Code Geass: Dakkan no Rozé

It’s good.

Just saw episodes 1-3 in the theater in Japan.
Went in expecting another Akito or Resurrection or a quick cash grab, but this is something else.

Story:
Set some years after Resurrection. Hokkaido has been occupied by Neo Britannia. Two Britannian brothers, Ash and Roze, must recapture a girl named Sakuya who is the daughter of Hokkaido’s previous leader. Now that’s all I will tell you because literally everything else is a spoiler.

Characters:
I don’t want to say anything because even mentioning things about the main characters is a spoiler.
...
Animation:
I’d say it’s pretty good. Maybe not as good as SEED FREEDOM but that’s a movie and this is a theatrical 4 part series/ONA so it’s not fair to compare the two.

Music:
Good.

Overall:
Definitely watch this. You don’t need to have watched Resurrection to understand this so long as you have a basic understanding of the world of Code Geass.

Roze of the recapture is the newest installment of the Code Geass reboot/rework and 10/12 episodes in I can confidently say that this show is outright horrible to watch for any Code Geass fan.

While it does start out alright it gets worse with every episode later on, so don't be fooled.
I'll try and go over the most significant flaws of this show without revealing too many spoilers:

1. The underlying premisse/setting does not make sense: Apparently after area eleven was freed and returned being Japan in the events of the main story, Hokkaido, the northern most island, was captured by remnants of the Britannian forces within ... Japan. There they oppress the Japanese, commit war crimes and apparently nobody can do anything because out of nowhere there is a huge shield all around that island. Where did that shield come from? Why is it there? These things are not answered, because this shield is just an excuse why the United Nations cannot just free that part of Japan. Somehow they still can send supplies in though, which is also not explained. Also it is portraied like this is the last refuge of Brittania, that they cannot go anywhere else and they even have an emperor there. What's not explained is what happened to the Britannian homeland and why they could not just return back there. There are a lot more minor details that make no sense in regards to the whole setup for the plot, but these are the most obvious.

2. Technology doesn't make sense: As in 1. described somehow the technology developed to a point where they have a massive shield around a 80.000km² island. How do they have the energy/resources to power that shield? If there is a power plant, why does the Japanese resistance within Hokkaido not just attack that so they can get help from outside? Nobody ever brings that idea up. On the other hand though somehow the knightmare frames apparently regressed since so far we have 1 KMF that has a flight module. At the end of the original series whole armies of KMFs had flight modules and almost all battles took place in the sky. But now they are almost nonexistent?

3. Resources: What is not at all explained is how the Neo-Britannians have so many resources. That starts with the shield as explained in 2. and ends with the "death vaccums" that appear in episode 9. The number of those is not possible to produce for a tiny dictatorship, that's literally against the rest of the world. It's like if North Korea would, without anyone noticing, suddenly invade all major cities around the world with multiple tank-squads. The logistics and how they got there without anyone noticing (in a world with much higher technology as ours) is also a huge plothole.

4. The main villain and his motivation: Okay here we get a tiny bit into spoiler territory, but don't worry nothing's like really suprising or unexpected here. I won't even go into who the main villain is after his identidy got revealed in episode 10. This in and of itself is ridiculous. But in the same episode our MC questions him about his motives: She throws literally every possibility at him, why he is acting the way he is, and he just says "No" to all of them. So yeah he wants to end humanity because...? We don't know and from the looks of it we also won't get a proper reasoning for the villains actions either in the last 2 episodes. Nothing makes sense, from his identity, to how he even got into such a powerful position, to his actions, to even why anyone of his retainers is following him. It's typical "I'm evil for the sake of being evil"...

Well these 4 major flaws don't even cover the main characters, their flaws in writing, the blatant fanservice, the stupidity of characters, the lack of any tactical or strategical battles that made the original so exceptional and much more...

To end this review, this is just a cheap wanna be copy of the original, that lacks anything that made the original series so great. The MC is boring, there are no consistent themes, the side (and even main-) characters are dull and the story is stupid and full of plotholes.

As a die-hard fan of the original I just cannot recommend this at all. This show tries to do everything that the original did, but turns it into garbage. In the original, I was captivated by all the characters, their motivation and role within the world and how Lelouch outmanouvered all of them for his grand plan. Watching Roze on the other hand makes my IQ drop with every minute of every episode I watch.

If you're in need of more Code Geass, rather watch Akito, which actually isn't too bad, or read some of the spinoff mangas.

I have been a major Code Geass fan since the original two seasons aired about a decade and a half ago. I can't say I liked Akito the Exiled all that much, but I felt it had potential and was still appreciative of what they were trying to do. I acknowledge the issues with Re;surrection but I still absolutely loved the film for what it successfully managed to do. Rozé of the Recapture however, I found to be a failure in essentially all respects to the point I feel it may well have been better for it never to have been made at all.

One ... of the the most critical aspects of Code Geass is a protagonist that is, for lack of a better way to say it, intellectually overpowered. The writing may have to gloss over things and straight up bullshit things at times in order to make them feel that way, but the important part is to give off that sort of vibe. Lelouch is obviously the best example, but I'm not a hardliner that feels that Code Geass without Lelouch is impossible to do right. After all, I felt Leila filled that role reasonably well. Rozé however just doesn't make a good Code Geass protagonist.

That Lelouch would still be amazing even without his Geass was heavily emphasized. On the other hand, with Rozé the focus is on how she wouldn't be able to accomplish much without hers. This is a core element of her character arc. It isn't all that well written of a character arc, but the issues are broader than that. It is simply not the type of character arc the protagonist should have. A side character sure. But if the protagonist has such a character arc, it kneecaps the entire series. Crazy schemes and great strategies that manage to pull off things that no one expects to be possible are Code Geass's bread and butter. Rozé just straight up isn't smart enough to do all that much. And this results in the series just overall being a lot less intriguing or exciting.

Something that elevated the narrative in Code Geass was the themes that it explored. Most of the themes it explored it did superficially and often in ways that were pretty naive or fantastical. Thus, it was better from the perspective of bringing up questions than answering them. Still, it definitely had something to say, and with Zero's Requiem it did provide a resolution, and provided it an incredible fashion. Many argue that Re;surrection diminished that ending. I disagree with them in that I feel that showing that minor conflicts that the Black Knights can resolve (as long as Geass isn't involved) elevates the world that Lelouch created and thus builds well on that ending.

But that's beside the point, which is that Rozé of the Recapture actually does do what people accuse Re;surrection of doing in that it greatly undermines the ending of R2. It makes it feel like what Lelouch accomplished really didn't have all that much of an impact. Somehow Neo-Brittania manages to take over Hokkaido again. Also, Neo-Brittania has an overpowered defensive wall that the Black Knights are completely useless against for some reason. Neo-Brittania also has Damocles and a bunch of F.L.E.I.J.A. despite them having been blasted into the sun. If that wasn't ridiculous enough, things get completely absurd in the final stretch where apparently they have an even greater superweapon that could easily have defeated the entirety of the rest of humanity if Rozé and Ash didn't just happen to be in the right place to be able to stop them. On top of that, it is explicitly shown that Lelouch and CC chose not to interfere in all this because they decided it was no longer their place, which is pretty much their only involvement in the show. None of this makes any sense and severely contradicts key elements of core aspects of the main series. It is quite frankly insulting.

How cartoonish the villains were in this was even more insulting. They could not have created more 2-D villains if they had tried. That everyone had complex motivations was a core part of the main series. Some motivations were clearly better than others, but there was an attempt at giving depth to at least all the main characters. On the other hand the primary antagonist of Rozé of the Recapture is so lacking in depth and is so generic of a villain with such simple minded and evil motivations that I suspect the writers may have been trying to go for "It's so stupid it's actually genius", but just ended up with something utterly stupid.

The rest of the antagonists don't fare much better. The majority are also two dimensionally evil to the point they make Clovis look deep. The exceptions are so half assed that they might as well be. For example, Narah has motivations centered around how Brittanians in Japan were discriminated against once it was freed, but this is obviously nonsense and doesn't justify her actions at all. And Catherine had a decent character arc conceptually, but it was severely rushed and thus wasn't able to hit the character beats necessary for it to be built up properly.

The cast on the protagonist's side is similarly weak. The majority feel like bargain bin version of characters from the main series in that there was very heavy use of the same personality types in similar roles and with very similar relationships thus producing very similar dynamics. It felt a lot like the writers were just taking things from the main series and throwing them together without understanding why they worked so well in their original context. There are a lot of character and plot threads that go absolutely nowhere or feel like they had no point whatsoever. As such, its quite hard to build up investment in the cast. This severely weakens the ending, which was trying to go for strong character centered emotional beats, but isn't able to land any of them properly. This results in the ending being immensely unsatisfying.

The use of reoccurring characters from prior Code Geass media was decent. The only one that has any major presence is Nina, whose story does a pretty good job of reinforcing her character arc centered around her desire for redemption for creating F.L.E.I.J.A.. Beyond that everyone's presence is cameo level. Seeing them is cool again and all, but Re;surrection was so much better at this that the cameos in this don't really have all that strong of an impact. The only exception I can think of is that unlike Re;surrection, characters from side series like Akito and Oz get cameos in this, so for those that especially love those characters this might hit harder.

With all that said, there are still some areas where Rozé of the Recapture is pretty good. It still manages to handle the intermixing of slice of life and fanservice with the more serious parts of the show really well in a way that felt very true to the spirit of Code Geass. The action is also pretty good, though it uses a lot of 3DCG which some may take exception to. I also feel the new mech designs are weaker than the older ones. The character designs on the other hand are fantastic, and the art and animation in general is pretty good. The soundtrack is as good as the main series when it comes to the more action oriented tracks, but is weaker when it comes to softer tracks or tracks that are meant to be regal. The OP was pretty good in terms of the song and visuals. The ED was decent in terms of both.

tl;dr: A sequel that is unsuccessful at most everywhere that was great about it's predecessors.

I loved the original Code Geass and it will always be a very fantastic series but this? Well first off its not "bad". It showed a lot of promise and potential at times to really be something but setting everything up, trying to establish a cast, a villain, a story and resolving all of that set up in 12 episodes was its ultimate downfall though.
Now, If it had the same amount of episodes as the original Code Geass series to properly establish the cast, their stories, their motives and individual story arcs as the plot advances from A to B then no doubt this ... would have been a truly worthy successor and a seriously good watch.
I won't say this was outright bad, or trash because its not quite that bad but it was disappointing nonetheless because what potential and promise it had went right out the window.

*mild spoilers for Dakkan no Roze, and inherent spoilers for everything leading up to it*

Nothing's gonna stop Code Geass from being successful. Not even being given a proper studio until well into production didn’t stop S1’s team from launching an instant hit back in 2006. Significant content changes and omissions didn’t stop the original writers and directors and their team from making Fukkatsu a success to launch a 10 year plan off of back in 2019. The abysmal quality of Dakkan no Roze isn’t gonna stop a different pair of writers and directors from making it part of the brand’s continued success if the myriad ... character trailers and episode trailers are anything to go by. Whenever we reach the end of this 10 year plan, there will probably be another big and successful project to cap it off. Geass may not have the staying power overseas that it once held, and Disney’s absolute lack of marketing has only further damned Roze into being a legacy sequel only a fraction of the original fanbase has even heard of prior to its conclusion. However, Geass is still a massive franchise in its home nation, and Roze is just another cog in the machine. A rusty cog with cracks everywhere, but a cog all the same.

That doesn’t mean it’s not an abysmal legacy sequel and a worse follow-up to Fukkatsu no Lelouch than imagined. They managed to make the premise of a future conflict set in Japan a non-starter in such a way where the UNJ established by the Zero Requiem of R2’s/Movie 3’s finale looks completely inept for years. Upon Year 3 of the post-ZR Kowa period, a surprise attack is launched in Hokkaido, taking it over and quickly establishing Neo-Britannia and a series of EMP defense towers that keep enemy Britannians and whatnot at bay. These unprotected towers that seemingly nobody has attempted to target. If the mere conceit of this show is a non-starter, how is the show supposed to function? Technically it’s not impossible, but after more or less nullifying any actual effectiveness of the original ending (or more pertinently, its movie timeline counterpart which is 99% the same), put charitably, it’s gonna be a hard sell.

There are a few other overarching issues with the show which compound with one-another. First off, the show feels roughly half its length, especially with the first quarter and last quarter. As such, most of the characters don’t have much time to breathe as the gigantic cast of protagonists and antagonists cannot begin to flesh out even half of the survivors to any meaningful degree. It’s hard to say if the Neo-Britannian officials have it worse, or if the Black Kni-er, sorry, Seven Shining Stars have it worse. The issue of unoriginality will be covered later.

The most immediate example that comes to mind is Heath Lott, a Neo-Britannian official introduced at the start of episode 3 as he confidently challenges the SSS. The next time we see him not 5 minutes later, the battle is skipped and the officials report of his failure as he is hyperventilating before their leader, Norland kicks him out. He blows his brains out immediately thereafter. An entire story that could span at least an episode, reduced to 2 minor scenes just to add another body to the pile of corpses. One of his more successful cohorts, Christoph Scissorman, makes a point about how Heath wanted to fill the shoes of the guy who seemingly died in episode 2, and yet despite being the first antagonist to have a remotely engaging motivation and sympathetic demise, he’s snuffed out in two quick scenes. The Neo-Britannian forces have it arguably even worse on the whole than the Knights of the Round back in R2.

It’s almost as bad as how the majority of the Seven Shining Stars have next to no personality or detail or anything for the entire run. The only minor exceptions are Haruka the Kallen expy, and Kensei Kuroto who is rescued in episode 2. We have the mecha-loving Tamaki expy in Oda, the nice girl with a giant rack in Youko, and you have the rest. That’s all we have as far as personality or any personal details or chemistry beyond the mildest of teasing towards Oda for being an upstart. The Black Knights back in the original only really had 3 notable starting members in Oghi, Kallen, and Tamaki, but even back in the first few half or so of S1, those 3 alone had more going on than every SSS member put together. Main leads Ash and Sakuya do have compelling backstories and character arcs respectively, and certain Neo-Britannians such as Narah, Catherine, and Walther do have something going on to keep them mildly interesting. However, the show rarely has enough time to make the most out of them, let alone other SSS members or Neo-Britannian officials. That is, except for Norland, who is a vacuous waste of space with a boring, borderline nebulous “kill humanity cuz they’re disgusting” motivation after being an apathetic killer for most of the show. The less said about him, the better, at least for now.

You may have caught on by now that this legacy sequel has a habit of sucking on the original series’ teet. The premise is a variation of what the original show started out with. We have a new take on the Black Knights, complete with them being apprehensive of working with mysterious outsiders such as the main duo. The main characters have to stop the Damocles from firing FLEIJAs at a city. The Lelouch expy Sakuya interrogates the starter villain for information and gets him killed after revealing themselves and geassing him following another bout of him exterminating the Japanese. An ambitious official seemingly dies before getting turned into a cyborg with a Geass canceller and an obsession with one of the main characters. Dakkan no Roze frequently remixes elements from the original, usually to terrible results since the pacing is so blitzed and the characterization is so threadbare aside from around 6 characters in a roster of around 20 notable new entities. The worst example is in how it handles violent discrimination.

Code Geass wasn’t subtle about displaying Britannians’ violence and bigotry towards the Japanese. However, it had a level of depth and gravitas that this show lacks. Geass S1 doesn’t start with casually shooting a guy off a pier during “target practice” and slaughtering a bridge full of “Elevens”. The first on-screen slaughtering comes when Clovis, a novice snuffing out the local resistance while trying to cover his own ass for C.C's escape lest he be disinherited, gives the order and it’s treated with some actual weight. Geass went in some level of depth about even workplace bigotry with how Suzaku and his team were sometimes barred from missions because being an “Honorary Britannian” was a social playcating move that didn’t actually mean anything for Japanese folks who joined the Britannian military. They were frequently gossiped about as well. Dakkan no Roze has 1 minor gossip scene and at most, Catherine berating Sakura Sumeragi for being a half-”Eleven” figurehead with no actual power. Both shows do have random Britannians harassing or beating up “Elevens” for existing or for the most minor slights, but the original series has more than the most surface level atrocities, and Roze has fucking murder roombas.

You read that right. Towards the last ⅓ of the show, the audience is introduced to giant robots that suck people up, shred them, and spew out blood geysers that turn into blood mist across the globe while cutting off all nearby surveillance and communication. The concept is beyond over the top and schlocky, just like the show’s handling of discrimination is sometimes. It’s almost impossible to play this for any legitimate horror, not that the show tries to since the concept isn’t exactly grounded or easy to take seriously. It would be easier to do so if most of the cast had stuff going for them, but they don’t so atrocities such as this, and the multitude of adequately animated fight scenes are hard to get invested in.

It doesn’t help that the show doesn’t have much in the way of exploring themes or advancing what the original explored. Sure, there are multiple Neo-Britannian officials such as Natalia and Sakura who are working from the inside. Walther and Narah also think about their original good intentions and what they can even do beyond fighting enemies. They do comment on how it’s still difficult to get any kind of positive political policy going by working from the inside or trying to help outsiders from the inside. However, none of that broaches the depth of Suzaku’s rise through the ranks and how multiple systems in a totalitarian government make such approaches difficult long-term games. The original also ended on conflicts between people stuck in the past, people focused on controlling the present, and people trying to create a better future for others to have agency over. This show ends with “we must stop the guy who hates everybody otherwise world peace will have officially gone out the window along with Earth’s population”. Riveting.

It’s hard not to compare Roze with either season of the original series when Roze itself insists on aping them and adds so little to the table. That being said, there are some decent things it does on its own, like the shared connections between Ash and Narah and how their trajectories have affected them despite the fact that they would rather not fight each other if need be. Ash’s backstory was surprisingly compelling, especially when his younger self interacts with Jugo Sumeragi who was killed before the start of the show. There’s a scene where the latter breaks down at the fact that while death doesn’t scare him, he won’t get to see his daughter again, and Ash who recently lost a loved one, relates and soon breaks down himself. Roze aka Sakuya, who had Geassed Ash into obeying her and believing she’s his brother via a fake identity, starts regretting her vengeful actions towards him the more she learns about him. There is a good and compelling series somewhere, with plenty of characters who have moments that elevate them beyond the vacuous entities they appeared to be at the start, and other engaging moments not described here. It’s all just buried underneath all the show’s stupid decisions, rushed pacing, and plenty of woefully underwritten characters. That’s to say nothing of how Ash’s and Sakuya’s stories end, which are about as bad as Lelouch’s and Suzaku’s endings were good.

With all that said, do the audiovisuals at least come within striking distance of what came before? Yes, but at best, they’re closer to the level of Fukkatsu. Kenji Kawai is one of anime’s most acclaimed composers, working on the Ghost in the Shell movies of the 90s & 2000s, the DEEN adaptation of Fate/Stay Night, Mob Psycho 100, and Higurashi, among a sea of other notable titles such as Ranma ½ and Gundam 00. His pedigree perhaps even exceeds that of the original Geass composers, including its most prolific one, Kotaro Nakagawa. Unfortunately, none of Kawai’s contributions to Roze are nearly as memorable or bombastic as the sweeping scores of the original series. The tracks are often spammed ad nauseam such as the plethora of bagpipe-heavy tracks and the buttrock that plays whenever Ash’s mech goes turbo. There are some solid orchestral tracks and mildly emotional pieces, but while the OST is solid, it’s not filled to the brim with memorable tracks that move or excite. Also, the OP and ED are fine? Not notably good or bad enough to really discuss.

As for the visuals, they’re solid. Surprisingly, there’s a lot of 3D CGI Knightmare Frames that practically feel 2D to the point where the average viewer may not even notice. The mecha designs are fine enough, and they animate decently well with no frame rate clashes with the frame rate of the 2D assets. A variety of fighting styles are used such as fencing, CQC, and more with the show’s decision to return characters to largely ground-based combat and weapons. It has none of the flippy-dippy breakdance type evasion combat of S1 unfortunately, with barely any moments where the fight choreography even comes close to having moments nearly that engaging as far as mecha combat is concerned. Oftentimes characters just zip and zoom about or refuse to shoot until it’s too late. The only notable exception is the final battle having a fair amount of tracking shots as Sakuya and Ash weave through Norland’s attacks without giving the audience motion sickness.

The characters are generally drawn consistently with hardly any egregiously off-model moments. Takahiro Kimura’s final set of character designs includes some standouts such as Scissorman, Ash, and Sakuya, including her Roze disguise. Redesigns of returning/cameo characters were also generally nice, particularly Cornelia’s redesign. Some designs such as Catherine’s are really pushing it in terms of being able to take them seriously in a remotely grounded military show, especially when this one is far less comedic or filled with fanservicey romps than S1 or especially R2. That being said, hardly any are particularly bad, even if the SSS members often look as plain as the characters themselves are in practice. There aren’t any noticeable animation fuck-ups either aside from a few awkward shortcuts like in Ash vs Narah in episode 5 just having the characters border on becoming lines slamming into each other. That being said, there are some scenes where the lighting filters become absolutely garish for no real reason, namely in some scenes where the SSS members and the main duo are making plans. Still, the show overall looks good, even if it doesn’t have any of the over the top facial expressions, editing choices, or overall style of the original.

At the end of the day, Roze is a terrible legacy sequel. It apes from the original without adding much worthwhile to stand on its own or advance what came before. Several decisions actively and needlessly undermine the ending of the recap trilogy which is almost identical to the original when there were easy ways to avoid that. Most of the new characters are featureless planks of wood and the ones rising above don’t get dealt the best hands, either. The show does admittedly do a tasteful job with its many cameos across the entire Geass pantheon, and somehow Nina gets some agency as the show’s resident remorseful Oppenheimer. However, just because some old and new characters get some decent material to work with doesn’t mean that the show’s overarching narrative isn’t broken. It may have started going somewhere decent towards the middle, but it started off as a derivative mess, and it ends in a similarly dire place. There are rumors that the show’s episode count was cut in half, which probably explains some of the more egregious issues with much of its new cast. However, nothing could have saved the show’s beginning and end. If the culmination of the 10 year plan’s front half is a dumber, edgier, Geass Greatest Hits compilation that’s as rushed as it is hollow, what hope is there for the next 5 years?

Also, insert obligatory “Geass girls are hot and the camera really wants you to know that” here.

After watching all the episodes up to this point, I am left wondering what the hell I'm watching. I am a huge fan of the original Code Geass series and this show has been an extremely poor addition to the franchise. The main character is not particularly interesting and the plot device which serves as the main focus of the show thus far has been poorly setup and I have little investment and care for it thus far. The main character is no match for Lelouch in any regard and I'm not sure who this show is for as it doesn't seem to carry the ... essential elements of what made Code Geass great, even if it is sloppily incorporating previous characters within the story line.

As I mentioned in the Episode 1 discussion, I approached the first episode with bright anticipation and expectations—after all, it's Code Geass. However, I ended up feeling deeply disappointed. While I can appreciate the attempt to introduce a solid side storyline for more of the series, it felt more like an artificial extension of Akito rather than a true continuation of the original series. Most characters and machines/equipments looked exactly the same as Akito, "strongly inspired" does not even do the justice here. There was zero to none resembility of the main original series at all apart those some character appearance. The music also lacked ... originality, carrying the same synthetic vibe as Akito instead of delivering something fresh or iconic. The more I watched, the more things stopped making sense. Events seemed to happen out of convenience, with little to no effort put into world-building, character development, or plot construction. The male protagonist was the only one given any real attention with some character background and why he mattered in the show, while the main female protagonist remained insignificant and poorly developed, with no qualities that made her stand out. They simply mimicked the poses and catchphrases of the main character from the original series. Of course, even the power bestowed upon them felt unearned. The Villian? Just straight copy and paste from gundam series. Seriously... i have no words.

The real letdown, however, was in the scripting, action, and voice acting. There was little to no emotion behind the deaths and actions, making everything feel flat and meaningless. The action scenes were particularly underwhelming, which is surprising considering that Akito, at least, got the action and plot objective right. The characters were somewhat alive, this series? Everyone literally hasno meaning to even be alive.

On a personal note, the choice of a female protagonist didn't sit well with me. It felt like fan service aimed at attracting a broader audience and simplifying the narrative. This isn't about being against female characters, but for this particular theme, a male protagonist would have made more sense. Just like in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, male characters often convey emotion, resolve, and a "classy knight" feel that resonates deeply. These traits are historically associated with nobility and chivalry, often depicted through male figures. A male character with refined, almost feminine gestures can evoke a sense of royalty and class that aligns well with such themes.

However, a female character who excels in combat with more masculine traits, could be just as compelling, if not more so, in that role. Again, this is all just for fan service made more convenience. It's not about one gender being better suited than the other, but about how certain roles and themes are more authentically portrayed by specific genders. For instance, a male character crying can have a significant impact because they typically try to hide their feelings and appear tough, whereas girls crying is more accepted as they are often seen as more in touch with their emotions. That aside, there was zero character development, except for a moment eight episodes in where the female protagonist realizes that she was wrong all along. The story felt hastily put together, all the way towards the ending was handled in a similarly rushed manner. Everything seemed to be skipped over or rushed through the series, leading to a poorly executed plot twist where the entire world or storyline was turned upside down in a matter of seconds, with no explanation, elaboration, or justification and any reasoning... just wild convenience and random. I understand if the entire country couldn't take on 1/4 or the rest of the states and fall behind in some technology, however the entire world couldn't? So what happen to the original series? The movie and Akito, why are they even showned here and even relevant at all? What they've possed before went ancient and lost suddenly? We should just forget about it when you just casually include and somewhat linked them here? Well, what are the big dogs of the organisation and all leading forced even doing when there is a state that went self proclaimed dictatorship governent and bringing unfair treatment to the people. Again, the more the series progress the more nothing even make any sense.

Honestly, everything released since Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion has been disappointing. While Resurrection was good, it lacked the sheer intensity and surprise that made Seasons 1 and 2 so iconic. Maybe the element of surprise has just grown old and outdated, but nevertheless we get the same elements from the original series and it was very reminiscing and enjoyable. But everything else, like Akito and this particular new installment, feels more like a completely different Gundam anime that just happens to retain some elements of Original series -Geass. Overall, it's a very disappointing series. I wish these side series had never been made—it has scarred me and tarnished the great ending of the original Seasons 1, 2, and the movie. It was a great idea to showcase the story of what happened, but they have indeed ruined it just like how gundam has. The very defination of how not to screw yourself up as a brand/production/company/whatever it is. R.I.P to those who somewhat even enjoyed this as compared to the original series. Shame on you.

The fact that "Roze" is just an anagram of "Zero" is an encapsulation of everything wrong with this show: it is derivative, uninspired, sloppy, and built to entirely to say "Hey! Remember this better show?", which it really shouldn't do given how bad it is.

Firstly, the pacing is atrocious and is probably one of the core problems that has led to this mess. It tries to do everything the original Geass does but with a quarter of the run time. It gives no time to flesh out characters or give meaningful resolution to character arcs. New faces and factions pop up and disappear so suddenly ... that you end up just simply not caring about them. The writing is so rushed that the world building suffers and you're left scratching your head about what's going on. The ending is meant to be bittersweet but its never given enough time to make it land properly. In fact, the only bittersweet I'm feeling about the ending is that they fumbled the one original, interesting plotline (the main story romance with the trademark Geass sprinkles on top). They could've hung so much on that but they didn't and its a shame. On the bright side, with only 12 episodes, you don't have to suffer through much. Hooray?

The characters are horribly generic and its incredibly easy to make parallels with past characters. It feels like many of characters were written specifically with the original Geass cast in mind but we have other people sitting in their seats who kinda look like them: Roze/Sakuya is a a blatant-yet-inferior Lelouch clone, Ashe is wearing the metaphorical clothes of Suzaku, Haruka is a knock-off Kallen, etc. The list is numerous and very obvious. They're little more than inferior palette swaps with their original series counterparts. Everything about them makes them feel like their the equivalent of the off-brand soda you find at a supermarket at a discount. The only interesting characters here are Ashe and Scissorman (what a name), and even then you can still make the parallel's to who they're supposed to be replacing.

Speaking of who they are replacing, this show is full of fanservice appearances of characters from the past series. They pop up all over the place and they even include characters from stuff like spinoff manga series. But they're done so poorly, I don't even think fans would really get their fanservice needs met. The past, recurrent characters have such incredibly minor roles. Some of the biggest, most beloved characters probably each have a total of less that one minute of cumulative, total screen time and the screen time they do have is irrelevant. They could easy cut them and nothing happens to the story. Yet, they felt the need to give a relative ton of screen time to Nina "I like Tables" Einstein of all characters. Baffling.

The animation and music is fine, though it can feel extravagant and amazing at times yet incredibly cut-rate at other. This is probably the one part of the show that doesn't entirely feel misused but its still not groundbreaking or consistent. Just the least bad part of a really bad pile.

Would this how have been better received if it wasn't tied to the legacy of prior Geass shows? Maybe. It wouldn't have been a good show and expectations wouldn't have been as high, but they hitched their wagon to the past seasons and that just made the let down feel so disappointing. Avoid this show. Its not worth watching and the only way it will be is if they release a new Geass and the events here become required reading to understand some plot point, and even then you can probably get by with just reading the plot.

I really liked the original Code Geass but this pales in comparison.

To begin with, the premises that led to this show are not even explained properly. "This is just a different set of circumstances" or so I thought. The plot holes become more glaring through each episode and they never get fixed either.

The beginning was decent. The show had some plot twists which did keep things somewhat interesting, however too many characters suffer from bland syndrome.

This show would have been alright but by episode 10, it turns to shit because the ending is straight up garbage.
Abrupt. Non-sensical. Anti-climatic. It ruined everything.

Story:
The brothers face their greatest challenge when Japan gets occupied again by remnants of the Brittania royalty calling themselves the "Neo Britannian Empire". Led by Neo Britannia's 100th emperor, Chalice al Britannia, and his Knights of Einberg, Japan is isolated it from the rest of the world with the impregnable "Situmpe Barrier (シトゥンペバリア)" energy wall for the next 4 years. To counter this new Britannian invasion, Roze and Ash accepts the UFN government request to assist the Black Knights' Liberation Plan and the resistance group called the "Seven Shining Stars (七煌星団)" to take on Neo Britannia and rescue Sakuya Sumeragi.

Took from Code Geass fandom

Characters:
I didn't ... like the how much modern social politic they are


Animation:
Knightmares Looks like CGI, Normal animation looks like more colored and black lines compare to first series


Music:
Bad compared to First Series


Overall:
Britannia becomes Liberal Britannia's saying Japanese's 11 still going some yellow red blue haired unattractive voicing boy is main character but she becomes girl and she has a holographic Geass that she opens with she's hands on neckless and moves she's hand to make Geass in ears, the Knightmares Have LASERS shooting they playing a holographic chess

Code Geass is good but this isn't

It's been 16y since Code Geass ended, that sure was a long time ago, its epilogue was fairly conclusive and narratively speaking it really didn't felt like further exploration into the future of the franchise was needed (preque, interquel spin off, sure whatever you see fit)

Yet Roze is somehow a bit of that, but not really either at the same time.

It's a sequel because strictly speaking it happens shortly after the end of the original anime
It's a sequel because the overall world structure is a direct consequence of the events at the end of R2
It's a sequel because they made a parade of previously important ... characters that happened to be more or less relevant (rather less than more)
It's a sequel of nearly everything that came before because they felt obligated to showcase older characters coming from OVA, spin off manga, mobile games or whatever
It's a sequel because visually speaking it does capture the whole Code Geass vibes, mecha and character designs alike

It's not a sequel because the whole main cast is made of new characters, protagonists and antagonists
It's not a sequel because the setting is in Hokkaido and doesn't explore any other place
It's not a sequel because, except at the end, it deals with a specific geopolitical conflict that bears not much importance to the world or the whole series
It's not a sequel because besides the chief animator, the whole staff behind this anime is farily new, the original Code Geass creators left to do other things

And in the end it manages to fail at both being a sequel and an original anime.

It fails a sequel because the whole legacy and cohesive structure from what came before fall off as soon as older characters show off, they're just shown there as if it was mandatory but are all used as a useless parade that bears no consequence to the unraveling plot

It fails as an original anime because everything is rushed beyond what you could imagine, characters come and go, events happen "because", evil guys are evil, good guys are good, battles strategies are non existant, mech battles are dictated by the rule of cool (and sometimes it is cool), the whole "Oh no the world is in danger" happens suddenly and is 100% undeserved and impossible to justify within the given informations shared by the plot.

And to top it ofl it tries to parade everything Code Geass had done but worse : nearly the whole cast are copy paste of Code Geass characters but worse, plenty of story beats are "oh that stuff happened in Code Geass but was much better", grandiloquent monologues feels like a total waste of time in a 12 episodes format, sometimes characters are jumping off between two scenes and it's hard to understand how and why they did it.
And overall you just wonder how the antagonist mastermind managed to gather a whole organization behind him considering he's a complete nazi and doesn't even bother hiding it (which is making the "good guys within the bad guy group" extremely laughable, what the hell are you even doing there in the first place ? Are you braindead ?)

There are good points here and there
- Grounded rolling mech battles, despite being in 3D, are actually quite enjoyable and typical of Code Geass, the jump in quality coming from Akito is appreciated
- Some good characters writing can be found... at times, the Roze and Ash dynamic is ok, so is the Sakuya/Sakura one, but not the entirety of it
- Musics can be dope at times, it's fairly different from what was done before but I'm in, the opening music is cool too (the visuals not so much)
- ... I think that's it really, struggling to come with others stuff despite racking my brain for a few minutes


Overall I wouldn't recommand that anime to anyone, it's a complete wet fart as a semi sequel and it's completely unsatisfying and downright insulting in terms of writing at times as a standalone anime.
Its production values make it stand off above most other things, it also has good action scenes, music and overall visuals, but a nice facade is not enough to make me want enter ever again a completely rundown building.

There isn't much to say. Only 4 eps in but the more I see the worse it gets... If you like Code Geass.. you probably wont like this, I'm not sure who they were making this for.

There's nothing good to say, the character designs aren't even that good. The knightmares are cool I guess?

If you want a nonsense plot, tits, mech fights, and all these things with little to no explanation (just expected to accept that the mc duo are the new coming of Christ) then enjoy I guess.

Poor writing in ever regard, nearly no interesting characters, very tropey, over dramatic with no buildup, ... no stakes properly laid out.

I call it over dramatic but its missing any good 'dramatic' writing to get the audience invested in the stakes.

God, its just so bad. I consume a lot of trash anime but at least I go into those expecting some light junk food, I at least expected to this to be on the level of the Akito films or some of the Manga. But this..? Fuck. I hate it...

If you have taste and don't just like every show you watch, you will not want to watch this.
Code Geass is my number one favorite anime of all time and no character in this sequel has any charisma. The story telling by itself is abysmal (I'm not even comparing to the original series).
I don't mind the 3D mech stuff too much, but I do miss the 2D animated knightmare shots.
The music had potential to be really good, but without a good story and good characters, the music isn't able to shine.
Some of the characters felt like they were made to replace characters from the original ... Code Geass series with a slight spin on them.
I'm even more disappointed than when Promise Neverland Season 2 was released.

Despite the online consensus and general discourse revolving around this show, I found it to be quite enjoyable, and that's coming from a long-time fan of the original series.

Where Dakkan no Rozé shines is in Ash & Rozé's character dynamics. Previous entries had a similar premise to this one, and the knightmare fights are as good as always (I would daresay this entry has the best in terms of animation & choreography), but none of them had this level of intrigue in how character relations would play out over the course of the series. This alone was enough to have me invested in how ... the conclusion would be handled.

Many critiscize Rozé's character for not being as smart or as cunning as Lelouch's, but I find that to be a strong point of this series. Instead of serving us with a Lelouch copycat, we get an interesting character who possess the same power, but with different motivation and far less ability. As such, it is also interesting to see how the character handles different situations given the same power, as well as the big mistakes she makes that Lelouch wouldn't have.

The show obviously isn't perfect. The biggest problem is clearly the villains' lack of depth. The enemy generals have unique traits, but we don't learn much about them outside of their "visual" quirks and presentation. The worst offender is clearly Norland, as he ends up being nothing more than a template for big bad guy, with no motivation even given for his goals.

I would also agree that the series clearly needed more than 12 episodes, as many of these issues could've been addressed by simply giving more time to develop these aforementioned characters. The finale could've also been better handled, as it was a tiny bit rushed, but I still really liked the ending.

Code Geass Roze is an incredibly entertaining Gundam show for the most part, but falls off towards the ending, and is terrible as a Code Geass sequel.

Code Geass ended on a strong note such that it didn't really need any more sequels, be it in the original or movie timeline, so the very premise of this show feels pretty dumb; SOMEHOW the evil racist Britannians rose up again and SOMEHOW the Japanese are back to being "elevens", which is a slap in the face of the original ending of CG.

The show, for the most part is actually not bad as pure entertainment for ... Mecha junkies like me, but I strongly suspect that this was originally meant to be an AU Gundam series that was reworked into CG (it even has a BLATANT char clone). The animation budget isn't too bad and this was still way more entertaining as a whole to me than most of Gundam witch from mercury. Again, Mecha action junk food good, not necessarily "good" good. But oh boy did the show take a nose dive that even I can't excuse towards the end. The series felt super rushed for time overall, and it really would have benefitted from a 2nd cour, or more than just 12 episodes at the very leas

All in all, it's a decent budget fun dumb mecha show that manages to be more entertaining than a lot of modern Gundam stuff these days but ultimately falls flat as a code geass sequel. No, this is nowhere near how good the original was and I hesitate to recommend this to any diehard fans, because CG honestly wrapped up very nicely and doesn't need a continuation. If you're in the mood for a decent Mecha show to scratch that Gundam itch though, it'll do the trick for the most part until the underwhelming ending. I wish MAL had a different rating system, cuz this is honestly a 6.5/10. Still had a lot of dumb fun, but still pretty dumb and unnecessary.

This show is basically like if blueballs was an anime. Enjoyable at times, but ultimately unsatisfying. A lot of things happen in this show where it seems like they're building up to something, but with little to no payoff. The story itself was okay, not amazing but not terrible. There were a lot of interesting ideas in this show, but the pacing was so rushed that those ideas didn't get to be explored in as much detail as they could have. In the end, it kinda just felt like they made this show as an excuse to include cameos of characters from the spin-offs.

You will laugh, but I thought this show had promise. A fast moving plot and plenty of big ass mechs? I'm there. Code Geass has a legacy that could never be properly matched (at least not by a successor series). Akito and this series carefully attempt to sidestep the direct sequel accusation for this very reason. In this particular case, the result is a show that whelms.

The main character, Femlouch, rebels against the Neo-Mecha-Super-Britannia Empire 5000. Alongside her is Ash, an expert pilot with a dark past. That is to say he is an anime character. Femlouch is manipulative, but she has a good ... heart. That is, she is also an anime character. Does this not appetize you? Worry not, the show will deliver ample cameos featuring many characters that you would much rather watch. At 12 episodes and a healthy pace (perhaps too healthy?), the show doesn't drag much. This condensed format leaves little room for characters to grow or even stick in your mind. (Seriously, what was the main villain's name again?)

If a buffet of decent mech designs and explosions are your thing, I cannot dissuade you in good conscience. If a Code Geass is what you are after.... Ah well, my Geass necklace commands you to seek elsewhere.

Terrible follow-up to a beloved series with only the most glancing and marginal connections to the original that, by virtue of its lack of substance, shallow narrative, wonky lore, and negligible characterization, casts an incompetent shadow over the entire Code Geass franchise. If the purpose of Roze was to elicit hype and excitement in a Geass universe, Roze failed terribly. If taken as an anime disconnected from its forbear, which it might as well be given the liberties it takes with its plot and Geass associations, it's just barely passable.

Geass as a franchise does not need Lelouch to survive, but it needs depth. What ... the audience gets in Roze is a mimicry of the original series that's the opposite of depth, favoring breadth--a too-full-for-a-12-episode-series cast of unremarkable and unmemorable characters, plotlines that don't matter, go nowhere, or are dropped altogether, and a convoluted history between the two mains with only small glimpses of their intersecting histories to make sense of their current dynamic. Roze relies on repeating the exact same character and plot beats of the past to elicit a reaction from the viewer. Haruka = worse Kallen, Ash = more predictable Suzaku, Sakuya = less resourceful and intelligent Lelouch, Arnold = more pathetic Jeremiah, and the list goes on. Meanwhile, all the characters from the previous (real Kallen, Suzaku, Lelouch) are hamfisted into cameos (with a combined screen time of 30 seconds, if that) playing second fiddle for no rhyme or reason other than to artificially inflate and elevate the competence and skill level of the new mains.

The Roze characters exist within a vacuum both within and without the story. With a mere 12 episodes under its roster, Roze bites off more than it can chew and does not give its cast or story any time to breathe and no time to develop. Kallen was an ace pilot because she demonstrated it whereas Haruka is an 'ace' pilot because the audience is told she is. The United Federation of Nations and the Black Knights, formidable entities in universe, are reduced to twiddling their thumbs in the face of Neo Britannia's unearned and questioningly procured might. Plot holes abound; contrivances (such as the Situmpe Barrier or even the main's Geass) are never fleshed out or explained properly, if at all. Norland's big identity reveal has no impact or consequence whatsoever and was forced purely for shock value.

There are too many nonsensical and disappointing elements in Roze to repeat them all. As a standalone series, it could have been halfway entertaining, but as an entry in the Code Geass universe, it is undoubtedly the worse installation. Rather than watching Roze to satisfy one's craving for Geass content, it would be more fulfilling to rewatch its progenitor. 4/10 - too hollow to carry the Code Geass tagline, but too reliant on its mangled Geass setting & lore to enjoy as a standalone.

i was wondering why it had such a bad score when i didnt even think it was that bad and i actualy quite anjoyed it nice characters and story but the ending killed it man like what the fck was that scriptwriter smoking some shit or i dont know its so sad that they did this i dont even understand how can someone do this and then think yes this is good. And lastly why the hell did they even show the old characters when they didnt even do anything or apear at all like what was the point. I would recommend it if the ... ending wasnt terrible otherwise i dont think this is good

If this is the quality of sequels/spin-offs, I wish I never see another one. If you thought Resurrection was bad, wait until you see the climax of this. Totally opposite of the usual Code Geass vibes, it was as generic as it gets while sprinkling some aspects of nostalgia. Half the things made no sense, replete with plot holes, and the MC, who is supposed to beyond imaginably intelligent mastermind commanding everything, instead appeared to be always ten steps behind while getting outmanoeuvred at every turn. Such a shame. It had a lot of potential, and the first few episodes were good and had a ... nice build-up, but then everything fell apart rapidly, leaving nothing to be salvaged. I consider the story so bad that I don't care about the animation, it's still below average in my view.