Code Trainwreck

Taniguchi on Geass: “NOT AS PLANNED”

Tamaki’s Girlfriend posted a write-up about part of a Taniguchi interview (Taniguchi is the guy who’s directing Geass) at a board which must not-be-named etc. This is just about part of the interview, not the whole thing. In the part of the article she wrote about, Taniguchi talks about how Code Geass has been a total saga of NOT AS PLANNED for Taniguchi.

She said she didn’t mind if I re-posted what she wrote, so here it is, though she can’t answer any questions about the rest of the interview as she is avoiding spoilerific places like here. Hit the read more for her write-up~

The following is Tamaki’s Girlfriend’s write-up, as it was originally posted in English. There is no English translation of the interview itself. Tamaki’s Girlfriend read it in Japanese then wrote about it in English. I modified no part of it. Anything that seems like an opinion is her opinion, not mine.

Reading Taniguchi’s interview in the recently published Code Geass Roman Album really depresses me. Taniguchi = Lelouch, indeed. Code Geass has been one long string of “NOT AS PLANNED D:”s for him and the production staff. Apparently the decision to give R2 the new Sun5 slot (Takeda Seiji’s idea, after rejecting the original Lelouch of the Rebellion?) was more of a curse than a blessing to Taniguchi, because his plan had been to continue where things left off in episode 25, which would have been possible had he been allowed to keep the same timeslot in October 2007. Producer Kawaguchi wasn’t exaggerating when he said in the early R2 promotion articles that the Code Geass team had to throw out all their existing plans for season 2 and start all over because of the new timeslot.

Might explain the decision to cut Suzaku’s relation to the Geass (which was supposed to have been something deeper than just “he has the potential”), Kallen’s father (and Naoto?), and Cecile’s relationship with Suzaku, among other things.

Also, Taniguchi was seriously considering leaving the anime industry as a form of apology to the fans when it turned out that production was way behind schedule and they had to use up two slots for recaps. Season 1 was supposed to have ended with episode 23, but fortunately there was enough fan support for the Sunrise execs to greenlight episodes 24+25. The episode 25 ending is the ending Taniguchi planned to show from the very beginning; according to him, he once thought of using it as the opening scene of Stage 1 (which would have made the whole of season 1 one huge flashback; I think that’s actually pretty cool)

Taniguchi planned the season 1 ending with the firm belief that he could jump right back into the story 6 months later and tell the story to the same audience, so when he was informed of the new timeslot, Taniguchi was completely crushed. He was asked to write a short message to his fans for the special screening pamphlet back then, and apparently all he wanted to write was a letter of apology, which wasn’t allowed. Neither was he allowed to explain the situation to the fans, which is understandable from a Sunrise exec point of view, but not quite fair towards Taniguchi, IMO. When his colleagues reported back from the special screening (which Taniguchi did not attend) and spoke of the audience’s “Ehhhhhhhhh!? D:” reaction to the ending, Taniguchi’s reply was: “You think I don’t know that!? Don’t make it sound like it’s something to be happy about, you moron!”. Seems like he was really unhappy about things then XD

Some of you might remember Taniguchi’s cameo in Bamboo Blade; apparently he talked about his unhappy situation with his friends Kurata Hideyuki (scriptwriter for GunxSword and Bamboo Blade; Taniguchi “killed” him in Stage 10) and Saitou Hisashi (director of Bamboo Blade, animation director for Infinite Ryvius and S.cry.ed). After that, “Taniguchi” appeared in Bamboo Blade announcing he will retire from the anime industry after his next project. Taniguchi remarks in the interview: “They totally read my mind, back then.”

It’s kind of sad that we’ll never see the original Code Geass story as Taniguchi envisioned it. And he doesn’t seem to have any confidence in himself as a director; to him, all his projects might very well be his last. I just hope things will work out better for him in the future. At the very least, studio execs (Suzaku?) should stop screwing with his plans ><

The following is whatever I felt like saying.
I’m interested in how Geass was supposed to work out originally, R2 in particular since they scrapped and re-did it. I doubt that R2 13, in particular, was anything remotely like how it was originally planned out. I believe that “Sayoko is a Ninja” and Orange was brought back are largely due to 2ch and they found ways to include them. Tamaki’s Girlfriend has said before that the animation production was constantly behind, and that they would’ve had time to fuck ep 10 to make Orange live. I also recall reading early on that Rolo was bullshitted specifically for the “new R2″. (Edit: I believe it was when Koshimizu/Kouzuki was talking about one of the writers being challenged to “ease new viewers” into R2? Someone correct me if I’m not thinking about this correctly s;dlfkkl;234.)

…oh, and if you’re wondering what the Penguins tag is about:

[emokoda] what category does the post about the taniguchi interview go under.
[Eej] penguins

Tags: Interview, Penguins, Roman Album

Serious Business | miasmacloud | August 19, 2008 2:10 am

67 Comments

Kaze (August 19, 2008 @ 2:18 am)

The flashback thing would’ve been pretty awesome, and I’m interested to see how it would’ve worked out too. This explains why R2 is so full of bullshit, too. Now I want Taniguchi to release his original plans in some format soon though :v

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Lolifucker (August 19, 2008 @ 2:21 am)

Hey, don’t on super ninja meido >O

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Lolifucker (August 19, 2008 @ 2:21 am)

I MEANT TO WRITE DONT HATE :(

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Anonymous (August 19, 2008 @ 2:32 am)

We certainly wouldn’t have gotten the cast in the same mould R2. Also, I can’t help but feel that maybe, just maybe Nunnally isn’t just resting her eyes after all.

Oh well, at least it’ll make those fools who argued on behalf of the official excuse for the recaps feel pretty silly now.

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QQ (August 19, 2008 @ 2:34 am)

I think the current R2 we have now is awesome and awesome sauce, everything makes sense, I mean… Really, everything is UNDERSTANDABLE! :D

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AnimeOtaku88 (August 19, 2008 @ 2:48 am)

well this is something i so did not know, i thought the show was more or less “KEIKAKU DOORI”. i really hope taniguchi will release his original code geass someday in some form, but still, the current code geass series is super awesome and im loving it:D

also, I LOVE KUNOICHIS!!!!!!!
and Orenji has become cool since ep 13 of R2

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Kaze (August 19, 2008 @ 4:15 am)
Orenji has been cool since episode 1 of season 1. He’s just been 9001 times more awesome since ep13 of R2.

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Volbla (August 19, 2008 @ 4:45 am)

I dont know about that flashback thingy. Showing future things at the begining is a no like for me.

Orenji has always been a pain in the ass who just doesnt die.

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風の谷の名無しさん (August 19, 2008 @ 5:21 am)

Well, that would certainly explain a lot. Especially the “not even trying” feeling that R2 has had in general.

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clie (August 19, 2008 @ 5:28 am)

hmm, speaking of Orenji, i was wondering why he didn’t use his geass canceller on Suzaku when he visited him on the site of FLEIJA’s explosion?

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Nilie (August 19, 2008 @ 5:29 am)

Eehh?! D: Then we need a third season with this huge fanbase, a new time-slot and a new title!

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion AU

I always wondered if all we were seeing in R2 had been planned since season 1, they do seem like two totally different world occasions. Oh well, I guess that encourages anyone to write AUs with more development for the original characters in S1.

Dang it, we need OVAs and extra sides stories, like Sound Eps & Picture Drama etc to help us cover all those plot holes and unexplored characters. :-l

Pressure on Genius directors sucks.

Oh, and I rly don’t think the penguins bit makes sense. >.<;

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Poki (August 19, 2008 @ 8:43 am)
I agree. They should at least respect Taniguchi’s role as the director and put Code Geass the way it was supposed to be in some DVD format and sell it to the fans. I’m really interested at what Code Geass would have been like if everything went JUST AS PLANNED for him.

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Whocares (August 19, 2008 @ 9:21 am)
I think it’s pointless to expect anything more than what we’ve got, unless there is some OVA series or movie in the future, and even that would also have to be different because of the limitations of the format.

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Pentacle (August 19, 2008 @ 12:59 pm)
Genius director? Are you serious? lololololol.

Code Geass Season 1 was an above-average mecha/drama/alt history anime. It wasn’t exactly groundbreaking or unforgettable.

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Ascaloth (August 19, 2008 @ 5:33 am)

You know, somehow this explains a lot….

I wonder what Kaioshin will say now if/when we shove this in his Sunrise-fanboy face. :p

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miasmacloud (August 19, 2008 @ 12:59 pm)
He’s already seen it

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miasmacloud (August 19, 2008 @ 1:24 pm)
…and he posts that even though he knows where the board where Celiss posted it is.

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Ascaloth (August 19, 2008 @ 6:31 pm)
LOLKAIOSHIN. LOLSUNRISE.

Time to petition Taniguchi to approach a little studio in Uji, Kyoto for the much-needed KyoAni remake. :p
Me (August 19, 2008 @ 6:02 am)

I really am angry after reading this… Code Geass could’ve been a lot better if the time slot stayed the same.

I just hope the original season 2 story can be published on DVD/Blue-ray or something. Highly unlikely though ;_;

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Whocares (August 19, 2008 @ 7:34 am)

And yet I still like R2, especially the second half, nitpicks and LOL included. It’s not like even if he had to change everything around like that he would suddenly throw his brains out too. I think we’re still seeing many of the things he intended, as far as the general lines of the story go, just that the ridiculous time skip and maybe even stuff like the introduction of Rolo got in the way, which may rush things.

Also, the Sayoko thing is probably right on, but Orange was already alive and back to action in the end of season one. C.C. was obviously not going to die underwater, so why would he? He’s a freaking cyborg or something by now.

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Whocares (August 19, 2008 @ 7:35 am)
In other words, if 2ch or whoever had any influence regarding Orange, that has more to do with his ejection non-death when the Guren blew him up, not with the R2 problems.

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miasmacloud (August 19, 2008 @ 12:53 pm)
They were constantly behind on animation production, so people believe if he was live flagged, ep 10 was a perfectly acceptable time to have been able to change it at last minute.

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Whocares (August 19, 2008 @ 2:44 pm)
Yah, I get that too, but that is not the fault of these R2 changes, like Ninja Sayoko could be.

Also, some people try to argue that Orange would have stayed at the bottom of the ocean and that C.C. would have died after Stage 25, but I don’t think so. If you went to the trouble of making him a Cyborg, he would survive. C.C. wasn’t going to stay there either.
Dakkar (August 19, 2008 @ 9:33 am)

It’s now clear why it was one big filler for a first half and why the show misses all that details which are required to make events reasonable. Screwed plans and time pressure made R2 a comedy show, which doesn’t imply it’s bad, but definitely is not what I expected.

The fact that they started unveiling these details might imply that they’re thinking about making an alternative sequel. Probably OVA, like it was with Tokyo Revelations.

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Whocares (August 19, 2008 @ 9:47 am)
Oh c’mon, for heaven’s sake…there were plenty of unreasonable events lacking details in season one. Euphie’s death, anyone? Mao’s? Teleporting everyone to Kamine Island?

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Dakkar (August 19, 2008 @ 10:14 am)
What’s wrong with Mao? Teleportation also made some sense as the part of greater scheme to be developed in the sequel. It also was the first appearance of V.V., wasn’t it?

Euphie’s death was surprising twist, I’d rather say forced one, but properly explained. Besides, it even hasn’t deviated much from Lulu’s original plan.

Anyway, compared to a number of inconsistences in R2, season one had perfect logic :)

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Whocares (August 19, 2008 @ 11:53 am)
Mao’s fake death, Suzaku’s spin kicking and wall-running, the emo faces, the memory wipe for Shirley and how that entire thing was handled even before R2 and other things led to plenty of bitching.

Euphie’s death also resorted in cries of “what the heck is this BS”, as did the cliffhanger ending and the Kamine Island “this is Gundam Seed” stuff. How quickly people forget.

“Anyway, compared to a number of inconsistences in R2, season one had perfect logic :)”

Alrighty then, stick with your rose-colored glasses, but I’d rather be consistent than doing that.

Dakkar (August 19, 2008 @ 1:47 pm)
Yes, I have to admit I questioned Mao’s fake death as well. The explanation for it is not that hard to come by, but I don’t clearly see why they needed that episode from the whole series POV.
To show limitations on Lulu’s geass and point out how careful he has to be with the wording? Well, not all the watchers are D&D players, so that might be a good idea :D
It’s clear that the person subject to geass conflicting his/her intentions will resist as much as possible, and why would a policeman kill some strange guy when he tries to tell them something? So, if you leave enough freedom to resist, they will shoot, but not intending to kill, and the consequences can be grave. Lesson to learn, albeit I would expect Lulu to realize it from the very beginning.

Suzaku was the one stopping Lulu’s plans from complete fruition throughout the whole season, so he’s pictured sort of being on par with Lulu. Well, with him having no brain and Lulu possessing all his intelligence, there’s no surprise Suzaku has to be super-human in a physical department to keep overall balance :D Yes, that’s retarded, but so common in anime that I just don’t want even try to complain…

After Lancelot & Gawain’s combined attack on that fortress, Love & Peace scenario development was so expectable that 180 degrees turn was surprising, but refreshing in a certain sense :D And ending… Well, probably hastily made and not all that good, but the fact that it would be a cliffhanger was quite obvious.

OK, OK, season one had enough problems, but most of them could have been explained with more or less stress. With R2 I’ve given up long ago as they are so severe and pile up so fast that it’s useless to try :)
Fag (August 19, 2008 @ 12:47 pm)

Well, this sort of explains why the first episodes (and basically the feeling of the whole season) were been really bad.

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dgh (August 19, 2008 @ 5:16 pm)

Well shit, I hope they release a third season/ova/whatever and let old Taniguchi do what he wanted to originally.

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maleficarium (August 19, 2008 @ 6:19 pm)

Well this explains alot of stuff on the differences between Season 1 and R2… Including lelouch’s intelligence dropping for some reason… Communication with the dead? Whatever happened to that? We used to see it quite often in S1…

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Whocares (August 19, 2008 @ 7:58 pm)
C.C. talked to the dead when she still had her memories. Doesn’t look like she can now.

And spoilers for Turn 21 hint that it may bring us more dead talk or at least talk about the dead.

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Calvin (August 20, 2008 @ 3:45 pm)

Taniguchi should write a novel or something of what he originally intended R2 to be. Worked for Tomino with Gundam after all.

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Max (August 20, 2008 @ 7:53 pm)

The Sunday 5PM timeslot really killed Code Geass R2. I wonder why Sunrise chose to put this show in the middle of “Family Hour”? It makes no sense as this is a show that is geared towards a mature audience. Were they trying to make this into a Saturday Mourning cartoon?

I always wondered why this season was presenting action, action, and more action without going into the details of the other characters. I would have loved to have learned about the relationship between Cecil and Suzaku, as well as his relationship to the Geass. If Euphemia’s death was unintended, then Suzaku and Lelouch would still be friends at Ashford Academy. Eveything that is going on right now if partially fueled by Euphemia’s death.

I do hope that there is a R3 because Code Geass has so much potential.

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風の谷の名無しさん (August 21, 2008 @ 4:47 am)
> I wonder why Sunrise chose to put this show in the middle of “Family Hour”? It makes no sense as this is a show that is geared towards a mature audience. Were they trying to make this into a Saturday Mourning cartoon?

If they were trying that, they would have aired in on Saturday morning together with the rest of them, no?

Weekend afternoons is when lots of high-profile shows air. Gundam, Blood+, that kind of thing. It’s not that the shows are any less “mature”, it’s that they have a bit broader appeal than to just the otaku crowd who watch midnight anime. Which is what Geass used to be.

> I do hope that there is a R3 because Code Geass has so much potential.

The producers have stated that it definitely ends at the end of R2.

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Whocares (August 21, 2008 @ 3:11 pm)
Should be cleared up: those (Gundam, Blood+) were show on Saturdays, not Sundays.

It’s only R2 that is CURIOUSLY shown on a new Sunday slot.

I know you don’t care either way, but some people might.

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ShiChelle (August 21, 2008 @ 6:27 pm)

Holy shit, everything makes sense now. Maaaaaan, I wanna know the “real” story now… poor Taniguchi.

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Speeters (August 24, 2008 @ 8:15 am)

Reading this makes me knows how R2 is going.R2 is half of retelling s1 to audiences who did’nt see it.But the other half and end will do goes the way Taniguchi originally decided(as Taniguchi says to he is will produce the ending he’d first envisioned).
I hope there will be a novel of code geass with the original comelete story from Taniguchi.

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Montu-sama (August 24, 2008 @ 8:25 pm)

If the first season was one big flashback, that would of been interesting but things didn’t work out that way, as for people saying that R2 sucks, bullsh*t, s1 with some new people or however you see it, it still has some kick ass eps (action and drama ones) and even though it may be rushed…..we have to sadly admit we live in a world of money

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Cyle (August 24, 2008 @ 9:37 pm)

You guys are seriously full of crap, who cares if it’s “Not as planned”, R2 is the only thing anime form that has entertained me this past year, everything else is crap crap crap.

I don’t know what you guys are complaining about.

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Lolifucker (August 24, 2008 @ 10:42 pm)
You dont represent the majority, and not everyone shares the same opinion on geass.

Theyre complaining that it could be better.

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soupy (August 24, 2008 @ 10:19 pm)

so basically, Code Geass was meant to start like gurren lagann? I could live with that instead of the crap we’re watching now.

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molester (August 30, 2008 @ 7:38 am)
Yes, because that worked so well with GL, right? At least this crap is genuinely entertaining, which makes it better than a cool fake prologue followed by 26 episodes of failing to meet the expectatives.

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drastikhate (August 25, 2008 @ 6:43 am)

I feel for Taniguchi.
R2 has been made fun of and trashed around too much!
There was potential for greatness.
But DAMN SUNRISE!!

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Persocom (August 25, 2008 @ 5:29 pm)

that is really a shame…. I like R2 but it did seem that a lot of details were left out in the beginning and it does feel rather rushed since the second half.

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meowmix (September 8, 2008 @ 8:31 pm)

It’s funny seeing so many people whine about them preferring the intended story, without even knowing if it’d be good or not.

I’m glad to say season 1 sucked pretty much constantly, and even though it r2 was full of fillers, suzaku’s dick in our mouths, and plotkais, its MUCH better than season 1.

Fanboys suck

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r2faggotry (September 21, 2008 @ 11:12 pm)

If Taniguchi = Lelouch, then he’s as emo and pathetic as Lelouch is, not to mention a potential liar (also like Lelouch is), to change up the plot so much that it’s sucked fabulously from ep 18 til now. Far as I can tell, Taniguchi = massive faggotry.

Taniguchi: “oh hai guyz, howz it goin?”

Board: “Hey, we moved you to a different time slot. That okay?”

Taniguchi: “RAGE. Nao I’m gotta be emo and stoopid and scrap all of mah sensible ideas for seeson 2! But furst i’m gunna think about quitting this gig to save me sum honor.”

Board: “Dude, chill out. No one said you have to do that.”

Taniguchi: But i must! FOR NUNALLY!!”

Board: “You’re crazy.”

Taniguchi: “I R LELOUCH VI BRITANNIA! i will do the opposite of wut u says.”

Board: *facepalm*

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overkillbots (October 6, 2008 @ 4:21 am)
Lol! For Nunally!!!

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風の谷の名無しさん (September 23, 2008 @ 7:06 pm)

At first I wanna say that my English writing ability is quite poor, cause I come from Taiwan.

I recommend all of you reading the interview in the ロマンアルバム by yourselves “again”.

The things that “Tamaki’s Girlfriend” had told us is not that precise. Summry is right, but the “focus”(sorry I can’t find a enough good word to explain it)IS WRONG.

JUST UNDERSTAND SOMETHING:THE ANIME(not only code geass) WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT, if the “放送”(on air)time was at midnight.

I mean it could be BETTER or WORSE, depends on how good a director is.

hmm….well the above article that I’ve witten down seems can’t explain my mean more accury, cause I have a poor English.

I’ve seen about 3-4 interviews within this 6 months, and nearly all of them show me one thing:the 放送 time affects the contents of a anime A LOT.

I think the problem is that “after ep 25, they’ll have to CHANGE the 放送time”
AND THE TRUTH IT’S NOT LIKE WHAT THIS ARTICLE SAID(by Tamaki’s Girlfriend).

it’s out of plan, and you should know that Code Geass is a 5-year-big-plan, about 6 months is not enough to rewrite/whatever it.

one of the references comes from here:http://0rz.tw/6e4F5

the japanese it uses is quite hard, but I believe it’s not a problem for GEEKS :P (or I should call us otaku, or nerd? I dont think I really know what these vocabularies mean.)
============================

Let’s talk about something else.

I totally agree about one thing: They do determine something from 2ch.

Some of us may know that there’s a person(s) in the 2ch code geass thread called “バレ氏” (the one who was being suspected as a staff, cause he knows what would happen in the next episodes)

I think this is one of the way that TANIKUCHI try to “understand/survey/know what teenagers is thinking about”

The reason that makes me think like this comes from the interview that I’ve post (the references deta) .

AT LAST, I AM SO SAD ABOUT THE APPEARENCES CHANGED IN SEASON 2.

IF THE 放送TIME CAN KEEP AT MIDNIGHTS, CODE GEaSS COULD BECOME A EPIC ANIME!!!!

DAMN IT orz

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Khan (September 26, 2008 @ 4:59 am)

season 1 had sense in it. u cud atleast distinguish btw gud n evil, but in season 2, evry 1 is evil!!!! story is a mess. one minute lelouch is all crazy and down about loosing his sister, even ’saves’ kallen by taking blame of evry thin on himself, next minute he is laughing like maniac saying he doesnt care for any one as long as he gets world domination.
suzaku is all heroic n noble in season 1, kills 20mn ppl in season 2, starts laughing, becomes evil???? where did that come frm!!!!
they shud really end geass here, for fan’s sake.

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Snow-White-Queen (September 26, 2008 @ 11:57 am)

Man, stop bitching about it.
I mean, yeah, CG could have been a lot greater (if it had had like 20 more eps or so), but I still like R2!!!! Besides, it hasn’t ended yet; depending on how things will end, we’ll be able to tell how great or crappy was the show overall.

It’s not that Lelouch is evil, or that characters are suddenly f***ed up and laughing maniacally. R2 is more complicated than S1, and characters have to cope with a lot of things; I mean, killing your parents, become emperor and have the rest of the world against you isn’t very easy, is it? The crazyness stuff -at least referred to Lelouch- is nothing but a mere front, he really does want a better future, not for him, as he lost what had been his reason (Nunnally), but for the entire world. He has matured a lot, of course he has changed from the one in S1, he has other ideals now, and that makes him a good character for me.

Peace out

*spoiler ep24* Lelouch is SO in love with CC….

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chris (September 29, 2008 @ 11:29 am)

Sometime in the next couple months, I’d love to see an interview with him and know what he exactly did have planned for R2.

Great, I have a mass murderer as my captcha.

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Prideless (October 4, 2008 @ 3:05 pm)

for all we know Taniguchi might have wanted Shirley to live, Kallen and co never betrayed Zero, Emperor is not encountered til way later and the plot could have continued where everyone is all happy fighting the emperor together for another 50+ episodes to milk the franchise.

–
i mean come on think about it, what was exactly bad in R2? I mean I think the messy plot filled with riddles and questions makes it all the more interesting and it carrys that much more impact. sure it could have been different, i personally wouldnt have it any other way all the drama and the mess they made with the so called trainwreck is exactly why R2 is an amazing anime.

it would have been a bit lame if everyone was alive and no one died for anything as they all happily fight chareles together.

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Max (October 17, 2008 @ 1:07 am)

With regards to the possible relationship between Suzaku x Cecile, I also believe that there was to have been a possible relationship between Milly x Lelouch as well. those issues were never resolved in R2. I now understand why Code Geass can’t continue from where R2 had left off. But given the huge success of the series, it might be possible for the production staff to get another Code Geass series that would allow them the complete the “Planned” version that wanted to present. If the producers were allowed to do a Mai Hime remake that did better than the first, I can’t see why Sunrise wouldn’t allow the creators to do a better version of R2 that takes place right after Turn 25 from season one. So this would mean that the current version of R2 would be non-canon.

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