Code Geass
| Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Director | Goro Taniguchi |
| Writer | Ichiro Okouchi |
| Format | Anime (TV) |
| Made By | Sunrise |
| # of Episodes | 25 (Season 1) 25 (Season 2) |
Contents
Genre
Action, Drama, Mecha, Psychological, Sci-Fi
Sum it up in a Sentence
An exiled Imperial prince living in Japan seeks revenge after obtaining the power to make anyone listen to his command through eye contact.
Main Description
The Empire of Britannia has invaded Japan using giant robot weapons called Knightmare Frames. Japan is now referred to as Area 11, and its people the "Elevens." A Britannian who was living in Japan at the time, Lelouch, vowed to his Japanese friend Suzaku that he'd make Britannia pay for their actions. Years later, Lelouch is in high school, but regularly skips out of school to competitively gamble with his chess skills. One day, he stumbles upon terrorist Elevens who've stolen a military secret and is caught by a member of the Britannian task force sent after them; one of them who turns out to be Suzaku. As the rest of the squad arrives, Suzaku is shot for disobeying orders, while the military secret, a young girl, gives Lelouch the power of Geass, which makes anyone obey any order. Lelouch tests his new-found powers first by coldly ordering the task force keeping him at gunpoint to kill themselves, with which they happily oblige under Lelouch's influence. While Suzaku survives and is secretly made the pilot of Britannia's brand new prototype Knightmare, Lancelot, Lelouch becomes the masked knight Zero to lead the rebellion to destroy Britannia once and for all.
R2
The second season starts with what seems like a fresh new beginning...or is it?
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Personal Opinions
Nate RFB
Code Geass is in many ways the anti-Sunrise-Giant-Robot show. Most particular of course in how vengeful Lelouch is, and how far he is willing to go to realize his desires. He's the ultimate anti-hero, and shatters many preconceived notions about how characters in these type of shows should act. It's like Sunrise realized that after 30 years, it's Char that fans want to watch and not Amuro. But despite this, it never feels like Lelouch is truly winning his war, at least not effortlessly. He's no saint and often even his "ends justify the means" style feels like it goes to far. There is no one truly "evil" in this story, only many souls consumed by hate. Code Geass takes painstaking measures to be as unpredictable as possible, and the plot twists that ensue make it a, I dare say, gripping drama.
Just watch out, because the first season in no way finishes off the story. Lelouch and his war against Brittania won't be finished until at least then.
Petah
When I look back at this show, it becomes quite apparent that it is littered with filth, and in many ways, is filled with stereotypes that would usually put an anime at "mediocre". This includes gratuitous fan service, high school episodes, and laughable product placement.
The interesting thing about this show is that it redeems itself like no other anime. Lelouch has to be one of the most intriguing protagonists in the history of anime and is essentially a big "fuck you" to previous white-knight mecha heroes. While Lelouch has certainly taken a few notes from Light in Death Note, his plans are far more out in the open and action packed. While Light plays chess with his mindgames, Lelouch plays chess with his cavalry and it makes for story that will keep you coming back for more (no matter how campy some of the supporting characters are).
Doomisland
The first season of Code Geass was something fresh to watch and that is why a lot of people enjoyed it. It had a nice blend of different genres to satisfy most people. Unfortunately after a stellar 1st season for the most part season 2 ruined it. Fuck Code Geass.
iddqd
Code Geass is succulently, deliciously, delightfully ironic. It's nearly as ironic as it is Pizza Hut, which makes it... well, in any case, it's a lot of fun to watch. But do yourself a favor, Mr. Prospective Watcher, pretend the second season doesn't exist.
Zorak
Season 2 isn't BAD per se, it just sort of abandons any presumption of limits the first season had, focusing more on being as FABULOUS as possible. The ending was pretty decent, I thought, and a lot of second season was the series' pacing because kicking repeatedly in the groin by publishers forcing the writer to dick around with it.
wielder
Code Geass is a heavily polarizing show that subverts the audience's expectations in ways both good and bad, right from the beginning of its first episode to the end of the second season's last, but somehow the series manages to remain entertaining and interesting all the way through. I give the staff credit for accomplishing that much despite having to deal with unexpected pressures (time slot change).
The main draw is a strong protagonist who gets the lion's share of character development. Lelouch's victories and tragedies lie at the heart of a very theatrical story with too many plot twists, love or hate them, and an appropriate finale.
The importance of almost everything else varies, which also goes for its execution quality. The second season stumbled through because of rushed pacing as well as a number of bad decisions and stupid mistakes, but the main themes still remained, though all too often rather misrepresented. Looking back at the big picture, now that everything's over...I think it was a worthwhile ride and, while messy, not nearly as nonsensical as it can appear to be on the surface. There is a certain method to the madness if you can find a way to appreciate it, but even when all else fails, Code Geass is still one of the more amusing anime series in recent memory.
Daydream
I've been watching both seasons of Code Geass with a friend for a couple of weeks and we just finished it. I must say that this is definitely one of the better anime series out there. Did you like Death Note? This is probably right up your alley. The show got really fucking complicated the last couple of episodes with intrigues and plot twists all over the place and I felt like I got off a station too early on the series' last train of thought to mindfuckery-ville. Nevertheless they got a really nice spin on it in the last episode and I'm very satisfied with the whole series. A clear 5/5
Twitch
Season 1:Pretty good show, but it kind of drags a bit in the middle. The high school parts weren't that great, but the military tactics and fantasy parts of the show more than made up for it. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Death Note and Gundam. I'll probably watch season 2 eventually, but not for a while. 7/10
NeverRamza
Season 1: I really enjoyed this show. It reminded me of Death Note a bit in the analysis of situations although I did enjoy how the show would show that the main character prodigy isn't perfect and even though he's making decisions that kill people, he's still got some emotional baggage over it he's keeping tucked in inside. But the main point is that he still goes through with it. Also, the secondary character are interesting as well. Highly recommended show.
ImpAtom
A show with good ideas and a lot of bad execution. It has a strong start and a strong ending, but particularly in R2, it tends to get bogged down by some pretty bad stuff, a lot of which feels like it was forced onto them by the studio. If you can ignore a fair part of R2, it's worth watching.
Willsun
I don't know what it is about the second season that has so many people renouncing the series, but I thought it kept right up with the thrilling plot points and logical climaxes right up until the end. It's a miracle they were able to keep everything together what with the series being praised for "having something for everyone" and I think it worked well. Loved the modern mecha battles, loved the drama, loved the political maneuvering, loved the stepping-on-eggshells secrecy in broad daylight, and definitely enjoyed every episode.
Redcrimson
Sci-fi meets sorcery in an epic saga of rebellion, machination and vengeance. Innovative mecha designs add sensational flair to the flashy, breakneck action and CLAMP's baroque and expressive character designs are as colorful as the cast itself. The Machiavellian anti-hero protagonist Lelouch often steals the spotlight with his charismatic presence and cheesy dialogue. Rounded out by a solid soundtrack and Sunrise's usual high-budget animation, Code Geass is an overblown and preposterous adventure that is undeniably fun.
ViggyNash
There are a couple of factors that make Code Geass one of my favorite shows ever. The first is how little the story cares for the viewers preconceived notions of how a particular scenario should play out. They did what made sense in context and what had the most impact on the story, not the viewer (though some of the second season did try to be a bit FABULOUS as Zorak put it). I liked how the story would always take us by surprise, yet make perfect sense in retrospect. You realize that the things you wish didn't happen but did were exactly what should have happened.
Secondly, and most importantly, Lelouch is almost the perfect anti-hero (some flaws with characterization in the second season) and one of the most fascinating characters in all of anime. His genius, cunning, and philosophy all show in the way he commands troops, sets up plans and traps, and manipulates just about everyone he can to further his goals. However, one of the problems with the second season is that he sometimes became an insufferable ass when the tables were turned against him, something he didn't do in the first. His story is fascinating to watch play out and ends with, in my opinion, one of the most perfect conclusions I've ever watched given how much of his story that conclusion accounted for. It was the perfect ending for the (almost) perfect anti-hero.
My thoughts on the second season is that it was not as world-shatteringly bad as others seem to think it was. It definitely had its faults and could have been improved in many, many ways. However, it still keeps much of what made the first season a fantastic success and the build up to the ending was, in hindsight, Lelouch's most brilliant plan.
