in mind.

This episode continues to do a great job reminding the viewer that there really is a war going on and the chess match and the political marriage that was interrupted were nice tools to reminded of this fact. It will be interesting to see what Lelouch has in mind for the young Chinese princess he kidnapped at the wedding. We will probably be seeing a lot of mecha battles next episodes since both Xingke and the Britannian army will be going after The Black Knights to get the princess back.

The one thing that I did not enjoy about this episode was that right when Zero entered the party the scene suddenly cut to Milly and Nina confrontation out in a balcony. This scene seem to come out of nowhere since I thought both these girls were suppose to be friends and the scene seemed to be just forced into the episode even though we did not need this confrontation that lasted one minute. Also with each episode she appears I am getting more and more annoyed by Nina's character since she has basically become the b!@#$ character every show has.

Overall this was another great episode of R2. It is great to see that this series is heading into more of a global war since it helps makes the scope of R2 much bigger and epic that R1.

Episode Rating - 9.3/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 8

"One Million Miracles"

Review
After spending most of last weeks episode in a state depression this episode was Lelouch at his best leading the Black Knights and convincing everyone his plan would work. Even though Lelouch was able to get everyone to go along with his plan there is already dissension in the ranks of the Black Knights. It seems that the writers are setting things up for Todoh and some of the other Black Knights who have not gotten over being abandoned by Lelouch during the Black Rebellion in the second half of R2.

Throughout the episode we see Lelouch the three different sides Lelouch plays: Lelouch Lamperouge the student; Zero the leader of the Black Knights; and Lelouch vi Britannia his true personality that he shows to only the people he trust. It is interesting how seamless he is able to go from one persona to the other without having others realize when the change occurs.

It is interesting to see how Lelouch is also able to manipulate Rolo and Villetta in order to keep his cover. But now with Lelouch being in exile I wonder what plan he has set in place for people not to question Rolo and Villetta were he is since he is constantly being watched by the Britannian army.

I continue to enjoy seeing how Lelouch is able to manipulate everyone from Suzaku to the Britannian army to even the Black Knights into thinking they are making their own choices but really they are all following his plan. Lelouch was smart to use the massacre Euphy committed back in R1 and make the million Black Knights and Japanese that participated in the neutral zone as Zeros since he knew Suzaku would not allow another massacre to happen since he doesn't want Nunally to also be known as a person who commits massacres. It will be interesting to see were Lelouch plans for everyone to go and if his relationship with the Chinese will continue or that the relationship ends now.

Speaking of Suzaku I found it interesting that his "live on" geass command that Lelouch placed on him in R1 to still be active. It makes things interesting since it looks like Suzaku is a bit suicidal. I get the feeling that by the end of the series Suzaku will actually die because of this geass command would torment his head to much were he will make a mistake in battle against Kallen or Todoh or another major character and will get himself killed.

One thing that I noticed about this episode is that this series has a huge cast with more people added to the cast. There is the ever growing members of the Black Knights, everyone at Ashford Academy, the Chinese Federation,The Knights of the Round (of which we have only seen 3 of the 12 members with speaking roles), VV, and the Britannian Royal Family. Almost everyone in the cast, so far, is either seen or mentioned in the episode. It makes me think that unless the writers actually start killing off some of the supporting cast that there will be to many plotlines in the end to resolve. And I kind of wonder were the hell is VV, who we haven't seen since the end of R1, and his relationship with the Emperor. I hope that we get to see more of the Royal Family especially the Emperor in future episodes since they are the only ones that we haven't seen much in terms of screen time or character development.

Overall this was another great episode of R2. I continue to be impressed who the writers of this series are able to deal with series topics like war, racism, nationalism, ideals and corruption without making this series be preachy. And now that Lelouch has taken the Black Knights out of Japan it will be interesting to see the wat between the Black Knights and Britannia into a global conflict and how the other countries will become involved.

Episode Rating - 8.7/10

Anime Review: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 7

Episode 7 - "The Abandoned Mask"

Review
After few weeks of not having a new episode of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 we finally get the first new episode of Code Geass this past Saturday. And this episode starts from were the last episode left of with Nunally officially announcing the Japanese neutral zone. Since it is the same plan that Euphy used late in the last season I don't see this plan working. With Zero's announcement of him accepting the offer it only looks to backfire on Nunally's face.

This episode was filled with some great Lelouch moments. It was interesting seeing Lelouch go through the different stages of depression. Johnny Bosh has done an incredible job capturing the voice of Lelouch and the differences of the voice Lelouch uses when he is Lelouch Lamperouge student, Zero, and the former royal prince of Britannia. Lelouch showed a great edge to him in this episode and he definetely had his Light Yagami moments in this episode in were he mercilessly made all those Japanese guys do different acts and then at the end of the episode he was able to quickly create a strategy to take down the Britannia army sent to hunt the Black Knights. But at the same time the writers of this show were quick to show that Lelouch may have similar characteristics to Light from Deathnote he is still a person that cares for the people around him. It was a nice moment when Lelouch regains his motivation to fight by realizing that the reason he fights his father is not only to create a better world for his sister but also for all his friends. It was an interesting image in the roof were Lelouch saw the image of all his friends from his school, that include Suzaku, Kallen, Nunally, and Lisa, but that CC was not part of the image.

This episode is were the LelouchxKallen shippers are going to start calling for that pair to end up together. It was interesting to see Lelouch actually proposition Kallen for sex, though not explicitly stated it was implied. I will be interested to see were the writers of this show take this sub-plot and will give more LelouchxKallen moments in this season. Though again let me say I could care less if Lelouch ends up with CC, Kallen, Shirley, or who ever since I do not consider this a romance anime and see it as a much more action/strategic based anime.

Outside of this part of the episode I enjoyed seeing the Emperor of Britannia back in the show. For being the ruler of the world it is surprising that we have not seen more of the Emperor in this series. He definetely gives that tough as nails Emperor vibe off well and hopefully we see more of him in the future.

Overall this was another great episode of R2. This new season has definetely done a lot more character work for characters that used to be supporting characters as we see Kallen, Todoh and the rest of the Black Knights have their moments in each episode. It will be interesting to see what Lelouch has up his sleeve in the next episode.

Episode Rating - 9.1/10

Anime Review: Bleach 92 and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 6

Bleach 92: "Invasion of the Shinigami World, Again"

Review
After having about 6 or 7 very good Bleach episodes this episode returns to the slow and boring episode we have seen in the past. This episode mostly dealt with the Bounts and Ichigo and the gang return to the Soul Society. We really don't learn anything new in this episode that we already didn't now about the Bounts or Soul Society. Even the fight Koga and Dalk had against the Soul Reapers wasn't at all impressive because it didn't feel like a fight and only a bully imposing his will against a weak person since the Soul Reapers didn't really fight back, since they were defeated before they could.

The only real point of interest in this episode is that Yoruichi didn't take everyone straight to the Soul Society since she does not trust them at the moment. This could make the interactions between Ichigo and gang with the rest of the Soul Reapers interesting just to see how much they trust one another now after what happened in the last arc.

Episode Rating - 5.8/10

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 6: "Operation Pacific Ocean Ambush"

Review
After last weeks episode that mainly focused on Lelouch life at school and how he interacts with Suzaku this episode returns to the fast paced nature R2 has been known for. What is most interesting about R2 that R1 didn't have as much is until the end is the sense of urgency each episode has. With so many characters now knowing Lelouch is or was Zero it really test how smart and manipulative Lelouch can be. The two conversations Lelouch has with Nunally, one as Lelouch and the other as Zero, gives the feeling that Lelouch may not be able to keep both his life as Lelouch Lamperouge and Zero separate as long as he did in R1.

While it will be interesting to see what Lelouch does in the future it was the action scenes that made this episode. I got to say this is maybe the first time were I thought Kallen was a badass character in the new Guren Mk II that is able to fly now. I always thought she was a cool character but now she is on a badass level of Lelouch, Suzaku and CC. I also continue to enjoy both Gino and Anya's characters just because it is refreshing seeing Knightmare pilots that are on par with Suzaku and Kallen. Hopefully we will see the other Knights of the Round soon just to see someone that may be an even better pilot than Suzaku and Kallen.

I have to give much credit to those that made the score for all the scenes in this episode. Much of the excitement of the action scenes was given by the score to go along with the fight scenes made it so that when something was happening on the screen to feel breath taking, at least close to. So with great animation and a score to go along with it this episode continues to make R2 just as exciting as R1 was.

Episode Rating - 9.3/10