Ranked #722

Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito 1 - Yokuryuu wa Maiorita

September 7 2012 update: For the past few weeks, I have gotten countless messages asking me how I saw this movie online. If you look at my profile, it clearly says I live in Japan and it is easy to conclude that by living in Japan, I have instant access to anime releases whether DVD release or theater showing.

So far I have only watched the first episode and will expand upon this review as more episodes are released.

This movie takes place within the timeline of the series . Despite that, at this point, I don't think any familiarity with the TV series is 95% at all necessary to get into this. References to events in the TV series are not at all referenced to. But due to the distinct geo-political geography of the world of Code Geass it would help a lot. If you watch this without any exposure, you will have some trouble putting some things into perspective in that context. But what is also great is that this movie/oav series touches upon something that wasn't really touched upon in the TV series in that much elaborate detail to begin with which was the EU.

The movie starts by briefly summarizing that in 2010CE, the Holy Britannian Empire invaded Japan, took over in a month, and renamed it Area 11. Then it cuts to what is going on in Europe, or EU, one of three super powers along with Britannia and the Chinese Federation. The story centers around two characters, Reira and Akito, two junior officers in the EU. Reira is a command room officer who gives the orders type while Akito is an exiled Japanese knightmare pilot who happens to have elite skills and together, they are fighting the complications that surround them.

The reason why this series is distinct from the original TV series not because of the setting, but because of these characters. The characters are very different from the cast and will make it easier for newcomers who no experience with the TV series to ease into. But I felt Akito and Reira lacked the charms of the original cast and don't feel any distinct from any other standard mech character. Akito to me is very cliched and stereotypical mech pilot for most of the movie. No, he's not the whiny type, but he is the quiet and anti-social homocidial type. For most of the movie, he is a mystery and hard to relate to and understand. By the time the first episode ends, they really start to flesh out his character. The only praise I can give Akito as a character in episode 1 is that he is super ballsy and will take wicked risks to get his mission done. Reira is strong, but she still lacks experience and understanding. By the time the movie ends, you do feel that these characters do have potential to grow and develop.

The movie also shows that after 2010CE, the Japanese also struggeled trying to live outside of Japan and were also discriminated against in the EU as well. Even though this was briefly touched upon in the movie for just a brief moment, I felt those scenes really stood out since you have a better idea of how the Japanese were not suffering not just inside in Japan, but all over the world as well, and how far some individuals were willing to go for their freedom. Also, Akito will have problems with other people because of his ethnic background.

The art is still in consistent to the TV series designs. The Britannian uniforms still appropriately reflect French and British imperial culture while the EU uniforms had something of a Nazi feel to it with the pants, the coats, the ties, and the hats. It's very hard to tell who is the bad guy in my opinion due to these particular designs.

What really shines here are the mech battles. In the TV series, the mech battles were more secondary, while the mech battles are more of the highlight. They are well grounded, strategic, violent, exciting and balls to the walls. I say in terms of action, I say it is equal to the quality of Gundam 08th MS Team so far.

The environment equally captures a futuristic look and at the same time also keeps in tune with the European background. You will see traditional French buildings like the Eifell Tower and the Arc De Triumph and the construction is excellent as well.

The music works well with the intensity and the dark mood, but isn't really as explosive as the TV series with songs like Colors.

I got no complaints about the voice acting. All the actors do a good job of capturing their characters. I don't have any familiraity with Akito's voice actor but he does a good job of being homocidal and anti-social and secretivie all at the same time.

In the end, it is just a first episode. It is introducing things and the trailer shows a lot of promise that things will be expanded upon and will be in for a few surprises. I think as a first episode, it is ok and should be open to anybody whether you're a fan or not. At this point, this Code Geass feels more like a mech anime as a opposed to a political thriller like the TV series. I felt what made Code Geass attractive to me wasn't really that well present in this installment so far but as a fan of mech, it pleases me enough. read more

This is my First review on MAL so I decided to review the latest Code Geass.

This is the first episode of a 4 part movies spin-offs based on the Code Geass series and so far it shows that it is a very promising spin-off that will hopfully do the Code Geass franchise justice.


Art and Animation – 10

The animation in this anime is just pure gorgeous eye candy by far exceeding that of the original series, the CGI animation in the mech battles are just incredible, the mecha’s truly feel like metal clashing together and the camera angles give an amazing presentation of balls to the walls violence while still strategic just like you expect from Code Geass. The art also does an incredible job presenting a futuristic look while still holding a certain European culture around it. Overall the animation is just flawless.


Story and presentation – 9

Despite that this is a spin-off, you don’t actually have to watch the main series to follow it. It is very well explained how the brittanian empire has taken over Japan renaming it as the colony area 11 and how the empire is now at warr with the E.U, what this anime does a great job at presenting is how the E.U is nothing better than the brittanian empire. Even there Eleven’s are being discriminated and stuggle to life there, the hierarchy between the Europeans and elevens is very well presented and a great starting point to build up. So overall the story and presentation are very well managed and easy to get into.


Characters – 6

This is where I feel this spin-off is very lacking in, the code geass series is very well known for it’s extremely iconic and indepth characters from Lelouch, Suzaku, Kallen to Jeremiah, Euphie and Anya.

Most of the characters in Akito the Exiled just lack the charisma that the original cast had, especially Akito for that matter. While Lelouch was an extremely deep and charismatic individual Akito barely seems to have any kind of personality, he feels like a very cliché strong but silent type character, Reira doesn’t really feel that unique either and rather just…standard. However considering this was still the first part I am pretty sure that there will be a lot of character development in the future episodes especially for Akito because despite Akito being a character without personality he has something psychological and suicidal behind him that could be interesting to build up on in the future.

The characters I did really enjoy tho where the three anarchistic elevens Ryo, Ayano and Yukiya. Especially Yukiya is my favorite character so far, a very devious, sly and intelligent villain.

Overall – 8

This anime is a good first impression for future episodes, the animation is beautifull, the storyline is very well presented and it overall looks like a spin-off that can match the series, however I am very disappointed with the lackluster characters and hope that they get more development in the future.
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