Code Geass: A Spoiler Free Review
As when I completed Deathnote, I will review Code Geass. Of course it will be as spoiler free as possible.
Code Geass is about a young man named Lelouch, an abandoned prince of an alternate history British Empire. He along with his blind and paralyzed sister Nunnally, are living in what was once Japan. However, the British Empire conquered the land and stole the name and identity from its people. This act struck home as it reminded me of how the Romans conquered Israel and renamed it Palestine for the exact same reason.
Still that is a minor point in a vastly incredible Anime. The plot of the show is that Lelouch desires revenge against the British Empire for slighting him and his sister, and more importantly, for killing his Mother. To that end, the assumes the Mask of the vigilante Zero (oops is that a spoiler?) to change the world. He desires to create a peaceful world for the sake of his sister.
Of course, Lelouch is an infamous anti hero with main ingredients that allows him to create the revolution he desires. The first is a magical ability he gains called Geass. This power allows him to force a command on any person that they must obey without question. The second is an army he creates through a combination of his Geass use and pure Magnificent Bastardly tactics known as the Black Knights.
Britain’s main weapon to keep enslaved people in line are known as Knightmares, giant man controlled mechs with exceptional combat abilities. By creating his own Knightmares, Lelouch seeks to turn Britain’s greatest weapon against itself.
As Lelouch gets progressively more anti hero, he finds himself in opposition to his best friend Suzaku. A young idealist who believes he can change the world from working within the system, I would be lying if his character does not irritate me to no end. This is helped by the fact that his voice actor is Yuri Lownenthal, the same man who voiced Luke and Asch in Tale of the Abyss, which helps me see him as equally insufferable.
While on voice actors, quite a few of the Tales of Abyss Voice Actors are present in Code Geass, to the point where I will be writing a blog post in the future drawing parallels between the two plots since many of the voice actors are almost doing the same roles.
Back to the Anime, one of the other important elements of this show that I have failed to highlight is the character CC (called C 2 in the show) She is the one who grants Lelouch his Geass and in the true Fem Fatale fashion, there is a price to pay. This payment is a major part of the show (but you will have to see for yourself if you want to know the answer) CC also loves pizza greatly and one has to wonder how much Pizza Hut paid the producers of this show to advertise their food in almost every episode.
Back to Lelouch though, his tactics and belief system are what really kept me engaged in the show. I watched his actions and wondered just how much of myself I saw in Zero. Tactics to change the world by destroying the system completely using an incredible diverse group of operatives sounds like what I would do if I had his abilities. Of course, I can say with confidence that I am in much better shape than Lelouch is.
Between hoping that Zeros next scheme was a success, and hoping that Suzaku would figure out how much of an idiot he was, this is certainly one of the best Anime’s I have ever seen and it will be a tough act to follow. With my next likely choice either being Cowboy Bebop or the very lengthy Naruto, it will be hard to compete with this incredible and well thought out Anime.