Review of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

When Code Geass is good, it's so good. It tackles everything from nationalism, to racism, to ethnic and personal identity, to power, to revolution vs reform. Most of the main cast are dynamic, deep characters with very realistic character flaws that evolve over time and change drastically. I adore that the main character is arguably also an antagonist who uses justice and oppression as a weapon for personal satisfaction, where as his foil is an ideologue who selflessly gives everything to a system that he knows will abuse him just to justify his own bloodstained guilt. Many of the characters that would normally be seenas villains are complex and merely have fallen victim to an infectious idea. Then there are characters who don't care about ideology at all, and merely try to extract their own value out of a system they don't believe will change.

And sure, you get plenty of anime mechs fighting too.

Unfortunately, there are some flaws that stick out amongst a sea of great things to enjoy. When characters aren't nuanced or well developed, they stick out like a sore thumb. There is some filler here and there, and when the sexualized fanservice happens...it's pretty gratuitously given and blatant to a fault. There are pacing issues at time because of this, and the political intruige weaving in with supernatural elements that are barely explored and then appear in full force when other things are happening can be jarring. That said, this is easily becoming one of my favorite anime of all time.