Review of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
"Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch", the highly received production by Sunrise, directed and created by Goro Taniguchi, is quite a unique venture into political anime. Code Geass tries its best to surprise you with its twists and turns, even to the point of it twisting so many times it practically breaks its back. Lelouch is the anti-hero in Code Geass, doing all the wrong things with good intentions. Lelouch and his gained power "Geass", reminded me of Light in "Death Note", which was released the same year as Code Geass. But that comparison falls once the show starts rolling, and that didn't happen until around the 13thepisode. The rest of the story (including the second season) is a bunch of twists, turns, stabs, jabs, and u-turns.
One of the main problems I have with this series is that there is so much information in each episode that it was hard to keep up at times.
And for some reason, I did not find most of the episodes to be very memorable. Whenever I watched an episode, I had a hard time remembering what happened without looking up the synopsis of the particular episode.
I found this out in the time that I've watched/read anime, movie's, books, ect. That there can be so much drama and so many twists in such a short time, that one becomes basically numb to it, and new twists are not as surprising as they could have been in a much more controlled series.
Not to say that this series is boring, it's actually an intelligent portrayal of two empires at war, and all the twists are quite imaginative. It's fun to see how this series goes down, and by the time I was finished watching the first season, I was excited to watch the second season.
Just about every character plays an important role in the show, whether they are intelligently implemented or there to be the annoying twist creator can be hard to decipher, but just about every character is either of these two.
Lelouch Lamperouge is the brains of the series (Literally, he can barely do a 100 Meter dash without stopping in the middle, out of breath.), he obtains an ancient power called "Geass". With his new power, he is inspired to take revenge on his father, the emperor of Britania who abandoned Lelouch, and create a world where his sister Nunally can live in peace.
Suzaku Kururugi is Lelouch's childhood friend. He's very important to this story, regarding Lelouch.
C.C. is a being who was discovered somewhere and locked in a capsule, has the power to grant Geass to whoever is worthy.
Kallen Stadtfeld, Milly Ashford, Rivalz Cardemonde, Nina Einstein, and Shirley Fenette are all Lelouch's close friends, and apart of the student council at Ashford Academy, Milly Ashford is the president.
There are many other side characters that will come into the loop as well.
The art is very well done. I must note that there's quite an abundance of ecchi in both of the series, one instance frontal nudity.
The fights can be dramatic and epic, and the animation never seems to drop noticeably in quality.
The music is very well done, and gives off that Dictator and Monarchy vibe quite well.
The Seiyuu are excellent, they're never out of character.
The SFX also fit very well.
---
This is a series that deserves its recognition to an extent. It is imaginative when it comes to the politics of this series, creative in its delivery, and fun to watch.
You may even want to watch it just because everyone is so in love with the series, it would be nice to know what people are talking about.
If you are interested in a show with many twists and turns, and are not bothered by the comparisons to Death Note, Gundam, & Legend of the Galactic Heroes, go ahead and watch this fun series, you will love it.