(For more love-remembering et al. in the 12 Days project, see: otou-san, schneider, doctordazza, Gargron, Scamp, zaon47, kevo, rabbitpoets, drmchsr0, Pontifus, ghostlightning, 53RG10, Vii, Seinime, _ETERNAL, FuyuMaiden, Eater-of-All, Shinmaru, calaggie, yumeka, Nazarielle, Cuchlann, Jinx, Janette, stringedsonata, animewriter, and probably more in the days to come~)

“Passion has the power to change the whole world.”

Hm. Another common theme in my 12 Days this year seems to be people. The uber-man approach to the world, almost, in that I’ve highlighted quite a few people who have the power to change the world, both inside and outside of their little canons.

Well, it makes sense, I suppose; you cannot have a show without people, and you cannot have people without having at least a few be exceptional. The human mind is subjective like that, is it not?

Many among us can try to kill our own human heart and emotion, but, I think that’s something that’s near-impossible to do – and even if you could, you wouldn’t be that interested in anime anyway, since you’d have no reason to watch.

Since anime, as with all forms of fiction, is attractive because it can make us -feel-.

12 Memories of Anime 2009
#07: Zero Requiem [Code Geass R2]

It’s not a judgment call, but something I consider akin to a fact – I don’t mean to argue about the implications of ‘escapism’, as such stories can occasionally bring people together as well (think of all the communities formed after R2’s ending).

Whether it’s being warmed up by a sweet romance story, laughing together with friends over a light comedy, or being dragged towards the edge of your seat by a compelling story, it’s emotion that drives things. And it’s people that create emotion.

And it’s something about these uber-men (and women, to dodge the sexist barbs) that gives them the ability to drive the world, using this emotion. (Whether they embrace or deny it themselves, tends to vary.)

They can control it, create it, destroy it, and the incredible superpowers they have only helps add to their influence. (Consider that Lelouch is quite the sweet talker and chess player even without Geass.)

Can I consider the people who have driven the 12 Days moments so far – adding Lelouch Lamperouge, to Akira Takisawa, Kakeru Kurosawa, Hayate Ayasaki even – uber-men? To varying proportions, at least.

It’s a tough philosophical debate, and one that I would get overwhelmed by (considering my definition of uber-man is quite vague). Whether an uber-man has to really -do-, or whether he has to just -be- … that’s an interesting difference, but not one for me to consider at this point. Not to mention, the ramifications of a ‘world-changing’ uber-man being but a mere fictional personality.

But yeah, there was something about Lelouch, right until the end of Code Geass (well, I assume it will remain the end), whether you loved him or hated him, idolized him or stabbed pins into his voodoo doll. As they say, it’s two sides of the same coin- one way or the other he would drive the show, leading both the characters and the fanbase through love and through hatred.

And I was one of those people. Code Geass tried to throw me, when the story got away from it’s ‘humble’ roots of one teenager fighting for his ideals (well, at least originally) and devolved into a mess of strange elevators and mystic roots from the past. But in the end, it managed to be brought back – by Lelouch? that can be argued – to an end that I thought fitting, deserving, and powerful. It even made me wax poetic.

And after all he’s done, one might consider to Lelouch to have more than one power, in a sense.

CCY