Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Last week, while I was browsing the Internet for new anime to download, I just realise something was amiss... What's with Code Geass : R2? Then it hit me. This is the new installment (part 2) of Code Geass series. Funny, though. I have the first series at home; Code Geass : Lelouch of the Rebellion but I haven't managed to finish watching the whole episodes. I guess because it bores me to death!

This is a sci-fi themed anime and it was produced by CLAMP. The plot is rather so-so. But the primary reason why I don't fancy this anime is because the theme. Gosh! ... For an anime, I believe the theme is rather serious, too serious in fact. It's too 'political' for me. And, even though most animes like to manipulate exaggeration but the idea that this anime is portraying is rather far-fetched (just because I don't fancy it)!

The anime takes place somewhere in the future in the alternate universe. In that world, Japan is invaded by The Holy Empire of Britannia. Then, Japan is given a brand new name : Area 11. The country then is shared by the citizen of Britannia as well as the original Japanese who are referred as the elevens.

So, what on earth is GEASS? Well, according to the anime, geass is the power to manipulate people's minds. It is represented by a glowing, bird-shaped symbol in the iris. This power is bestowed upon Lelouch Lamperouge by a mysterious green-haired girl named C.C. Who is she? Well, you have to watch it, if you wanna know more. With the new-found power, he finally has the means to defeat Britannia and fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a new world in which his beloved sister, Nannaly can live happily.

This anime also features the extensive use of mechas weaponry. The mechas are known as Knightmare Frame. Lelouch's childhood friend and son of Japan's last prime minister, Kururugi Suzaku is in the service of the Britannia Army as a soldier, and was chosen to test an experiment new model of Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot.

This anime exudes the theme of survival and sacrifice. It also tells us that revenge is sweet however too much revenge can be detrimental! Overall, this anime is OK. But I don't really fancy it, period!

Many people tend to compare Code Geass to Death Note, while they do have things in common, Code Geass is no match for Death Note. This review only contains first season, because after finishing the first season I have no desire whatsoever to continue second season. I will explain why Code Geass is no masterpiece and at most a decent anime so bear with me before clicking that not helpful botton.

Story: 6
Code Geass is essentially about a high school student Lelouch who was given a power named Geass to control other people by looking through their eyes. Lelouch is heir to Britanian Empire, but ... after his mother was killed and his father show no emotion for his mother's death, he relinquished his rights and was expelled to Japan, a nation colonised by the Empire. Lelouch, with his Geass power, now tries to overthrow the Empire and revenge his mother's death. The reason why Story of Code Geass is only worth a 6 is because also many said it has a lot of plot twists and colliding ideology, etc, etc. By further looking into the story, the plot is actually very simple and cliche. The main storyline is about Lelouch and his childhood friend susake's colliding ideology. So to put it in a simple way, Lelouch seeks peace through violence and power, by destroying his opponents at all costs and Suzaku seeks peace by "trying to gain a position within the empire and avoid violence". How is that even "complex"? You could easily see that sort of ideology collision in Deathnote, light Vs L, Akame ga kill, night raid vs Ran, naruto, pain vs naruto, attack on titan, Eren vs armin. Though they differ a little in different animes, it is basically the same approach where one supports violence and the other takes a softer approach. It is amusing how anyone could say that it is "unique" and "complex". Code Geass also has a lot of plotholes, one thing I dislike the most is that the mecha element in this show is completely a mess. There is no explanation given to the standards involved in these fights, we don't know how these mechas function, their weaknesses or their relative strength. There is a mech called lancelot, appeared to be one of the toughest mech out there, but even then we don't know how strong it is quantitatively, what I mean is that in these battles, what we can see is lancelot destroying one mech after another in early episode and then another mech is introduced driven by kellan and after that another bad-ass mech driven by C.C and lelouch. What I see is that the show throws powerful mechs at you without explaining anything about them. This makes fights in Code Geass lackluster because all fights at the end resorts to the fact that which side has the most bad-ass mech, this fact completely defeats the "tactic" element in Code Geass. Apart from that, the Geass ability is very inconsistent through the show, there are no rules for this ability like there are ten rules for death note. Another problem with Code Geass is a common problem in most shows: it trivalise the idea of "rebellion" or "revolution". Same in Akame ga kill, rebellion is depicted as something only about power fights, little was mentioned about politics, economics and other key elements. I know you can't demand an anime to consider all that, but i am not contented with the way Code Geass deals with the idea of "rebellion". There are many other problems that I will not mention here due to word counts, but all other problems are not minor.

Art: 7
Art is consistent through out, although i am no fan of this type of animation, It is generally good.

Character: 3
Now this is the worst part of Code Geass, many other people say that characters in this show are complex and different. Yes they are different and varies a lot, but they are no way near complex, some of the characters are completely ridiculous and irrational.
Let's begin with suzaku. Image your country is colonised by another country, and there is a guy from your country who joined the invading country and fights your own people. This guy is what suzaku is. He tried to change the status quo by securing a position in Empire at the same time fighting lelouch multiple times where he literally destroyed many chances of Japan being independent. But for now let's assume he is really that stupid and believe in whatever he believes. now look that what he is doing, did he try to secure a position in politics and try to persuade royal members? did he make propaganda about equality and peace? NO and NO, he sits in his lancelot and fights his own people, this is how this guy wants to change the empire from within. Now at this point I can still bear with this incredibly irrational character, but not until the point he faced zero and when empire fired missles at them he refused to escape even though it means dying with zero. Now What the heck is with this scene? Let us be clear that suzaku tries to change the empire from within, now how are you going to do that if you are dead? I am curious. After watching that episode, suzaku in my opinion changes from an irrational character to a complete joke.
Now let's talk about lelouch, he is not bad character but is very inconsistent, as smart as he is, he doesn't know if someone's following him, becomes easily emotional in battles, accidentally caused a massacre( yes you heard me right, the biggest plot twist is accidentally caused, this literally means the following plots and what lelouch does after that is not what he planned for ). As a main character with so many sentiments, his background is as plain as it could be: "my mother is killed so sad I need to revenge for her".
Other side characters are either occupy little screen or are irrational in different degrees.

enjoyment: 4
I did enjoy the show, that is what make me finish the first season, otherwise I would have dropped it mid way. However, once I finished it and think about the show backwards, it is a joke to me, what Code Geass is is an anime that takes many popular elements of the decades and mix them together in a very bad way and produced a half-decent hybrid that has so many plot holes and irrational characters. Yet many people think this is a masterpiece. But no , trust me, if you really think deep about suzaku and lelouch's motivation and their doings, you would realize just how ridiculous they are.

Overall:
No masterpiece, only a decent overrated anime.

1.STORY AND PRESENTATION

Lelouch of the Rebellion draws inspiration from great shows such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, 08th MS team and other shows that use a grand-scale wars and moral ideas to make a thrilling narritave, but... decides ... to take a turn and use uninspired plot-twists , shock factor and massacre to "surprise" the audiance and has very little geniune executing plot points, while attaining a low-quality inspirational mech war drama about revenge.

4/10

2.ANIMATION/ART/CHARACTER DESIGNS
Code Geass's animation is good and makes battles feel alive, my only issue is the slenderness of the characters they feel like stickmen than human beings... Seriously do the characters need to have such triangular chins? While the art quality is as good as a Sunrise show and 2007 can be.
7/10


3.SOUND/OST
The sound quality and tracks in Code Geass are well... Limited but decent, nothing much I can say here as I didn't like most of them. The ambient music and usage are great though.
7/10
4.CHARACTERS
God forbid any development in this show, other than LELouch no other character gets any decent charactization and it's limited as all hell. All the characters feel like wooden planks with their horrible development, and the antagonists feel as idiotic as the rest of the characters, there personality is one-sided and feel like they were written by an idiot who doesn't know anything other than the stereotypical "I am rich and powerful let me show you that power rules over brains bla bla bla"
4/10

5.ENJOYMENT
I didn't enjoy myself much by taking it serious, but taking it as a joke it's literally the way its ment to be watched.
5/10

OVERALL : 5.6/10

Ah, Code Geass, where do I start? I picked this up because it was in the top twenty when I was browsing and thought, "Hmm, I haven't watched a mecha anime in ages."

Turns out the anime wasn't much about giant robots anyway.

It is (or should've been) about a boy seeking revenge, using both his awesome intellect and a superpower he unexpectedly gained, but somehow the story kept getting derailed. There was an episode about a cat, and another about a school festival. Too much time was spent on a side-character that didn't add much to the plot.

Part of the problem for me was it ... felt like popular elements and plotlines from different stories and genres were thrown in and mixed liberally, trying to make sure there's something for everyone. Unfortunately, it mostly ended up with an incohesive, sprawling mess. At certain points of the show it could have easily been a slice-of-life/comedy anime dealing with school life, interspersed with secret phone calls arranging armed takeovers, keeping your secret identity from your best friend while he hides his from you, and all this while hiding your secret girlfriend in your bedroom. The only thing missing is political intrigue, and possibly secret samurais.

Here's my problem with Lelouch: everyone says he's very intelligent, but there's no real evidence of it. Sure, he does something and his side wins, and everyone goes, "Ah, that was very clever of him," but we really have no idea how the world works for his actions to be smart. The worldbuilding is pretty much non-existent. There's this powerful Holy Brittanian Empire which took over Japan, and presumably most of the known world (but, strangely, not the EU, despite being next-door neighbours). The Empire is a terrible thing because the writers say so. That's it.

Aside from Lelouch, the characters are static, cookie-cutter pieces though they fit their roles well enough — a sweet princess trying her best, a staunch knight, a charming little sister, a mad scientist, a slightly over-the-top student council president. Even in Lelouch, his growth is just a slowly shifting stance: from him not caring at all about the consequences of his actions to caring a little, and even then only when it affects those closest to him. It suits his personality, though; the ends justifies the means to him, as long as he can keep his sister safe and happy. Suzaku gave me a headache; he's full of good intentions and I understand where he's coming from, but he could do with being a little less unbending and start considering other point of views.

Faults aside, I did enjoy it enough to finish watching the whole series. The animation was fluid and nicely done, and the character designs pretty much what you'd expect from CLAMP. The way they looked a lot like other CLAMP characters threw me off a little — I kept forgetting Suzaku's name because my mind had immediately labelled him as 'Syaoran'.

I didn't care much for any of the opening or ending themes, and didn't notice much of the soundtrack. I actually found Lelouch's voice slightly jarring — it sounded too deep, especially when he was in Batman-mode — but it was something that grew on me after a while.

The plot, when it actually moved, did take a few interesting and unexpected turns, though I found the whole thing rather melodramatic. I do take issue with the cliffhanger ending — it felt like nothing major had been resolved and the audience is left hanging with no sense of closure.

Obviously I'm late to the party and there's a sequel now I could jump right into, but at the moment I don't feel much like it. Maybe I'm just being snobbish and turning my nose up at the cliffhanger, but I'm sure I'll get to it eventually.

Review for seasons 1 and 2
Summary
Code Geass takes place in a dystopian future where a group called “Brittania” has taken over most of the world. Japan is ruled by Brittania and the Japanese people that originally lived are forced to live in slums and do not have access to equal rights and resources.
Lelouch is part of the royal Britannian family and after gaining the power to make people obey him simply by looking them in the eye, he vows vengeance on Britannia and endeavours to obtain equal rights for the Japanese by whatever means necessary.
Upsides
Code Geass contains an abundance of high action psychological and physical ... fight scenes as well as the added drama of Lelouch fighting members of his own family.
The relationships Lelouch has with a childhood friend who is now fighting in the Britannian army is a very captivating part of this anime. There are also many other interesting relationships, such as Lelouch and his friend and family member Euphemia who also thinks that what Britannia Is oding is wrong but refuses to take thew same drastic and homicidal measures that Lelouch does
Downsides
This anime focuses more on riveting plot twists, dramatic deaths and intense fight scenes rather than the writing and fort his reason the writing is a bit weak at times. However, this is just a minor flaw and it is still very much an enjoyable anime.

Code Geass is a fairly well plotted sci-fi melodrama hampered by an abundance of dull archetypal characters who exist only to drive the plot and a premise so tired that I once accidentally called Area 11 Airstrip One. Not to fear, though—the dull, twentieth century totalitarianism of Britannia is distinguished very well by their disastrously stupid leaders, whose decision-making seems based less upon rational self-interest and more upon creating emotionally manipulative drama for the viewer. The most egregious example of this is the climax of the first season, in which the second most senior member of Area 11's government (nominally speaking, at least) is allowed ... to meet a known terrorist alone in an empty room. The results are predictable. To her credit, the charming naiveté of said member of government can at least be acknowledged as well-intentioned and comparatively productive when you consider that most other senior officials in Britannia are characterized superficially as buffoonish, trigger-happy, or both. How this supposedly great empire conquered a third of the inhabited world is far beyond me.

Like most anime aimed at the shounen demographic, many of the characters in Code Geass HAVE NO INSIDE VOICE. Luckily, protagonist Lelouch avoids this by talking exclusively in a smarmy, nasal gloat, usually while pressing his hands into his face in the most ungainly configuration he can manage, looking for all the world as if he has a motor control problem; however, while he is eminently unlikeable, Lelouch is nonetheless a good character who avoids archetypal blandness. Suzaku is less distinct but still well characterized. Fan favorite CC is also no doubt deserving of the praise that she's received—her shift between cool, defensive sarcasm and genuine sweetness makes it all too easy to classify her as yet another tsundere and leave it at that, but it would sell her short.

There are a few more exceptions that could be brought up, but unfortunately, most of the fairly large cast exists purely to drive the plot and possess totally forgettable personalities. There'll be one or two that any given viewer will appreciate on the basis of preference—Euphemia hit the moe sweet spot for me, with her gentle, forgiving heart—but at the end of the day, they're undeveloped archetypes with little to recommend them as fully rounded characters outside of the context of the plot. This becomes most evident during the school life episodes, which are borderline unwatchable for a slice-of-life fan. The show needed more dialogue for its own sake and characterization that wasn't paper-thin—the passionate rebel, the zany scientist, the snobbish noble, etc.

There are several impressive action sequences featuring the Knightmare mecha, which I'm sure would be of interest to people who like impressive action sequences featuring mecha. Frankly, it's not my area, and I spent a lot of the time during action scenes laughing at the awkward, upright position that the Gawain mecha adopted whenever it started flying. It's hardly an informed opinion, but they appeared fairly great from the perspective of someone who doesn't like mecha, so it's perhaps something to bear in mind.

In all fairness, Code Geass is by no means a bad anime, but it's a severely flawed one. It offers the viewer a decent story decently told, and though it's hurt by its iffy characters, goofy worldbuilding, and the occasional plot contrivance, it's entertainment, and that's no bad thing. If you like shounen, this is probably more like a 7.

Anime: Code Geass (Both seasons)
tl;dr version: Mediocre show and ending is crappy as fuck.
Over rated.
6.5/10 (mediocre)
Code geass is basically wannabe death note with gundam like mecha.
The thing I hated about code geass was these so called strategies were not practical and realistic by far shot. During most of the fights zero's only strategy was to somehow make bridges fall, landslides occur.
You can't hack into systems whenever you want, you can't just learn to use robots without any training.
There wasn't any 'wow! how did he do it?'
factor like in death note or the realistic methods that hachiman uses to solve problems.
A few episodes take place in ... school because there must be a school in every Anime ,where they try to bring a comedic feel to show. I didn't enjoy it at all,this actually diverted the attention from the plot of the show.
The mecha fights were boring and generic, I skipped many of those scenes.
The robot amours didn't add any value to the show.
Characters:
Characters were not given proper amount of screen time except lelouch.
I don't even recall most of the names.
No waifu material in this show.
Art:
I didn't like the art style of the show at all.
You can't even differentiate between a eleven and a britannian.
The mecha design looks clearly copied from gundam.
Ending:
I was told that the ending is awesome.
Hell no!
It's shit, too predictable and unrealistically optimistic.
Even Death Note's ending is better.
P.S. How much money did pizza hut pay them for sponsorship?

This show should be renamed: "Code Geass: Deus Ex Machina"

The amount of stuff that comes out of nowhere and serves no real purpose is mind-boggling: The orange android, flight engines, VV, the ganymede, literally everything to do with Viletta etc. etc. the list could just go on forever.

Then there is the main character. At first I was not looking forward to another omniscient teenager beating the world's largest and most powerful empire, but then I was surprised to see him actually lose! Then he loses again. And again, and again, and again..

Seriously, here's how every fight goes:
Lelouch commits some horrific act (usually a war-crime)
Ambushes Britannia
They're ... winning!
Lancelot appears
They lose

This cycle becomes particularly egregious as the body count starts to soar and the nazis just keep on winning. The show constantly tries to make you question whether or not resisting a racist, genocidal continent-spanning empire is the right thing to do.

This show is an utter mess, on literally every conceivable level.

I found out about Code Geass through a friend who gave it glowing praise, so my review may be tainted by the fact that my expectations were unrealistically high for an action mech anime, but here goes with a good ol' unpopular opinion: Code Geass does not deserve the praise it gets.

Story - I absolutely LOVED the twists and turns in the story and I was always on the edge of my seat throughout every episode. The plot is ridiculously good (ignoring the normal plot holes) and I really enjoyed the contrasts between normal, everyday life and insane mech battles and action! If there's one ... thing that this season deserves, it's high praise for its story.

'So what's so bad, if you loved it so much?' - you may ask.

The writers seemed to be unable of ending an episode without a massive plot twist or cliffhanger, and they didn't need to do this! The story was gripping and outstanding enough to keep me interested all the way through without the unnecessary cliffhangers. It was especially annoying that these cliffhangers could be resolved within the first few minutes of the next episode, and that they didn't mean anything in the long run.

Art - The art style is what causes this anime to lose out, in my opinion. The characters look stunning when in action poses, with their angular bodies and long limbs, however, they look borderline broken when doing normal things! Another quarrel I have with the art is that the character designs are downright ugly- there were no characters that looked appealing to me and usually with a series I can find AT LEAST one character who can be labeled as 'pretty'. The colours were awful (I'm looking at CC's hair mainly here) and the clothing designs looked like the team has just given up after they finished the mechs.

Ah, right- the mechs. Oh, the mechs! If anything about the art was ridiculously cool it was the mechs! Beautifully drawn and animated, they really brought the series to life, and I forgave most of its sins just for another glimpse at those giant robots.

Sound - The soundtrack was not noticeable but it did add emotion to certain moments (which I won't mention because spoilers) and caused me to cry like a baby. The opening themes, however, were extremely out of place. They would've better-made sense in a sport or slice-of-life anime than this! And the footage to go with it was reused from the anime or just still images of the characters!! I had a lot of trouble being hyped by the openings for this season.

Character - The characters were interesting and their motivations were plausible (somewhat, anyway) and I couldn't help but find myself falling in love with them. I cared about them and their struggles to the point where I would cry with them or on their behalf! The team did a really amazing job with the characters and I honest-to-god actually wrote an entire psychology essay on Lelouch because of how intriguing he is.

However, some characters really, really fall short of the mark and I couldn't care less about them. Namingly, CC. She's very weak, for a character who appears in most episodes. She has little to no character development and her only clear character traits are 'likes pizza' and 'can be sassy when she tries'. She really ruined this series for me, and her inclusion in it felt forced at best, considering she was a sort of 'deus-ex-machina' in the plot and many of the character's struggles would have been much more interesting if we hadn't been conditioned to know 'CC always saves the day'. She's bland and boring and I hate her. She ALONE brings the score for character down from a ten to a low 8.

Enjoyment - I have to say, I really enjoyed the series while I was watching it, however, after finishing it I felt cheated. Looking back over it, I saw all of its flaws and setbacks. So it now has no rewatch value for me. I feel like it's enjoyable to watch once, but when I watched it again to show it to a friend, I was unfathomably bored because all of the twists and turns were familiar territory by then, and the emotion had gone stale.

Overall - While it has some plus points and some minus points, the plus points to outweigh the minus points, and I did really like the series when I watched it. Look, I'm not saying it's absolute crap and that you shouldn't watch it (in fact, I think its pretty good for a newcomer to the mech genre), I'm just saying that there's a lot better out there and that this isn't the only mech anime that you can use to get into the genre! If you're not watching from a critical point of view, or with massively high expectations, you will probably really enjoy it!

This show, up until the final 3 episodes, was set to be a solid 8 or 9. You had solid mech combat, interesting politics, exciting action and a good bit of humour.

Then it all goes a bit surreal.

In terms of plot, until the bizarre ending arc, you have a strong revenge story with a nice rebellion arc, about a prince trying to slaughter his way through his corrupt dynasty and avenge his mother.

He is able to do this thanks to mind control powers and fanatically loyal allies.

All well and good - there's a nice side-plot with a telepathic kidnapper, and an enemy ace pilot trying ... to stop the hero.

However, the final arc is written to lead into a sequel that wasn't really needed, and goes totally pear-shaped. A minor villain is brought back as the final enemy. The technology accelerates past what you're used to. A ridiculous stand off occurs.

In short, it's a very weak ending.

The art is very much an acquired taste - the characters are very elongated and that may not appeal. The scenery is simple but adequate, and the mech designs are solid throughout. Music and sound are also good for the most part - the OP from FLOW (also known for the first opening of Eureka 7) is a really good choice.

Overall, though, this show is ruined by a completely stupid and rushed ending to hook into a sequel. It could have been ended nicely after 25 episodes (although the last couple would have needed reworking) but instead plummets downhill. I was sitting slack-jawed in confusion as all manner of bizarre developments occurred, and there was very little resolution of what was going on. Much like Gravion, this is a show designed around its second season - unlike Gravion, this decision is badly implemented.

The only reason I watched this anime was because of that famous quote:
"Happiness is like glass, you might not see it because it's invisible, but it's there. You only have to change angle and it will reflect light, becoming more beautiful that anything around you."
Who isn't compelled to try out the series then? Plus, the characters are desinged by CLAMP. The only problem that I found with the series is that, CLAMP and any in general have a very tropy way of chosing stories and characters that they start to melt into one another. There's always the good guy and the guy that is good ... but it's taking revenge into this greater evil. Yeah, that's great, but that's also any and every other character in any and all of the other anime series. For once I would love to see and guy that is bad just for the sake of it. Not because he wants to control the world, not because he's trying to avenge his parents or girlfriend or dog, he's just bad because he's got nothing better to do with his life. I'm not sure I'm gonna continue watching the second season of this anime. Yes, the first ended up in a cliff hanger, but my overall attitude to this anime was "...meh."
Maybe when my TBW list reaches 0, I might give it another chance.

I don't usually write reviews, but I feel the need to get my opinion on this anime out there. I don't want to come off as the devils advocate just because I'm bashing on a critically acclaimed show, so please here me out. The story itself has a good premise but the execution lacks the sort of polish you'd expect for an anime with as many pedigrees as this. The characters feel like nothing more than plot devises with little personality. The only character\ reasonably "fleshed out" would be lelouch, despite him not having any shred of complex emotion. He's treated like some sort of ... genius, but you wouldn't exactly figure that out had the show not spelled it out to you. The only evidence to back his intelligence is that he's good at chess? And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the chess analogy at the start of the show based on an illegal move? Despite it's flaws, It's still a pretty enjoyable time so long as you don't think too much about it. The logic behind characters' actions, or lack thereof, is just there to show off one common trope after the next. It just reuses older clichés done to death over the years, all culminating in a mediocre execution. Overall, while it isn't exactly a bad experience, I feel it's flaws are greatly overlooked.

This one will be hard, because i am really torn on Code Geass and not entirely sure if i like it or don't. I certainly don't love it, i can say that much, but without further ado, we're just gonna start that now. Also, i intend to spoil two scenes i hated with a passion, other then that you're probably safe to read this review.

Story: The category i am not sure about. It starts slow, i remember that i found the first episode to be really boring, but once our MC Lelouch obtains his power and displays it in a spectacular fashion, things start to ... pick up. From this point onward the momentum steadily rises, however it also gets interrupted constantly. The culprits of this crime are a lack of intelligent decisions by anyone but Lelouch himself and the taking of massive conveniences. Some things just fall into place and normally, things like that don't even bother me, i barely even notice, but there are just such glaring mistakes, that even i look at a scene and said to myself:"That's probably not how it would turn out." There are the aforementioned two scenes that take this issue to the extreme, so beware of Spoilers!! First is Suzaku's machine gun kick, the second is the theft of the Gawain Prototype mech. Both of them make no sense, Suzaku is never mentioned to be enhanced above human capabilities and there is no way such a valuable mech could just be stolen like that. Hell, the show even established that these war machines use keys similar to a car, how is it possible to just jump in and take it?
Despite all that, i give the story an 8. I think the first episodes are really well done and the last ones really made me feel something. To sum it up, there are moments of genius, but there is a lot of bad writing in between.

Art: This review is going on for too long, let me shorten myself: I hate the art, i really do. The characters look stupid with their long legs and feminine faces, the mechs look like toys. The Environments are nice, but there are also colorful, which stands in a stark contrast to the more serious scenes. The females are attractive at least, the style works for them and zero looks kinda cool too. But all in all, i can only call the art decent. We get to see exposed breasts, that's worth a point to me.

Sound: Not a fan of the sound either. As with the story, there are some really great pieces in the ost, such as the battle theme, only that the majority of it is actually awful. Sometimes i am reminded of Evangelion, only that the Eva-ost is absolutely stellar. This is like a bad homage. Can't complain about the voice acting, everything seems to be on point from a foreign perspective. The first opening is okay, i hate the other ones, they are actually jarring and the first ending is fantastic. Don't care much for the second one.

Character: Lelouch carries this category. A morally grey Antihero with hints of madness and a superiority-complex. He is the main character and gets the most development, which is not typical for anime at all. Everyone else is kinda bland or stereotypical. C.C. is waifu-material, Kallen is hot and i actually like Suzaku. I like most of them actually but i am also not really attached to anyone. Mainly because there are just so many. They are all going through changes, so there is character-development. I'll give at a very good, but only for the great pair of Lelouch and C.C. Honorable mention to Diethard for the sexy Kirei-voice.

Enjoyment: As i said: I am torn. There were times when i really felt for the cast, where i was fully engaged in the things, that were occurring. And sometimes i really had to force myself to keep watching. I am talking about the rewatch here, i actually think the show works better when you watch it for the first time and the twists surprise you. In conclusion: I rate my enjoyment "good", cause even if it let me down sometimes, it's overall a nice experience. And some people adore this show, so anyone should at least give it a shot.

So Overall, the show for me is "kinda hail to Britannia"? It's not bad, but it also didn't blow my mind. It was...nice. Also, the last Akito movie released, now that is some nice timing, i can wrap it up completely then. But all in due time.

SPOILER WARNING

I've heard and read nothing but good things about Code Geass, so when I started the series, I liked it because, quite frankly, I expected that I was going to like it. For a time, if you asked me if I was enjoying it, I would have answered "yes", simply because the premise is interesting, the dialogue is fairly well written, and the art style is unique.

Lelouch Vi Brittania starts off normal and goes insane with power - the power of Geass, to be precise. Don't ask me what Geass is, I can't define it and I'm already watching the second season (I'll clarify, ... this is out of obligation. I am driven to the brink of madness myself by not completing what I start, even if it is crap). It's magical stuff, that's all you've gotta know. Anyway, his descent into badness is reminiscent of Light Yagami from Death Note, which will obviously compel any anime fan out there. If you're feeling like that alone makes this show worth checking out, I implore you, hear my words.

All the major problems this show has can be pinned down to that stupid Geass, which is especially problematic as that is the titular subject. If you take it at face value and resist any ability to reason or consider logic that your brain may possess, this show will seems flawless.

So, what exactly is the problem with the Geass? How could I find any conceivable botheration with such a critically acclaimed masterpiece??!!

Well my friends, it all begins with the fact that Lelouch's damned Geass only works on a person once. But that one time, oho, he can make that person do anything he wants. This is the only reason the plot thickens in the show, because the tactical genius that is Lelouch Vi Britannia is too stupid to think up a good command.

This series suffers from time turner syndrome. All Lelouch needs to do is say, "You will do everything I say at all times forever, without question," and EVERY SINGLE CONFLICT in the show is nixed! Our protagonist would suddenly have the ability to repeatedly order around all the people he's come in contact with. Oh, you saw me kill a guy? GEASS - remember you've always got to obey!- now you've forgotten it. Oops, I told Euphemia to kill all Japanese. GEASS stop it Euphie.

Why bother infiltrating the ministry when you can travel in time 60 years past and kill the evilest person to every live? Shh don't question it, it's so intense.

But noooo, instead of being rational, our dear Lelouch gives orders such as, "Draw chalk on the wall forever," and my personal favourite, the menacing, "Give me your knightmare," REallY LELOUCH? You have one chance to control this guy. You're in a position where it's 2 to 1 in your favour. Shoot the guy in the leg and hijack his Knightmare. What if he ends up becoming the Emperor of Britannia, and you can't control him because you already wasted your fucking geass on him? Pfft forget all that. Order this guy to get me a kit kat while you're at it.

The problem with even the end all command, is that the all powerful infallible crazy god talent that is the Geass fails all the fucking time. Nearly everyone who is affected by Lelouch's power ends up fighting against it or figuring out Lelouch's identity anyway.

You want to know the sad part? I JUST thought about this! I went through 28 episodes of this crap before I figured out what exactly was bothering me. How could you possibly neglect to notice plot holes this huge? Every time anything happens now, the only think I can think is, "Easily avoided. Uggghh chess metaphor but they suck at tactics. Are you dumb? Yes, you are, since you didn't notice that thing."

Like I said before, if this kind of stuff doesn't bother you, I'm sure you'll enjoy this show. Personally, I don't know if I can do this anymore. sigh

The first season was good.
Entertaining and the main character is really well written. The creator put a lot of thought into him, but unfortunately only mostly into him.

The others were pretty flat or didn't get enough attention.
Especially Kallen was our fan service queen.
But C.C and Suzaku were also likeable, even if C.C's fanservice almost had the upper hand here.
All this with Euphi, I also liked very much.

Music was really good, would be well introduced. The music really lifted some scenes. Opening was also well done.

...
The animation was really good for a mecha, there was no CGI here (thankfully).
Although the characters were drawn funny, but that's just the style of the creator, thats why I say nothing.


The romance is between the main characters gives me hope.
They are a really cute couple and I'm curious if something will come out of it.

The fist thing that comes to mind while watching this anime is its similarity to Death Note. There are fillers in the story that makes you think its different or will end very differently but the overall story is just the same. If you've watched Death Note and liked it, there is a chance you'll like this one as well but you might be disappointed with the story since its not as good as Death Note.

The graphic and sound are done good although i give more points to the sound effects. There are many characters in this anime and the overall character development through out ... the story-line is decent. The story is interesting but could have been better. It is very straightforward and you may guess how it ends from the very beginning. Sometimes things get too convenient for the main characters so that they can pull through different situations. The story gets boring near the end making you sense that the producer wanted to wrap it up in as few episodes as possible.

If you like action animes with a dark-side to their story, you wont loose your time seeing this one and might like it very much. But if you are looking for a story with happy ending then don't bother going for this one.

This is the worst experience I've ever had with an anime. Not because it's bad (well kind of) but because it's so disappointing. To be fair episodes 1-21 are some of the best anime I have ever seen each episode left me wanting more and more. The fight scenes were incredible, the story had me enraptured, the characters themselves were wonderfully dynamic in short by episode 22 I was ready to give this anime at least an 8 possibly a 9 or a 10. What proceded were four of the worst episodes of an anime I have ever watched. Near the end of episode 22 ... I witnessed perhaps one of the biggest and most aupaulling plot contrivances I have ever seen in any tv show period. What follows are three episodes of rediculousness as a result of said contrivance with all of these episodes having a multitude of these types of moments themselves. That's not to say the previous episodes were perfect either it's just that their convienient timings didn't have that big an impact on the story and the impact it did have were on parts of the story that were of little consequence. Meanwhile during these last four episodes the show introduces a character that is essentially the entire reason the show ends the way it does and on top of that the show ends on a fucking cliff hanger. I'm just so upset a show this good got so bad. It seems the writers wrote themselves into a corner and didn't have enough episodes to write themselves out of it. This anime left a bad taste in my mouth but I can't let 4 episodes of utter trash ruin 21 episodes of near perfection it doesn't seem right but at the same time I can't give this show higher than a six. It's disappointing I know but than again so is this show

Every time I see a preview or clip of the anime, I still get pumped and eager to watch it. So I don't want to say it's bad, it's just not my cup of tea. The story line kept getting jumbled in my head, and just when I thought I understood, I'd get lost all over again. I can't say it this was the actual anime or my own experience. There were plenty of moments that I found enjoyable, and then I would stumble over the next information that was presented. I might consider trying again and take notes or something. I want to express ... that I am not dumb. Maybe an airhead, maybe easily confused, but not dumb. I lasted longer than my friend, who only watched until episode 4. So my suggest is, give it a shot, pay attention, and don't get discouraged if you're not into it. Some people are tea drinkers, and some prefer coffee.

First: The english is not my language, so it can contain some afwul mistakes...
This is one of in my anime list that i really sure is mediocre, because have a good plot but the character are really mediocre, all of the intent to make identified to the rebelion is take to the poor, because all of the girls need a sensational ecchi scene...
I thinks the industries in all the time uses ecchi to make more effective to transport their product, but this is killing good series, like this. Its love and hate...
All of the problems that have the series, its how to entry the characters ... in the situations.
And if you like yep its good, but is horrible serie, yep thats true...
(Like SAO, Overlord, NGNL)

The more I watch, the more I am disappointed by Code Geass.
The story goes to some very unnecessary points. The characters are lush. The soundtrack doesn't convince, either. The story doesn't receive a satisfying ending — perhaps season two improves here but as a standalone show I don't recommend Code Geass, despite the enjoyable early episodes.

For me, it never made the jump above enjoyable and only went downhill in the last five or so episodes.

The more I watch, the more I am disappointed by Code Geass.
The story goes to some very unnecessary points. The characters are lush. The soundtrack doesn't ... convince, either. The story doesn't receive a satisfying ending — perhaps season two improves here but as a standalone show I don't recommend Code Geass, despite the enjoyable early episodes.

For me, it never made the jump above enjoyable and only went downhill in the last five or so episodes.

The more I watch, the more I am disappointed by Code Geass.
The story goes to some very unnecessary points. The characters are lush. The soundtrack doesn't convince, either. The story doesn't receive a satisfying ending — perhaps season two improves here but as a standalone show I don't recommend Code Geass, despite the enjoyable early episodes.

For me, it never made the jump above enjoyable and only went downhill in the last five or so episodes.