Japan has been conquered by the Holy Empire of
Britannia. Stripped of it’s pride and
honor, the nation has been renamed Area 11 and it’s citizens treated as lower
class 11’s. Lelouch Lamperouge has sworn
the downfall of Britannia ever since this happened and has lived in Area 11 in
secret with his sister, Nunally. When a
terrorist hunt goes awry, Lelouch finds himself imbued with the power of Geass,
the ability to make anyone do whatever he wants. With this power, he becomes Zero, a terrorist
hell bent on staring the uprising Japan has been waiting for. Standing in his
way: his father, the Emperor of Britannia…and his childhood friend, Suzaku, who
serves the Britanian military as an Honorary Britanian. The revolution has begun.
Ok, who’s ready? I
am…more or less…wow this feels more daunting than Gundam 00. But I made a promise and I try to keep those
as best I can. We now commence Anime
Corner’s epic reviewathon of Code Geass.
Remember, this means there’ll be review postings every Monday, Wednesday
and Friday until this series is donzo.
If I timed it right, that should take things right to Otakon before I
take a break. Well, that’s enough of an
intro, let’s get started.
Where to even begin with this series? Code Geass feels so grand in its setup and
it’s only five episodes in. The cast is
huge, and we’re talking big numbers, and most are introduced right off the
bat. The stage on which the conflict is
set is both vast and yet strikingly, scarily familiar. Plus mecha?
Throw in some space colonies and you’ve basically got a Gundam series in
the works.
Guess we should start with our…hero (?)…anti hero
(?)…revolutionary (?)…we’ll just call him our lead character. Those of you who have heard the jokes about
Lelouch being a relative to Death Note’s Light Yagami, the jokes aren’t far off
from the truth. Much like Mr. Yagami,
Lelouch has similar aspirations to make the world a better place…by conquering
an Empire. With the power of his Death
Note…I mean Geass, Lelouch plans to make his dream a reality. You gotta appreciate how Lelouch is shown
experimenting with his Geass and learning some if it’s rules, like playing a
game without a manual (can only use it on one person once, has to make direct
eye contact, etc.) Should also note that
his dream is more revenge than world peace.
We learn early on that his mother was killed, the trauma of which
damaged his Professor X chair bound sister Nunally. A deep running conspiracy will definitely
make for a good mystery during the course of this series. But back to Lelouch, man is he suave and kind
of cool. Watching him treat his
predicament as a chess game in real time was pretty entertaining…even more so
than the actual mecha battles. Watching
him build his inevitable revolution is going to be fun.
Then there’s our other series lead, Suzaku. This poor kid, he may be a kick ass pilot but
he spends a lot of time just getting his ass kicked. And he still wants to keep fighting for
Britannia? I hear his “I want to change
things from the inside” approach. But I
cant help but agree with Lelouch on this one.
Suzaku is being retarded. From
what we’ve seen of Britannia, they’re downright terrible. Every bit of racist, post colonial commentary
you could throw into a college seminar is present in this ruling country. They don’t just belittle the 11’s or talk
trash to them, they flat out execute them if the need calls for it. That’s ruthless, and it shows in the
violence, man is this show bloody. And
when theyre as cavalier and proud of their work and standing like over dramatic
Jeremiah, changing this society from within seems like a stretch. On top of that, you’ve got Lelouch’s student
council friends who are pretty much just as oblivious to the sufferings in Area
11 as the rest of the Britannians. The
cut aways to them and their pointless antics are supposed to offer some
humorous, lighthearted moments. I more
shook my head at how out of the loop they were with things. None of them stood out, well in a good way
anyway. And in a cast of what feels like
dozens, do we need to spend time on these characters? Personal answer, no. From a story standpoint…sadly kinda if only
to keep the juxtaposition going between the 11’s and Britannians.
Couple faces did stand out in the crowd though. Cornelia looks like she could be a fun
nemesis for Lelouch (cute too). And
Euphemia, though she played the airhead for much of her intro, looks like she
could offer a lot of surprises with her inner strength. Not to draw from another Sunrise Studio
property but she did remind me a bit of Lacus Clyne from Gundam Seed, right
down to the pink hair. She may not be a
songstress, but Euphie could be better at this whole “change from within”
schtick that Suzaku clearly wont be able to pull off for reasons besides she’s
a cute girl and he’s second fiddle to Lelouch.
For all the political and societal drama floating around,
there’s a nice bit of mecha action to mix things up a little. These roller blade sporting mecha, known as
Knightmare Frames, feel like a bit of a precursor to the Survey Corp of Attack
on Titan, they even have retractable cables they can shoot out as weapons. But it allows for some fast paced action
sequences, particularly when Suzaku’s Lancelot gets involved. I just have to overlook it’s racing pose
start off position and I can get behind how much ass this thing can kick, even
if it feels like a Deus Ex Machina in both of it’s big appearances this set.
The character roster has some weaknesses…well a few but a
strong and methodical lead character, some good mecha action and a setting that
speaks more to modern day problems like intolerance, status and racism, will
definitely help keep this story rolling…along with some well timed
cliffhangers. The ride that is Code
Geass has begun and I am on board til the end.
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