Maybe I had it written already in my head, but hadn’t gotten around to the physical act, but I was surprised to find that my blog was missing a Geass post. In fact, it was devoid of any Geass posts. This is surprising, because Code Geass is easily one of the more important series in the past while. Whether or not it’s actually any good is debatable.

How it was significant can be seen by how different the series was when it first started. Code Geass began as Gundam meets Death Note. We had ridiculously meticulous planning set against a backdrop of mecha battles mixed in with high school life. Where we ended up, though, could only be described as Code Geass. The sort of incredulity we felt at the end was very different from the sort we felt at the beginning.

The beginning of Code Geass was very Death Note in its approach. But, the plausibility of each plan was getting stretched more and more as each week rolled by. By R2, this was just shattered by Gurren Lagann-like jumps of implausibility. But where Gurren Lagann went for awesome, Code Geass went for shockingly ridiculous but works. Somehow, each crazy idea managed to work.

Compounding with the crazy coming from the show was the weekly Internet response. Especially in the final months of R2, there was something new to be meme-ified each week. As a result, Code Geass is a show that’s remarkably different when watched as a whole instead of as it aired.

On its own, Code Geass starts off as a fairly interesting watch but derails halfway through into something unique and slightly insane, but not necessarily something quality. With the Internet reaction, Code Geass is something that’s still not necessarily extremely good, but it becomes special for the way it’s been immortalized.

I’d put off watching Manabi Straight for a really long time. It just didn’t look very interesting, I had a lot on my stack (which did kind of act like a stack, in the computer science way) of stuff to watch, and I was wary of the character designs. Eventually, I got through that stack, and with great trepidation, I started the first episode of Manabi Straight.

Honestly, I wasn’t very enthralled by what I saw. It was pretty much what I expected. But, I knew that I should probably give it another episode or two, especially since it wasn’t wholly disgusting or offensive to my tastes.

And I kept watching. Manabi Straight is fun and whimsical, but at times, it can get pretty deep. The characters are great and their development is excellent. It’s categorized as a slice of life show, but it has a definite plot which progresses. There is a beginning and there is an end and things happen in between.

It’s a very positive anime. There’s something about it that makes you feel good. It’s different from feeling happy after Hidamari Sketch or Azumanga Daioh. The feeling, especially after you finish the entire thing, feels more like the feeling you get from watching Gurren Lagann. I guess MASSUGU GO isn’t that far off from believing in you who believes in yourself or kicking reason to the curb and surpassing the impossible.

And not Evangelion, like twitter would suggest. Yes, I did watch Evangelion over the weekend, but it’s very taxing to try and write about it, so instead, I decided to pick up Kure-nai. I also figured that I should watch End of Evangelion before writing about it because, episodes 25 and 26 were better than I could have possibly imagined absolutely terrible.

Kure-nai actually isn’t that old, as it aired this spring. It’s about a high school student who works as a “dispute mediator” and is tasked with being a bodyguard for a seven year-old girl from a powerful family. The circumstances surrounding the story make the situation far more complex than that summary would have you believe. It’s definitely more interesting than what the OP would have you believe.

Kure-nai’s biggest strength is its characters. They’re all interesting and the main characters have varied histories. The interaction and relationships between the characters are great to watch. The development of the two main characters, Shinkurou and Murasaki, are also excellent. Shinkurou isn’t an annoying fighter guy and Murasaki isn’t an annoying little kid. They definitely made the show solid. while the supporting characters were a great bonus.

Kure-nai’s weakness is in its 12 episode run. It’s strongest parts were definitely during the middle, when Murasaki was getting used to living in the real world. If it had run for another season to develop Murasaki and Shinkurou, as well as explore some of the more important side characters, then it could have been amazing. However, with its current pacing and plot, it fails to be anything more than just a decent watch.

Still, it’s solid and has a fantastic cast. It’s a good show, but it just won’t be standing in the spotlight, which is unfortunate.

This week I finally decided to slog through the latter half of Minami-ke Okawari so that I could put it behind me and hope for the best in January, when Minami-ke Okaeri airs.

M-I-N-A-M-I-K-E LET’S GO

Minami-ke is a slice of life anime about the Minami family, which consists of three sisters. The anime follows the sisters as they go about their lives and interact with people in their classes. In addition to the main characters, the show features a wide stable of characters that, along with the Minamis, partake in various shenanigans. The first season, produced by Dome and aired in Fall 2007, was funny, charming, and solid throughout. Minami-ke’s style includes the drop-mouths and serious-face.

Okawari

For whatever reason, the season following immediately was produced by another studio, asread. The first impression is that the art style completely changed. I don’t really consider that a weakness, since I got used to it over time. What I do consider a weakness is the writing.

It seemed like every episode tried to cram every single one of the side characters in, especially the elementary school kids. As a result, every episode seemed to involve some sort of Mako-chan joke, which got really monotonous. Unfortunately, this also meant that the other side characters were only tangentially visited. We don’t get stuff like intimately detailed schemes from Hosaka anymore. Even worse, we don’t see the other Minami family at all.

The other problem was that it tried to inject some unnecessary drama with Fuyuki. Not only was he unnecessary and uninteresting, but he didn’t fit in at all with the cast. Minami-ke does not need drama. This is further proven by the fact that nothing Fuyuki did mattered. He just showed up, got shoehorned in, and left. The nature of slice of life doesn’t lend itself to this sort of thing, and its apparent failure shows why.

Basically, watch the first season and pretend Okawari doesn’t exist, because you can do that sort of thing with slice of life.

What we just learned over the past week is that most people don’t understand how our government works.

Essentially, if you said that the Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition was undemocratic, you were either lying and misrepresenting how Canada’s government works or you don’t understand how Canada’s government works. If you were misrepresenting, then congratulations, you’re a liar. If you don’t understand parliamentary democracy, then I suggest you get on it, because you’re being a bad citizen. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t just get to waltz into a voting booth and make a little x next to your candidate of choice. You have a duty to be informed and this includes understanding how this entire machine works.

People blame this on the incredible gravitational pull of the States’ elections, but I don’t think this is true at all. I mean, the electoral college system and the simultaneous House and Senate elections are a system that’s just as complicated as our own parliamentary system. The problem is that people don’t actually understand either of these systems, but think they do. Their perception of democracy is one of 50% + 1. People don’t want to go through the effort of understanding how the entire thing is put together.

There’s a reason why our country is lead by a Prime Minister and not a President. You might think that they’re two names for the same job, but they’re not. The President is the head of state. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The President of the United States acts as both the head of state and head of the government. Canada’s head of state is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, who is represented by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada.

The head of the government in Canada is the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada. This is an important distinction, because we, the people, do not choose the head of the government. We elect members of the government. The Prime Minister is chosen by the Governor General, based on which member of the government would command the most confidence in the House of Commons. Usually, this is the leader of the party with the most Members of Parliament. This does not necessarily have to be the case.

This distinction is emphasised more in a minority government. I think that we’ve been spoiled by having so many majority governments that we come to expect them and think of minority governments as temporary anomalies. We’ve come to believe that minority governments are bad because they’re perceived to be unstable and unable to accomplish anything. And it’s become apparent that the minority governments themselves think this too. Instead of concentrating on governing, they’re obsessed with trying to get a majority in the next (presumably quickly approaching) election.

I’ve always been a firm believer in the merits of minority governments. Instead of just handing over the reins of Parliament over to one party, the government is forced to work with other parties. There are many industrialized democratic states in which minority and coalition governments are the norm. This becomes more important as we move further away from having our Parliament dominated by two parties.

History shows us how minority governments should work. Lester B. Pearson, the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada, is considered to be one of our greatest Prime Ministers, but he never had a majority government. He led two consecutive Liberal minority governments, in which he chose to work with the Tommy Douglas’ New Democrats instead of antagonizing the opposition. With their support, he put into place many institutions that are still in place today, like universal health care, race-free immigration, and the Canadian flag. His government planted the seeds for what would eventually grow into NAFTA and official bilingualism.

In today’s case, Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, put the interests of his party before the country, and as a result, he lost the confidence of the House. The proposed coalition government was a government that was willing to govern and place the country before party. They chose to cooperate together instead of trying to tear each other down. In other words, they’re working in the way that minority governments were intended to behave.

Democracy in Canada was working as intended. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you.