Sakurai x Taniguchi x Fu-kuyama Interview, NewType November 2008
--Congratulations on the completion of "Code Geass". When did the thought "It's ended" first occur to you, Director Taniguchi?
Taniguchi: That's a difficult question. Visually, that would be after the V-edit (Video Editing) ended, because after that you can no longer do anything about it. However, in terms of the end [of Code Geass] as a project, I really don't know.
--How did the final recording session go?
Taniguchi: It was difficult for me to control myself, psychologically. Since it was the final recording session, I kept thinking "This is the end", but in terms of the actual work, I had to hold on for a little while longer.
Fu-kuyama: I was thinking "Let's record our lines in high spirits!", but that only lasted until episode 24. The final recording session was...... This might be the first out of all my works so far in which I completed the final episode without putting too much effort into it. I took it all calmly.
Sakurai: I was in a spiritual state of nothingness. More than two years have passed between the recording of the first episode and the final episode. To be involved in a project for so long is something of a rarity these days, and because of that I was also overwhelmed with feelings. Still, "Code Geass", true to its nature, ended in a cool way.
Fu-kuyama: I think the VA with the most mixed feelings when it comes to the last episode of Code Geass might very well be Hoshi Souichirou, Gino's VA. To tell you the truth, I received a phone call on the night before the recording for the final episode. I wondered who it was... and it turned out to be Hoshi-san.
Sakurai: He called me, too.
Fu-kuyama: When I answered the call, all he said was "Tomorrow's the final episode, isn't it... do your best*." (laugh) [*ganbattene]
Sakurai: He said "Do your best" to me, too. I guess he was especially attached to this show.
Taniguchi: (laugh) It's up to everyone how they want to interpret the ending, I don't mind, but for me, it was a Happy Ending.
Fu-kuyama: I, too, think it was a happier ending than expected.
Sakurai: As for me... I'm looking at things from the viewpoint of Suzaku's VA, of course, but I've been watching the show as just another audience, too. That might be why the ending was painful for me.
Ichiro Okouchi, 'Continue' vol 42, (October 2008). "Lelouch dead!? Was it a good one or a bad one!?"
" -----Still, isn't it possible that defeating the wise ruler Schneizel, the person who was supposed to have brought order to the world, might lead to some [viewers] interpreting it as a Bad End?
Okouchi: That's true. There are probably a lot of people who think of it as a Bad End, a tragedy, considering the protagonist's, Lelouch's end as well. However, Lelouch says in the first episode: "Only those prepared to be shot are allowed to pull the trigger themselves." If you were to think of that as his pride, then I think his getting shot (killed) in the end was a logical end. Of course, I understand that not all of the viewers will accept this ending. There were people who wanted a happier ending, after all.
-----Was there a dispute among the staff members regarding the ending?
Okouchi: No. It was decided fairly naturally. During the "Code Geass" script meetings, there are many cases in which there were a number of disputes, but there were barely any when it came to the scripts for (the previous series's) episode 25 and the final episode. I think everyone felt the same when it came to the end of the character that is Lelouch.
-----Why were you so bold as to choose this ending when the viewers might see it as a Bad End?
Okouchi: Bold... yes, we were so bold as to chose this ending. Perhaps the show that is "Code Geass" ending up this way was decided the moment Director Taniguchi and I teamed up. I suppose you can call it our sense of aesthetics, or perhaps a part of our psychological makeup.
...
------I see. So Lelouch's decision was also your, Mr. Okouchi's, and Director Taniguchi's decision.
Okouchi: Which is why I think of both our and Lelouch's decision as Happy Ends. I believe that there will be better things in the tomorrow awaiting Nunnally, Kallen and the rest who have been left behind. And surely Lelouch, who was able to make this into a reality, can only be happy [about this].
...
-----Some unresolved mysteries still remain.
Okouchi: From the very beginning, [I/we] never planned on explaining everything. In fact, if you ask me, I think we might have overdone the explanations. While it's undeniable that Lelouch's story has ended with a full stop, the other characters' stories are still on-going, and it's not like the world [of Code Geass] itself has come to an end either. [I/we] didn't want to end it by closing it up for good."
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Animage Nov 2008, cast comments
Floating text: "C.C. - Her wish was to die as a human, but after spending time with Lelouch, C.C. also wished for tomorrow. She made up her mind to ensure the tomorrow of the world that Lelouch had left."
Animage: The ending's outcome turned out as such, but do you think Lelouch was happy?
Okouchi: I think that this (work) was not a bad end, but a good end. This already appeared in Lelouch and C.C.'s conversation in Stage 7 of S1, but people who are 'just' living their lives are uninteresting. Lelouch saved his beloved sister and made the kind world that he envisioned, a reality. His life was not in vain. That's why, Lelouch was smiling in the end."
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C.C.'s profile on the official GeassNet (mobile) website
"..Knowing that Lelouch does not hate her for giving him the Geass, she is now able to show her true feelings. With the realization of "Zero Requiem", her time with Lelouch, who was able to forgive and accept her, came to an end, but the memories created with him has, without doubt, saved her from eternal loneliness."
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C.C.'s Final monologue - Zero Requiem DVD
"There was a boy.
He obtained the power to change the world, to create a new order.
The world was terrified of him, hated him.
... But, I know.
He, who passed away with a smile.
So. This is not a tragedy.
And yet, at the time, the night came where I sobbed with a sadness I wouldn't resist.
I lament. A dirge. The Zero Requiem..."