Code Geass - END
I get that Lelouch being such a tragic character might be too much for some, but I for one really liked how his flaws doomed him, even in spite of his growth as a character (which happened too late, because tragedy). I guess it isn't too hard to hate him for being an edgy guy that is so magnanimous he plays the role of the villain to the bitter end even in spite of his own best interests, and finally dies a martyr to give hope to the world, his real motives forever lost to all but those who were really close to him. Even in spite of the show being theatrical as hell and doing several pretty weird things, I liked seeing the characters change as they clashed with each other, and I'll say it was sad to see Lelouch struggle to keep his facade as the evil chessmaster when confronted by Karen and later his sister in the events leading up to the finale.
If I had to list my complaints with the show, I'd probably have to mention the following:
- Everything Lelouch's mom
- The confrontation with Wakamoto being a cheap knockoff of instrumentality, and the whole conflict being solved by Lelouch randomly getting a geass power-up out of nowhere
- Mr. Orange curing Shirley from Lelouch's geass as a mere freaking coincidence (and he never even used that unique power of his again after that, because reasons)
- Lelouch's geass malfunctioning for the first time at the same time he was listing to Euphy a few examples of awful orders he could force others to do, and the power imprinting the single worst order of them all in her mind. I get that the story was meant to be a tragedy, but there were probably other ways out of this peaceful early ending than a freaking diabolus ex machina
- Lelouch's "you must live" order to Suzaku powering him up in combat for some reason
All in all it was pretty nice for me due to being a tragedy that stuck to its guns, developed most of its cast decently enough, and had cool giant robot fights and an general greater-than-life style to its narration (even though it went quite a bit overboard a couple times). It's definitely one of the shows I'd recommend to others, but now I'm kind of wary of the third season that was announced, since it looks like continuing the story from the point S2 ended in would probably require figuratively exhuming the show and coming up with little more than an excuse plot.