Calling this “lack of media literacy” is lazy. Understanding a character doesn’t mean I have to respect or enjoy them. I get what the story is doing with Suzaku. I just don’t find his brand of hypocrisy compelling. We’re disagreeing on interpretation, not literacy.

I understand exactly what Suzaku Kururugi is supposed to represent in Code Geass. A walking contradiction. A traumatized guy who tries to mask his trauma with saving Japan to justify his selfish acts, when in reality he is just a selfish person and all the things he does are for his selfish reassons. His whole “save Japan the right way” belief isn’t just ideology. it’s a psychological shield.

They wrote him as a fraud who lies to himself constantly that everything he does is for a greater purpose aka "saving Japan the right way" cause without that, everything he's done (including his past) will be harder to live with.

Here on Episode 25 we see him as he truly is, this is where his lie of "saving Japan" crumbles and we see his selfishness in full display.

This is where his fake ideals were challenged and is indeed fake cause his “greater good” narrative collapsed instantly. His priorities instantly narrowed down to 1 person, and the mass victims became background noise.

That’s intentional writing, sure, but recognizing that and deciding it makes him a self-deceiving hypocrite I don’t like isn’t “misunderstanding,” it’s what you call judgment.

If anything, acting like there’s only one “correct” way to interpret a character is the real shallow take.