Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch R2

This review includes my thoughts on both the first and second seasons of the show. It might contain some very minor spoilers for purposes of illustrating some of the problems that I mention, but definitely, nothing which would break the enjoyment of watching the show.

Well, let me start with a scene that reoccurs many times in the show. The characters eat pizza, but it ain't no gourmet stuff. It's the fast-food style pizza with sausages put in the edges of it. I guess it fulfills the main objective of a fast food dish: it fills your stomach, nothing less, nothing more. Nobody would expect a ... pizza like that to be anything exceptional, right?

So why would I start with this pizza comparison? Because this show, unfortunately, turns out to be like that pizza. It begins with setting up high hopes for a deep story with brilliant characters. However, it doesn't live up to the expectations in any of those two categories.

I'm okay when an anime introduces some out-of-this-world elements. I'm okay when one consists of a lot of out-of-this-world elements. I'm okay with a story not being a deep and intelligent one. I quite enjoyed many outright stupid shows. Most of them had a lot of plot holes, but I did not care. The problem here was that Code Geass poses to have a deep and thought out story, it fails, and it fails hard.

My foremost concern with the story is that it does not follow its own rules. The super-power, the Geass, has some laws concerning how it works. And guess what? They are only followed sometimes. Other times the writers decide to ignore them and "surprise" us by using the Geass in a previously impossible way. Well, it kind of works: I did not expect some of the events because I initially believed in those rules. And the story quickly taught me not to, so there was no point in trying to guess what would happen next, as basically anything could happen.

Another example of the story disappointing me (be warned, as this probably is the biggest spoiler in the whole review, skip this paragraph if you want to know as little as possible) would be when a name (which is kept as a secret) of a character is discussed. One character learns this name and says it aloud, but the viewer never hears it. The way it is presented, you could believe that this name would have some meaning to it or at least hope for it to be revealed later. Well, no and no. That's just sad.

And the characters themselves… They deserve their own paragraph. Apart from cases of them acting not really "in character" in relation to how they acted previously, let me just say that the main hero, Lelouch, is supposed to be a genius. An amazing strategist. The problem? A lot of his blatantly stupid decisions. He tries to be something like Death Note's Raito (a character that, by the way, has his own flaws) but, once again, fails by not living up to the expectations. Yet he still manages to fulfill many of his goals.

As for the technical matters: even though I did not love the art style of the characters, the art generally was pretty okay, no major concerns here. Similarly nothing much that I could say about the sound layer.

Finally, as one could believe that I hated this show, let me clarify: I did not. Even though there are a lot of problems with it, I quite enjoyed watching it. It's just that my expectations for the story were too high.

So would I recommend watching it? If none of the problems I mentioned bothers you too much, then, of course, go and watch it. Bonus points if you like mecha fights. However, don't set your expectations too high. All in all, it's better to be surprised by a good story where you don't expect it than disappointed by plot holes.

While I really enjoyed the first season of Code Geass, the second season takes the show in a completely different direction. If the first season was Game of Thrones, the second is Harry Potter. The first uses geass as an interesting device but doesn't overplay it. The second season feels the need to explain every aspect of it but, really, the show was never about that and I personally didn't care to have it be focused on so much in the second season. Further, the characters were already pretty intolerable with their way over-the-top convictions that didn't make any sense in the first season. The ... second season is almost entirely driven by their illogical viewpoints and self-entitled attitudes (and I'm not even referring to Lelouch). The only people who should bother are those that finished the first season and were disappointed by the lack of an ending.

I always wanted to understand why Code Geass is so well regarded in the anime community, so I decided to finally watch it during the quarantine. I watched, and I still don’t understand why people think it’s a masterpiece. I didn’t hate the show, just think it’s really flawed. Because of that, I won’t be pointing out everything I think it’s bad, only stuff I think it’s absolutely necessary to talk about, and I would recommend you to watch my review for R1. Mild spoilers ahead. Right from the start, even if it still has some of the same bad writing from R1, this season ... is far more enjoyable. But my main reason to give this a 6 is because of Zero Requiem, even if I think some of the events that lead to it are flat out dumb. Well, let’s start with Suzaku. Even though it’s not good, at least we kinda understand where this whole “change from the inside” plan is all about. We see that the whole “I don’t want to let more people die” is a flat out lie, and he only cares about the ends and not the means. He’s aspiring to be so powerful in the government/military that he can rule Area 11 and free the japanese from the oppression of Britannia, even if he needs to betray everyone (including his best friend) to get to this position. I mean, he’s still a hypocrite, more hateful, but at least he makes a little bit of sense. Another problem this season has is that it leaves a ton of plot holes. For example, even if they show a little bit of her backstory, you still don’t know who the hell is CC and what exactly is the Geass. Why VV became what he is?
Aside from that, both Lady Marienne and Nunnaly’s plot twists are utterly ridiculous, and the Black Knights siding with the enemy without even interrogating Zero properly is also pretty dumb. It’s also a shame that we don’t get to see Suzaku and Lelouch finally understanding each other and teaming up for good, it only happens of screen.
But man, seeing what Lelouch was able to do, compromising his entire image just to make a better world was pretty great, and I think I can forgive the bad stuff because of this ending.

Studio Sunrise hit hard and hit fast by releasing a sequel to this hit property. Original creator and director Gorou Taniguchi returns. He is a long standing member within Sunrise and has worked on a number of Gundam shows and directed Planetes previously. Could the sequel live up to the hype and catch lightning in a bottle once again; even if the ending to the first season was something to debate about, or will the second season falter at the very end?

Exactly a year has gone by since our main character Lelouch took up the mask of “Zero” and lead a vigilante crusade against his ... father and the Britannian Empire. At this point, the resistance is dumbfounded without their leader Zero, while Lelouch has had his memories wiped and altered not remembering his alter ego. From the person whom gave him his mind control eye power, the green haired immortal known as C.C. brings Lelouch and his memories back to take up the fight where it left off.

The animation and music from the previous season see no decline in high quality. Suspense and character dynamics of bro-love revolving around Lelouch and his “frienemy” Suzako remains top-notch. In the previous instalment, Code Geass loved hitting the viewer with a few convenient plot devices, but the filler and arcs did seem to have meaning as well as the characters knowing their purpose and place within the story. The same can’t be said for R2.

Ultimately, R2 just seems to run out of steam and ideas until the culminating conclusion. Before it though, this entertaining anime does the best it can by taking what made the first season weak and stepping the game up solely in that category. Most, if not all, of the previous characters in the show are thrown to the side to be made essentially worthless for the sake of new even more worthless characters to the plot. The show feels forced for the 25 episodes and while R2 no doubt has moments of absolute anime brilliance, this should have been better kept down to less than 12 episodes.

There is way too much comedic filler, an arc revolving around China seemingly could have been non-existent, and the sheer amount of convenient plot devices and magic creates a story in which our main character could have become something straight out of fan-fiction and made just as much sense. As much fan service the show throws at the viewer, the writing follows the worst template imaginable, becoming convoluted in every way instead of establishing and working with the plot elements already made in the first season of Code Geass.

Is Code Geass ridiculous and fun? Yes and even better for the most part. Is R2 as mindless and fun as say Gurren Lagann? Not even close. No matter how absurd the odds are, Lelouch will overcome them and the story follows suit. The finale as stated earlier is brilliant and show saving mostly. If a fan of the first season, then grab some pizza and enjoy some R2.

Honestly, Code Gueass piqued my attention when Attack on Titans ended and I saw someone comparing Eren to Lelouch. Back then, I thought that there was no way another main character could have such a bad ending as well. After finishing Code Geass I stand to my initial belief. Eren and Lelouch are not alike in my opinion. They do share some questionable methods, though.

I really liked Lelouch and I honestly found the show interesting. There are some moral discussions throuought it; battle scenes are okay. What stands out is Lelouch's strategies and ways of thinking. The plot lacks consistency in some important points and ... a bunch of characters changes their opinions way too easily, but nothing I haven't seen before.

Lelouch tragetory is tragic and bittersweet, so for those who enjoy this taste, Code Geass is worthy watching!

Geass is a very inconsistent series. Half of the time, it is very enjoyable and well paced. The other half of the time, it is bland and uninteresting.

One of the main problems with Geass is that most of the characters are flat and uninteresting. Some of the characters are excellent, like Suzaku and Rolo. Others exist purely to serve the plot.

However, Geass manages to compensate for this. Instead of writing particularly interesting characters, it excels at mixing different personalities together and seeing how they respond to conflicts.

Although Geass knows how to manage a large cast of characters, it ends up being tonally inconsistent. Sometimes, it's ... a mindless mecha anime. Around the middle of the season, it decides to be Evangelion. Other times, it chooses to be a serious drama. Then, after Lelouch commits 500 war crimes, it decides to be a lighthearted comedy.

Sometimes, it seems that this contrast supports Geass' themes of innocence and guilt. Usually, though, it feels like the writers did not know what they wanted the show to be.

Geass is at its best when it decides to be about a slower-paced drama. The show does a great job of letting characters' actions and their consequences gradually unravel. No single character feels entirely flawless, so the show leaves you to watch the conflict from both sides instead of rooting for a single character. This works especially well for Lelouch, whose actions leave you wondering whether he is a somewhat justified antihero or a complete piece of shit. The show remains morally gray like this up to the end, never feeling like it's trying to push a specific ideology.

Despite this, the show's plot feels like it could have done with a revision. The magical elements seem completely out of place and only serve to make the show feel bloated. The Geass power could have been left unexplained, and nothing about the show would have changed. That way, there would have been no need to tack on unneeded characters (C.C. and V.V.) just to have the plot make sense.

The largest problem with Geass is the way it handles its action. The show rapidly jumps from one place to another, giving you barely any time to react to what just happened. On top of that, the mechs look almost exactly the same, so you often have to rewind a few seconds to catch who is fighting or what is even going on. Additionally, none of the mech fights are fluid or fun to watch. Mostly, you'll see one of four things: mechs gliding across a bare sky background, someone yelling in a cockpit, a radar flashing a bunch of dots, or a bunch of mechs blowing up.

Additionally, Lelouch's battle plans either come out of nowhere or just seem totally contrived. For example, in one episode he steals a mech that can block almost anything just so that he could shield someone in a later episode. A lot of the time, the payoff just feels dumb and flashy instead of well earned.

At the same time, it's tough not to enjoy Geass. The show's pace is slow enough to build a large cast of characters, but fast enough to keep that you watching. As a result, Geass is still a good viewing experience regardless of whether it's a good show.

I would not recommend Geass to people that have barely watched anime when there are so many better shows. However, Geass is still a pretty good option if you don't know what to watch.