Review of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

The first half of season 1 was an absolute 10/10 highly recommend. Reminds me of a mash up of Eureka Seven, Tales of Vesperia, Death Note, and Darker Than Black, as they all (including Code Geass) came out at around the same time, are high quality, and have similar themes. The first episode was weak and boring, causing me to drop the series several years ago before the episode even ended, but it picks up the pace from episode 2 onward. Featuring a cast of somewhat but not completely forgettable characters, the story is deeply philosophical and the flow of events (after episode 2) isswift and strong, with almost every scene being both meaningful and/or entertaining in some way. The political intrigue and imperial infighting is much more reminiscent of bureaucratic imperial ancient China rather than anything remotely similar (apart from aesthetic) to medieval Britain or Europe, however.

Second half of season 1 was increasingly disjointed and confusing, and most of the "plot twists" (especially the zone incident) was unashamedly and frustratingly contrived and nonsensical. Just deus ex machinas left, right, and center. There are limits to what you can do with a made up supernatural power to advance the plot and narrative and have that be accepted. And if it's not that, it jumps, skips, and hops all over the place so that keeping track of things becomes like a second job. The season finale was a prime example of this, and it was extremely unsatisfactory as it left more questions than answers. Even if it's just bait to entice the audience to watch the second season, it is excessive and leaves a bad taste. Still better quality than most animes I've taken the time to watch, so I'd still give the second half of season 1 an 8/10, for an overall score of 9/10 would recommend.