—–Congratulations on the completion of “Code Geass”!! It was a shocking final episode; did you have a difficult time writing it, Mr. Okouchi?
Okouchi: “No. The last episode wasn’t difficult at all; in fact, it was the middle parts of R2 that turned out to be rough going. For the final episode, [I'd/we'd] already decided on the ending when writing the script for the first episode of the previous series. Episode 1, Episode 25 (Episode 1 and the final episode of the previous series) and episode 25 of R2 — these episodes did not deviate much from our original plans.”
—–”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.”
—–”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.”
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