Kôdo giasu - Hangyaku no rurûshu: Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion

Plenty of people have already written what this anime is about, and many have sung it's praises, but I didn't feel like any of them were able to truly convey what this anime series really is. I have personally watched over 200 different anime titles, of all of those I have watched Code Geass from beginning to end 9 times now. I will watch it again when I find someone else who hasn't seen it.

This anime is extremely character- centric, and all of them, are well thought out and given their own sense of worth in this series. As the story progresses you begin to empathize with them and are drawn into the story to an amazing degree.

I watched this anime while it was being released in Japan, and was both frustrated and glad at the same time when the writers took an extra week or two to write or animate the show. The characters that are supposed to be "genius" level aren't just spewing overly complicated words and having others around them go "oh wow that guys is just so smart" that most movies and series' do to let you know a character is substantially more intelligent than everyone else. This series has more than just one genius level character, and all of them can and do make mistakes.

I feel like I could go on forever with all of the good things to say about this series, but I guess it really comes down to two things.

If you can empathize with a cartoon character and you are smart enough to follow the story line, which at times can be arduous, than you will absolutely love this series. I guarantee it.

Note- This is a good series, even for people who aren't particularly interested in anime.

*Premise* The show takes place in a futuristic world where the Holy Britannain Empire rules over a third of the globe. Their emperor's conquest has lead them to Japan, which they conquered easily due to their superior military technology (machines called Nightmares). Japan is renamed area 11, and it is here, 8 years after Britannia's invasion that the story begins. The protagonist is Lelouch Lamperouge, a high school student who is given a power called Geass, which he uses to wage war against the Britannian Empire.

*Overall Impression*: This is an incredible undertaking in animated series. The continuous plotting and action provides excitement that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and the writers never fail to deliver the thrilling climaxes that you would expect from the constant cliffhangers. Definitely worth watching.

*The Pros* After finishing "Death Note" and loving it, I started looking for similar series, and this was one that was recommended all over the place. After watching 2 episodes, I became hooked and finished the series (including season 2 or r2) in 3 days. Fans of Death Note will enjoy Code Geass, although I must say it doesn't have the same dark mood as Death Note.

This is an excellent series for anyone looking for suspenseful & exciting action & drama. The protagonist, Lelouch, is an excellent strategist and tactician, and his brilliant tactics as he battles the forces of Britannia, the world's largest empire, will keep you craving more. While the action of the series is largely centered around mecha (transformers style robots), I can assure you it isn't simply a nonstop explosive battle. Much of the focus is on plan & strategy execution, and drama that keeps the story rolling.

The artwork is incredible.

*The Cons* At times, characters & dialogue can become over-dramatic or oversimplified. Lelouch's sister, Nunnally, for example is almost so sweet that it makes you sick, and sometimes characters shout & gesture in excess of dramatic effect.

My overall impression is at the top, and I absolutely recommend this series to anyone looking for an exciting ride.

This was my second time watching Code Geass. It's been 10 years and all I remembered was that the ending was amazing. Actually, it's the whole reason I rewatched it. I rarely watch shows or movies twice, but I had to see that ending again. I can confirm that it did not disappoint.

Before this, Cowboy bebop has the most artistic take on directing anime series, it showcased how each individual 20 minute episode can have the same artistic direction of a feature movie. And now came Code Geass.

Code Geass tells the story of murder and deception (like the starting point of any recent Korean historical soap opera), but influenced by many well-known anime titles like Death Note (Teenage genius obtain manipulative supernatural ability), Akira (beautiful friendship torn apart), a little Evangelion (psychotic kid and "HA-SHIN!!!"), Ghost in the Shell: SAC ( Cecile's uniform and hair style-color looks suspiciously like the Major's). By the first starting sequence you won't find anything so special that created the mass fan-boys out there, but at the end of the episode (cliffhanger) you'll be convinced that this is going to be serious. Code Geass deliver curiosity at the end of any episode and surprises at every episode, following a greatly constructed plot that is so daring, you might think it can crash and burn any time, not only that, it surpasses Cowboy Bebop in making each episode as artistic and moving like a Nolan MOVIE. Speaking of which, the political run of this anime is so fast paced, it reminded me of the first time I saw Nolan's "The Prestige" without subtitles, the sequences sometimes change in such untouched momentum that the viewing experience may get mind-numbing after a continuous five to six episode (it is either a bad side or a good side, your comment). The real stuff here is the issues of morality, the script and the whole idea was to showoff how the director can sustain countless amount of character relations and messages and not to kill someone quick, neither to drag an issue to tiresome lengths, nothing feels too cheesy to make the action sequence boring and the whole story lol-worthy.

The animation is very clean or sometimes feel a little lack of detail, but it is made by the same production that gave us ALL of the Gundam series, Cowboy Bebop and Witch Hunter Robin, so never will you see any scene run short in frame rate. The characters are designed by CLAMP so you'll see big eyes, pretty girls and ridiculously tall schoolboys, but the production takes the thing serious and remove the cliché sweat drops and chibi faces, and add seriousness to the expressions, be it happy or sad, or even downright insane. This anime have mechas (he he he), and the fight sequences are fast and waste no precious time, even though the creators have made them more realistic (mechas runs on visible battery packs now, and they don't run like Gundams, they have legs for tilting and balancing or sometimes kicking in ways of the spectacular, leaving ground contact maneuverability for custom wheels, and they look cool nonetheless).

The music, in short, makes the episode cool like Bebop but I faintly remember that it is not Yoko Kanno's.

In all, I won't spoil anything, and I won't hype it up either, I'll let the experience alone impress you, but from my appreciation: ALL HAIL CODE GEASS !!!

Code Geass is set in an alternate universe, after Japan's conquest by the Holy Britannian Empire, with their powerful new robot weapons, the Knightmare Frames, stripping Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renaming the country Area 11. Lelouch is a Britannian prince who gave up his right to the throne after his mother was murdered, and has vowed to destroy his father, the Emperor, and Britannia. He gains the ability through the mysterious power of the Geass, granted by the mysterious girl C.C., becoming the leader of the resistance movement 'The Black Knights' to fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.

But beware, this is only a short outline of what the two seasons of Code Geass are about. Is this really one of the best anime series ever made (if not the best)? I certainly do believe so, because it does excel in all areas. It is a character driven series first and foremost, and here it makes no mistakes. There are absolutely NO STEREOTYPES to be found in Code Geass. All characters are as real as it gets. This is were most anime series fail, but character development is this series best feature. Apart from the two protagonists, we basically have more than 15 characters than can be considered main. As I have said before they are all full fledged and round personalities and even the gigantic supporting cast only consists of fully fleshed out characters. But make no mistake; Code Geass is a story of war and therefore great tragedy and drama. As it is in war, there is no real good or evil, and all the characters have their own motivation for what they do. Betrayal and changing sides, lies and deception can be found around every corner, along with incredible plot twists and character development. But how can the viewer keep track of these developments on such an epic scale? Easy. Code Geass is set in a realistic environment and a believable world is created (despite Geass and mecha action). All the characters decisions can be reconstructed and their motivation is understandable. Be it love, betrayal, pure insanity or maybe all of them.

However, the anime does not offer any sense of right and wrong, good or evil and the characters even deceive themselves at times. There is no ultimate hero to be loved and no real villain to be hated. Everyone is right and wrong, good and bad at the same time when it comes to revolution and warfare; and everyone who is not shamelessly used by others, follows his/her own egoistical agenda. Sides change often so quickly, especially in season two, that you never can decide who to root for. This may seem like a negative point of the series, but that is actually why the story and therefore the entire anime succeeds. Because it never strays and cops out, uses the deus ex machina device or lets characters decide things they wouldn't, just to make them likable. They have to make decisions and accept the result and keep on living. As they say, ''sometimes you have to choose the lesser of two evils'', but since you know all characters so well and what drives them, you still feel with them, but hate and curse them at the same time for their foolishness and weakness. The animation is excellent and the mecha action top notch. It is the first time they actually bothered to make the machines as realistic as possible. Sometimes the animation seems very clean and cold, suitable for the world it creates though.

Everyone seeking an emotional roller-coaster ride get on, you won't regret it. Code Geass is as epic as it gets.