Code Geass: Where everyone loses

One of the things I liked about Code Geass was how there wasn't really a hero.  (I know that's one of the things that turned a lot of people off it.)  I mean, the protagonist was definite anti-hero material, but the guy who looked likely to be the hero was, well, hardly spotless himself.  (I'm trying to avoid being a spoiler monkey here.) 

In fact, it's hard to really pick who's "right" in this situation because there's so darn much necessary evil being thrown around that you'd have to seriously redefine "right" to pick a winner.  You have two people who have the same goal, are going about it through different channels and are 100% committed to doing whatever it takes to reach that goal.  Needless to say, there's a lot of conflict in the show.  (And that's not even including the 60 gojillion other characters who have things at stake.)

Many people have mentioned how over-the-top and melodramatic this series is.  They mention the hilarity of some of the overblown dialogue. (I would probably argue that it's not unintentional, as many claim.)  They mention the swamp it makes of morality.  They also mention how a viewer can notice all these things and still be addicted to the show.  For all the near-camp content, it did win awards for a reason.  It's a glorious, flashy, attractive, sometimes even thought-provoking (if you can spare the time to think) mess.  Everyone loses, and I still watch it.


If you've seen Code Geass, do you dislike Lelouch and Suzaku equally, or do you harbor a soft spot for one of them?  Why?

Le Chevalier D'Eon: Knights and Samurai

One thing that surprised me about Le Chevalier D'Eon was how clear the parallels were between revolutionary France and revolutionary Japan.  Quite honestly, I'd never thought about them, but I'm hardly a scholar of either time period.

Some similarities:

• An outdated system of personal loyalty
• Countries tearing themselves apart
• Revolution overthrowing the old order

Honestly, it wasn't really until the last disc that I started seeing this.  Before then, I'd been unhappy with King Louis, wondering if he was as much of a jerk as he seemed.  I questioned D'Eon's blind loyalty to a king like him.  When he was in Russia and found someone who needed and could probably deserve his loyalty, and he sincerely refused because he already had a liege, I kind of wanted to smack him.  Instead I just sighed and looked pained and rolled my eyes and smiled crookedly like the others with D'Eon because innocents like D'Eon are transparent to the core and a bit embarrassing.  You don't argue with them because you can't win; no logic will sway them.  The way things are is ingrained in them by birth and choice. 

I can admire loyalty and commitment to a liege, but maybe I'm too highly influenced by Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga where loyalty is never completely blind and where the overall good is the goal, sometimes at (too) great cost to the heroes.  (I'm particularly thinking of Shards of Honor and Barrayar here [NOTE: In 2001, Barrayar was a Nominee for the Seiun Award--Japanese Hugo--for best translation of a foreign novel.])

I give Le Chevalier D'Eon credit for sympathetically showing other reactions to the call for blind loyalty in knights.  D'Eon was the protagonist, but that doesn't mean he's always right. 

I find myself wondering if some anime or Japanese movie has done as good a job at showing the range of options open to the samurai in their similar situation.  It was pretty peripheral in Rurouni Kenshin and the Shinsengumi anime that's made it's way over here (PeaceMaker comes to mind).

Can you think of any good examples?