I've always felt rather estranged from the whole "faction" of anime lovers for a long time, probably since I was still trying to navigate for a while by way of fan clubs that traded off videos before the web got powerful enough to support websites filled with video. I've mostly been trying to keep with whatever I find interesting when I look for a series to watch, whether it is something extremely huge in the eyes of fan populations or something a bit more obscure. Unfortunately, it seems like whenever a huge anime series pops up that becomes the next big thing after the next big thing, a lot of the time I never get a chance to watch it or get interested. And furthermore when I do watch many of these series...I just don't get it. Why do these anime series get all the hype, merchandise and fanlove in Japan, US and around the world while other quirky or weird or wild or even slightly mainstream series get none of that? Sure I've fallen in line with some fan-favorites: I was huge on Azumanga Daioh a few years back, I like Evangelion and I am anticipating Gurren-Lagann when that comes out in the US soon enough. But unfortunately, my connections with the so-called "know-it-all" otaku only goes so far. I probably got through some of that disgruntlement when I did my "Lucky Star" rant last year (see here: [link]), but this time I guess the target is another anime series that's been getting tons of hype recently with its second series airing in Japan and first series airing in the US on AS (where I am watching it): Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

The Geass hype started in '06 as the first series originally got underway. With mecha by one of the great storytellers at Bandai (which reminds me: I have the Planetes box and still haven't watched that) and character designs by CLAMP (same complaint as above, replace "Planetes" with "Angelic Layer"), it became a smash on both sides of the Pacific the moment it came out. Of course from the moment when I started watching it on AS...I guess I just didn't quite get it. None of the characters really drew me in immediately as they all just seemed like they were living in this phony world of manners only fighting in barbaric warfare. In particular, I just didn't really get or like the lead character Lelouch, another genius who hates the invading force of Britannia though living in their world and being one of their lineage yet who is given this "Death Note"-like power in order to change everything. At the same time, CLAMP's designs just felt noble but out of place, as if they were there in familiar form but just made it feel like a different show. By the second episode things started to peak up a little bit: the Knighmare fights actually showed some amazing promise in battle and some of the characters did catch my interest instead of Lelouch. But by the recently aired third episode, things started to lower dramatically: we end up with some stupid school hijinx episode that shows these two characters (Lelouch and now one of the rebel girls Kallen) living in their world of manners while hating it, showing off one side when we know its not true and just not showing anything that hasn't been done in any other anime with a little fanservice (which was alright ) to boot. There was one interesting turn at the end but at the same time it looks like that due to something that happened earlier in the episode (which I won't spoil), we are about to have some propaganda-like funeral that I've already seen done amazingly in the original Gundam series when Ghiren Zabi transformed the celebration of his brother Garma into a call to arms for the similarly noble (but more brutal and interesting) forces of Zeon.

I guess I am at the point where I don't really know what to do. Some people say to just keep going and watch as it gets more interesting while others say "these are the best episodes". I have dropped anime before, I admit, but I just keep debating if this is worth watching in the end. At the same time, it just seems like this is another anime that everyone loves and will get all the merchandise and toys and fancrap...but I will miss out cause I just never got it. Geass may have people who love it but I just don't know if I want to continue or not. I know I never will get back to Lucky Star, and I don't even want to get into my situation with Haruhi, which I don't know if I'll ever watch cause of how much there is out there and everyone saying its the greatest series ever and the sequel with so much deafening hype...but it just doesn't interest me. Maybe I'm just on the outside of the main otaku culture like I've always been: picking and choosing, taking and heeding some advice while realizing sometimes "hey, this is crap" no matter how many millions of fans there are. I just wish I knew...

Then again...even with its hype and growing fanbase, I do think "Soul Eater" looks interesting...

Edit: Well I did it: I deleted "Code Geass" from my DVR priorities. I guess lingering doubts combined with fighting with fans on one of my anime boards forced me to take the step. I've also started looking up the series on Wikipedia...some of the concepts are interesting but I guess I'm now happy I made the decision.