Nov 28, 2010
What is there to say about Code Geass? Well, first of all, I want to say that this is easily one of my favorite shows of all time (animated or otherwise). Before going too far, this will be a review for the English dub of Part I.
On a technical level, this series is absolutely flawless (which also applies to Code Geass R2, which is done by the same company). Code Geass has by far some of the best artwork I've ever seen in any series (but what do you expect when Clamp is doing the designs?) There is not a single poorly designed character, mecha,
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or background set to be found, nor is there any sign of short-cuts in the animation, it's absolutely beautiful to watch. The same is true of the music, it fits perfectly well with every setting and adds extra emotion to every scene (of those songs, my favorites are probably the insert songs "Innocent Days" and "Stories", as well as the first opening "Colors").
Character wise, it's a very strong and colorful cast, the main character Lelouch is one of the most complex characters you'll ever get (and maybe it's just me, but having Vash the Stampede's voice actor laugh manically is always worth a few extra points in a review to me!) The entire English cast performs brilliantly as well (with powerhouses such as Johnny Yong Bosch, Yuri Lowenthal, Kate Higgens, Steven Blum, and Kirk Thorton, that's probably not a surprise). Although I love all the characters, I do have one minor quibble; a lot of the characters that are introduced aren't really fleshed out, even though they're given a lot of in-story importance (Kaguya being the biggest offender, even in R2). Again, this is really a minor quibble, as even those unnecessary characters are a lot of fun (this isn't usually true for me in a series, but there isn't a single character that I dislike from Code Geass, even when they aren't totally useful).
To my mind, the weakest element of Code Geass (both parts) was always the story. This isn't to say that the story is bad, and in fact given how insanely good the rest of the elements are, a weakness for this series is still quite good for most series (though again, not spectacular). Without spoiling any scenes, my biggest problem is that a lot of background information is taken for granted by the main series. Without spoiling too much, the series tells us that Lelouch and the secondary main character Suzaku Kurarugi are best friends from childhood but doesn't really give us any real background about the nature of the relationship from back then (though the series does rectify it through the use of short sound and picture dramas, if you haven't heard them, many scenes don't really have the same force that they should have because of it). Again, the story isn't horrible, and even without the supplemental material it is pretty easy to understand, but I do wish they would have tried to insert them better into the series. Still, the story is probably stronger than most other shows I've seen so I can't be too harsh about what is ultimately a minor flaw.
All in all, I highly recommend Code Geass for all anime fans, and for some who aren't necessarily anime fans.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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