Summarily: Code Geass is a ~25 hr long Pizza Hut commercial.
It's the most heavy-handed monstrosity I've ever seen. They basically took an interesting idea, wrote a story, and then tried to amp everything to the max.
1. Characters - I don't require that the MC be perfect, dazzling, or even lovable. But I can't just plain despise them. There is an art to making characters you love to hate, too. But this anime fails at even that. Lelouch is a terrible person, embarrassingly egotistical with no redeemable qualities. The character design reminds me of insects, especially those mantis-shaped heads and scrawny, flailing limbs.
If you don't like feeling like George R R Martin is always lurking around the corner waiting to ax your favorite character then just save yourself the heartache and pass on this one.
2. Plot - I expect to suspend my disbelief to some extent with most anime, but there has to be a balance. A cleverly written series can make even the craziest things seem possible. Code Geass negelcts to fill its plot holes or even to bridge those gaps with some semblance of reason. As it plows along, it gets increasingly convoluted and it is obvious that they don't care if it makes sense as long as it has plenty of twists and turns.
By the end of season two I was certain that they had started this journey with no direction, and changed their minds on MAJOR plot points. They then try to mask the obvious flaws that emerge with more confusion.
Mecha battles are filler and there are lots of them. They are all the same except that every time a new, more unlikely tech is added to the bots.
With every battle there are an unbelievable number of casualties. Halfway through I wondered what was going to be left of this world they are sort of trying to save?
*IF YOU ARE HOPING IT WILL ALL MAKE SENSE IN THE END, I'LL SAVE YOU THE TROUBLE; IT WON'T.*
3. Art - As I said I hate the character design. And the mecha looks like all mecha ever since Transformers. Lelouch's dramatic posturing is just comical. The animation isn't terrible, for its age, but it isn't special either.
4. Music - With the worst intros ever you can expect the track to be uninspired as well.
All in all, I am disappointed that I kept watching to the bitter end. I feel betrayed by the false hope of it being worthwhile. Suffice it to say I won't be watching the movie coming in 2019.
