For a franchise that seemed poised to rival Gundam, Code Geass hasn’t had a large presence in the Anime world outside of its juggernaut debut. Which is a shame because Akito the Exiled is proof that the world of Lelouch Vi Britannia has room to grow, both around and outside of his shadow. This OVA takes everything that made Lelouch of the Rebellion a blast to watch and experiments with it, both to decent and not so decent results.
Taking place during the one year gap between Seasons 1 and 2 of Lelouch of the Rebellion, Akito the Exiled seemingly has two goals to accomplish in its 5 episode run time: tell a self contained side story expanding the world of Code Geass and fill in some of the gaps with what happened to Lelouch during that time period. The former is top priority and rightfully so. As it turns out, while Lelouch and Suzaku do pop up at various points and play slightly integral roles, their inclusion doesn’t really matter in the end and kind of goes nowhere. In fact, Lelouch’s role could have been given to a fresh character altogether. And Suzaku is really here just so we can get a sweet action set piece with the Lancelot with the new animation and it is pretty bad ass but inconsequential with everything else. Point is: just because Lelouch and Suzaku are the face of Code Geass doesn’t mean they need to be involved in every little side project. I suppose I should just be thankful that the writers didn’t go with some cliché that either had a personal connection to the main leads of Akito the Exiled, though another familiar face making a similarly pointless cameo does.
As for that self contained side story? It’s alright, at least for the most part. Akito Hyuga and Leila Malcal are very strong leads for this epic tale of hope among a war torn nation. Akito is the good little soldier who isn’t trying to stand out but isn’t lording his standing in the army over everyone either. He’s textbook chill, cool and mostly level headed. Leila is the beating heart of the duo. She’s stunningly gorgeous but don’t let her cute character design fool you. Much like Suzaku, Leila will preach about her desire for peace but isn’t afraid to lay you out if you get out of line or partake in a mission alongside her personal team of Japanese pilots. Akito and Leila bring out the best of one another and their respective stories work better for their mutual involvement. While I doubt anyone will be remembering their supporting cast as much as Lelouch’s, the rest of the Wyvern Squadron and their support staff are incredibly likeable and all undergo separate character arcs, totally changing from where they were when first introduced.
The first three episodes are the strongest of the story: introducing Akito, Leila and the general setup before linking them up with their future squadmates and watching them bond while hanging around a company of Gypsies. It sounds like a lot but with each episode ranging from 45 minutes to 1 hour, there’s plenty of time to let things simmer and grow naturally. Sure this could be done better and maybe even tighter as a 13 episode TV Season, but for an OVA im not complaining. Indeed, besides the action, which I’ll get to, seeing Wyvern Squad hanging with the Gypsies was my favorite part of Akito the Exiled. It was the perfect bonding experience for Akito, Leila and their teammates and the Gypsies themselves provided some great comic relief. You don’t see a lot of good natured breathers like this is a story as serious as the one presented in Akito the Exiled. In fact, overall, this OVA is very different from the Code Geass TV Series, heck some of the plot and presentation were befitting a movie. The scale is even larger than the best parts of Lelouch of the Rebellion. The pacing and superb soundtrack were both slow burn but in a good way. The soundtrack should particularly be praised for its more operatic take on the Code Geass world as well as its out of control but great jazzy sections when the action got going (it reminded me a bit of Gundam Thunderbolt but better).
Sadly, Akito the Exiled cant keep up the good momentum after the end of Episode 3. The last two episodes feel bogged down by shifting allegiances, massive revelations and an attempt to do a deeper dive on the power of Geass unlike anything before. The action can only keep you invested for so long until you just get totally confused by what the heck is going on or why someone has this power or what this power is exactly. I don’t think we’re ever given a proper explanation as to why Akito has his Geass powers or another character for that matter. You think maybe by removing the Lelouch and Suzaku plotline from this OVA that maybe this could have been tightened? Or were these elements introduced in the hope that Akito the Exiled might be popular to warrant a continuation? Cause I’ll tell ya, I want to see more of Akito and Leila and Weyvard Squad. The story that introduces them all, however, is as tightly knit as the writers had hoped and it starts to unravel close to the finish line, which ill admit, is pretty disappointing.
Alright, time to talk about the action. Often I’ve talked about how I’m not a fan of CG Anime, especially when it comes to Mecha because it just looks terrible. Now if those Anime were done like Akito the Exiled, I wouldn’t be complaining. The CG on the Spider Like Knightmare Frames, the Alexanders, is next level. They are far more mobile and agile than any normal Knightmare Frame but even the old ones feel new and improved with this animation. Like I said, it’s no wonder the writers wanted to shoe horn in Suzaku so Lancelot could get in on some of the fun. The action is the one part of Akito the Exiled that doesn’t disappoint and there’s nary a weak link in this section. There’s also some strong hand to hand combat moments involving Akito and Leila that are just as much fun too. So yeah, this is kind of the best action Code Geass has ever seen and Sunrise should maintain this level of quality in the mecha and the action so long as they want to pump out more spin offs and sequels.
As the first official spin off in the franchise, Code Geass: Akito the Exiled shows great promise for more stories in the world of Geass. A pair of strong leads, good chemistry amongst the cast, pristine animation and flawless action elevate this OVA to a near movie level event. It’s too bad the story kind of fell in on itself and the project felt it needed to throw its two main franchise stars into the mix to get viewers attention. Akito the Exiled shows evidence that Lelouch isn’t needed to carry the franchise, at least not all the time. I hope we see Akito and Leila again even though it seems like their story is done…but I also hope Sunrise can learn from the mistakes and wins of this OVA and carry on with their plans to build up the Code Geass franchise. It can work and I wanna see more.
7.5/10
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