In all honesty this show, which I'm writing specifically about the first season, has a compelling core story with side venues to ensure it never gets too serious/stale. The season revolves around a teenager named Lelouch who is trying to recreate the world for the sake of his younger sister, Nannally, and also to get revenge on the people that killed his mother. In the course of the first couple episodes he inherits a power that allows him to control the people around him. This power, which is called a Geass, has a host of conditionals attached to it. Lelouch must have direct eye contact
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with the host (eyewear excluded), be within 250m, and most importantly can only order someone under the Geass once. There are other Geasses, but this is only explored with one other character named Mao. At its' core, it makes for an entertaining show about conflict and war, with some intrigue and politics factored in, and of course some giant machina and mecha thrown in for fun.
STORY 8/10
In an alternate universe, the Britannian Empire is the most powerful political entity with nearly 1/3 of the world's land mass. Japan was conquered and turned into 'Area 11,' subsequently its' people were called Elevens. In this area, there is a societal conflict that exists between the Britannians and the Elevens. Similar to how the Great Powers of Europe partitioned the world in the 18-19th centuries under the guise of Imperialism, the same situation is applied to Area 11. It was seen as colonized by the superior Britannians and developed into the economic entity it is today. However, the Elevens are treated as second-class citizens and are discriminated for simply being Elevens.
Lelouch, currently a student at Ashford Academy, inherits a power which enables him to control the people directly around him. Taking the persona of Zero, he launches a revolution with the sole focus to destroy Britannia, his father, and the people responsible for his mother's death. By destroying the old world, he can reconstruct it with true peace for his sister, Nannally.
Analyzing the main plot in-depth, the parts of the story that bothered me was the decisions the writers took to convenience the hell out of the storytelling. I swear it was almost as bad as a Korean soap opera with all the unnecessary plot twists that were thrown in, almost in an attempt to show people, "Look I've got so many plot twists you can't trust ANYTHING about me, that makes me deep, right?" The reality is, even though the story was tightly written, kinda.., I think they left a lot of open ends for a second season, it felt unnecessary at times. I guess it's a bit of a balance sometimes, you make a story as tight as possible by introducing a set amount of characters and you want to make a compelling explanation for extraordinary events in the plot but...so you choose to bring back characters, sometimes from the dead and other times from a different time/space, and bam problem solved. I'm not going to include any specific examples because they will be crucial spoilers.
There are additional storylines in conjunction with the core story. The second one is the school-scenario at Ashford Academy. Seriously, I thought the school-scenario was pretty lame, but it had its' necessary devices. It's very well possible that a Code Geass -sans school would actually be a problematic show. The school served to be...1, a convenient way to set the main characters in close proximity to each other to flesh out (anybody else noticed that there's only ONE high school in Japan!?), 2, convenient place for everyone to eat and enjoy Pizza Hut pizza...all for the sake of Cheese-kun :3 , 3, created a diversion from the seriousness of the main story, 4, created a type of alter-ego identity for Lelouch to live in...which of course created its' own complications with characters nosing around, and finally 5, this story was written primarily targeting junior/high school kids so it made it easier for the (target) audience to associate with the main characters. So I do hate this whole Ashford part of the plot, but I can see why they wrote it this way.
There is a third storyline, but it's only displayed or talked about briefly. This is the C.C./V.V. part of the tale, which was left a mystery throughout the whole season. Also note how LATE V.V. was introduced, it's a sure bet he was just staged for the next show. The only part of this storyline that intersects with the core story is with Lelouch receiving his power, Mao, and at the end. And to add, the Mao arc of the show was probably the most painful part...and he really didn't serve much for the overall storyline.
ART 9/10
CLAMP's style is particular, honestly I'm not a major fan of the character design. Who really likes it, I'm not sure...the whole tall, skinny physique with abnormally long limbs? So why a 9? Because the show was well-animated, the action scenes and the character animations were all really done. You can tell that there was a lot of care put into it and made the show all the more entertaining to watch.
SOUND 6/10
There are some good tracks, the OP/ED tracks used were all blood-pumping and fun to listen to...there were a couple tracks that were memorable, like the vocal track Stories//Hitomi. Overall, the tracks worked and did not detract from the show, however at the same time it was not memorable. If there's not a large amount of tracks that make me go, "Oh man! I have to find out what this song is called!" Then I usually think lower about the music. As far as the sound effects, they work, nothing unusual noted, but I don't usually factor sound effects heavily in a review.
CHARACTER 9/10
Oh man, where to start! I really think Lelouch is an interesting character, there are some motivations that drive him that are unusual for a Japanese anime. The way that he affects the people around him, both with and without Geass, really struck a chord within my evaluation of him. His ability as a master strategist, explained by his expertise in chess, seemed reasonable. His rise as a leader of the Order of the Black Knights, was also well thought and I accepted it logically. He does possess a set of weaknesses too and this reinforces his reliance to strategically assess and manipulate others. Throw in a couple "Oh sh-!" scenes and you really start to believe in his ability to win this war.
His friend from a young age, Suzaku, is a Soldier with the Britannian Army but is also a student at the Ashford Academy (conveniently). He gradually becomes the main antagonist of the show, which I would say he started to take more-and-more of it away from Cornelia who at around the 20s started to lose significance in the story. He is also an ideal antagonist because he is in a lot of ways the antithesis of Lelouch. Lelouch is manipulative and strategically-proficient, Suzaku is strong, independent, and also tactically-proficient. The two have various complications because of the differing relationships they have between Suzaku and Lelouch AND Suzaku and Zero. His story is interesting, but I think it doesn't have the depth of Lelouch and initially his motivations are unbelievable.
I won't get into it further than this, but the majority of the characters are interesting in their own ways. The strength of the show is around the characters and yes there are ridiculous ones, NINA especially, Mao...and a lot of the classmates at Ashford, but the vast majority are enjoyable to see interact.
ENJOYMENT 9/10
The characters are interesting, the plot good, and a healthy amount of action scenes. I watched the show within 3 days and there were rarely long periods of time where I had to stop and do something else. This means my attention was maintained for the most part. So I can say yes, it was enjoyable.
OVERALL 8/10
An 8/10, a good show to watch, I know there is a fair amount of stigma around the show but it didn't affect my level of enjoyment. Don't confuse my review however, it's not a "deep" show and there are some crappy scenes, but for the most part it was fun to watch.
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Mar 29, 2011
Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch
(Anime)
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In all honesty this show, which I'm writing specifically about the first season, has a compelling core story with side venues to ensure it never gets too serious/stale. The season revolves around a teenager named Lelouch who is trying to recreate the world for the sake of his younger sister, Nannally, and also to get revenge on the people that killed his mother. In the course of the first couple episodes he inherits a power that allows him to control the people around him. This power, which is called a Geass, has a host of conditionals attached to it. Lelouch must have direct eye contact
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