Another Long Raving Post About Anime

Greetings, all. Jim here. Figured I'd better get cracking on my next post. As stated previously, this one will be about the cerebral genre of anime, the cat-and-mouse, plot-counter plot type of thing. In recent memory, 2 examples of this sort would be Deathnote and Code Geass. Both have some pretty obvious similarities, so I'll start by outlining both and move on to comparing and contrasting.

First off, Deathnote. The main character is Light Yagami. Light is a high school student, the son of a police officer, and aiming for the police himself as a career. He is shown to be highly intelligent, ambitious, hard-working, serious, and also to have a very strong sense of personal justice. However, it is these characteristics which society would view as positive that eventually enable Light to become the worst mass murderer in history. Light is, to put it one way, bored. He feels the world around him is rotten, filled with useless people without whom society would be better off. Every day it seems more criminals are making the news with increasingly wanton acts of cruelty and senseless violence. Light sees the hypocrisy and apathy of the world around him and despairs of ever making a difference.

However, Light soon gains the power to change this rotten world- to mold it to his liking using the power of the Deathnote. A powerful supernatural notebook, the Deathnote can cause the death of anyone whose name is written in it, as long as the writer can visualize the target's face as the name is written. This notebook was originally the property of a Death God named Ryuk. However, Ryuk, like Light, was bored with the apparent purposelessness of his life, so he intentionally dropped his Deathnote into the human world to stir up trouble. Light first doubts the note is genuine, but comes to realize its power by killing a criminal in the act of taking hostages. Light has some small reservations about killing humans, even murderers, but tells himself that someone has to change the world, and he is the only one with the power and intellect to do so. In his arrogance, Light proclaims that he will pass judgment on humanity and become the God of his new world.

After various trials and tests, Light begins to use his new found power to remake the world as he sees fit, placing himself firmly in the position of God-like authority. His primary targets are criminals, murderers mostly. As his intervention becomes more and more pronounced, a cult following begins to revere him as an ally of justice, naming him Kira, the savior. However, other agencies begin taking an interest in Light as well. The Japanese police brand Kira a murderer, albeit by unknown means, and eventually call in help from an outside agent. Said to be one of the smartest individuals alive, this agent has solved many cases other agencies considered unsolvable. Known only as L, nothing is known about this mysterious individual save how to contact him, and few even know that much. The deadly match of intellects between L and Kira eventually escalates into a full-scale psychological war, with both sides vying for supremacy by any means necessary. As both parties reveal more to each other to lure the opponent out into the open, the mind games reach unbelievable depths as murder and investigation continuously repeat.

A remarkably noticeable oddity is the main character's complete lack of sympathy and, indeed, much human emotion at all. In many cases, Light is portrayed as so cold and calculating that he can kill someone without even a twitch or change in facial expression. Throughout the series Light uses and discards people like tools, coldly sacrificing others-even family or friends- for personal gain. He just may be the least likable character I have seen in a long time.

One odd thing I noticed is an abrupt shift in tone about halfway through the series, where events take a rather surprising turn, and the mood is considerably lightened for a few episodes. Some sight gags pop up, and a little humor is injected into the series, ultimately giving a rather strange feeling that one has started watching a different show. It kind of comes off as somewhat lame, in my opinion, but the interval is short, and it is appropriate, in a way, I guess.

Some viewers might complain about the rather noticeable lack of physical action, however the mental intensity and great emphasis on complex thought rather than action can be refreshing after so much over saturation of action in many other anime. I cannot recall any other form of media that has made even the act of eating potato chips a dramatic and intense gesture. That may sound like a joke, but it really features into the plot. I'm not kidding. I would definitely recommend this one for anyone looking for something intelligent in the anime realm.

Now for Code Geass. One immediate difference to note is a much higher emphasis on action, and also a more sympathetic main character. Code Geass takes place in an alternate time line in which an empire similar to Great Britain, appropriately named Brittania, has conquered much of the world around the time of WW II. After the invasion of Japan by the Empire, the government is dismantled. The people of Japan lose their homeland, their rights, and even their very national identity as the country is renamed Area 11. Japanese are coldly referred to as "Elevens" and forced into a low position in the social hierarchy.

Our main character here is Lelouch Lamperouge, a former prince of Britannia disinherited by the Emperor and forced into hiding in Area 11. Lelouch has two overwhelming desires- to create a world where his sister Nunnaly can live in peace, and to avenge his mother's murder by unknown assailants. Lelouch lacks any significant military or political power, until one day when he encounters a mysterious girl named CC sealed in a capsule. She grants Lelouch the power of Geass, the "power of the King". While each person manifests Geass differently, Lelouch gains the power of absolute obedience. Any one order he gives to a person he makes eye contact with must be obeyed. Using this power and his tactical genius, Lelouch organizes a rebellion in Area 11 in order to overturn the balance of power in the world, both for the sake of a more peaceful world that his sister desires, and for his revenge on his distant father for coldly discarding him.

One crucial difference between Code Geass and Deathnote is the main characters' motivations. While Light is motivated by selfish egotism and a petty desire to take over the world, Lelouch is much more selfless and sympathetic as a main character. It is true that Lelouch will sacrifice others if he must, but he genuinely feels remorse for his actions and even sacrifices his own safety at times in order to protect others. Light would do no such thing.

Another important difference between the two main characters is their confrontational styles. While Light is more subtle and engages in psychological contests of will with his opponents, Lelouch is more dramatic in his gestures and relies on tactical, military, and political maneuvering to overwhelm his opponents, dominating them with an overwhelming show of force (with lots of grand pronouncements and overly dramatic acts of showmanship for good measure).

The emphasis in Code Geass is more on physical action and some mecha combat, along with tactical and political ploys. Deathnote, on the other hand, is more purely cerebral and focuses on the neat little tricks employed to deflect investigation and suspicion. Also, Code Geass has more actual characters to develop, so it comes off better in that department. Deathnote focuses almost exclusively on Light and L's confrontation, with little time devoted to secondary characters.

Lastly, Code Geass has a more satisfying ending, in my opinion, which I will not spoil. Deathnote's ending is rather anticlimactic, actually. A very small detail is what ultimately decides the contest. Still, some of the huge, grand plots in Code Geass can come off as a little unnecessarily ridiculous, but other than a few minor complaints on both sides, I would still rate both series rather highly.