I've never been one for picaresque shows. I guess I just found the manly man troupe unrelatable. After all, who can honestly say that they could just keep fighting through adversity with no obvious fruition from their hard work? My friends had been encouraging me to watch anime for years, but whenever I tried the "classics" I just couldn't enjoy them. Two summers ago, on July 3rd 2013, I discovered Code Geass. Over Stop and Shop coca-cola, farmer's market corn on the cob, and grilled veggie burgers from fort riley, I discovered my next addiction. The booming voice of Johnny Yong Bosch gave his "The ends justify the means" approach an unmatched sense of vindication. I desperately wanted Lelouch to win, to strip Britannia of its ability to subjugate its subjects and create a just world in its place. A couple days later, I was talking to my friend whose family we were staying with.
"That anime was amazing!" he exclaimed. "The characters were well drawn, the battles were epic, and the story was one of the most intense I have ever experienced!"
"I agree it was good, but don't you think you're exaggerating it a bit? Lelouch's chin looked like it could have been on the head of a jackhammer, and the strategy was half baked at best; not to mention the fact that Suzaku and Lelouch spit enough platitudes to make a congressional speech seem reasonable!"
"You're just pissed off that Shirley died," he retorted. "You're right, the show had its faults, but that's because it's just that, a show."
"That's no excuse for lazy writing! Hell, I bet I could be twice the hero Lelouch was!"
I didn't know it then, but I would learn to rue those words. Because the next time I woke up, I wouldn't be in Kansas anymore.
I awoke to the worst migraine of my life whose pain was only offset by a shriek that could only have come from a mouse "Big brother, are you okay!?"
Looking up, I peered into the worried face of a seemingly pre-teen girl. Not wanting to deal with whomever the hell this was I responded rather rashly.
"I don't have time for this shit, I have a really bad headache. Just leave me alone." The girl seemed a bit taken aback at my words, but wheeled herself out of the room afterward.
She wheeled herself out of the room… A young girl shouted "big brother" and was in a wheelchair. That was definitely odd. The resemblance between the two was uncanny.
Stumbling through the gothic room I saw something that would forever change my life; An elongated pane of glass revealed a teenage boy with jet black hair, whose violet eyes stared back at me. Dropping to the ground in pain, I clutched my heart and tried to stop the impending panic attack. It didn't work. My raspy voice echoed throughout the halls as I finally realized what the hell was going on.
Somehow, someway, I was Lelouch; I was the prodigy who came from a fictionalized sunrise animation with excessive fanservice and Mechs that could destroy countries.
Once I calmed down, a single phrase exited my lips: "Fuck"