Story: Too many people compare this series to Death Note. The only similarities is that the main character is a teenage prodigy who's willing to use any means, including supernatural, necessary to achieve their goals. The similarities end about there.
As a slight explanation, Geass is the ability that Lelouch has to force anyone to obey his commands by looking them in the eye. The moral questions of this ability are never really explored but let your mind wander for 5 minutes on what you would do with it and I bet at the end of that 5 minutes you will have thought of at least of 3 crimes with 20 year minimum sentences.
This series, and the sequel series, seems to mock the standard mecha anime formulas and metaphors. The mecha only serve as a vehicle to allow the characters to fight without destroying each other.
This is made clearer by the fact that despite a massive war and frighteningly powerful weaponry, only one major character is killed in the entire first series.
Anyone who's ever played a "god-sim" (ie Civilization) will recognize Lelouch's chidish attitude towards his war with Britannia at the beginning. As time goes on, he matures but also continues to lose his innocence as he uses increasingly immoral means to meet his goals. Suzaku, the almost stereotypical white knight, acts as his foil exemplifying traditional attributes of heroes; physical ability, honest nature, comradery. I don't have much to talk about with the story since this series is almost completely character-driven.
Art: Nothing special, though all the characters are memorable and interesting. Lelouch is a very flexible character who they can make look heroic, apathetic, and downright sinister. The mecha are nothing fantastic though the choreography of the battles is very well done.
Sound: I enjoyed the opening and closing credits of most of the episodes. Nothing I want to add to my mp3 playlist, but they work.
Character: Lelouch's character is amazingly complex as he goes from a child wishing to avenge his mother to a man who begins to realize the importance of his actions. In the end, he returns to his childish ways at the end of this series and he and his comrades pay the price of his actions. Things turn around in R2, but that's a different review. Suzaku's development is very little in this series. Of course that makes his changes in R2 that much more fascinating, but in this one he's a very static character. In the end he suffers for Lelouch's actions and puts into motion Lelouch's own suffering.
The side characters are largely boring. I hated Mina, the bookworm closet lesbian racist, but then I expect that was the intent. His school friends become an unnecessary bore and are anime school chum stereotypes. Karen, pronounced and mispelled at times as Kallen, was a good character with clear motivation and background. I feel as though her plotline(s) are neglected in both series. C.C. (pronounced C2) is very boring. Her droll manner is punctuated by brief moments of emotion toward Lelouch which are meant to be meaningful but largely fall flat. By far C.C. is the most interesting character, but is never very engaging and is largely used to promote the show's primary sponsor, Pizza Hut.
Overall: The mind-twist of this series is that you find yourself rooting for a person who is willing to destroy the world in a quest for revenge and the dim hope of making the world better for his sister. When one sits down and really wonders what they would do with a power like Geass, one realizes what a true hero Lelouch is for not becoming completely corrupt and evil.
