Posted by 
I realize that most of my random musings entries these days aren’t really random musings, but rather news posts or quick thoughts on stuff. Regardless, I wrote this entry in one sitting off the top of my head, so consider this the first true “Random Musings” in a long time, and please forgive me if I ramble a little.
Here’s a question that’s been on my mind recently: Have CODE GEASS and Kanon set the bar too high? One of GEASS’s biggest strength is that it has fantastic writing with plot twists and turns one after another that keep you guessing on what’s going to happen. Kanon’s visuals and emotional impact meanwhile are what I consider a new standard for that type of show, or even for all anime. Between those two, Thursdays for the past half year have been pretty incredible. I’m sad really that they’ve ended, at least for now.
The reason that question has come up is because it’s starting to feel like I’m less and less easily impressed by new stuff. Take for example this upcoming season. Out of the dozens of new shows, I have only perhaps six or seven that I really want to see, but even then, I’m not really looking forward to anything in particular. In fact, I admit that I’m looking forward to a couple of those series largely because they have good musical talent lined up.
Now technically the new season has already started with the first episode of Hitohira and the advance previews of the first episodes for Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA and Seirei no Moribito. But both Hitohira and Seirei no Moribito left me feeling rather underwhelmed (you might have noticed that I didn’t blog either and I don’t intend to now). Sure, they both had good production quality: Seirei no Moribito in particular had some fantastic background visuals. Hitohira had a main character Mugi with plenty of cute qualities, and it’s always a pleasure to hear Kawasumi Ayako. The problem is that neither show presented me anything that compelled me to want to continue watching – nothing that made me say “I really want to find out what happens.”
And then there’s Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA. This was the show I was looking forward to, and perhaps my expectations were too high because I ended up being disappointed. Of course, I’ll still watch it in hopes that it gets better since it is a Sunrise series and features several of my favorite voice actresses. But therein lies the issue: I’m going to continue watching it because I know it’s Sunrise. It may still turn out to be crap, but I expect it to be good because it’s by a studio and staff that I’ve had a good track record with, so I’m giving it a second chance.
I probably wouldn’t give that chance if this were another group and might even consider dropping the show after seeing just one episode. You might say that I trust Sunrise to reach that high bar in storytelling and character development. The same applies for Lucky Star when it airs next week: even if the first episode turns out to be completely not funny, I’ll keep watching it since it’s Kyoto Animation. I hate to say it, but because I have limited time to go through a lot, the shows of other studios – with a few exceptions like BONES – have to perform well early on or else I’d need some type of motivation to stick with it (usually in the form of a trusted friend who recognizes the good points that I might not see).
Having said all that, I’m sure I won’t think about this as much once the rush of Spring 2007 season really gets started in a day or so. Hopefully there’ll be some unexpectedly good shows that are still relatively under my radar, like Suzumiya Haruhi was a year ago. And if not, in the worse of cases, there’s always the rest of CODE GEASS and CLANNAD to look forward to in the coming seasons…
I don’t know, Omni. I think it’s great to not expect anything as it will only create opportunities for some unknown show to come around and grab attention. I actually think that’s the good thing about not expecting anything really. The joy of finding great new shows without necessarily hunting for them or expecting them.
I also think your tastes in anime lean more on the gravitas of the story lines, especially the ones with some underlying mysteries and revelations to come. Though personally, I’m perfectly content with a solidly done sports show or even the occasional magical girl stuff. It’s sort of good to have varying standards I guess. It depends on the expectations.
I think Geass has spoiled me terribly. I used to watch shows like Bleach and D.Grayman, but now I find I have barely any interest in them anymore. I’m finding them boring. And with the new ones coming up there are only a handful that look really interesting, but nothing I’m really dying to see. Maybe Darker then Black and Romeo+Juliet will prove to be good…I hope so.
Code Geass definitely set the bar, plot wise, but i think there’s still hope for upcoming series. Besides, Geass showed that their are many more storylines to explore. It can influence other animes to be more risky.
There’ve been animes in the past that I believed to have been great, but they soon paled in comparison to later series. It’s still too early to tell.
I think as we watch more and more shows, that is inevitable. The majority of movies does recycle the same thing. This is true for any movies, and not just anime.
Once we see experience something that has high standards, the rest would not feel as interesting/enjoyable as before. Dare I say, this is also somewhat true for a lot of other things in life, like games, food, cars, etc.
So maybe the solution is to avoid all the things that set these high standards. With a low expectation, it is easier to find things that give us satisfaction.
Then again, it’s already too late for us :b
Sorry if I wonder off topic, but that has been on my mind for a while…
oh stop being so dramatic! :rofl: ^_
Only animes with superb/intelligent story-telling appeal to me right now, after been spoiled to masterpeices such as FMA, Juuni Kokki, Gankutsuou, and especially GiTS series. Throughout the past seasons, I have watched a lot of the new animes in the beginning, but then dropped many of them one-by-one coz of the disappointing storyline.
I could only sad that many animes nowadays lack the depth of storyline. Animes that I’m still watching so far are only Code Geass, Death Note, and Bakumatsu. Kanon wasn’t on my list coz romance genres aren’t my cup of tea @@
Looking forward to Darker than Black, Serei no moribito(it’s has Kamiyama Kenji after all XD), and RomeoXJuliet(Gankutsuou influence)
ok…this site just cut off my last post… i so don’t get it. :vein:
*re insert here*
oh stop being so dramatic! :rofl:
while i mostly agree witht he above post ^ *musouka* i also think it got to do with the fact we are now maturing into our tastes, which is only natural after so much anime. I mean when i saw the new line up i could easily tell you which ones i won’t be seeing just by looking at the pic and reading the first line of summary.
After experiencing so much anime, we now know what we like, and thus are more picky about what we see.
Bones and Sunrise tends to have the same taste as me, so i always give a look over on what they produce, there is nothing wrong with that, if you find a good store you always go back, same with this.
Your tastes have just matured, you no longer dying to watch everything because you finally grown into anime. *most people who are first introduce into anime love it in compariosn to western animation, but after time mature into anime as they are now ‘use to it’*
Its simply the way of things, end of ^^
I can agree, but for me it is a feeling that fades. Kind of like eating the best piece of pizza ever. After that any other kind of pizza just won’t satisfy you, but once some time has passed eventually your taste for other kinds of pizza will return. Sure, you still remember that great flavor, but you are no longer craving it.
Of course everyone is different. Some people will hold onto that great piece of pizza until they find another one just as good or even better. I feel sorry for those kind of people. They end up missing many great things in life. Even if a series isn’t as good as Code Geass it might end up being an awesome show that impacts you in another way.
I USED TO WATCH NARUTO
I have the same feeling. It’s not that I don’t have the time to catch up on old anime – it’s because I can’t wait for the next episode of DN, CG, and Kanon and I won’t watch anything else until their sub release. Everything is boring now, and the new seasons do not look very interesting. For now, I think I’ll rely on popular opinion and prehypes… even if I might miss out on hidden gems, it’s not like fansubs can do every show of each season nor will there be anyone out there to talk about it to.
i don’t really know about kanon. but i think that code geass is not as great as you are saying it is. it is not really that unpredictable. besides euphemia going on a killing spree. everything that happened until then has been pretty much done before and follow a pretty set pattern.
and if you do believe that they are setting the bar higher than that would do good for anime wouldn’t it? since then it sort of forces the companies to produce better work than a lot of the random garbage that come out way too often. sometimes animes that have an interesting summary and plot turn out to be horrible because the production team sucked. in any case code geass is definitely what i would use as a new and improved benchmark anime for future animes. it is good but not THAT good
Exactly my thoughts. I couldn’t really say for Kanon, having never watched an episode, but really, ever since Code Geass, I never went “Ohh this is so awesome!” at an anime. And only two of all the upcoming animes caught my attention. And they’re only the “Oh well dead sun couldn’t stick in the last two episodes so I have to find something to fill this endless void in me rite though nothing can compare” kind of interest. Code Geass has totally surprassed all of my expectations. Heck, at the beginning, I wouldn’t even have thought of watching it if not for CLAMP and Lelouch. But it proved me wrong. Completely wrong.
“I think Geass has spoiled me terribly. I used to watch shows like Bleach and D.Grayman, but now I find I have barely any interest in them anymore. I’m finding them boring”
Totally agree with you there Zalem. I just can’t watch them anymore without comparing to Geass =(
Both Lelouch and C.C. set the bar high for my favorite all time characters, Lelouch for male and C.C. for female, and my expectations of the types of characters that anime nowadays should be having. I don’t know whether or not I’ll find someone as interesting and complex as Lelouch or as mysterious and awesome as C.C.
Meh, I tend to have my “AWESOME SENSE” fire off at certain titles.
Maybe Idolmaster XENOGLOSSIA will turn out to be Overman King Gainer AWESOME.
Also, we gotta strap jaalin down to a chair and make him marathon Naruto.
It’s a great thing to set the bar higher!!! It means we’ve come this far, sure it makes it harder to meet standards and pass them, but having such a high goal will make other works at a higher level than it would’ve been otherwise. It’s a good thing to have a high bar, it’s how everything has evolved so far.
I do know what you mean, but I’ve had completely the opposite reaction this season. 2006 wasn’t a great year for anime and me; true, I was very busy with far more important things, but I didn’t really see anything that started last year that totally grabbed me. Sure, there were some good shows (whilst I don’t share your fondness for Geass and Kanon, they were/are very well made; Kanon just wasn’t my cup of tea, and Geass is a bit silly sometimes), but nothing really leapt out at me that much.
Part of the problem may be blogging stuff, really. I remember a few months ago you were thinking of putting RandomC on hold, but then didn’t end up doing so in the end (which is great for us!); perhaps you really do need a break to refresh? I don’t know whether or not you feel this way, but occasionally I find that watching shows can be a bit of a chore; not because they’re bad, but sometimes it feels like a chore to keep up just so you don’t fall behind on the blogging. I always get caught up in the race to blog the new shows as quickly as possible at the start of every season; this is symptomatic of me being hideously competitive I guess, but it’s almost inevitable that after posting about 50 new entries in the space of a couple of weeks I get burnt out, for instance. Maybe a season where things don’t really excite you and you just take it easy is exactly what you need?
Geass is the best anime i have ever seen in my entire life. /end
Code Geass – best anime? writing? script?…..not by my standards.
Try Satoshi Kon’s Paranoia Agent, Gankutsuou, GITS : SAC 2, RahXephon, Death Note.
Kanon for emotional impact?…I dunno, I don’t watch Kanon. My benchmark would be Saikano. Makoto Shinkai’s Byousoku 5 cm was awesome as well and is something I can relate to as I had a similar experience a long time ago, although mine was less dramatic and the scenery around me wasn’t as beautiful.
I guess I’m of a different age group from most of you who visit and run this site.
I still enjoy Geass (currently at episode 17) as well as Bleach (shounen guilty pleasure).
P.S : One of the best shows I’ve seen this past year has got to be Kemonozume. Many regular anime fans probably ignored it becoz of it’s art direction and vulgarity, but it inspired me nonetheless. (I’m a photographer/digital painter and some of my current exhibited works were inspred by Kemonozume). Worst ever has got to be Paradise Kisses… Shaaallooow!
Cheers, Omni.
Mmmmm, gonna agree with nightingale; Code Geass is good, but it’s not like, the pinnacle of all great things anime. Some of it makes me go “what D:”, not in a good way. (eg, how could Suzaku, who had no experience with the mechas prior, pilot Lancelot so well just by reading the manual? And Lelouch, who didn’t read one at all? And why do the opening sequences suck so bad when the animation for the series itself is awesome?) Those two really stick out because with the ease of learning how to pilot comes the cheapening of everyone’s piloting skills (if you can even label it as such.) And the opening is the first thing someone’s going to see on a series, so it shouldn’t be that…bad.
Code Geass is definitely one of the best animes I’ve watched so far. It may not have super spectacular writing, plot, direction as some other ‘deeper’ animes but one thing’s for sure is that Code Geass is entertaining to watch and it does that really good. For that is enough for me to place it high on my top animes list
codegeass is one of the most entertaining anime and one of best anime
i didnt watch kanon but i have many anime which i enjoy to watch like naruto bleach deathnote onepiece
and i am sure next season will have good anime as codegeass
Honey and Clover >>>>>>>> Both Kanon versions.
Kanon is old. Having KyoAni take its game storyline and remaking it with fantastic visuals by no means qualify it to set bars of its own. The drama was done, what, 5 years ago, nothing new here for the few that played/saw the original Kanon anime. And visual wise, its been matched by numerous other KyoAni productions.
now, seriously, code geass? I agree, it is entertaining to watch and I greatly enjoy it, but by no means does it set any bars. It’s mecha, it has two interesting characters, it’s silly and/or crazy at times. period. it is a good show, it’s _not_ special. it might stand out currently because it is one of the few animes recently that have not sucked in one way or another, but I have the strong feeling that this will change in this spring season, which has lots of promise. my personal first rule of watching anime, which has proven itself time and time again, is: don’t ditch a show after only one episode.
I’ve had this problem for a long time now. There was one time when i was able to watch any anime and find something good in it to keep me going. I use to watch so much, and i was always looking forward to it. Until about a couple of years ago when i started narrowing anime down to the top favorites.
Because i watched such high quality anime in such a short time, after that period, i haven’t been able to watch any others that aren’t on par. Now i barely even watch anime. I’m always hoping that each season there’s at least 1 decent anime out i can wait for.
Otherwise naruto manga keeps me going. Code geass is definttely the best since the days of samurai champloo, mushishi, mai otome, FMP TSR, etc…
Death note should be up there too, unfortunately i’ve already read the manga.
Kanon setting the bar high? You got to be joking me…..
*throws up on the ground.
I agree with brx. This season (winter) pretty much sucked. There were only 3 or maybe 4 animes worth watching. That’s why Code Geass looks so damn good (not that it isn’t good).
Kanon was good but certainly not the best. I thought Bokura ga Ita was better than Kanon.
Anyway the new season is looking good. Much better than the last season of anime.
BONES could prove that they still have it with DtB and Production IG’s Seirei no Moribito is also really impressive (visuals and animation).
I can’t wait to see Lucky Star and DtB, but other than those there aren’t any animes that I really can’t wait to watch.
I think Oh!-EDO ROCKET is really going to be a hit. I also think that Ookiku Furikabutte will be one of the better sports anime yet.
Lol, Geass. I can’t get how it set any standard, it sure is fun but empty barely well done campy entertainment at that.
Ah, I really agree with some people here, Code Geass is not an anime to set any bars by all means, even in its own genre, for example Full Metal Panic and Eureka 7 have been much better already. Code Geass is really too silly for me to be taken seriously (as are most Sunrise series in fact). Sunrise even reused exactly the same character combination as in Gundam Seed oO;
On the other hand, Honey and Clover for sure made Kanon look really average to me (eventhough the animation of Kanon was great, the characters didn’t touch me nearly as much as in H&C).
But for me as well there are shows that set the bar a bit too high maybe, for example I still haven’t seen any other fantasy anime as good as Juuni Kokki. And yea, Honey & Clover definitely set the bar for me concerning any series that is slice of life / romance.
But well, I also think of Mai Otome to be one of the worst series I’ve ever seen, so … I’m maybe reading the wrong blog XD
While you and I see the good points of Kanon and GEASS, there are some people who haven’t followed GEASS and Kanon, and they are as blissfully ignorant as ever. (I recall finding the first minute of GEASS boring, and I almost stopped watching on that alone. Pathetic, I know, but I’ve done it before.Thank goodness I didn’t.)
Frankly, I don’t know whether your expectations are too high or not. Ideally, there’d be a way to automate the “screencaps” in an intelligent way, and there’d be time to do this and live off of it (without us spending money to access it). Of course, this is the real world.
There is always going to be the odd season where there’s nothing interesting. Heck, the best shows are always disappointing, IMO, because those are the ones that make you feel like you didn’t get enough content. And the ones that DO give you that content feel repeatitive. Considering anime is usually created in blocks divisible by 12 (give or take anywhere from 0 to plus or minus the number of episodes divided by 12 rounding down — i.e. for ~24 episodes, plus or minus 2.. so 22 to 26 episodes…), it’s hard to stop at exactly the moment where it will leave the most impact — without creating sobbing fans that would kill for more, and without leaving viewers bored. Even for … non-anime television, there are seasons which are “killer” and seasons which are “dull” (from a lack of innovation). The period from March 2006 to March 2007 was full of innovation — so I have a hunch the next 6 months will be relatively slow (save for the remnants of GEASS, and maybe a couple of others). It will take time to adjust to the new pace.
Still, I make these comments as a guy who thinks that it would be fun to create a “legal” subbing group (i.e. one that buys subbing/distribution/etc rights for DVD) that is non-profit and runs on volunteers, in North America. I dunno if I’d find enough people or capital to do it, though. And I don’t know how well that would work in real life. But I digress.
Ah, look at all the Kanon and Code Geass bashing taking place, enjoying a particular episode is one thing, to suggest that they might stand up favorable to shows like MoHS and Evangelion and you got a fight. As for Idolm@ster obviously you are giving up on it extremely quickly. Kanon obviously didn’t get where it did in one episode
Have to agree with some others that I don’t see Geass setting any high bars. Sure it’s good for a mecha series, but so were Eureka Seven and FMP: TSR. Story wise, it certainly doesn’t strike me as having the plot gravity of something like Berserk.
Out of the recent crop of series, Death Note is the only one I see as setting any kind of bar.
Well I agree Geass is awesome, and has spoiled me. It is the first anime I have been waiting for all week to come out in years. Kanon, however, was not THAT great in my eyes. I know theres some people that like it, but it is nowhere near the popularity of Geass
You guys really should stop name dropping Kanon into it and recalling other anime on top of it if you haven’t watched it.. Omni really isn’t kidding when he says Kanon seems to stand up and above most anime of its type even.
I have another problem besides the one you have Onmi.
For some reason, some good shows never get the chance to be subbed, or rather, are subbed very slowy. I know the fans do it for free and for their enjoyment, but my mind doesn’t register that fact, so… for this Spring 2007 I’ll watch the RAWs and then read your blog (hell yeah). Sure, I’m going to follow some series subbed like Lucky Star, Nanoha StrikerS, Romero & Juliet, but the other ones with the power of RAWs.
I feel the same as you Onmi. We need motivation.
BTW, yesterday Ayako Kawasumi turned 31, and she is still a goddess for me.
I have always thought anime shows were good because they made them from the better mangas, so there was already a natural pre-selection before we got to see them. I’m not a manga reader type, no idea how much of these new shows have a base, could it be that nowdays they just animate anything?
I wouldn’t say Kanon was THAT great. I mean, I slept through most of the episodes -_- None of the girls in the show actually act like a high school student. Ugh! H-game stereotyped!
Code Geass was alright as well. The thing that bothers me the most is its similarity to Death Note, especially the anti-hero aspect, which made the show totally unoriginal. There are too many stereotyped characters making it seems like there’s a format for how every character behave. I do like the animation quality, although the character design was nothing special. The show is starting to get some where…at least I hope so. Thus, I hope they’ll stop it with the political satire; it makes the show very anti-US/Anglo.
Overall, they are ‘ok’ shows that can pass as decent anime.
Kanon is still in my “to-watch” list, so nothing I can comment on it. I liked Code Geass too, but I also don’t think it’s a masterpiece or anything like that. Still very good for what is is, however.
It’s fun, and despite campy/cheesy aspects it’s managed to build up a good plot with a lot of potential that Sunrise hopefully doesn’t demolish (a 50/50 chance of that), but I know there’s been better stuff out there, especially in terms of pacing and plot mechanics (Death Note would be superior, in my book…but having read the manga, my interest is smaller than it would have been).
Code Geass and Kanon were really good animes. I was originally just want to watch Kanon but when I ran out of anime I decided to watch Code Geass and it got me hooked. It was indeed sad that Kanon ended and Code Geass will end soon too. But we have to keep moving after all 🙂 Oh well, I know I’ll be waiting for CLANNAD when it comes out. Of course, I’ll be on stand by for any other good animes as well. After all, 2007 is just starting.
Shippoyasha: well it depends, Kanon definitely is the best harem series I know (together with Air) – in the slice of life-genre however it really isn’t that great, or at least it’s definitly not the best I have seen so far. I’m not saying it’s bad and I really like the beautiful atmosphere, but I’ve seen much better already (like I said, for me, Kanon doesn’t even come close to Honey & Clover).
I couldn’t have any time of watching Code Geass but having tempted to do so despite my distaste for suspense(and its fast-pace story). Kanon was okay but it didn’t gave that much of oomph unlike its previous one. I neglected to watch Death Note for my own idiocy and now I was seriously hooked, and Manabi Straight was too cute to describe.
But not a lot of series of Winter gave me any interest, but lets hope the Spring series will bloom like cherry blossoms!
Well, I agree with your thoghts Omni, however it’s just normal that you may get used to it. I think a point for you may be also, that you want to keep your blog active as good as possible and therefore watch shows which, when you really go inside you, won’t watch.
Now you’ve reached a point that you often have the impression “I’ve seen this before somewhere”. Well, that how life is and don’t forget, that doing anime is and stays business. You see, it’s “easy” if you adopt something. Kanon for example has all the things set in the game, and it’s so much easier to add some new stuff and ideas to an existing masterpiece than creating one – clear. Now if you create a new anime you’ll of course structure parts of it with elements which proved to be popular/good. In the end those people want to make money, since otherwise it could be dangerous for their existence. Keep this fact in mind, no matter which anime you are watching. Now it’s of course nice if a studio tries something completely new, however such a studio needs ressources to do that. So it’s no problem to play around a bit, the money is still there.
Small studios are risking their existence in doing that. It might be top, but also a flop.
Well, the fortunate thing about Geass is that it isn’t overusing coincidental circumstances, yet… As long as they can explain the events in a reasonable manner, this should very well be the best series of this year.
“as long as they can explain the events in a reasonable manner”
Ah but that is the issue, so far they explained almost nothing.
We do get a few things but the majority things are left unexplained,in 23 episodes the writers seen to dig such a hole they need months to just create a ending for ending for the first season.
That’s an interesting topic. I’ve watched both Code Geass and Kanon 2006 and in my opinion they’re the best anime of their genre, so they might have set the bar quite high… but in my opinion not ooo high, since they have some weak points… this should motivate the producers to create anime that are as great or even better.
Code Geass: Greatest anime I’ve seen so far and I’ve watched many. It has great plot twists, deep characters, dramatic parts (especially ep 22+23) but comedy as well.
Death Note is average compared to GEASS.
Kanon 2006: I really like Kanon and I totally don’t agree that they are typical eroge characters; the setting might be quite normal, but the character’s are much deeper than most harem-anime. I did have quite an emotional impact on me, especially Mai’s/Sayuri’s and Shiori’s archs.
Why are people referring to Kanon as a harem series? 😕
Because its origin is a eroge game, most of the female cast was after the protagonist.
What, is CG really that good? I’ve thought about getting into it a lot of times, but just looking at it kind of pisses me off. It sounds like someone mashed Death Note and Gundam Seed together. I’ve seen better character writing than the parts I’ve seen of it. Or maybe I’m biased because I don’t like the animation?
Kanon was pretty nice, though, and I didn’t even start at the beginning.
I agree. Where has all the good anime gone? I think the good directors and such have just made enough money by now and retired or something.
But who knows… maybe we’ll be surprised?
I agree that Kanon and CG were clearly the best anime of fall 2006. In CG’s case I think the excitment and entertainment level was extremely hi, it will be difficult for any spring show to replace. That’s why I’m not as psyched about this season, where everything looks mediocre in comparison.
Exactly Omni…Exactly. Amen.
for those of you who keep comparing death note and code geass, don’t.
lets take plot for example, in dn, this bored teenager gets a book that can kill people and uses it to kill criminals. in geass, an exiled prince makes a contract with a mysterious girl, giving him the power to give absolute commands to people. both concepts are quite simplistic but brilliantly executed. but besides that, theres no similarity at all. and you could probably already tell how different the pacing and the settings are…
for characters, dn revolves around Light and his main opposition, L, [spoiler]and later M and N[/spoiler]. the few unimportant, negligible side characters thrown in are rarely ever developed, but the depth of the main characters makes up for it. all geass characters'(over 20 of them) have contributed to the storyline in some manner and the side characters have affected the outcomes of many, many crucial events throughout the story.
dont even get me started on music…
the main reason people are comparing these two animes is probably the anti-hero protagonists.
for those of you who only watched the first few eps of geass and/or dn, you would probably assume they’re basically clones of each other. but Light accepted and used the power to kill on his own accord, while Lelouch is forced into it by many, many guns pointed at him… in fact, every sin Light commits, he chooses to commit, where everything Lelouch does, he does out of necessity.
Light’s motive in itself is quite evil, to become a god and create a world of his choosing simply because he’s bored, while Lelouch is driven by his desire to create a world where his sister can live happily, to find out his mother’s murderer and to overthrow his evil father’s empire – quite noble in my humble opinion.
Light is a heartless, godly mastermind who doesnt EVER feel guilt for what he does and doesnt ever make any mistakes, save his last one. Lelouch is a character whom most people can connect to, he knows about the consequences of his actions and faces them head-on, he makes mistakes, repents, takes full responsibility for them, and makes the most of what he has.
these two anti-heros are no doubt the most brilliant of their kind, but they share nothing in common except the fact that they’re anti-heros. and the series themselves are both excellent but dn and geass have pretty much nothing in common, besides that they’re both excellent. its all about personal preference. and I prefer geass mostly because i’ve already read the manga, if i hadnt, i would probably be wow’ing at every new ep of dn just as im doing geass right now.
and one last note, dont EVER compare gundam seed to code geass… just dont
my heart dies a little every time someone does T.T…
I think you are right, Omni. The bar has been raised and it affects your perceptions of the upcoming anime. The spring shows look rather dull, like they are remakes of stuff that’s been done before. I’ve come to realize that in some form or another, everything is a remake. On the other hand, the genius is in the telling of the story, not the summary of it. Truly original stuff is rare, but when it comes along, it’s wonderful to see.
Thanks for taking the time to cull the wheat from the chaff. We all really appreciate your blog!
Minikui, I agree actually. There’s been a lot of great romantic/harem type shows over the years. Hell, even the fairly recent Zero no Tsukaima was pretty fun.
Though what sets Kanon apart a bit is how KyoAni managed to make it a full blown drama at the end. It could actually ended on a sadder tone which would’ve been better IMO, but that’s what it turned into in the end.
falscribe, Code Geass is great because of the pretty snappy dialogue even if its premise really is a bit of a mix of Gundam Seed and Death Note. Which is not a negative comment from me since I liked both Gundam Seed and Death Note stories. But there is a lot more political animosity and borderline deus-ex moments and underlying mystery that runs Code Geass. So at the very least, it’s a worthy watch and the show simply does not tries to patronize the viewers too much while doing so. Which is always a welcome thing with anime.
eh. i never watch Code Geass (because of “green hair”)
@Drakron: You didn’t expect them to explain everything immediately did you?
The most unreasonable event thus far was probably the invasion of the Chinese Federation. There was really no prior lead-in except for end-of-the-episode spoilers. As long as they explain them in due time, then it’s alright.
i dunno, i really thought code geass set up a very nice bar up there. ok, so maybe it has some weak points in a few episodes here and there, but its a show that actually made you WANT the next episode badly…so i actually understood omni’s choice of mai otome as the best anime of 2006 a while back, because of the “omg” moments they provided you.
and SERIOUSLY, if people are criticizing code geass for having an anti hero like death note and yaddi yaddi yada, i think its because you never actually watched it in its entirety?!
in any case, although there is a definite border line between good anime and the horrid ones, its really subjective when it comes down to the very best that one likes. so far, code geass has really done the job for me ^^.
as for this season…sigh…i ll just follow everything for the 1-3 eps, although my real hopes are for darker than black, and romeoxjuliet…they seem to be far more creative than the others on the radar ^^ (of course, the anime studios can always bring us a good surprise!)
as for the THEATRICAL anime releases…definitely looking forward to the evangelion remake. am i the only here that knows that KARA NO KYOUKAI is being made into a movie?! D:
(kara no kyoukai = light novel made by nasu kinoko, also famous for his type moon work like tsukihime + fate stay night ^^)
yup code geass was so amazing that the shows coming out this season just, well just pales in comparison… hopefully its not true as i’ll be unable to find an anime as fun and thrilling to watch when code geass ends soon >_
“unexpectedly good shows that are still relatively under my radar, like Suzumiya Haruhi ”
but..but..but… haruhi sucked. O_o
Yes, Code Geass definitely is set the bar high. I dont watch Kanon so I dunno but Geass really amaze me. The reason why I watched it first was Clamp & Sunrise. But afterward Im completely obsess with it & sticked with it in time every week. Its the first anime I did like this. (I usually wait the series complete airing & finish it in 2-3 days) But this one, I cant wait, I wanna know what happen next. Though that are a bunch of spoilers out of there but its still can made you surprise, its the best thing in Geass.
So Omni, maybe you are right. After watching Code Geass that really non a show can make me really looking forward. After looked at your spring review there are some series that I think maybe I’ll give this a look. Well, there are 2 shows now that I hope will not dissapointed me – one is RomeoXJuliet (the trailer is quite awesome) & the other one is the show after Code Geass, Darker Than Black.
But I think I’ll wait it to finish first before I start watching. Since Code Geass cliffhanger really had made me scared. T0T T0T Gonna wait until summer…
Hey, Kanon was good, but definitely not the best of its genre (assuming genre is more closer towards “slice of life” than the overabused term “harem”). Honey & Clover is my standards for an anime that pulls on your emotions, and Kanon does it without breaking a sweat by just catering to those individual stories, and doesn’t give you the big picture. Honey & Clover was such a good picture of life, the randomness of events and how people deal with it, move on (The “thing” that happened in season 2 among others), the overlapping storylines, the perfectly fitting music. I don’t think there has been any slice of life anime better than H&C. And b5cm was also great. Also don’t forget KyoAni’s previous fame, Air, which started off slow and boring, but developed into a rather emotional tale.
However both Air and Kanon suffer from the same minor flaws, in that they start out with this broad picture and funnel into a single, unrealistic but emotionally straining “horse with blinders” scenario that the viewer becomes immersed in, for better or worse. Compare two similar situations, Kanon’s “cake” incident and Honey & Clover II’s incident. Although the tragedy of the situation is greater in Kanon (with arguably greater consequences), the way the characters in H&C deal with it is far more real, and far more emotional than the sudden end-all solution to all problems in Kanon, which is the premise of the story itself and cannot be changed, but that is a minor flaw it’ll have to deal with.
Code Geass is a great series, and is so because of its variety, cliffhangers, animation, etc. Though strongly unrealistic at times, and after a certain point definitely negatively affected by corporate sponsorship (hey the ads in the form of an easter egg were cool, but not enough for a whole episode to revolve around, that deviates from the main context of the show too much).
Shows that are easily “genre’d” are either really good or really bad, but the best shows to look out for are ones you can’t really quite classify, because they bring something new to the table (like Geass did) These shows in the coming season are, IMO:
-Sisters of Wellber
-RomeoXJuliet
-Darker than BLACK
-Lucky Star
-Bokurano
And perhaps Seto no Hanayome and Claymore, though those can be somewhat classified. Then picks of the cream of the crop in previously known genres (mecha seems to be the in thing nowadays…and as far as I can remember lol)
I don’t catergorize Kanon into slice of life ^^ Honey and Clover was nice, but you can’t compare two anime of totally different genres…
I agree with Omni, I’ve watched plenty of mech shows from Evangelion to several Gundam Series including 8th MS Team, 0079, Wing, and Seed. Just because it’s new doesn’t mean it should be given less weight than the classics. Code Geass sets itself apart from other series not just because it pushed the limits of cable television with a shadowed masturbation, boobs, and a shower scene, but because it provides interesting characters, unexpected twists and merges several different types of anime into one. Comedy, action, harem, fan-service, mech, supernatural/sci-fi, and fun. It might not be my favorite of all time, mainly due to the fact it isn’t finished yet but as of now it jumps to my top 5.
meh, there have been other great anime in the past, and there shall be many in the future. but just because they are “the best” doesn’t mean the later one’s aren’t enjoyable.
I mean everyone certainly must have at least one anime from the 90s they love to death, but there have certainly been shows in the new millenium that where fun, even if they can’t compare to that earlier anime.
@piccu
Well true. It’s a bit extra-ordinary in its plot to be so, but classifying it as ‘harem’ is also not doing it justice since in that category it easily outweighs its other genre members by having a solid plot and several other elements often lax is most run-of-the-mill harem anime.
btw Omni, I am saddened to see no mention of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni on your site (even the first season >.
Mmmm. I’ve been stuck in the same mode since having watched Gundam Wing in 2000. It’s been very difficult for me to LOVE just any anime that just comes along. Of course, I don’t have the job of blogging, so it’s a harder place for you to be in than me. As I just…don’t end up watching much.
Fruits Basket, Samurai Champloo, Full Metal Panic (all the FMPs), Gundam Seed, Ouran High School Host Club, D Gray-man, Infinite Ryvius. Hell, I even enjoyed Samurai Deeper Kyo. I was on the Code Geass bandwagon, too, until the show ended and in order to have a 2nd season they struck with their Deus ex machina again, aka, all of a sudden, Lelouch’s Geass ACCIDENTALLY made Euphie turn into a killing machine.
If anything, this last season has made me even more resistant to trying out something new. No, I’m not looking forward to anything in Spring 2007. I’m not looking forward to the resumption of Geass. Geass gave me false hope that my anime doldrums were over, but now I think I’ll just go back and rewatch my favorites for the 32nd time. Oh, and re-read my Remote manga.
Good luck to you.
Geez, looks like i definitely have to try code geass out!yep, this weekend 😉
Now that I think about it, the term harem-anime does seem stereotyping and sometimes even downrating…. But I can’t really classify Kanon o.O Something like “dramatic romance anime with a lot of girls and one boy” 😉
Kanon is a harem series. Just a very well made one. I guess the fact is there are so many horrible harem series out there that the term harem-anime becomes downrating. But it didn’t change the fact that Kanon is a harem series. Isn’t the definition of a harem series is “a series with the majority of girls getting involved with one guy”. Did Kanon raise the bar of harem genre? maybe, but the bar of harem genre is pretty low anyway.
While code geass may not be perfect, I believe that is probably the best mecha series after 2000 (It certainly beat FMP (in terms of weaknesses, undead Gauron certainly trump all the weak points code geass arises), excluding fumoffu but fumoffu is comedy and not mecha unless you count the bonta-kun action^_^, it beats GS and GSD for sure and I haven’t have a chance to see Eureka 7 (I should find some time to watch it since some of you say it beats code geass hands down. If it were true, it will probably rival some of the classic in the 80s and 90s)
ROFL
I will not partake in this senseless argument, but I will say that you all amuse me by reading some of these comments (or rather, flames) over which anime series is better than another.
I agree, Code Geass and Kanon have completely spoiled me – they were easily my favorite series in a long time with storylines and superb production quality that I won’t forget for a very long time.
Though the emotion impact of Kanon 2006 wasn’t as significant as Kanon by Toei, KyoAni’s interpretation was something I really enjoyed where each week i’d be happily waiting for the next ep.
And from Code Geass, Lelouch is easily my favorite anti-hero of all time since he actually has a personality other than a mindless murderer… -_-;;;
But both of these series deserve rewatches… (which doesn’t happen from me often XD)
However, time to wait for Clannad and Code Geass season 2 as well… (impatiently…)
This is definitely a great show. There is a another season coming.
I don’t watch Kanon as harem and slow pace is not my cup of tea but I really like Code geass so much that when I went back to finish those once favourite Bleach and FMA, I felt most of my interest in them had flied somewhere :_: I hadn’t watch Gundam series before and because of Sunrise (producer of CG), I tried some. They’re really good, but not as interesting and thrilling as I imagined
Anyway, as I still have sth to watch, this season I choose Darker than Black and Kaze no stigma. Don’t know why Claymore and Lagann have lot of fans because I feel the characters are ordinary (
so KyoAni and CLAMP are fighting now…must be back in the game KyoAni vs. Veteran CLAMP
Loved kanon, first season of code geass alright but way overhyped, second season not worth a second watch. I agree with those who say we’ve matured and dont just gobble up all of the mass produced by comittee junk anime that oversaturates the market.