Review of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Well over a decade after its original run, Code Geass is something of a relic. There aren't a ton of still-popular shows from 2001-2006, and maybe that's a biased thing to say due to a personal lack of interest ('Naruto', 'Monster', Standalone Complex, 'Samurai Champloo', etc. do stand the test of time). Stylistically, shows of that era were campier, had worse animation, and hadn't developed the crack-cocaine-like pacing of later shows like 'Parasyte' or 'Attack on Titan'. One might argue that this was actually a golden age, running parallel to the trajectory of film in Hollywood: there was less money in the business, more roomfor actual artistry, no focus groups or workshopping or ivory tower executives calling the shots and setting unachievable deadlines for the artists.

'Geass', along with 'Death Note', ushered in a new period of anime, and like any early-genre piece, it can be rough around the edges. The animation is half-baked and seemingly unfinished, the plot full of inconsistencies and completely insane at times, the characters broadly unlikable and frustratingly stubborn. More to the point, the show is plagued by what can only be described as a general aura of shittiness, starting from episode 1 until the finale.

Yet somehow, 'Geass' remains one of my favorite shows, and is perhaps the show that best represents Anime itself. It's not the platonic ideal of an anime in the sense that it captures all facets and tropes of the genre (that would go to 'Naruto'), rather, it's the show that emphasizes the defining characteristics of Anime---both good and bad---in the most exaggerated, yet accurate, form.

The era of polished, universally appealing, slick, high-budget, fully-formed anime really began around 2009, and owes a ton of credit to precursors, perhaps the most important being Code Geass. Without 'Geass', would we have the fully unhinged protagonist of 'Steins;Gate'? The countless rip-offs like 'Zankyou No Terror'?

Probably, but like Zero's legacy as a revolutionary hero, 'Geass' persists (despite its overwhelming shittiness).