Review of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

*** I tried to be vague, but when talking about characters below I gave a small spoiler from the first couple episodes relating to one of the characters. Skip Suzaku's paragraph if you don't want a slight spoiler *** This is an anti-hero tale. It's based in a world where a militaristic society has taken over most of the world, and it oppresses those that it conquers. The emperor has a strong conquers the weak mentality, and his beliefs are pretty extreme. A hidden and disgraced prince is the main character of this story. He starts out as a good guy, and though his ultimate goalis for the greater good (long term) he does a lot of morally questionable things to reach his goals. The power he obtains in the beginning (his geass) is said to isolate him from everyone in the end, and it's easy to see how that will happen as the story unfolds.

I'll start with the two main characters, since they are the key characters in this story. They were friends as children. One is a prince in hiding, and the other is the former leader of Japan's son.

Lelouch and Suzaku are supposed to be two sides of the same coin. However, they're not so dissimilar that I agree with that. They both are incredibly selfishly driven, but they simply end up on opposing sides even though their ultimate goal is the same. One is the brains, and the other is the brawn. Truthfully it is silly how Suzaku keeps getting in the way, and it's almost an unbelievable fact but not in a good way since the mech fighting scenes are not practical.

Lelouch is very intelligent and the storytelling never contradicts his intellect. He only loses when the completely unexpected happens which is basically when others act completely out of character. The irony is that happens more often than it should. He definitely does some morally questionable things throughout the story, but when you get to see the opposition it becomes difficult to disagree with his ideals. One element never changes, and that is Lelouch has a master plan and a goal that he will do anything to attain. Nobody else even has an idea of what that is, or that they are merely pieces on a chessboard.

Suzaku's ideals are supposed to be for the greater good in that he doesn't want innocent people to be harmed by a rebellion. He thinks that following the rules is the just and righteous path. The sad truth is that he's a soldier for an army that constantly murders innocent civilians and persecutes them. In the very beginning he is almost murdered by a superior and then framed and nearly executed. We're talking first couple episodes folks. Even knowing this he thinks it's wrong to go against the system. His selfish need for atonement drives his ideals, and though he's supposed to be the one attempting to follow a more righteous path, he is on just as destructive a path as Lelouch. The difference between the two is that Lelouch knows his path is one of destruction, and he knows the pains he will have to suffer to accomplish his goals. Suzaku represents hypocrisy at it's finest. I really started to dislike his character as time went on.

Then there's the story. If you summarize it, then it sounds like an incredible series. Unfortunately, the delivery is completely flawed in so many ways. There are scenes that are crammed with dialogue and void of all dramatic emotion, and then you have long and uneventful scenes void of all emotion as well. The action scenes that are in the series are mediocre at best, and really not believable in how they transpire. The animation was ok, the supporting characters were just ok, but the overall story was very good. It was fast when it should have been slow and slow when it should have been fast, so the pacing really killed it. Frankly, I was incredibly disappointed. Oh, and if you are wondering about the music, then don't wonder. It's not a big help to the story at all. Thankfully there is a second season to follow, but do not expect a well presented first season, and don't expect to be wowed in any kind of way.

There are plenty of twists and turns. There are lots of betrayals, but the delivery itself is sort of a betrayal when you look at the potential of this series. I wanted to love it, but I just sort of liked it.