I know why Kallen in episode one of Code Geass R2 was mad cool.

I was never much of a Kallen fan back in Code Geass season 1 days, probably because the show didn’t take her seriously until later on. Perhaps I didn’t take her seriously (as a result, or just because). She always seemed like a silly girl yet she is quite dead serious about her goals and her feelings. Hardly a paragon of competence, Kallen is the contrast to that “JUST AS PLANNED” hook some Code Geass viewers dig about the show, so her popularity is spotty as well.

But why the bunny girl outfit? Well for starters CLAMP can design very sensual, attractive characters. Priming their MID-AGER LAZERS to “lol shounen anime” the results are somewhat annoying if boobs are not your thing. But at the same time CLAMP excels at clothing design, so the combination of a bunny girl outfit, which is a fairly spartan uniform if you think about it, and a CLAMP character in a shounen anime, is just jarring.

All the more that’s why there’s already like, 5 pages of this crunk on danbooru?

Well, if I was Kero-chan I would’ve definitely checked:

1. The neck piece. It looks fairly generic but even the shape of the neck cuff is fairly distinctive

2. The adornment on the waist. It helps that we’ve got two other bunny girl models to contrast poor Kallen’s costume, both with slight differences in terms of their … loadout. It adds a bit of character to something so generic, and anchors the various lines going on that you see on a bunny girl outfit. If her boobs aren’t doing that for you anyways.

3. The ears. The ears are one of the most important part of the outfit, and in Kallen’s case it doesn’t sit drooping as it would in most other instances of such an outfit. Of course, she was bouncing around quite a bit.

4. And yeah. Gainax Bounce anyone?

The first episode of Code Geass R2 is almost a tongue-in-cheek self-reference crossed with pop-anime-cultural reference. At least, it is if you look at it that way–with all things Kallen, and with the parallel in respect to the first episode of Code Geass season 1.

The real objection I have is that, ultimately, Kallen in the first episode is just a distraction. It’s a distraction so maybe the viewers forget where we are plot-wise. And maybe that’s a good suggestion, since we’re kind of missing all of that in the pilot episode. Let’s rejoice in the return of one of our favorites from last year, and its ensemble cast. Let’s rejoice in boobs and bunnies. Let’s rejoice in hot school teacher jumping on her student. Let’s rejoice, just as some have planned.

Code Geass is this year’s overall best-produced anime…

It also has this massive cliffhanger, but hey, nobody is perfect.

In no truer fashion did Taniguchi catch up to the 21st century with a big exclamation mark that also, admittedly, marking him fashionably late. But boy, are CLAMP designs always in fashion. It really is a statement about “design sells.” Yea, yea, at the end of the day it’s just another mecha anime, but I think this one would’ve been a huge winner if the ending wasn’t such a non-ending.

But in simpler terms, Code Geass wins because it’s just a well-produced work, with a well put-together plan that included all the “popular” things. Its large cast and diverse personalities ensure no one goes through the show without something piquing his or her attention (even for some it’s just C.C. the whole time). It even provides enough in themes and messages to keep the brainy ones thinking about questions that don’t have right answers.

The pacing is compelling. The scenario writing is solid. There is enough about the plot to keep those that has affinity towards puzzle-type shows like Death Note interested (a large group I imagine), and enough moe and cheese to keep the otaku glued to those … cheese-filled pie crusts? If it means I have to watch in-show product placement to get more financing for anime, I am all for it.

But what does Code Geass have it in for me? I think that is a hard question to answer. I didn’t watch Code Geass back when it was all the rave late last year, and I caught up marathon-style (which is probably the most appropriate way for this show) middle of the year right before the OAVs came out. And yeah the OAVs are also non-endings. What is up with that?

Still, it’s great to remind myself that there are still mainstream-appealing yet personally compelling anime series out there that are longer than 14 episodes. Perhaps I am just jaded, but I think my standards are quite easy to meet and I can enjoy a lot of shows. It’s why I still watch so many anime and I only have the chance to talk about roughly half of the shows I watch on this blog. But yeah, why Code Geass? This was simply just the best overall show that I had the chance to watch this past year. It’s something I would recommend to the average anime viewer without reservation. It beats out shows like Denno Coil because we’re talking about a very different group of viewers than those who would watch NHK on primetime hours. They may overlap in some cases, but generally speaking not at all. Is this like, a mainstream for the underground or something silly?

Anyways. Substantively Code Geass still offers something worthy of review. Seeing that it’s Taniguchi and Sunrise, we should expect violence. And sometimes that’s all it takes to get guys to enjoy a TV show, much like sometimes all it takes is CLAMP to get some sissies (like me?) and girls to watch and enjoy a TV show.

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