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your thoughts have summoned this post from hell so, as i pray... Home > Archives > 2008 > April > 18 I Won’t Be Your Friend If You Support Zero, AKA TerrorismThis is, most unfortunately, not a joke post. I have a friend of maybe four, five years now, who has cut off communications with me because I “support Zero.” At first he was willing to debate the topic a bit, have a little back-and-forth regarding Zero’s methods and ideals. Then he laid down the terrorist card, claiming that “Zero is just a terrorist!” I asked, “so?” And he got really, really pissed off, and disconnected. In between my asking “so?” and my friend’s disconnection, I managed to squeeze in a “the Emperor is also a terrorist…” though I don’t know if my friend caught that bit or, even if he did, grasped the meaning of it in the current context. He just said something loaded about how he can’t talk to someone who “supports” people “like Zero or Light” and signed off. Let me make myself clear: I don’t “support” Light. I don’t “support” Zero. Mass murder (or any murder at all) is not something I enjoy supporting (or practicing). But if you’re looking at Code Geass, you can’t just call Zero a terrorist and say that that’s enough analysis. You can’t just say “oh look he’s a bad guy.” He does bad things, yes, and he makes the one immense fuck-up with regards to Euphemia (whom I really, really dislike). But who in the show doesn’t do bad things? Who in the show isn’t a terrorist? Who in the show isn’t, to some degree, evil? The number of such characters is small. We’ve got (I’m not even going to try to spell names) the best friend, the girlfriend, the council president, the little sister, the cat, and—if we’re generous—the science/masturbation nerd. Every other character in Code Geass has SOME mark against them. Actually, the girlfriend has a mark against her as well, but that mark sort of falls into the Kannazuki no Miko “you’re not an angel or a devil, Chikane-chan!” category. Alright, so it’s pretty obvious that, say, Zero’s maid is a bit less destructive than Zero is. But she’s still a terrorist. As are all the Black Knights, and all the 11s who support them. The Brittanian government and armies, attacking the weak and powerless and using fear/lies to contaminate the mass media, are clearly terrorists (in a similar manner to the American government—insert Oceania joke here). I don’t see who the good guy is that Zero should lose to. “Suzaku,” my friend says. “He tried to atone.” I don’t remember him trying to atone, unless atonement’s meaning was changed to “lie and try to forget.” If all his bullshit about changing Brittania from within was his attempt at atonement, then he’s nothing more than delusional. That’d be like a kid straight out of high school taking a minimum wage part-time job setting up displays in an AT&T store, claiming that he’ll change AT&T’s evil policies from within. Things don’t work that way. By some random stroke of luck—namely, being a kind person, and happening to bump into undercover Euphemia (whom I dislike immensely)—Suzaku ends up on a path that actually leads to him attaining some tangible power within the Brittanian government. But he’s butt hurt about Euphemia (whom I don’t especially care for) and he sold out his best friend and he still hasn’t fixed anything, instead becoming the bitch of the Emperor. Unless “changing from within” referred to Suzaku’s sexuality, I don’t see how anything has been accomplished on his end. So yeah, while I don’t agree with every one of Zero’s actions (and I don’t think the viewer is supposed to…) I can’t quite say that I think he’s “the worst” and that he needs to be shut down and punished. Given the context of the show and the struggles portrayed, I think Zero does a decent job. I don’t support him—I don’t preach his methods, I don’t plaster his likeness on my wall—but I don’t support anyone else more. I don’t see how I lack morals or am a worse person for finding less fault in Zero than in his opponents. And see, this post isn’t about Zero, or Suzaku, or who’s right or who’s wrong within the show. This post is about my friend, who thinks he can’t be my friend anymore. I wish I were making this shit up, but, as I’ve said in many places on this site in the past, “I can’t make this shit up.” This particular friend might just be a dipshit who takes anime too seriously, but I’ve known him for a long time and don’t want Zero to come between us. PLEASE, ANIBLOGOSPHERE!!! Relationship advice plz. |
it is moist & delicious meta and it's not even a lie! 25 ResponsesLeave a Comment |
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Sasa said:
Relationship advice? Err, talk to him. Isn’t that the advice everybody gives?
No, seriously, I have broken friendships because of moral issues, and at the end of the day, morals (no matter how problematic they are) should not be killing off a friendship. If he values you as a friend, and if there is nothing else between you guys, he would come back, listen to your explanation and try to understand (and if not at least accept) your stance on the thing.
RmX said:
Your friend’s as delusional as Suzaku, therefore there is no hope for your friend. Sorry pal.
Os said:
Needs moar graphs.
NOLA said:
Zero’s not a terrorist, as we generally think of terrorists. He’s attempting his revolution through outright military means, rather than through violence-blackmail. Its worth remembering that Lelouch expressed his contempt for the Japan Liberation Front’s IRA-style elements early in the series—in the Euphemia-kidnapping episode, especially.
That said, Lelouch a very, very ruthless fellow.
I’m hoping Code Geass will make Suzaku a bit more sympathetic than he has seemed for the first part of R2. His change-from-within strategy almost worked via Euphemia, but at this point… well, Suzaku-kun, if you are working directly for the evil Emperor, doesn’t that make you Darth Suzaku?
As for Death Note, I’ve never understood the folks who really were really into Light. Clever guy, but a villain all the way.
Ryan A said:
absolutism ftl, but vodka ftw!
xstrike0 said:
Makeup sex ftw!
lolikitsune said:
>>Makeup sex ftw!
He’s on the other side of the country and too poor to afford transportation. As for myself, I have obligations in the location I’m at. In spite of these obstacles, though, you provide the best solution so far.
Baka-Raptor said:
“If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, its yours forever. If it doesn’t, then it was never meant to be."
blissmo said:
Hmm, to me I don’t exactly support those Zero either and I love bad characters that are both hot, somewhat insane at times (yandere) and has a nice voice. I don’t know how your friend got pissed because even if you did support Zero, isn’t he just an anime character? It’s not like you’re going to support a terrorist in real life (or are you?). And I like Light because he’s so insane, lol, but seriously, I’d be shitting if he was a real person that I knew of. Anyway, FIGHTING!
Jobrill said:
Suzaku didn’t try to atone for shit. He’s trying to JUSTIFY the murder of his father. Justification is not Atonement. If he can prove that Brittania is supreme, or at least that’s it “unchangable,” then he can convince himself that he was right in killing his Father in cold blood. He’s as much of a murderer and terrorist as any Black Knight, and he’s worse because he’s deluded and self-assured.
Now, admittedly? Not a big fan of Zero either, but he is infinitely more preferable to Suzaku, and is, at the least a much more likable character, as he has a genuine personal beef with Brittania and his father, and has shown actual compassion towards his friends and comrades. But in the end, I tend to be on the side of the “patriotic” Black Knights like Toudou and Kallen, who fight hard and honestly for freedom.
RmX said:
@blissmo: Lelouch cannot be classified as a yandere. Yandere requires someone being sweet and gentle and suddenly snapping and going batshit insane, and usually in the context of a romance drama gone bad a la NICE BOAT. Lelouch is what you’d classify as one of the Magnificent Bastard category.
lolikitsune said:
Thank you. All of you. Except for Baka-Raptor, because he actually delivered words of wisdom.
Shirukii said:
This friend of yours must have some amazing redeeming qualities if you still consider him a friend after taking anime that seriously, especially Code Geass.
I have no serious advice to offer you as to how to change his views, however, if you wish to regain his friendship, bake him a cake in the likeness of Suzaku. Nothing conveys feelings more sincerely than a cake.
lolikitsune said:
>>This friend of yours must have some amazing redeeming qualities if you still consider him a friend after taking anime that seriously, especially Code Geass.
Not really, no. I mean, aside from the fact that we’re friends and that means more to me than any reasons for being such. I’m bad at the whole friend thing so I cherish those that I have. Also, his favorite anime is TTGL and he cried for two months when Kamina died and also he cried and got pissed at the world when some characters in Gundam 00 died. I think he has a weakness for mech shows.
DS said:
Dangos will solve evrything!
Alar said:
Needs moar loliyuri.
Shirukii said:
How noble of you. And thus my love grows deeper. Are you sure you’re not a girl ;_;?
Michael said:
This is really, really funny.
Baka-Raptor is right, though.
lolikitsune said:
@Silky: positive.
@Michael: I don’t particularly find it funny, but I’m happy that you’re amused at least. And yeah, he is. Fucking smart ass.
@DS: Clannad is another show that got this guy’s panties in a bunch. He fell in love with Tomoyo, found out about the ero sequel to the game, and then killed himself at least a hundred times.
Owen S said:
This “friend” of yours is actually your alter-ego that came about as a result of your MPD. Therefore, I suggest killing him. Nothing else will suffice.
Cathy said:
>>He’s on the other side of the country and too poor to afford transportation.
Send him naked pictures, then. Better yet, naked pictures with a table. :>
Teeif said:
“Kill one man and become a murderer – Kill one million and become a conqueror!”
I like Zero. Since genocide for one man’s egotistical vision of Heavon on Earth has gone out of fashion with Hitler, I should at least get to watch fictional maniacs go about their day-jobs.
Also I challenge you to rub shit over the Japanese Loli empress. Lolis are like the good moral conscience in Code Geass, every side has got one but they get raped in favour of Big Mechs and War.
lolikitsune said:
>>Also I challenge you to rub shit over the Japanese Loli empress.
She’s a moe piece of shit and she doesn’t go to school.
Teeif said:
>> She’s a moe piece of shit and she doesn’t go to school.
How does that make her evil!?
I agree, she is pretty rubbish though and most Moes do belong in school.
lolikitsune said:
>>How does that make her evil!?
Skipping school is evil.
On a meta level, causing males in their twenties around the world to stay home from school/work in order to read fan-made porn comics starring her is very, very evil.