New Code Geass Project Launched

[Laurcus]

Originally Posted by Zetsubou Bunny

Lelouch is a Time Lord now.

But seriously, even Geass Witches can't travel through time. If Lelouch is in this new manga, his presence wouldn't make sense under ANY version of ANY proverbial theory.

Except that maybe --perhaps-- in the context of NoN. (Which is already so twisted and weird that it would make sense.) Since he becomes...er...(and correct me on my interpretation of this as I could be off, I haven't studied NoN that closely)...chaos incarnate? The god of chaos? Wouldn't that...not limit him to any time or any universe since chaos is...well...universal?

Keep in mind we're basically flying blind here. What doesn't make sense now may make sense in the proper context with the right series of events backing it up.

[Xander]

Aurelia aurita posted this in the image thread late yesterday, but I suppose it's far more relevant here.

Now that there's a larger scan available, hopefully someone will be able to answer at least some of the questions about the matter.

Most of the article appears to be about the manga but we still have some small text blocks talking about the Code Geass Gaiden anime project.

[MainCharacter]

No translations for what that says about the new anime or manga yet?

I also hope that isn't the Lelouch Look-Alike having a Zero Mask. Isn't Renya supposed to be in the same timeline canon as the main Lelouch of the Rebellion? :/

[Arbitres]

Yes, I'm still waiting for the translation. I'm thinking of going "Sod it, I'm asking ED." since he seems to be one of the more competent.

Though I have my reservations of that being 'Lelouch' of the Rebellion. I mean that in a universal sense, since it could be the NoN Lelouch, though I seriously doubt they will go back on their words.

They dance around words, they don't go back on them.

Don't worry, It's not Lelouch, since Jet Black Renya already has it's Lelouch Look-alike, I doubt they need the actual Lelouch of the Rebellion.

As was stated, the scan might actually be artwork of comparison or about the artist who previously worked on NoN. It's nothing too troublesome.

I think the outfit is different from NoN, however. That is all that really bugs me, and it's not that big of a deal unless we get harder evidence that isn't NoN Lelouch...

[Eternal Dreamer]

You don't have to ask, Arbitres, I've already started to translate it!

First off, the big red writing in the center and the bit of text next to type 2 just say who are producing the new projects. Nothing important there, right? However, I've translated the boxes of text next to the characters and those have some pretty interesting information

Renya

He doesn’t like studying and sword-fighting. In actual fighting, this one-armed boy is quite good. He goes to the 穎明 private (Unknown kanji spelling) school to improve his skills but can’t keep up as a student. His family are survivors of a ruined nation which now lives in an isolated village.

We finally get a look at Renya's background here. I couldn't translate the name of the school, unfortunately, but everything else is good. Warning, though; some of this translation I'm unsure of, so I can't guarantee it's 100% right. Especially with the second to last sentence (It could also mean he dropped out of the school, but the above meaning is more likely. In my opinion, anyway. ).

And now, here's Lelouch's text, which you should prepare yourself for:

Lelouch

An unidentified boy. In “Lelouch of the Rebellion”, he disappeared for the sake of the world and for his younger sister. Now in “Jet-black Renya”, what will happen because of this man’s appearance?

...Sorry Arbitres, looks like this ISN'T just a comparison picture like many of us thought. It confirms, at least, that it's the one from the anime. (Though it might also mean the manga of the same name, but I doubt it.) Looks like we haven't see the last of Lelouch as we thought?

Well, that's all I have for now. Looks like there's a lot of information in the rest of the text for the two projects, so it will take me a while to translate it all. (I'm doing the Akito one next, as it's shorter. ) I'll try and put up my translations of it as soon as I can.

[Arbitres]

Oh yeah, I remember why I love you Eternal Dreamer. It's that devotion and vigilance. Yes indeed~

...Ahh hell. Lelouch is showing up. Well... At least we got a translation from one of the best translators. Superb, considering how well Eternal Dreamer does it. Although... I can't help but hope a certain character shows up, as well. If they throw Lelouch in, they might as well Rai.

Well, my theory was just skewered and throw to the fire. Still, thank you Eternal Dreamer. We love you~

[ZeroSama]

Originally Posted by Eternal Dreamer

You don't have to ask, Arbitres, I've already started to translate it!

First off, the big red writing in the center and the bit of text next to type 2 just say who are producing the new projects. Nothing important there, right? However, I've translated the boxes of text next to the characters and those have some pretty interesting information



We finally get a look at Renya's background here. I couldn't translate the name of the school, unfortunately, but everything else is good. Warning, though; some of this translation I'm unsure of, so I can't guarantee it's 100% right. Especially with the second to last sentence (It could also mean he dropped out of the school, but the above meaning is more likely. In my opinion, anyway. ).

And now, here's Lelouch's text, which you should prepare yourself for:



...Sorry Arbitres, looks like this ISN'T just a comparison picture like many of us thought. It confirms, at least, that it's the one from the anime. (Though it might also mean the manga of the same name, but I doubt it.) Looks like we haven't see the last of Lelouch as we thought?

Well, that's all I have for now. Looks like there's a lot of information in the rest of the text for the two projects, so it will take me a while to translate it all. (I'm doing the Akito one next, as it's shorter. ) I'll try and put up my translations of it as soon as I can.

So its looking more and more probable by the minute that Lelouch may in fact somehow still be alive?

Words cannot decribe how i feel about this so i guess this will have do summing up my feelings on the matter

[GundamMeisterLockon]

Well it says he disappeared for the sake of the world and his sister and didn't say he sacrificed his life for the sake of the world and his sister. So i would agree with you that the way his character profile is written does suggests that he is alive.

[Xander]

I've been reading some similar statements across the web lately, but I'm not really sure that's going to be Lelouch, in the sense that he will be an actual revival of the same character who died at the end of R2, because of something I'll explain shortly.

Taking this from the LiveJournal community, there have been a couple of recent updates here:

http://www.geass.jp/new_project/index.html

Mostly staff comments, but I think it's important to point out one thing in particular.

Going by what drakyndra from LJ has said and what seems to be confirmed by machine translations (as bad as they are):

The only (coherent) things of interest I could find on that webpage was that Boukoku no Akito is only a tentative title, and might change, and from the Taniguchi & Okuichi comments that though there were a lot of calls for a sequel, they decided to go with "expansion" instead of a continuation.

Oh, and that there may be more "expansion" in the future, so fans should stay tuned.

Why is this important? Because the only way for Lelouch to be "revived" after R2, strictly speaking, would be in a sequel or continuation. Not in an expansion.

Logically enough, I don't think Taniguchi & co. would be contradicting themselves so easily and so openly.

Therefore, I'm starting to believe that if Lelouch shows up in the new manga, there are mainly two or three possible results:

a)Renya of the Darkness will turn out to be an alternate universe story. It will only be a part of "official Code Geass history" in the sense of belonging to the larger franchise, not in terms of following an actual time line as was previously thought. I would say this is quite likely at the rate things are going.

b)There will be an unnecessarily complex explanation involving time travel, parallel dimensions or summoning the dead from the future into the past. And, of course, more time paradoxes than you can shake a stick at.

c)Lelouch's appearance will not be officially explained in the manga at all. He will just show up and do whatever needs to be done, leaving things open for all kinds of fan speculation. In other words, a cop-out that doesn't directly say where he came from but doesn't dismiss any of the possibilities.

d)There will be a series of flashforwards to future events. In other words, the story will technically take place in two different time periods.

Aside from the above, I would reiterate that the magazine's description of Lelouch doesn't confirm what will be the real nature of his appearance. Companies can and do re-use recognizable characters (as in their name, character design, background and personality) from previous works in ways that are completely and utterly unrelated. Everybody knows that Lelouch is a character from Lelouch of the Rebellion, which is why his last appearance is being described, but this same character can be used in a completely different role that bears little or no resemblance to what came before. In other words, Lelouch can appear in a million works without being "revived" in the strict literal sense.

...maybe I am overthinking this, but it's nice to show that there are more possible explanations than what is commonly considered obvious.

[Arbitres]

Xander, your analytical nature gives me a headache. Your intelligence and master-level speculation frightens my meek little mind. D';


Though I agree with what you said.

[Zetsubou Bunny]

Seems to me like 'Renya' is referring to its counterpart manga 'Lelouch of the Rebellion' as opposed to the canonical anime. After all they're not even written by the same people.

Aha. Now it's beginning to make sense. I'll bet you anything they're making the animeverse and mangaverse into two separate AU entities. This way the rabid fans who want Lelouch alive can keep their weird little distortion of reality in their mangaverse bubble while the rest of us can continue to be content with our animeverse.

This would actually be a big relief to me, because instead of splitting the entire fandom down the middle like it has been for the past two years we can finally just fracture off that part of the fandom entirely and let them exist on their own.

Oh God. No more trolls. Can you imagine?

[Nogitsune]

I don't see how wanting Lelouch to be alive is a "weird little disortion of reality" or makes someone a rabid fan. Other than that, interesting theory.

However, while that manga and the anime are indeed not exactly written by the same people, Taniguchi was the director of the original show. It would be strange if he went with the mangaverse, though in theory, it's not impossible, I suppose.

But there was also this: "The new project, ‘Renya of the Dark,’ will be an episode within the ‘Code Geass History.’ There will be stories from two different eras in the same world." (Taken from here: http://community.livejournal.com/cod...s/1514785.html)

Hm, in any case, I'm curious. From what little statements by him I came across, Taniguchi seems awesome enough, so I'll wait and see. It would be hilarious if Lelouch was alive, but I'd like to see a good explanation for that.

[Xander]

Originally Posted by Nogitsune

However, while that manga and the anime are indeed not exactly written by the same people, Taniguchi was the director of the original show. It would be strange if he went with the mangaverse, though in theory, it's not impossible, I suppose.

I'm not sure if I would go with that idea either...but here's another question: why is the Nightmare of Nunnally mangaka Tomomasa Takuma involved?

People might say that's just a matter of the art, but things become even more interesting when we stop to think about the other implications.

(In addition, that's also why it would be nice to know a little bit more about the interview included in this Newtype article)

At the end of the NoN manga and after a different series of events, Lelouch is very much alive. But more imporantly, the concept of multiple dimensions -including one in which the events of the anime series took place- was explicitly used during the story. In short, Nightmare of Nunnally itself can co-exist with the Lelouch of the Rebellion anime...and with countless other worlds.

If they re-used that same idea here, the result would be that the Code Geass universe will be made up of multiple worlds and dimensions as a canon fact...which can be recognized by (some of?) the characters within the story.

From that perspective, the "history" of Code Geass and its "world" isn't just limited to what we saw in the show itself and its internal time line. The boundaries have been expanded. If you're going to make up a story where multiple universes are possible, the sky's the limit.

But there was also this: "The new project, ‘Renya of the Dark,’ will be an episode within the ‘Code Geass History.’ There will be stories from two different eras in the same world." (Taken from here: http://community.livejournal.com/cod...s/1514785.html)

Yes, I was referring to this in both of my recent comments...but the problem is one of interpretation....the interpretation of a translation and/or summary, to be exact. Parts of the meaning might have been lost. Most of the time that isn't so much of an issue, but in this particular case the situation seems to be changing.

After reading this and seeing the first images, we all assumed that Renya of the Darkness would take place in the past of the original Code Geass story as presented by the anime. It was the most logical conclusion and there really was no apparent contradiction involved.

But that might not have been the right conclusion even if it was the most obvious one. The same thing goes for everything about Lelouch's possible appearance.

[Zetsubou Bunny]

Originally Posted by Nogitsune

I don't see how wanting Lelouch to be alive is a "weird little disortion of reality" or makes someone a rabid fan. Other than that, interesting theory.

Alright. Okay. I really have to delve into this more. (Dandy.) I guess I have to make myself clearer than I already am, not that it shouldn't already be readily obvious even if you didn't know me or my history no thanks to anything referenced to in my signature.

I didn't mean that people who want to see Lelouch are retards. I am one of them.

Ahem.

'Weird distortion of reality' in reference to, of course, any number of variable fan theories/ troll notions used to explain away the legitimacy of our former protagonist's demise, which are the founding notion that inflenced the perspective of 95% of those who now want Lelouch alive today.

Which indeed would be the only deciding factor which would have inspired the Code Geass execs.'s to bring him back in aforementioned manga, as all of the cast and crew made it initially clear that they wanted him very dead.

/end eloquent detail of a relatively simple idea.

That, and having Lelouch resurrected from the dead 500 years prior to his own death in the Mecha-Edo period is in itself a 'weird little distortion of reality'.

[Zetsubou Bunny]

Originally Posted by Xander

At the end of the NoN manga and after a different series of events, Lelouch is very much alive. But more imporantly, the concept of multiple dimensions -including one in which the events of the anime series took place- was explicitly used during the story. In short, Nightmare of Nunnally itself can co-exist with the Lelouch of the Rebellion anime...and with countless other worlds.

If they re-used that same idea here, the result would be that the Code Geass universe will be made up of multiple worlds and dimensions as a canon fact...which can be recognized by (some of?) the characters within the story.

From that perspective, the "history" of Code Geass and its "world" isn't just limited to what we saw in the show itself and its internal time line. The boundaries have been expanded. If you're going to make up a story where multiple universes are possible, the sky's the limit.

Hehe, I proposed that idea a few pages back, just more concisely.

[Xander]

Originally Posted by Zetsubou Bunny

Hehe, I proposed that idea a few pages back, just more concisely.

So I see.

Honestly though, I wasn't trying to claim any credit for it...I don't think that was a new idea, but it's still worth mentioning now.

In the end, it's also possible that Sunrise has already decided to go ahead with something even more confusing and difficult to explain....which is why I've tried to propose other options. The truth is that we won't really know anything until later this month, at the earliest, so we're all guessing.

[Arbitres]

the result would be that the Code Geass universe will be made up of multiple worlds and dimensions as a canon fact...which can be recognized by (some of?) the characters within the story.

I'm refraining myself (albeit barely) from making a statement about Rai.

Hehe, I proposed that idea a few pages back, just more concisely.

I actually liked that theory, actually. Made more sense then what we had at the time. I also think 'Rabid fans' is a very good description of the fans in particular. Though I can understand the feelings on the matter.

In the end, it's also possible that Sunrise has already decided to go ahead with something even more confusing and difficult to explain....which is why I've tried to propose other options. The truth is that we won't really know anything until later this month, at the earliest, so we're all guessing.

They probably already decided, but let's hope they don't drop the ball halfway through like they did for R2. I'm not expecting much until I see good stuff happening. Until then, I'll be waiting in my little corner and hoping for a Lost Colors R2. Don't worry, the sign still reads eternity.

That, and having Lelouch resurrected from the dead 500 years prior to his own death in the Mecha-Edo period is in itself a 'weird little distortion of reality'.

500 years is an exaggeration, methinks. But we get the point of that.

[Laurcus]

I'm seeing a lot of rationalization for why Lelouch can or can't be alive. I say just wait. If he is alive by some means (insert your own random theory here) then so what? It's not the end of the world. And if he isn't alive then that will come out with time as well. The only thing I hope for is a well writen story with good action scenes and some believable character development from interesting characters.

Though if Lelouch is alive, and they don't give a darn good explaination I won't exactly be thrilled. For now though, I just want the rest of that translation. *begins to drool*

[Zetsubou Bunny]

I'm just happy that whatever happens in this case it's secluded to the manga. x/ Easy enough to ignore a bad plot development should it happen.

[Lolipopo]

Pfff, I'll never know what happens in this manga. The art is way too weird (Do I dare say unpretty ?) For me to even land a eye on it :/

And all this talk about Lelouch alive/Dead scares me. I know Geass is a crazy universe, but this Renya of the watever is during Edo. lelouch being there is just...crazy. Come on, Taniguchi, don't be influenced by NoN (which I must be the only person in the world who dislike it :/)