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postbadbadassqueen · 1 year ago

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It's really something that bugs me, I love both girls but some always manage to say Kallen didn't get much in R2 compared to S1 (when that's the reverse; Kallen in S1 was put on the side for the second half because the studio had given an approval for a second season so her storyline that was meant to appear was reported to season 2) while in S2, even if she was kidnapped for 6/7 episode she still got some scenes serving her devellopment and was important during most of the season outside of those episodes, because of her role as Lelouch's Ace and her relationship with him as well (Still think it's a shame they didn't worked on her status as an half breed with her father and all u_u) C.C. on the reverse was super well used in S1 but really put on the side in R2, it even impacted her relationship with Lelouch that remained at the same level it was by the end of S1 instead of being pushed. Even her identity was resolved in one half of an episode, most of the time she was lying around and eating pizza and yet, she is barely mentioned as being underused in S2 Double standards much ? :)

No, Kallen is not underused in R2 and has more involvement than you remember. (And CC does not have as much participation as you think)

I keep coming across tons of complaints coming from Kallen haters (who are just obsessed CC fans) that Kallen Kozuki barely had any part in R2 and that she was reduced to an object of fanservice (hell, someone even wrote it in a TvTropes article).

Excuse me, are you telling me that all you remember about Kallen in season two are those awkward close-ups? Dude, in the first season she develops as a character. True, but, if you look closely, her participation in both seasons is quite balanced.

She has a certain prominence in the first ten episodes of season one, especially in episodes 3 and 9 that are dedicated to her (the first introduces her as Lelouch's classmate who leads a double life and the second addresses her relationship with her mother and through that it Okouchi and Taniguchi tell us about the precarious conditions in which Elevens live). In episode 10 Kallen receives her Knightmare and has her epic fight against Jeremiah. Also in episode 13 Kallen gets some attention because she is reflecting on the consequences of her actions (most people only remember that this was a turning point for Lelouch, but it was also a turning point for Kallen).

After she withdraws from the main focus (in fact, episode 15 is the only one in the entire series in which Kallen does not appear; of the rest, only Sunrise gives us a few brief and humble cameos so that we do not forget that she is there), until episode 18 and 19 arrive, where she manages to stand out (in the first it is because Kallen is named captain of Squad Zero, something she feels very proud of; in the second it is because she is transported to Kaminejima Island with Lelouch, Euphemia and Suzaku and has a great dialogue with the latter).

Kallen is left behind again, we are given a few moments that alternate between the funny and the thoughtful until the last two episodes in which she regains her relevance (in episode 24 she has a fight with Suzaku and reveals herself to the Student Council and in the episode 25 Ohgi tells her about her brother's dream, something that will be important in her narrative arc, and, of course, she gets involved in the final confrontation between Suzaku and Zero, where she discovers the identity of the latter).

In R2 it is the same and now what is going to develop is her relationship with Lelouch, but she also establishes herself as the best Knightmare pilot and will influence to a certain extent Lelouch (mainly), Suzaku and Gino.

In the first ten episodes she has a strong presence. Specifically, the episodes where Kallen shines the most are episode 1 In which she is incognito on a mission to rescue Lelouch (everyone remembers the bunny suit, but no one remembers why she was dressed like that), in the next (episode 2) she has her confrontation with Lelouch, as well as renews her loyalty to him, in episode 6, in which her Knightmare receives updates and she faces off against Anya and Gino; in the 7th, where Kallen pulls Lelouch out of the dark pit where he is and tries to give him motivation, and the 9th, where, in addition to that moment when Lelouch asks her to return to Ashford Academy with him, she escorts and protects Zero during the horrible wedding between Odysseus and Tianzi (her best moment is when she shows compassion to Nina, even though she insults her). Well, in episode 5 she is around Ashford looking for CC while she is disguised as Tabatacchi.

In episode 10, Kallen once again gives another spectacular fight against Xing-Ke and is captured by him, something that reveals how special she has become for Lelouch since he gives the order to rescue her, although the Black Knights have a high probability of lose.

Even in prison, Kallen has important moments that relate to her conflict and the narrative arcs of other characters. Kallen discovers Lelouch through her conversations with Nunnally, thanks to her Suzaku reaches another turning point in his narrative arc since he is about to break his principles, her "enmity" with Luciano Bradley is born and she has a conversation with Gino that he will remember in the future.

And, again, in episodes 18 and 19 Kallen returns to the center of attention (in the first one she returns with the Black Knights, but before that she gives us two epic battles: one is the defeat of Luciano Bradley and the other is her third or fourth fight with Suzaku, I don't remember if they fought in the sixth episode of R2; in the second, Kallen is willing to give her life for Lelouch during the betrayal of the Black Knights and there we have the sacrifice and the most heartbreakingly beautiful line from the series: "Kallen, you have to live").

Then Kallen discreetly retires and from episode 22 onwards returns to the spotlight (her presence is more or less considerable: she has her conversation with Lelouch in which she tries to decipher his motivations, she has her kiss with him, she has her fight with CC and then her fight with Suzaku, later she has her moment of lucidity during the failed execution of the rebels in which she finally understands Lelouch's suicide plan and, of course, Kallen is the one who narrates the epilogue of the series).

In reality, and I take no pleasure in saying this, it's CC who has almost nothing to do in R2. In the first episode of this season she returns Lelouch's memories (implying that she knew that Lelouch was going to be captured and his memory was going to be manipulated, since what she did then was break Charles' seal: we quickly see the first kiss she gave him in that strobe tunnel) and then what?

It would only highlight three moments and it is not because she does the big thing, but because they are more or less relevant: in episode 5, CC was wandering around Ashford's territories, but beyond being a source of comic relief and telling Lelouch that Villetta and Ohgi were lovers she didn't do much; then we have that very brief moment when CC and Anya had a connection in episode 11, which was foreshadowing that Marianne was in Anya's body and she had been communicating with CC the whole time and lastly, the episode 14 in which CC approves of a grieving Lelouch wanting to massacre the Geass Cult, even if that's a terrible idea in every way.

Right after, in episode 15, the series gives us insight into her past, her motivations, her death wish, and hints at her affiliation with Charles. CC subsequently loses her memories and does not have a major scene that concerns the main story or her own narrative arc. Except for that scene in episode 16 where she motivates Lelouch to meet Suzaku (and in that same dialogue she specifies her true desire: she wanted to have friends).

And that's how things are until episode 21 arrives in which they confirm what had already been revealed in episode 15 and it realize us the horrible truth through that conversation with Suzaku: CC was using and hiding things from Lelouch all along this time to promote her own interests, at the expense of forcing him to live an immortal life and was an active supporter of Lelouch's enemy's mad plan, "the Connection to Ragnarök".

Does CC regret it? Does she take responsibility for her actions? No, all that remains is her dialogue with Lelouch in which she encourages him to continue the Zero Requiem and, finally, her dialogue with Kallen in episode 24 in which she reveals to us and Kallen what her reason for fighting is (it is the only time in which CC is involved in the main plot of the series and her role is secondary and those scenes don't make any difference, I mean, they are situations that we could do without and the plot would remain the same; considering that the CC plot is self-contained, it makes sense).

Ah! Of course, CC is the last character to speak and signs off the series with a monologue in which she acknowledges that she was wrong about Geass not isolating you, reflecting the change she has gone through (after all, the Zero Requiem was the greatest act of love towards humanity on the part of Lelouch). And that's it! And no one complains about this or points it out as a negative point of the character (very few fans of CC, precisely those who do not idealize her).

In short, her involvement decreases compared to the first season (there she has a fair share, neither greater nor less). And she could have had a greater participation in the plot.

I think this is due to she was one of the last characters to be created (in case you don't know, the reason CC exists is because Okouchi and Taniguchi didn't know how to give Geass to Lelouch; hence they created a character who could do it), so the creators didn't know what to do with her next and, since CC was never connected to the main plot of the rebellion until very late, she didn't have a place in the second season.

I also have a theory that CC was destined to go down a darker path (after all, she did a lot of questionable things), but the creators decided not to explore or delve into it for fear of her fans (that's something that It is already public knowledge), so they tried to whiten her image.

The real stars of the show are Lelouch and Suzaku, in that order (CC and Kallen come later).

Some lament saying that they would like to know more about Kallen and I would too, but I think Okouchi and Taniguchi managed well with what they could (they had to handle many characters, each with their own thing, and this was a criticism against R2) . And, as far as we know, there were plans that were scrapped for Kallen's family, not for her directly.

And, well, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is still the standard for model female characters for any anime, despite the fact that its narrative arcs are excessively simple. We can be okay with this.

Final thoughts? I think fans only remember what they want to remember since those complainers remember more of a somewhat important event in an episode than everything that happened in a season.

It should be noted that CC was also the subject of fanservice in R2. There are tight shots of her butt, for example; but, conveniently, no one remembers that (or they just leave it out) much less complain about it.

All the girls in Code Geass are the subject of fanservice, but only Kallen is criticized for it.

For the record, I'm not saying this because I'm a CC hater. It just doesn't seem fair to me that one girl is praised by fans in prejudice of another girl, just because she committed the horrible sins of being the second most important female character and having a romantic relationship with the protagonist most loved by everyone.

Regardless of that, Kallen and CC manage to be good characters (don't complain anymore, Larry).

#code geass #kallen kozuki #lelouch vi britannia #lelouch of the rebellion #code geass hangyaku no lelouch #c.c.

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postbadbadassqueen · 1 year ago

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All the times Kallen blushed

The blush in Code Geass is quite subtle, but it’s still visible and without fear of being wrong, Karen-chan is the character who has blushed the most in the series. These are all the moments that I remember when she blushed. Did I miss any? Can you tell me. From left to right: episodes 3, 5, 6, 7, 18 of the first season; episodes 2, 3, 5, 9 twice, the Picture Drama 7.19 (it’s a flashback to something that happened at some point in the first season) and the 13th episode of the first season. Blushed 6 times by daddy Lelouch, 1 time by Suzaku, 1 time by Shirley and her wild imagination, 1 time by C.C., 1 time by Xingke and the eunuchs, 1 time by the boys from Ashford Academy, and 1 time by the student council (and she, in turn, made the boys on the student council blush). Kallen blushing is a mod! :3

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postbadbadassqueen · 1 year ago

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A brief analysis of color symbology in the important characters of Code Geass

Next, I'll discuss the symbology behind the color palettes of six major Code Geass characters. The purpose of this post will be to show how colors describe character traits. I clarify that I am not an illustrator or an animator. I'm just a quasi graduate who loves Code Geass and symbols and I want to use my knowledge to combine two things I like. And that I want you to take into account four points about the symbols and, therefore, the colors: The first is that they are polysemic. I'm going to adjust to the context of the series and the nature and role of the characters. Well, to give an example, violet is the color of sexuality and lust and I don't think that was what the animators had in mind when they established violet for Lelouch. The second is that they are ambivalent. They have two sides. One positive and one negative. The third is that the meanings of the colors vary depending on the cultures (and the times). I've tried to stick to universal meanings. And the fourth is that the symbols aren't isolated signs, they establish relationships between them and reinforce or annul meanings. Don't forget that there are colors that are born from the combination of two; so those resulting colors inherit certain meanings from their "parents", so to speak. Hence some of the connotations are repeated.

Having said all that I had to say, let's start with Lelouch. Black is Lelouch's signature color. He always plays chess with black, his casual clothes are black, his army is the Black Knights, his Knightmares are black, the two great rebellions he has led have been dubbed the Black Rebellion, one of his nicknames is the Black Prince, his hair is black!

So what does black symbolize? Well, black is precisely the color of rebellion and protests. It symbolizes how illegal and forbidden are many of the acts that Lelouch carries out. It's also a symbol of elegance and youth. This is because most of the youngsters claim that black is his favorite color and don't be surprised by this, but Lelouch is a youngster.

Black is the color of dirt and evil. How many times has Lelouch dirty his hands with shit for carrying out his goals? Infinite times! "The world does not change with beautiful words", it changes with actions and many are dirty. How much evil did Lelouch do for the greater good? Phew! We could spend hours talking about it!

Black is the color of brutality, violence and hate. Three meanings that it has in common with red and these two colors make up a standard combination (it's no coincidence that one of the people closest to Lelouch and with whom he forms a powerful team has red as his distinctive color). Lelouch harbors hatred towards his father, his family and the empire that disowned him. Hence why he is so ruthless against Britannia. Unlike Suzaku, he believes that violence is the answer.

Black is the color of death, destruction and mourning. Lelouch brings death and destruction wherever he goes (to give a couple of examples, just think of the Battle of Narita and the Japan Administrative Zone massacre). In the same way, he always has mourning in his heart. He is reluctant to let go of loved ones who die (since the death of his mother).

Black usually has a negative connotation and whenever he is next to bright colors he will subvert the positive values of it. In association with yellow (which is a color present in Lelouch, albeit to a lesser extent), it connotes selfishness, guilt, and melancholy. Lelouch started his rebellion for selfish reasons and ended up consumed with guilt as he watched his revenge spiral dragging innocents and loved ones into harm. He is a character with a melancholic-choleric temperament.

[Black symbolizes bad luck and Lelouch never overthrew Britannia while he was wearing black, is that why he was always so close to landslide victory? :v]

Soon I will return to black to point out two specific aspects, now let's talk about Lelouch's second distinctive color: violet.

The combination of black and violet is one of the least negative and symbolizes magic and the dark forces of nature and magic. The Geass was a supernatural gift that Lelouch possesses. Violet is the color of vanity and extravagance. Zero was a striking character, partly because of his manner, partly because of his aura of mystery, and partly because of his looks (Lelouch is arrogant and proud, but there is a shade of difference between pride and vanity).

Violet is the color of power. This is because extracting the violet pigment was difficult and therefore very expensive; so only the nobility and members of royalty could afford to buy clothes of this color. The fact that Lelouch has chosen purple as the color of his Zero costume seems funny to me because it means that he hasn't renounced his princely roots (the series itself wanted us to be clear about it and, for that reason, gave us the dialogue from the snow in episode 10 of the first season). He is and will remain a prince (in fact, his arrogance and negative outlook on vulnerability are a product of his upbringing in Britannia). Yellow reinforces this meaning.

It is the color of penance, martyrdom and mourning. Lelouch bears the weight of his sins and suffers as a result. Lelouch never quite gets past the dueling stage.

Violet is a singular color because it derives from the mixture of red and blue and these two colors represent opposite values. In violet these values are in communion. Hence, violet is considered an ambiguous color. In terms of morality, Violet is in the middle of good and evil, just like Lelouch, who is capable of doing good for the worst reasons and evil for the best reasons. This tells us about the amorality of the character. Violet combines the values of blue and red.

Blue is the color of coldness and intellectual qualities. Lelouch stands out for his intelligence, although the haters deny it. Red is the color of passions and Lelouch is a character moved by passions. He is very passionate, only he knows how to channel his emotions. Most of the time he is calm and he analyzes coolly, even in pressured situations. Only when his loved ones become involved does he lose control of his emotions and subservient to them.

In its negative aspect, violet symbolizes the abuse of power and who is distinguished by purple, besides Lelouch? His father who is a full-fledged tyrant.

Britannia is distinguished by the color white and white symbolizes the divine. It is the color of the gods and royalty, of absolutist monarchies, to be exact.

White as opposed to black symbolizes what we are all thinking: the eternal fight of good against evil. The angels are always attired in white robes and have white wings while the demons have black wings. Although the interesting thing about Code Geass is that it inverts those values since the Britannia (the whites) are the bad guys and the rebels (the blacks) are the good guys.

White recovers its positive values with Suzaku and Euphemia. Let's go with the second.

White is the color that represents good. I had already said it. And it is, additionally, the color of integrity, honesty, transparency and purity. White shares all these connotations with blue. In fact, white and blue are the colors of spiritual virtues. Blue is the color of trust, friendship and sympathy. What does this tell us? That Suzaku is a boy with a noble and pure heart and a good friend.

White is the color of innocence and, curiously, blue is the color of the unreal, that is, of ideas that are far from being realized. It is the color of dreamers and fantasy! Is this a subtle sign that Suzaku is some poor self-deluded idealist? Maybe.

White symbolizes mourning (in oriental countries and don't be surprised by this fact either, but Suzaku is Japanese). Like Lelouch, Suzaku also has a hard time saying goodbye to loved ones who leave this earthly plane.

On the other hand, blue represents the calm, the passive and the introverted. It is the color of longing and peace. Suzaku longs for a world of peace. He tries to leave violence as a last resort, before opting for peaceful ways when dealing with conflicts.

Blue connotes sadness and loneliness. Suzaku is a melancholic and withdrawn type. Note that he doesn't tend to socialize. He is more comfortable closed in on himself, in his comfort zone. I remind you that when he entered Ashford Academy he didn't try to make friends and everyone teased him until he demonstrated his bravery by saving Lelouch from falling. He didn't try to bond with the rest of the Knights of Round either, rather, it seemed that Gino adopted him just like Anya [normally, extroverts adopt introverts]. As he drowns in his problems, he isolates himself more and more from the people who love him and the rest of the world.

Speaking of melancholy, he had mentioned that it symbolized the union of yellow with black. Yellow combined with white connotes weakness and fear. Suzaku's fear of the dark side of him. Deep down, he is just as pragmatic and selfish as Lelouch, but he is terrified to admit it. His weakness to accept his true self and his reality.

By the way, yellow, in its negative aspect, symbolizes lying and both Suzaku and Lelouch are skilled liars. It's a very contradictory and fickle color (it radically changes meaning when paired with another color) and Suzaku and Lelouch are full of contradictions. That is what makes them so human. Likewise, yellow is the color of traitors and Lelouch and Suzaku have betrayed their loyalties for different reasons.

All the positive meanings of white that I highlighted in the previous slide with Suzaku apply to Euphemia, so I'll move on to talking about pink.

Pink is the color of charm, courtesy, sensitivity, delicacy, tenderness. In short, all the qualities considered typically feminine and that Euphemia possesses. I don't think I need to justify myself or provide examples.

Pink is the color of illusions and dreams and, in that sense, it reminds me of blue. Let's not forget that the dream of a peaceful world is inherited by Suzaku from Euphemia (she is an idealist at heart). Although she was aware of the evil that afflicted the Elevens and the grudge that Lelouch harbored in her heart, she was simplistic. We could say that Euphemia had a rosy vision of life (a good and insightful person, but a lousy politician without the necessary cunning and pragmatism). I reiterate that white is the color of innocence and pink is the result of mixing red (which is the color of love and Euphemia has plenty of love) and white.

White is also the color of neutrality and if there is a neutral character in Code Geass is C.C.

Perceive that C.C. is the only member of the Black Knights who wears a white uniform which I had already said is the color of the enemy, which is weird, but makes sense (let's just say she's really only true to herself). She also has a black uniform with the Black Knights symbol on her chest. She adopts black because of her alignment with Lelouch, but it's not like she really takes a stand on the rebellion. She is there for personal reasons that are neglected in the political context.

Green is the other color that predominates in it. Green symbolizes balance and consciousness. Whenever Lelouch is about to collapse, C.C., who is the voice of reason, is there to bring him back to earth she did better in the first season, let's be honest). Green is the color of intermediate and impartiality, par excellence. In itself it is neither good nor bad. As C.C.

Green is the color of youth and immaturity. Due to the Geass, C.C. has earned eternal youth and, at certain moments, she behaves like a carefree teenager who doesn't measure the consequences of her actions (yes, I mean the scenes of her in Ashford and her interactions with the Black Knights ). In contrast, yellow is the color of maturity and C.C.'s eyes are amber. So many years of experience have given him a few kilos of wisdom. For me, C.C. part of the archetype of the mystical Greek goddess Hestia, the one who is young and old at the same time.

Yellow is the color of security, confidence and tranquility. In her role as her confidante, C.C. has known how to bring these sensations to Lelouch.

Green is the color of otherness (the strange). What color do monsters, aliens, witches and demons paint? Green. C.C. is the only Code Geass character with green hair. She manages to stand out in the sea of characters because of her looks (she has to, she's a witch).

Green symbolizes freedom. Because of her immortality, C.C. feels prey to this existential plane. She is wandering aimlessly through the flow of time that seems endless. At the end of her journey, she manages to free herself from those ties and learns to feel good about herself, renewing her will to live. Let's not forget that, although she wanted to die, she needed to live first because she had not really lived her life. Green is also the color of life and bitterness. At first, she was frustrated. She did not fulfill her wish to be loved and was forced to live an immortal life that she did not want.

Like C.C., Kallen takes on black after bonding with Zero; but it is indisputable that Kallen's color is red.

Red is the color of emotions and passions. Good and bad. Our face turns red with shame, anger, shyness, love (in fact, Kallen is the character who has blushed the most in the series for different reasons). It is the color of love and hate. Kallen loves her family, her friends, and Lelouch as much as she hates Britannia. She is the most emotional character in the series. I also think that she is the most impulsive and that's why: she gets carried away by her emotions.

Just as red has a natural alignment with black (Lelouch), she has a natural opposition with the passive soft blue and innocent white (Suzaku). Red symbolizes strength, courage and aggressiveness. Kallen's fighting style is aggressive, both in hand-to-hand combat and in a fight between Knightmares. Unlike Suzaku, she's not going to give you a chance to give up, she's going to kick your ass openly. She goes without saying that her two greatest virtues are her bravery and her strength (and I would add her poise).

Red is the color of fire and Kallen is a burning flame. If you approach sparingly, she keeps you warm. If you approach carelessly, you can get burned. She is warm and, at the same time, hot-tempered.

Red is the color of danger, violence and the forbidden. It is associated with the revolution. This reminds us of the meanings of black that we had reviewed with Lelouch. Kallen follows Lelouch and doesn't question him because they share his methods, his goals, and his beliefs. Do you see why black and red get along so well? Both are rebels by nature.

Red is the color of allure, and Kallen is the most sex-appealing girl at Ashford Academy. I'm not saying it, all the boys who wanted a kiss from her.

Red is the color of war and anger. Paradoxically, it is the color of freedom and justice, which are the two things that Kallen wants and demands for her people. Like white, red is a political color.

Kallen also wears pink (which results from the combination of red and white) and I think it brings out the softer, more youthful and sweet side of her.

To finish, I leave you with this curious fact. Let's see how much of you have noticed…

Throughout the series, Lelouch and Suzaku wear black and white respectively (I'll open a parenthesis for clarification: only Zero's cape is black, but, if you look closely, in R1 his suit is a darker violet than in R2 and I It seems that the modification is in line with his change, since in R1 we have the meanest and most vile Lelouch and in R2 we have the most self-sacrificing and noble Lelouch). By the time the series is winding down, Lelouch and Suzaku are reversed and now Lelouch wears white, posing as the Emperor of Britannia, and Suzaku dresses in black, reaffirming himself as Knight of Zero.

What does this mean?

It means that Lelouch and Suzaku have exchanged targets.

Lelouch, who wanted to destroy Britannia, is going to change it from within as the Emperor himself.

Suzaku, who wanted to change Britannia, is going to liberate the world by destroying the tyrant who oppresses him as Zero.

All in favor of the same purpose: to build a friendly world and establish an era of peace. Everything was thrown in our faces through the symbology of color before the meaning of the Zero Requiem was revealed in the final episode and we didn't realize it. [In addition, I think it is also a way of externalizing the final transformation that these characters have experienced at the end of their inner journey].

Were the colors chosen randomly without any special motivation? No symbols in Code Geass? Ha ha ha! Look how the cows fly!

This is as far as this analysis ends. They let me know if they knew this information. I hope you liked it a lot. I invite you to tell me in comments what you think and what is your favorite color.

I have two (I can't decide): the black and the pink. [Nobody cares to know, but I'll leave it there].

We will be reading, God willing and if not, too. To hell!

Greetings and thanks for reading.

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postbadbadassqueen · 1 year ago

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Talking a bit about Kallen's story arc

I came across a comment on Reddit not long ago (in case you don’t know, it’s a nest of C.C. fanboys) saying that Kallen was overrated since she had nothing beyond her relationship with Lelouch and the episode with her mom. It is not the first time I have read an opinion like that, although, fortunately, it is not very frequent.

Actually, Kallen does have a character arc. It’s just that it’s developed in a very subtle way. And by that I mean that I didn’t realize what it was the second or third time I watched Code Geass, but much later. This is because the series doesn’t tell you directly, they show it to you. I understood it better after reading Kallen’s poem. Everything she says there is in the series. But they don’t explain it to you with words like in the poem. The same thing happened to me with Euphemia’s little story arc (yes, she has one of her own).

At its core, Kallen’s story arc is about transitioning from a reckless and immature girl who finds herself adrift to a selfless heroine with a purpose that transcends her. It is a coming-age story in all its definition. In that sense, it is essentially similar to the Lelouch arc as the rebellion brings out the best version of themselves. This is compassion, empathy, altruism. It’s not very noticeable because Kallen isn’t Machiavellian like Lelouch is, although she is just as pragmatic. One of the best samples you have of Kallen’s development is in the penultimate episode of the first season.

In the early episodes, Kallen is deeply concerned with protecting her identity to the point that she does not hesitate to take risky actions that include killing others. But, in this penultimate episode, when the members of the Student Council refuse to obey the Black Knights thinking that they would harm them, Kallen unmasks herself before them to calm them down and ask them to trust them. Kallen prioritized the safety of her friends over her secret. The thing is that she had already done it before. By Zero. Kallen comes out of her Guren to ask Suzaku to let Zero go in episode 18 of the first season. She again places more importance on the safety of her leader than her identity. The difference between the two moments is that she calmly makes the decision to reveal herself in episode 24. That was not her last option as it was in episode 18.

You’d think there wouldn’t be any further development for Kallen in season two. But it’s not true and, personally and based on Kallen’s poem, I like to see her relationship with Lelouch as a temptation for her (temptation in the sense that it can lead her astray). Characters in visual media are often built on two pillars: what they want versus what they need, and up until that point, Kallen hadn’t had to choose because the choice was so clear. That is, she had not faced a challenge. By the end, however, she must choose between the boy she loves and doing the right thing, and though Lelouch helps her choose the latter by keeping quiet about her feelings, Kallen decides of her own free will to do the right thing and, by extension, embrace her identity, her values and her brother’s dream. Not caring that Lelouch has returned the kiss. Also in this second season Kallen is consolidated as the best Knightmare pilot of the series. Her most badass moments are here (and there are still people who have the nerve to say that she was relegated to the background; sorry, man, you’re talking about C.C.).

I would like in the remote future to both write an individual analysis of Kallen as well as an analysis of her (misconstrued) relationship with Lelouch. On my Code Geass Facebook page I do it in Spanish and I use this space to address the international community. Now I am watching Code Geass again with a good channel of reactions on YouTube (since 2020 I have imposed the tradition of watching Code Geass once a year and with them I will fulfill my purpose for this 2023…) . I will see what new things I will discover now. I discovered what I have just told you on my return visit last year.

Fans only complain about her fanservice, spit on her relationship with Lelouch, accuse her of things she never did, and judge her harshly. They never take Kallen seriously. I want to be the first to do it, if no one with good analytical skills does it.

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postbadbadassqueen · 1 year ago

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Memories of Geass 2 : The Mystery of the missing Kallen Gum Line " If you say "I Love you" I will never forgive you"

This Geass information is about a scene which had to be changed after being fully planned, so planned that there were actual leak of promotional material mentionning this very scene and others (which happened in the show !)

The Gumlines were the source of endless speculations, fears and hope till the end, because it was official stuff for once, not some unsure spoilers, or theories. It's the Gum Line drama !

Back in 2008, we are like less than 2 months away from the Code Geass Finale, everyone is into debates, speculations and theories when a leak of a merchandising pictures of future Geass stuff come out, including some characters card which will come out as a bonus when you buy chewing gum (Hence the Gum Line name); Till then, nothing important, just basic merchandising.

BUT on Each of those character card is printed a line, those lines are supposed to be each of the character's most important lines in the final part of the anime; Of course those are HUGE spoiler, but this merchanding isn't supposed to come out before the ending of the show, it's a Leak, and A BIG ONE at that. (Oh how we were glad lmao, innocent fools, really)

In less than a day, all of the lines had been translated, and theories and fight were newly starting over those till the end of the anime (gum lines really were the driving force of 6 last episode of geass when it comes into theories, they were taken very seriously, as they should since ALL OF THEM WERE EVENTUALLY SAID, faithful to the translation; All of them but…One.)

Here are the Gum lines and the episode they were said to : Anya : "people's memories are vague" :Here, in Turn 16

Nunnally : "I will put an end to Oniisama's sins" Here in Turn 23

C.C. : "Hurry up and Go, then come back, you said you'd make me smile" : Here in Turn 24

Kallen : "If you say "I love you" I'll never forgive you "** Never said.

**For Kallen's line, since there are no pronoums in japanese, it's more like "If (someone) say (someone) love (someone), (someone) will never forgive (someone) To Be clear you understand the subject when you have the context, but given the gumline were all about each character's most important thing (Anya and her memories, Nunnaly and her brothe, C.C. and her smile) everyone knew it had to be about Lelouch's feelings for her but….Kallen's line was never said while all of the gum line appeared.

Everyone waited till Turn 25 and when it was clear the gumline had been cut it was pretty clear either some Kallen scene had been cut or else, her face off with Lelouch in Turn 22 had been changed (for her to say her gumline, they'd have to have a talk, but Lelouch kept his mouth shut in the version we got.)

It's also important to notice the "I love you" is Aishiteru, once again it's a very intense word, it's a love for which we barely have any equivalent in english, so for Kallen to use that word, she had to be pretty confident. (Another flame war happened in 2ch because of that, cause you don't use Aishiteru easily, in japan, Love is mostly shown through actions rather than words, it's really rare so to use it, for a girl like Kallen, it was either she knew something or she was full delusional (quite OOC of her to be this confident about feelings when that's exactly because she isn't that Lelouch managed to push her away.)

And that's when things got even funnier;

Her gumline reappeared, in a modified version in her poem; It was exactly the same base but it went from "If you say I love you'll never forgive you" to "If you had said I love you i'd even follow you to hell, you knew that didn't you"

We went from something in a current conversation to something she said in the past sense, because he was dead.

To this day it's still the biggest mystery because all of the other gumline were in the show, and because they finally used a different version of this line in her poem, they really wanted us to know she thought he was going to say "Aishiteru" didn't they ?

(The chewing gum and the cards finally came out after the show. But the lines one the card were gone, replaced by character's name.)

Once again I'm pretty sure they intended to make things clear between Lelouch and Kallen but had to backtrack because of the popularity of LuluC, and Taniguchi was known to react very strongly at leaks (he almost chose to redo the beginning of the first episode of R2 because of a leak) so some also suggested it was him being pissed and removing it (I'm more on the ambiguous side, ambiguous end means more sales, that's Sunrise)

In the end they robbed Kallen of her most important line. (And because they are schizophrenic anyway, they kept releasing positive side stuff for Kallen and Lelouch. But since it wasn't within the show, it could be easily missed. (Even though honestly the show was already pretty telling). Alas, marketing always prevail.

Now, it's always funny to think about what Lelouch might have replied to that since we know it was planned; As a friend named Tokkan said, a line like "I don't want forgiveness" would have been very Lelouch like, wouldn't it have been ?

(Instead we got that. Mouth shut and sort of bitten lips shot lol)

It was so important during the airing days that I wanted to share this story, for all those Kallen fans who think her pairing wasn't popular (it was one of the two biggest pairing in the show, (Three if we count Suzalulu) her fandom moved on because their story was over, they had their conclusion and Lelouch was dead, that's it, they were never unpopular) and who missed so many of stuff about her and Lelouch. Cheers !

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