Review of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Code geass I debated on leaving only one review for geass and geass r2 but it’s incredibly important to understand the difference in both series (even though they are the same series in essence). I won’t lie, the first season of Code Geass didn’t pull me in as much as I had hoped. It wasn’t that there was anything inherently wrong with it, but I suppose it was just out of my usual comfort zone of viewing. It wasn’t the violence or the drama, nothing like that. A better way of saying it is that it took me awhile to warm up to it Iguess :)

If you have already seen the series or don’t want a summary, skip this entire paragraph. A little background on what the first season is. Essentially a teenage boy is given a gift perfectly suited for him to reach his ultimate goal. The gift being [code] geass. Now I’ve seen series 1 and 2 and am still a little unclear where or what geass actually is, although I’m sure if I searched I could find out easily but that’s not important. Geass is an ability given to someone, and, I surmise, the “shape” of the ability is based on the proprietor. So if I was a race car driver, my geass would enable me to see around corners or give boost to any machine I enter. I think that’s the general idea but I’m sure there are better authorities on the matter. Moving forward the teen boy, by the name of what else but Lelouch, is gifted a geass that can command any person to do his bidding. The rest of the story is better to see play out, but to finalize my summary, he basically seeks revenge on those who wronged him and his sister, by murdering his mother and running him out of his home.

For most of the runtime, the show is basically a high stakes game of cat and mouse, with the 11’s/Japanese and Britannia/the series’ global super power. Lelouch uses his geass to gain notoriety and inevitably is confronted with challenges and road blocks to no end. Behind the scenes though, we’re given an alternate viewing similar to something you’d read from Plato or Socrates, a tale of humanity from a variety of angles where no one is truly correct. I honestly could have written an essay on this show in college depicting so many metaphors for society, such as “humans in the face of fear”, “war and what is it actually good for”, or even “whose the real enemy here”. In generic terms, this series does a great job of familiarizing us with certain characters and what their motivations are. Lelouch is center stage, but everyone else is right beside him. I would like to add that none of the side stories are filled by any means and really help us understand the characters, politics, world, and lore.

Tragedy of course occurs at times, which was expected from a series like this, but what surprised me in the end was Lelouch’s responses to these tragedies. Let it never be said that Code Geass is predictable! Part of this series’ ultimate appeal was how it keeps you on your toes, by abolishing what we like to call “plot armor” or “invincible because they’re a main character”. People most certainly die, and aside from maybe DBZ or Devilman Crybaby, Code Geass has one of the highest kill counts of any of the series’ i’ve seen. This isn’t a good thing per se, but it does keep things interesting. The characters truly make the show though, and I honestly struggled to fully back any one character whole heartedly. To be clear though, CC or C2 is the best overall character in my opinion, with Lelouch coming in at very very close second…

The first of the series really takes a direct approach compared to the second. To me, the entire part 1 is a beautifully told prologue for part 2. That’s not to discredit the first 25 of the total 50 episodes of the series as a whole, but is a plea rather, to emphasize just how much they’re able to do in 25 episodes. Especially while bearing the burden of attracting an audience AND getting us to stay for part 2.

I’m not going to delve into the deeper philosophy of part 1, mainly because part 2 is the better pick for such a thing. I will say that the creator most certainly was trying to say something about our modern culture and the role the USA plays in the world’s past, present, and future. I believe that this is the reason I felt a familiarity with the plot from the get go. There’s definitely more to this story than you’d assume based on a surface level analysis. I’d highly recommend not letting the show trick you into thinking it follows a certain path all the way through. There are quite a few places it goes that will not only surprise you but give you anxiety. Needless to say it’s a must watch, and hopefully I didn’t spoil much. I absolutely understand the hype now and can say without a doubt that it’s a worthy show for a perfect 9-10 MAL rating.