Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion season 1

[silverace99]

Saw a few reviews of it already, but I wanted to give my own take on it. I also submitted it for site review but I'll put it here too as it's more likely to be read here.

For starters, to me a score of 5 is right-down-the-middle average. Be forewarned.

Review
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (season 1)

Story: 7 (Good)

It’s impossible to give an accurate rating for the plot of Code Geass, mainly because the quality of it tends to jump erratically. The first few episodes are paced far to quickly: Who would believe that a high school student becomes a master tactician in an instant just because he’s good at chess? Or that he would take the sudden changes in his life in such stride?

Thankfully the pacing settles down as the series continues, and viewers are treated to an intriguing set of battles that illuminate both Lelouch’s genius and his weaknesses. Unlike many mecha anime shows, we are treated to a fight where both sides actually possess intelligent commanders. Code Geass rarely falls into the boring mediocrity of a single robot wiping out the entire enemy force. Each side has a bag of tricks and traps to spring upon their opponents, and everyone from the foot soldier on up has a part to play. The cat-and-mouse game between Lelouch and his enemies (and sometimes his allies) constitutes a large portion of what makes Code Geass fun to watch.

However Lelouch’s war is not the only positive side of the story. Code Geass is not a pure mecha anime. In fact, robots tend to be more of a means towards an end rather than the focus of the show. Much of the plot revolves around Lelouch attempting to hide his identity while achieving his objectives. As a result there are many episodes dedicated to showing how Lelouch deceives his friends and enemies, both to advance his goals and to protect himself. Sometimes he succeeds; sometimes his opponents get the better of him. It makes for riveting television. The type of intelligence found in Code Geass is highly refreshing and far too rare in anime.

This brings us to the next of Code Geass’s problems: The exciting battles and enjoyable plot twists are constantly jarred by interludes of high school hijinks which completely break the tension of what should be a serious story. Why would the viewer want to see a rousing back-and-forth fight between mecha divisions followed by immature teenagers whining about their love lives and hanging out in school? It is very understandable that the writers wanted to include the young adult demographic, and it is true that Code Geass is hardly the first to do so. However that doesn’t make it any better. Pandering to a demographic may make more money for the producers, but it will inevitably cause problems of its own.

That problem aside, the ending is well choreographed: fast-paced, with a lot of violent plot changes occurring without resorting to an everyone-dies type of conclusion. The final scene is an appropriate ending which is hard to pull off when the producers are clearly trying to lead into the second season of Code Geass. For all its ups and downs the story still remains a strong point of the show. If plot interruptions can be ignored, what remains is a solid cloak-and-dagger narrative.


Animation: 8 (Very Good)

For the most part the animation is solid. The line-art is sharp and clean and the colors are bright, as expected of modern shows. Also the artists clearly did not get lazy in regards to character motion. However this isn’t particularly ground breaking in this day and age.

What sets Code Geass apart from the crowd is mecha animation. The mecha themselves tend to be a bit boring to look at: No frills and largely uncreative in terms of design. But the animations when they fight are of the utmost quality. Code Geass does not fall into what I call “Modern-day Gundam Syndrome”. This is the tendency to make mecha battles boring: opposing armies lining up to shoot each other Civil-War style or clashing swords aimlessly, or robots vaporizing because the artists were too lazy to animate a realistic death depiction. Such weakness rarely occurs in Code Geass; mecha in close combat fight with a mobility and ferocity that is almost vicious, missing one another by a hair’s breadth as they struggle to land a killing blow. Mortally wounded robots look shredded and damaged but don’t randomly explode without good reason. Panicking pilots eject and their pods blast out the back of their mecha, but sometimes they fail and die anyway. All this is well depicted and not something you would expect when you begin watching the show. Without the visceral “reality” of tactical combat, the entertainment value of this series would not be nearly as high.


Sound: 6 (Above Average)

The music for the most part is a combination of modern and classical orchestra. It is typically pleasant to listen to. Although the music tends to be very quiet at times to the point that viewers may not pay attention to it, it still manages to subtly set the right mood for the right scene. Sadly the OP and ending themes don’t follow nearly the same standards; they are mainstream and highly forgettable.

The voice acting is acceptable though occasionally annoying. But that has to be accepted given that any voice casting that has to depict immature high school students will always be on the irritating side. The competence of the voice actors cannot be faulted.


Characters: 3 (Bad)

For all its quality, Code Geass falls flat on its face in this category. Aside from Lelouch, Suzaku, and Victoria, the characters are extremely one-dimensional. They each follow a single stereotype and tend not to deviate. Shirley, Milly, and Rivalz are the ditzy type, Nina is a typical shy one, and Nunally is the innocent and kind type. Among Lelouch’s subordinates, there’s a Machiavellian intelligence agent, a former leader who just prefers to follow orders, and a couple strong-headed yet brainless officers. Here too, each character follows one stereotype without fail. They have no ups and downs, and there is no reason to care about them in any way.
This improves slightly when the leaders are on screen. While CC does essentially nothing most of time and hardly contributes anything despite being critical to the plot, others to bring something to the table. Victoria is a capable woman with an iron fist, yet possesses a soft spot for her sister Euphemia. Suzaku at first appears to be doing everything for the wrong reason, but the viewer comes to realize that in his own way he is loyal to his people. And of course there is Lelouch.

Lelouch is a bit of a frustrating case. It is clear that the most effort went into him. Among all the characters he is the most developed. He cares for his friends and loved ones, yet at the same time has a ruthless streak and the ability to lie to anyone’s face without blinking. And although he depicts himself to the public as a romanticized hero, he attains sublime enjoyment from manipulating people and backstabbing allies. Despite his genius, when his strategies fail and defeat looms forth his innate sense of self-preservation and cowardice come to the forefront. He is arrogant and blind to his own failings. The many layers of Lelouch make for an excellent main character.

HOWEVER, his character quality has an annoying tendency to slip at times. There are occasions when contradictions occur. Sometimes blood spatters everywhere and he doesn’t bat an eye. Other times in the most crucial situations he sits stunned in a stereotypical shocked-speechless mode, which is completely contradictory to his ruthless cool. It is as if the writers simply could not agree with one another as to what kind of person Lelouch is, and ended up depicting him in contrasting ways that make no sense.

Ultimately it is apparent that while effort went into the creation of Lelouch and a couple others, the vast majority of the cast is composed of boring and unrealistic characters who add nothing to series.


Overall: 7 (Good)

As stated before, it is a very difficult thing to give a single straight score for Code Geass. On one hand you have your excellent plot, riveting battles, and glorious intrigue; On the other hand, you have a flood of stereotypes that is bad enough to damage the quality of the show. Still overall Code Geass is a smart, entertaining semi-epic which sets a few standards for other shows to live up to.