Code:Realize - Sousei no Himegimi

''Whether you’re a man or a woman, when you truly fall in love, you want to touch the one you love. When you feel their warmth, this [heart] starts to beat.’’

Code: Realize is about a young woman named Cardia who has been living in isolation in 19th century’s London because of a deadly poison that resides in her body. Because of this curse, anyone or anything she touches with her skin rots or melts. As one might expect, Cardia has been shunned by everyone throughout her life so she’s never experienced friendship or romantic intimacy. One day a witty thief, Arsene Lupin, saves her and ... decides to embark on a journey with her to unravel the mystery of this curse and to possibly find a cure. Gathering fragmented clues in every episode, both the characters and the audience start piecing them together to shed light on Cardia’s past.

This sounds like a very refreshing and novel premise, right? I was really intrigued by it having not read the visual novel; loving someone and having friends but not being able to touch them sounds heartbreaking. This show had tremendous potential for greatness despite the record of unsuccessful or dull adaptations of otome games. However it’s exactly because of its potential greatness that I was let down. Being a one cour, Code:Realize unfortunately suffers the same fate as most visual novels’ adaptations do: the pacing is unsteady and in order to skim through the whole plot quickly within the strict time limit of 12 episodes, it sacrifices vital character development, depth and analysis of numerous plot points. In other words, we get no significant insight into the characters’ perspective or feelings other than some fleeting moments at the beginning or end of the episode.

The atmosphere of the show is quite unique and being set in industrial London really compliments the mystery. Cardia, our female heroine, is very kind and sweet. She might seem like your typical dandere at first but her intriguing background reveals that she’s far more than that. Along with Arsene, Victor, Saint, Van and Impey she discovers the warmth of friendship, developing strong bonds, relying on others and being supported. I would have loved to be able to examine her feelings and thoughts more thoroughly, but unfortunately we only got a few (but heartwarming) glimpses at them. Lupin, our main male character, is a very witty and cool guy. He’s romantically interested in Cardia and he has vowed to help her get rid of the curse. He’s the first person to treat her with respect and affection. However his character is not explored any further than the usual caring and fun, boyfriend-material type of guy. The rest of the gang is not given enough screentime either, with the exception of Van Helsing. Lastly, the villain, Finis, is not engaging either because, despite provoking sympathy in a few scenes, he remains a quite bland and forgettable type of villain.

While you want to unravel the mystery and see Cardia fulfill her wish, I’d say the most satisfying and exciting thing during my watching was not the showdowns but rather the intimate, heart-warming moments between Cardia and the rest of the group. And obviously the romance. That being said, it is still an entertaining weekly watch; it gets you interested in getting your hands on the original source, so I think it has fulfilled its purpose.

Code Realise never quite lives up to the promise of it's setting. The art is... both bland and interesting. Incredibly awkward. The color both never lives up to the visual novel, and I'm not sure if it could. Visual novels just have such a fundemental different aesthetic from anime.

And that the main character's design is fairly nice. It's one of the few designs that really works. The guys just seem generic, especially in design.

I didn't hate it. The types of aesthetics it tries for just never truly works.

Never quite commits to the rich chocolate browns that are it's best feature. Sherlock Hound, Kino no Tabi, ... Baccano! are shows that do the steampunk aesthetic better. No matter what you think of it, Vampire Knight does 'shoujo with a dark aesthetic' a lot better. Ayashi no Ceres too.

There's just nothing this show does better than anyone else, in any way. Without my joy of otome and shoujo, I don't think I would have made it through.

The source otome for this anime was the first otome I've ever played, and I just finished it 3 weeks ago. If my boyfriend is right about animes based on otomes, this show is not unique in that it is a hollow shell of its source material. If you are even somewhat considering watching this anime without having played the otome, I'd strongly urge you not to. The source material was ridiculous, ludicrous, utterly insane - but that was what was so good about it. I loved every ridiculous storyline of the game. However, this anime series was utterly disappointing. ... I had high hopes after watching the first 2 episodes, but it quickly proved it couldn't live up to any aspect of the game. The characters are all soulless versions of the source material, same can be said of the story. Not to mention the insane plot of the source otome was condensed in an intelligible way, and without the prior knowledge gleaned from playing the game, the story is choppy, crazy, and just seems like random anime bullshit.
If you're interested in a ridiculous but interesting story that takes place in industrial age Britain, with strong steam-punk influence, that stars almost exclusively real-world famous literary characters and unfolds in an intriguing and insane but satisfactory way, play the otome. Otherwise, I suggest not wasting time on this story.

Love is to destroy and love is to heal

story: I have a few problem with it. it not that it bad it just more of why have so many famous names in fact I'm surprise they didn't include jack the ripper but they have everybody else from sherlock homes to Dracula and famous item that are told in popular story. I think it what made it not a great how if they just stuck with maybe 1 or 2 famous character it could be fine but yet I like the idea of of a love story where a ... girl can never touch a human nor be able to kiss one for sure it would make for a good story however the show kinda makes feel a bit drawn out and no real deep moments except for episode 7 maybe the best episode of the series where it gives it a bit of a backstory to cardia life.

character: not really much to say here for as it all generic and no real development into them for as they are merely playing there part as the famous names indented to be however I do like cardia to a point she is a nice character with a big heart though you can't help not feel for them but the story tends to drive away a lot not really focus on the character themselves.

art/sound the artwork is nothing really special or haven't seen before so I won't go much into it however the OP I actually pretty good I like sadly it maybe the only I like about this whole series music is okay throughout but nothing memorable.


Overall: it certainly not the worse show I've seen though it not the best it is a bit of drag trying to watch it but the ending kind of almost redeem itself but no the mess that up it made me not feel for the character nor anything about. the best thing I can say about it is that ot does put a definition of love is to destroy and yet love is to heal. if you like a story with famous names and love of pain as in the character suffering to get a happy ending you think they deserve. if your into that kind of thing you might enjoy it is all i can say about it.

For someone who already played the Code:Realize games on PS VITA, i have mixed feelings with the anime.

PS. This will be a short review only. no in-depth explanations whatsoever. just my very own opinion.

Anyway, as i have said, i have mixed feelings with the anime. As for someone who finished playing the game on PS VITA, i recommend only to watch this anime for those who already played the game as the anime has skipped so many things from the FIRST game. and that is to be expected because of the time frame of each events on the game. it will be too long for ... it to fit for only 12 episodes.


BUT, if really are a fan of reverse harem, you can at least watch it, just dont expect too much.

I DID enjoy the anime but it lacks the sense of understanding every characters because it was rushed due to having only 12 episodes.

Cardia is a really good heroine and i like her character. not like your typical damsel in distress. And the bachelors? well, they really are much better drawn in the games (TBH).

I do like these cheesy anime, this one did test me on just how cheesy something can be before I start to despise it. Would make a good drinking game, take a shot every time a character says their name or a name of someone they already know (only joking you would die), I swear 60% of the dialogue is just names of people over and over and over...... Didn't like the main character, bland, boring, most of them were to be fair, nothing interesting about them some so boring, bland and meek, had no sense of urgency about them. A few characters I ... enjoyed just not the main cast, would have loved to spend more time with the brother and the queen. I did like the art I guess the clothes and such looked really cool, right up my street. I liked the voice acting (English), my one annoyance is how some characters sounded so timid, seemed so off like they couldn't be bothered so monotoned, one guy in particular really annoyed me. I liked the overall story, thought it was unique and could have been explored more, I'm excited to buy the game to experience the full story. I would say its fine to pass the time with as a romance anime. It had an ending which is a big plus for me although be it a bit convenient. 6/10

Ok , this review wont be like others dwelving into story and such.

I just talk about random feelings that i had when watching this

I will get right to the point.
The story overall didnt make me want to watch for more.
The story was unique though but not captivating.
I completed it but not like those which are so interesting to leave and you just keep on watching from one episode to next and feel like you will stop at next episode but you cant.
It was hard for me to finish,
This may had to something with the fact that i am not that big a fan of ... romance genre.


The story progression felt slow, there were moments when it felt it is just to slow that maybe i should just speed up and finish it fast.

There are not much action scenes,,thats to be expected cause its romance i think. So, obviously this one is not for those who love action, adventure, etc.

As for romance genre , it felt lacking,,The story couldnt touch the heart,

The character didnt leave any impression like some character does .

PS: This ones just for the record . That i hate those things where they only say one name only like other character are useless and doing nothing.
it probably is feeling towards each other that makes the girl sayl only lupin . I am generally not a fan of such thing. There are those people who are helping her at least she could remember them once . I just took out the anger built in me.
The one in PS is personal hate , it may or most probably wouldnt apply to other people

If you like otome type of anime, you probably like this anime. But if you're a person like me who enjoy a deep plot and nice story, this isn't for you.
The problem in this anime is too average. To be honest, I like Cardia in the first place. But after the episode 3, I began to feel boring. The 1st episode is quite nice but I gain less interest in the next episode. This is the weakness when the anime was an adaptation of the otome games. Their romance seems to be so forceful and the story was rushing. They need to cut all the ... harem routes and chose Lupin. If you only seek for a typical romance, this is fine for you. But this is definitely not recommended for people who want a better story.

Did I enjoy this? Yes, in my half-sleep.
Will I watch it again? Definitely No.

Code:Realize is forgettable and dull reverse harem. While the heroine's existential crisis was an interesting discussion, she spent most of her time passively where she ends up in situations where she had to be rescued by her love interests. The male leads were also uninteresting, sticking too close to their archetypes instead of acting like human beings.

My one nitpick is that the writing of Code:Realize was so poorly done that the characters' relationships weren't fully justified. Everyone kept on saying how the heroine meant a lot to them, but the sequence of events made it hard to see what do they see in her. ... The only exception was the love interest for the anime.

The artwork was beautiful, but the animation was really stiff. The OST wasn't memorable, though the English Dub was well done despite the story. Overall, Code:Realize wasn't a frustrating watch. Rather, it's another run-in-a-mill reverse harem.