Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion Review - 72,5/100
Well, so it’s finally time for me to review this thing. Since I didn’t get the chance to review the first season, this review is about both seasons together. Code Geass is your typical Sunrise Mecha Trainwreck. It can be compared to the bastard child of Death Note and Gundam 00 gone horribly wrong, and the typical case of “the bigger they are, the harder they fall”. I personally consider it the most overrated series of both 2007 and 2008, but admittedly, it’s not an entirely bad series.
The big problem with this series is that it wants to create a sensation a little too badly, up to the point where it uses bad writing, just to create an as big shock as possible. The series starts out nicely enough, though. It builds up properly, but very quickly, the plotholes start popping up, one after the other. Too often to characters just “run into each other”, or happen to be at the wrong place and wrong time. A few instances of these plotholes would of course be okay, but this series just keeps using them, over and over.
The series could have made up for it in terms of characters, but even there things went wrong once they started “developing”, or at least, when they’re supposed to. More often than not, the characters suddenly start acting completely out of character, whatever happens to be convenient for the story, rather then what would be the most natural thing to do. People don’t switch sides because of complex political reasons, but more because the creators want them to.
To add to that, the creators also have a very nasty habit with killing off their characters. If you see an important character kicking the bucket, you can be 75% sure that he or she is somehow going to magically reappear again, later in the series. It becomes rather anticlimactic, when you just know that a character that dies is going to come back anyway (pretty much the dragonball-syndrome).
Then there’s an issue with the setting of this series, which mostly pops up in the first half of this series, in the form of its incredibly nationalistic messages: Japan is being oppressed by the evil Brits and Americans, and it’s up to the main character to vanquish the oppression. The second season also happily continues this tradition by portraying the Chinese as a bunch of fascistic pigs. It’s full of unnecessary stereotypes that make no sense.
So, with all of this criticism, why do you want to watch this series in the first place? Simple: the entertainment factor. The climaxes, badly written as they may be, do try their best to make a huge spectacle with what they can do. This is a typical series that you want to watch if you want some brainless action, and nothing deep or well written. You can mock the ridiculous plotholes and cheese and at the same time enjoy the action scenes for what they are.
But yeah, that doesn’t excuse the fact that Code Geass is a whole mess in terms of storytelling, and wants too much too fast. The character-development is ridiculous, it’s full of plotholes and unable to really create something memorable (not in a good way, at least). I’ve read somewhere that even the director thought that this series has turned crappy, so I hope that he learned from his mistakes and that his next series will be a “bit” more solid.
| Storytelling: | 7/10 |
| Characters: | 7/10 |
| Production-Values: | 8/10 |
| Setting: | 7/10 |
It may be an unintentional part on the creators, but all the japanese characters are portrayed in a horribly negative light either as enemy collaborators, incompetent fools or just gullible sheep who buy into their enemy’s propaganda and turn on their leader solely on the claim that he has magical mind control voodoo.
Comment by Eldar — September 28, 2008 @ 20:48
Let’s see how Kurogane no Linebarel turns out,
then.
Well, Code Geass cannot be described as anything other than a trainwreck, but it was the most entertaining trainwreck around. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, just thank god it’s finally over.
Comment by Denizen — September 28, 2008 @ 22:14
I can agree with your ratings, and also with the following statement.
“Code Geass is a whole mess in terms of storytelling, and wants too much too fast”
That is the biggest flaw, really, and indeed, entertainment factor is the most this series has going for it. That I will not deny.
Anything else I could say would just be nitpicking (see below) or just having a different opinion, but I’m glad that there’s some reasonable overlap in our positions.
“I’ve read somewhere that even the director thought that this series has turned crappy”
If you mean the infamous interview,that wasn’t exactly what he said, though I suppose you could more or less read that between the lines if you try (he almost quit over production problems in season one and disagreed with the unexpected time slot change for season two, which prevented a direct continuation of the cliffhanger and so on).
Comment by Camario — September 28, 2008 @ 22:16
This series could have been such a beautiful story. It had potential. A second Death Note, a second Gankutsuou… Argh, I hate it when good stuff is turned into garbage.
But it turned out to be a mishmash, with explosions and swords, superpowers and ninjas, and one thousand plotholes!
There is so many plotholes that a lack of plot should be the natural state. A lack of lack of plot is unnatural here.
Comment by Eonir — September 28, 2008 @ 22:26
it is incredible how many people think this anime is so amazigly good and loved the ending so much,i thought the ending was ok and as i just read a review on mal i wondered if i was watching a different anime all this time,i admit this anime is very entertaining to watch but that is all,an anime needs more to be considered memorable
about your review i think most of the faults you mentioned can be found in the 2nd season(i found it to be a lot weaker than the 1st),also it is not like the director is the only one responsible and he already has worked on some very interesting projects(Planetes,Infinite Ryvius) anyway i too bored and sleepy to see how many positive reviews this anime has on other blogs but i bet this is one of the very few,people love it and i would not really mind to see some other anime series like this one,that really entertain you (at least one a year,to many would be bad)
Comment by Archer — September 28, 2008 @ 22:56
When this series first started, I also thought its ultra-nationalistic pro-Japanese message was a bit much. It seemed like the creators were trying to rewrite history with this show (and in effect, they did, since the whole crux of it is America lost or never fought the Revolutionary War and Britain was allowed to expand its power across the entire globe). What disturbed me was how they tried to paint Japan as the innocent victim in a way that kinda swept their misdeeds during WWII under the rug (since in the world of CG, WWII never happened at all).
Thankfully (or as a side effect), the plot segues into more conventional anime territory with its soap opera antics and action scenes. And the shipping. My lord, the crack shipping that resulted from this show. Lulu X Anyone became a genre in and of itself, heh.
The China-bashing in R2 did kind of bother me too, but it was so silly and over the top, I doubt anyone could take it seriously as some sort of straight-faced social or political commentary (I mean, CG’s China still has evil, manipulative eunuch-Communists who wear blue lipstick… who are ruled by a monarchy in the form of a loli, which made zero sense… Zero, ha!).
CG was just good ol’ fashioned, brainless entertainment; nothing more, nothing less. Once I realized that, I enjoyed the show more, crazy plotholes and melodramatic plot twists and nonsensical character motivations and all. But it’s over now, and we can move on to bigger and better things.
Comment by Reiter — September 28, 2008 @ 23:26
As a fan of the series I’m glad this ridiculous chain of events is finally over and ended OK (I thought the ending was going to be MUCH worse). Score was pretty fair. Surprised didn’t think you were following this series :P .
Comment by Panther — September 29, 2008 @ 1:37
I have DVD’s of the first season. I wonder…should I watch the entertaining trainwreck? I wish I didn’t find out what happened at the end though.
Comment by BlueYoshi — September 29, 2008 @ 3:34
Japanese bashing Chinese?
How far does it go? I haven’t watched any of CG yet, but JAPANESE bashing CHINESE is a little much isn’t it? I mean that’s just a bit tasteless imo.
Comment by Cody — September 29, 2008 @ 4:12
p.s at least they didn’t bring the koreans into this.
Comment by Cody — September 29, 2008 @ 4:14
@Cody: A bunch of eunuchs are portrayed as evil and corrupt. At the same time, another character who opposes them is portrayed as honorable and heroic. It’s all stereotypical in both directions, you can read as little or as much into it as you want.
Comment by Camario — September 29, 2008 @ 5:17
Considering the fact that the only reason all my friends got into it was because it had giant robots and character designs done by CLAMP, I never had high expectations for it. Oh well, at least it’s fun to laugh at and the porn for it is of surprisingly high quality.
Comment by Lika — September 29, 2008 @ 8:21
This anime is amazing!!! Both the characters and the storytelling, I can’t understand why you don’t have the same view on it,how can you critisize such a great series and it has a huge success cause it completely deserves it!!!!!!Gundam 00 can’t compare a little inch to it! Lelouch is great as a character, he showed himself as a devil just to build a world where people can live a true life without seeing their family or friends die. He succeeded in building a new world and all the chrters have a good ending!!! He is a true hero despite everything that people may say (often compared to Light in Death Note which he can’t) , Light is a devil , Lelouch not, even with his new power of geass, he still cared about people he loved once or surrounding him, he pretended not to care but we ( the audience) know his true nature and that’s what I like with that character , he’s the villain at the eyes of the world and is described as a negative character but deep inside he has never been what he wanted to show of himself ( a dreadful chrter)!!! He put a mask and act, but it’s nothing more than that, Light kills everyone , he can easily kill his family/friends so it’s comletely different matter, Light is a devil. The chrters here are really well - developped throughout this series but they kept following the aim they had to achieve. Nina’s character really surprised me at the best cause she wasn’t a chrter I liked in the past but she showed me she wasn’t just an insinificant girl obsessed but her revenge for Euphy( she wasn’t wrong though cause Euphy was a great chter , my favorite with Cornelia and Lelouch )but someone who made good choices at critical times even if that meant landing a hand to Zero, she cared about other people and is following her ideals, which we didn’t see in the first season ( she seems to be somehow selfish and out of it).
As for the supposed “death” of characters, I think the chrters you spoke about aren’t showed dead which means it’s our fault for picturing them dead beforehand ( I thought Cornelia was dead but she wasn’t shot many times and with Sneizel taking her at the hosp she had all her chances to survive, Nanaly’s survival has been well - explained and is logical , Guilford is the only one who “miraculously ” survived . What I like the most about CG it’s the way they deal with the different chrters and the plot and the overflowing emotions it brings, I somehow would say it’s an all-time series ( historical elements such as quarrels among different members of royal families, present such as everyday life at Ashford and future withe the new Nightmares , Freya etc…and WAR the background of all civilisations. It doesn’t just show some mechas where chrters are almost unseen like in Gundam which is overwhelmed by those action scene and we can’t get why and who, in CG, Nightmares are just used for the war ( its purpose)and chrters are always there and yes there are many shocks but that’s why this sries is so enjoyable, without them we would have smthing like Gundam or Maccross frontier (where the ending is a total waste!!!!!)I would note Code Geass 10/10. Only my opinion.
Comment by windy — September 29, 2008 @ 13:59
I really enjoyed Code Geass from beginning to end, but I do recognize that it has flaws. It’s kind of a crack show to me, but I think it did really great with its emotional moments and the relationships between the characters (especially between Lelouch and C.C., and Lelouch and Nunnally). Also, the ending was much better than I dared hope for.
Comment by Senna — September 29, 2008 @ 14:48
psgels, I don’t know if you want to hear this or not, but you’re actually the person that got me into Code Geass. I had read a post of yours a while back about how such-and-such anime was waaaay better than the trainwreck that is Geass and I thought “Hm, I wonder if it’s really that bad.”
So, I started it, and after the first episode ended I laughed out loud. I thought it was ridiculous and complete crap, albeit entertaining. Then I finished season 1 and though “Wait, it kinda looks like they’re taking this show somewhere thematically.” And viewing Season 1 with its cliffhanger as it’s own separate show (Which the director intended if he didn’t get season 2) would make it a really smart ending.
Anyway, about halfway through R2 i was completely captivated. Not because it had great story telling, and not just because it was purely entertaining, but because it had a unique theme and symbolism. It’s the only show where the main character lies and it’s shown that lying is a good thing.
So, I absolutely love Code Geass and can easily say it’s my favorite anime. What I realized is that (in my opinion), you view anime and enjoy it because of storytelling and character developement primarily. I take more thematics and symbolism (and character developement too) away from the anime I watch. And in Code Geass, the symbols and themes and how the characters evolve because of them is where it’s at.
(sorry that was long)
Comment by Keith — September 29, 2008 @ 15:10
to Senna: thanks, I thought I was the only one who enjoyed watching it, but to tell the truth if there were flaws I liked them all. I think all those coincidences/shocks make this series so great and above other animated series! As you said, the emotionnal moments are impressive ( Lelouch and Nanally, I really wished for them to make up so they could live together like they used to , why Nanaly didn’t realize before the true intentions of her brother, who lived with her and protected her for so long?! She should have trust him more but it was so sad to see him die and her finally realizing he wasn’t mistaken, having Nanaly facing her brother on Damocles was so heart-breaking, had a urge to say ” stop that! you all want the same ,you’re brother and sister, now make up and put an end to that fight, see what’s really important to you! “,this series made cry , laugh and smile. I like series that play with emotions and I think that’s the backround of all animated series , at least it should be, but sometimes they forgot that important fact.
Comment by windy — September 29, 2008 @ 15:20
I too enjoyed the action while mocking the plot holes and cheese, I think psgels was extremely generous giving this show a 7 in storytelling…
Comment by LifeCarrier — September 29, 2008 @ 18:04
As expected, at least one person used this comment section to bash psgels review and throw their abysmally long revoew founded on pure personal opinion, “I liked this character” and “it’s popular lawl”.
Code Geass could never be described as 10/10. That’s ridiculous.
Comment by Denizen — September 29, 2008 @ 19:03
What I said on my previous comment was my personnal opinion and feelings but I would never critisize what psgels had written, you’re totally wrong!!!! I respect her opinion more than any others because I admire her work and most of the time I totally agree with her on animated series ( higurashi, kara no kyokai, porfy no nagai tabi, les miserables, ghost hunt , kaze no shoujo Emily ,Simoun and many others) but I really loved Code geass and I know that many think it’s wrecked and all but I don’t know why i loved it so much but I did ( as if everything I expect was there , as if done as I planned myself) and I truely think that it deserves 10/10. That’s all. But I respect your views on it.
Comment by windy — September 29, 2008 @ 19:26
I forgot to tell that what I mostly apreciated was the charach - design but you won’t agree with me on that point too , I guess.
Comment by windy — September 29, 2008 @ 19:29
Windy: I like your comments, and even though I don’t agree with your views on this series, I can understand it that you loved this series. But please: don’t call me a “her”, when I’m actually a “him”. ;)
Comment by psgels — September 29, 2008 @ 19:48
Sorry, I made a mistake in my writting .
Comment by windy — September 29, 2008 @ 20:29
Psgels, don’t be surprised, it’s your fault!
After all, this site has quite a fruity layout. One would think a male is too proud to use such pretty graphics and colour sets ;)
Comment by Eonir — September 29, 2008 @ 21:42
Way, waaaaaaay too generous on this crappy anime, especially a 7/10 in storytelling. I mean, please, try and find me one (ONLY ONE) hint in the first 45 episodes about Charuru’s motivations, which were explained in episode 46. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’s like the writers realized they only has 5 episodes left and a ton of things to explain, let’s start with Charuru. Lack of inspiration. Let’s rewatch the most popular mecha animes of the last years. Ooooooooh, Evangelion… Oh come on… At least in the first season, especially towards the end, if I forced myself, I could think “they CAN actually get somewhere, hmmm…”, but now in the second, the little sense the first season already had was completely shattered, characters with potential were wasted (Jeremiah, Villetta, Kallen, Suzaku…), preconcieved ideas and accepted truths of the show were mercilessly changed, in a word : trainwreck.
In terms of enterainment, it certainly delivered in spades (I’m sure you’d be just as amazed at watching a REAL trainwreck), no question possible (be it fanservice, ridiculous plot twists, ridiculous characters, ridiculous WTF situations, etc., always wanted to jump on the next episode, asking myself what kind of EVEN MOAR ridiculous shit the writers will come up with to make their show EVEN MOAR atrocious), but objectively speaking, I don’t think I can milk anything good out of this series anymore, especially with the dramatic turn of the second season.
Crappy yet delightfully enteraining series.
Too bad they didn’t end it like that :
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6964/1222627560628tb0.png
Comment by Windspirit — September 29, 2008 @ 22:48
it’s really sad Windspirit if all you have to recall of that series is a “trainwreck” you mentioned because you didn’t enjoy or should I say you haven’t lived what we lived throughout this entire series and well, I’m really glad i had this chance, it will be carved inside my mind forever and what is unbearable for me is having that beautiful series end. Yes, I do agree there’s a lot of fiction and incoherent moments but I started it knowing that , just who said all animated series had to be logical and coherent in every point? Enjoyment is an important matter when you watch series like that. You seem quite reticent to that but why do you watch that kind of anime, is it to watch accurate facts like they should be, it would be boring !
Comment by windy — September 30, 2008 @ 0:33
I have to applause you for the rating of 72.5 for this one. Although Code geass is a bit enjoying but it’s nothing near greatness. And R2 is even more trainwrecked than the first season. Although there is interesting idea here and there but end up stupidly using it. And since I’m not Lulu’s fangirl , there’s not even an eye-candy factor to help me feel better about this show. I agree that 7 or lower is an appropriate rating for it.
Comment by saris — September 30, 2008 @ 3:12
Honestly, if I ever read a negative review that uses the word “trainwreck” I feel it makes it immediately invalid. I mean, I can accept a negative review, but the word “trainwreck” is used to often that it sort of implies that either 1) The person hasn’t actually watched the show or 2) Their opinion is adopted from anothers.
Try to actually make coherent reasons why the show isn’t good instead of just using a pre-made label.
For example, yes it is a poorly paced show (but if the pacing was slower would it have been nearly as crack addictive?)
Comment by Keith — September 30, 2008 @ 4:33
Even the people who like Code Geass have called this show a “Trainwreck”.
And that is, in fact, the perfect description for it. A Disastrous series of accidents, but at least it looks pretty.
It’s a trainwreck.
Comment by Denizen — September 30, 2008 @ 19:06
Windy, you were blinder than Nunnally while watching to the show. You did’t want to see or overlooked to the many flaws this anime shows.
The cast is used in the worst way possible. Char play out of character indeed, and idle on the screen without making sense at all. They weren’t disposed when necessary and the direction going on on reviving them without any reason. Char development drove them to meaningful actions and complete turning their personaluty upside down, expecially at the end of the serie. I.e. Suzaku wasn’t named Spinzaku for no reason… C.c was useless at the end… Kallen turned out from lovable to hateful and so on…
Not to speak about the complete incoherence and illogicity of the plot…
Unreasonable and unpredictable plot twist at the end of the episodes were the only entertaining thus laughable stuff in the show.
72/100 is too much. It deserves 55 or less only cause it proves how low is people expectations about anime nowadays
Comment by Solaris — September 30, 2008 @ 22:53
@Denizen:It’s the most popular (read: memetic) description, but not everyone agrees about exactly what it means.You just gave your own definition, but I’ve seen others elsewhere.In the end, there’s only a vague sense of commonality between what each person thinks “train wreck” means.The “general idea” if you will, but not the specifics.
Now, I don’t use the word myself, so I can completely understand Keith here.I’d rather read people’s arguments and agree/disagree with them,not just throw buzzwords around. But I don’t really mind if people use the term if they actually back up the rest of their views coherently.
Comment by Camario — September 30, 2008 @ 23:36
to Solaris : I wasn’t blind at all , you were should I say , for not seeing all the good aspects that series showed. First, to start with the total incomprehension between us, maybe those “flaws” you talked about are exactly the reason why I loved that show sooooo much, we don’t have the chance to watch an anime with so many great “flaws” , that’s what makes it so exiting to watch, for me waiting for the next ep was torture , i couldn’t wait, that’s the first exitement i mentioned, second one while you watch it you don’t want it to end and you enjoy being in that totally different world from what you usually see, personnaly I think you should give more examples of ” those dreadful flaws” you were talking about bacause if you don’t have any, maybe it wasn’t that bad after all!!!
I want to understand your point but I can’t, I can just say that: people are too different, different taste and personnality, that can explain our total desagreement but you pointed out smth : I think for that show you can’t be in the middle,you loved it or you hated it, I’m among those who loved it and that show has many fans so consider I’m one of them, sounds stupid but here I am. Now , what do you expect from an anime anyway? I expect a good charach- design ( beautiful characters ( like in CG) , if not the storytelling must cover it, has to be good)!!!!, an entertaining storytelling and plot, even if it’s a mess I don’t care , relationships between characters are really important too. Figt scenes , usually i never enjoyed mechas and fighting between robots and all that stuff, that’s why i’m the most surprised that I enjoyed it so much. It wasn’t entertaining it was completely amazing , all that mess was the greatest and most enjoyable i’ve ever seen in all my life. Here mechas don’t build the show but help the action of the show , never forgetting chracters. Just out of curiosity , you had better enjoyed Gundam oo, didn’t you, I nearly hated it, not everything but almost, scenes with characters were good , the chrach-design was good but almost all we can see are mechas fighting, without understanding the course of action. That’s why i’d give Code Geass 10 but i know you’d note it 2 or 3 like I would for that one : 4 or 5, not more,.
Comment by windy — October 1, 2008 @ 0:43
to Solaris : Oh, and my expectations are really high! There are series i would note 2 or 3 like “Saikano”, you see or “Lain” or “blood seed” or “Naruto” ( 1 or 0) so you see how much it’s a good one!My most favorite animated series are Code geass and Higurashi( great one too, i love it)as well as many others but just a little less Miserables , Simoun, El cazador , nijuu mensou no musume, death note … I would note them 9,5.
One more think the music in CG was overwhelming and heartbreaking, I loved it at the end, i had tears, and also loved the happy ending, wished for it!!!!
Comment by windy — October 1, 2008 @ 0:54
Windy, we could speak years about Geass, but how and where? Psgel’s blog isn’t the right place to start such a forum like discussion…
A short premise. It’s not that Geass completely fails. It started very good, had a huge good cast and good premises. The ending was pretty good too. But something was missed way around! The execution wasn’t flawless and much potential was wasted in pointless fillers and a rushed and confused last quarter.
What pisses me very bad is Geass could have been The Serie, but somehow at some point it literally went in the wrong direction!
I cannot write a complete essay about every aspect or event portrayed in Geass, but simply will grasp a couple of hints from your long speech.
mechas fight compared to Gundam.
So Gundam is all about who has the most outstanding and shocking macha right? We don’t like it, do we?
We like more a concept where there’s some strategy, the ability of the commander to move his army couples with the ability of his pilot to win a battle, just like a chess match.
That’s nice and that’s what we have at the very beginning of Code Geass.
Mechas are nothing more than tanks, perfectly moved by mastermind Zero. Notice how zero thinks of its strategies playing on a chess board.
But as soon as Suzaku with his lancelot pops in this nice concept was wasted.
Lancelot was always uber, a kind of wildcard in any of Zero’s match.
Soon the mecha fight moved from the best strategy to the most oustanding mecha. Lancelot and Guren became the new actor of the play and overshadowed Zero’s strategy. In the R2 Zero has lost any of its importance as a leader, and has been transformed in apolitician. After that new Gindam appeared. Gwain, Tristan, Mordred stole the stage. That time Geass started to dangerous resemble Gundam…
You se now when i’m speaking of “something gone wrong”. Where or when exactly Geass became Gundam? Dunno, but i didn’t like it that much…
Comment by Solaris — October 1, 2008 @ 1:31
Yeah, what you said about strategy is right, but even if there were more fighting/mecha scenes in CGR2, they never forget about characters inside the Knightmare contrary to Gundam where characters are missing throughout episodes. Plus, I was thinking about what psgels said once , that CG has some elements of a soap opera, that’s not completely wrong cause I see them too, maybe it’s also a good point for me cause I like when different characters are linked somehow, have the same past or to see them friends one day and the other ennemies ( Suzaku/Lelouch).
Comment by windy — October 1, 2008 @ 19:32
I have watched innumerable anime, it being one of my favorite pastimes. I regret not having the time to properly express my dissapointment with this review and people that side with it.
I have never seen plot twists so surprising and well made, characters I can relate to so easily, strategy tricks and character death’s. I can say with ease that this is my number one anime.
Cheers.
Comment by ninjbyte — October 4, 2008 @ 16:09
Even though, I can’t say that it didn’t have flaws…
But the music… so well done, and fits so well with everything else…. All of CG’s great points added up…
GOD I hope there’ll be a next season.
…Then again, maybe not. Not if they’re going to ruin it.
Cheers again.
Comment by ninjbyte — October 4, 2008 @ 16:17
Yeah, I think just the same, ninjbyte. I cross my fingers for that show to have a third season even if it kinda impossible cause everything is solved, or at least a long animated movie or some kinds of OAV, anything will be wellcome, I can’t bear to think it’s the end, i’m still clutching on hopes. Really, i feel just so down and unhappy now that i know it’s finished and i don’t have something that great to expect each week!!!!!!
Comment by windy — October 4, 2008 @ 21:35
I’ve just finished to watch X - tv of Clamp and I found some similarities with Code Geass, maybe because I really into it now, well, first “to protect people you love”, then the “battle of Apocalypse” and the different views of characters on the world , be they the dragon of earth or the dragon of heaven, then the relationships and the blood link or friendship that link the characters together except the mecha theme I found many similar elements and I just fell in love with that show of Clamp, my favorite work of Clamp( after Code Geass of course but it’s not really one of their works either).
Comment by windy — October 7, 2008 @ 16:08
are u guys fking retarded code geass is fuking awesome u dumb shits.
Comment by dickheads — October 10, 2008 @ 9:29
You compare it to gundam yet gundam suchs a shit anime. its a disgrace i mean come on which is the 1st series and wtf is with all those fken different gundams seriously retarded
Comment by faggots — October 10, 2008 @ 10:49
Yes, this series is the best one ever!!!!!And forever!
Comment by windy — October 15, 2008 @ 21:32
Though I usually tend to disagree with intolerant people of poor grammar like dickheads and faggots (no pun intended), I must say I am on their side.
Comment by ninjbyte — October 16, 2008 @ 14:21
http://hethler.blogspot.com/2008/10/anime-review-code-geass-lelouch-of.html#links
Comment by Hethler — October 30, 2008 @ 18:19
Geass might be overrated and so on and so forth, but this review isn’t exactly accurate nor fair.
-The show has nothing to do with 00 and only very superficially resembles Death Note.
-”Running into each other” or other coincidences may be overused and too convenient, you got that right, but they sure aren’t “plot holes”. You must be thinking of a different term.
-Most of the complaints about the cast acting “completely out of character” are quite unjustified, as those changes actually make sense if you stop to consider what the hell has just happened or why the characters would react in a different way. It’s not too subtle, but if you don’t even want to try, then you’ll never get the point. “Complex political reasons” aren’t the only valid explanation for changing sides.
-(If you see an important character kicking the bucket, you can be 75% sure that he or she is somehow going to magically reappear again, later in the series.)
How about, you know…actually thinking about each particular case? Only about two examples fit your exact description, making that “75%” figure you pulled out rather false. On the other hand, there are other cases where characters did come back, but not because of so-called “magic”. Thus the DBZ comparison is very out of place.
-The message is actually quite anti-nationalistic when you consider Lelouch is not interested in Japan per se but in liberating it for his own goals. Big difference.
-I don’t claim to be a genius but I’m definitely not “brainless” and didn’t have problems understanding some of the themes and points the series wanted to make. Nothing world changing at all, nope, but certainly far from being as mindless as you wrongly and too easily portray it. Then again, I suppose it is ironic in a way…the worst Geass reviews usually come from otherwise intelligent people who try to say that the series is “beneath them” and thus they are too lazy and uninterested to even care.
Comment by Maximilian — December 23, 2008 @ 2:14
Lelouch is a shitty character I feel no connection with. My main problem with the series really…
Comment by vijay — July 6, 2009 @ 4:37
The problem with this anime is that it assumes the viewers are mindless idiots. True fact. It’s full of deus’ ex machina, the decisions the characters are wtf unbelievably dumb. Here we have Lelouch who is supposedly a great intellectual but keeps doing extremely unreasonable things. It’s so frustrating! This show has so much potential but in the end, it became a total waste of time.
Comment by Hellian — July 6, 2009 @ 6:36
Wow, a lot of Code Geass haters here, huh?
The series is completely over-the-top so anyone who tries to review it as a serious drama anime is doing something wrong, that’s like reviewing a operatic rock album as an emotional acoustic album, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Either you’re not the right audience for this show or you should’ve adjusted your expectations. I mean, it’s not like the setting is believable…?
As an over-the-top show it has a really good premise and delivers on almost every front, it’s highly recommended if you just want to watch something enjoyable with lots of plot twists. 2nd season got a bit mediocre halfway through though.
Comment by tealovertoma — July 6, 2009 @ 8:35
Of course most anime out there are over the top. But a good anime or any other fictional works out there should at least be based on something concrete that’ll helped the audience suspend their disbelief while watching said show.
But my main problem with Code Geas, is the false advertisement. At the first episode, we have Lelouch being portrayed as an intellectual, a genius. Of course as a viewer you’re expecting that there’s going to be a lot of mind games, complex plots, great strategies that makes sense . . . So I bought the dvds based on that. When after watching through all those episodes, and when all those expectations were not met, crushed to dust, sent to oblivion, I felt short changed, pissed off even.
Comment by Hellian — July 11, 2009 @ 8:13
Why is it that the people who are critical (not to say that they dislike it) about Code Geass write neatly, while the ones who seem to be ready to die in defense of the series write so badly? What does it tell us? Hmmmm.
Comment by Saki — July 22, 2009 @ 10:56
@Saki: I would think the arguments themselves matter a lot more than who is making them or their ability to write well. This goes for both sides of any issue, so you shouldn’t really generalize like that either.
Comment by Camario — July 22, 2009 @ 18:40
Saki hit one point indeed.
Only who’s turning off his brain enjoying mindless shows could find Geass good enough.
If you have your brain shut off it’s also rather hard to argument thoughts into words, i guess (just joking :P)
Anyway, that also makes Geass one perfect show for youngsters that will promptly buy toys.
Geass has got tons of mindless action, fights and mechas. That does mind. Good plot, char developement or acting is nothing to said people as long they see explosions and blood.
That’s not a crime at all.
I even enjoyed mechas wars, silly shows or fanservice feasts, but i’d never call those masterpieces ;)
Comment by Solaris — July 22, 2009 @ 20:06
Apparently no-one on here actually gets the philosophy which I find so interesting in Code Geass.
Thats a pity.
Comment by c-ron — July 23, 2009 @ 2:46
What phylosophy? Would like to know about it.
Comment by Solaris — July 23, 2009 @ 10:13
I’m a big fan of philosophy but Code Geass’ is mostly half-baked philosophy now with 50% more nonsense; *especially* the 2nd season. If you try to take the show serious it completely falls apart.
Comment by tealovertoma — July 23, 2009 @ 12:12
The big problem with all those who loved Geass is they absolutely cannot say anything about their reason.
They keep saying wonderful, epic, and speak by emotions. These people are captured by the good looking visuals, the frenetic or rambling action and the charismatic chars, but they never stop thinking what’s under that shallow appearance.
That’s where they fail miserably and where Sunrise epic won! Geass and its likes shows clearly what looks relevant in animes: The power to capture the audience with just some visual feast, completely overlooking substantial plot faults.
That’s to say plot seems irrilevant in animes nowadays.
It’s no surprise many animes now pump up graphics over plot.
Shoud i name latest examples such as Bakeboringatari? Oops i just did it :P
Comment by Solaris — July 23, 2009 @ 12:58
With all due respect, life must suck if you view everything that way. Stop looking at the past with such rose-tinted glasses. An intelligent backing is nice but if you view everything that doesn’t have the same intelligence as “trash”, then you’re not going to enjoy a whole lot of things in life. Yeah I get it, life these days sucks, looking down on everything is easy, and everyone is a sheep distracted by the shiny-shiny except for you. http://xkcd.com/610/
Shallow fun is still fun, there are plenty of things in Code Geass well done. I don’t think it’s the masterpiece a lot of people make it out to be, but come on, aren’t some of you trying a bit too hard to be controversial by bashing everything popular?
Comment by tealovertoma — July 23, 2009 @ 14:54
I do apologise if I sound a bit condescending there, the internet’s general cynical and jaded view - that has seemingly also intruded in the anime world - pisses me off.
Comment by tealovertoma — July 23, 2009 @ 14:56
You’re wrong. I only bash what it deserved to be bashed in my humble opinion, despite it being popular or not.
If a show is very popular, it doesn’t automatically mean it’s absolutely good. It only means a lot of people like it for some reason, that is not my reason here.
And i have all the right to say loud and clear that i disagree.
I don’t deserve to be called cynical or life-sucker if i am able to watch a step ahead your generic anime watcher.
Yes, anime is something aimed mainly at a young audience, but it doesn’t mean we must take them lightly. Anime is a media for telling stories and i like to analyze it.
Comment by Solaris — July 23, 2009 @ 15:24
Solaris: yeah, that’s nice and all, but here’s the thing: who decides what’s defined as “a step ahead”?
Comment by psgels — July 23, 2009 @ 15:36
Well if you had more arguments than me, you were ahead. But who just sees things such superficially such as some generic anime watcher, couldn’t have many arguments to sell out. Am i mistaking so much?
My good kids, i don’t hold a grudge with what’s popular or with those who like mindless entertainment at all. I repeat i also love mindless shows ever now and then. Should i hate myself for that? I guess no.
I really hate just those who being superficial blabber sentences without the proper judgement or reasoning, and also indulge in gratuitous offences.
Comment by Solaris — July 23, 2009 @ 20:12
Greetings, I can’t say I agree with you much on the review. I think CG had much more to offer than simply mindless entertainment.
Some inconsequential characters were poorly developed and rationalized, but most of the important ones weren’t. In my opinion, Lelouch’s character development throughout the series was fantastic. Rolo was also a very well-conceived character.
I think we can all agree that some plot developments were fueled by direction rather than rationalization (eg. Orange’s defect for Zero), but more of it were rationalized in ways that viewers simply couldn’t understand prior to the ending, and thus been deemed ridiculous (eg. Suzaku’s aliance with Lelouch at the end).
Geass was ambitious, but I don’t think it failed all that badly as you describe. The ending made a very strong point (actually, several), and the plot served to build everything up to that moment.
Then again, I think reviews on these type of series can be very subjective. As Keith suggested above, those that look for thematic depth and ‘grand pictures’ in anime tend to find Geass much better than those that focus on finer details.
Comment by Gotank — July 28, 2009 @ 11:32
Oops, forgot about a few things.
As someone who has taken offense to anti-Chinese propaganda before, I actually didn’t find Geass’ portrayal of the world to be that offensive. Sure it was very nationalistic on the surface, but I could hardly find any ill intent in the way things are done. It was more funny than anything else.
The music of Geass deserves praise. Several insert songs by Hitomi were fantastic (episode 19 and 25 of R2 come to mind), while the soundtrack didn’t disappoint either with the likes of ‘Madder Sky’ and ‘Across the Borderline’. While the repeated dependence on brass can be a little exhausting for the listener, the overall orchestration and themes were quite good I’d say!
Overall, I don’t think any other series appealed to me in so many ways as Geass did. It was moving, philosophical, thought provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.
Comment by Gotank — July 28, 2009 @ 11:46
code geass is very unique anime, i want to see another mecha anime like this, this is the reality of life, but this film is to fast and for children (under 15)must watch the movie with their parents, because for anime this film just like bravehart, full of inspiration. i hope i will watching another anime that have the same type as code geass. i am very lucky to know & have already watching this anime
Comment by yoshi — August 19, 2009 @ 16:24
RE: anti-Chinese propaganda
Are any of you familiar with Chinese history in the 1900s? The death of tens of millions of innocents was sort of a theme, along with intense autocratic political control. If a country like China is “stereotyped” as being “fascist” it is only because China has never had a democratic/liberal/progressive government in its entire history. Even Germany had democratic periods before the rise of the Nazis, whereas China has been nothing but emperors and dictators since the Middle Kingdom’s foundation. Their portrayal wasn’t that far-fetched.
RE: this show being shitty
Code Geass is largely a discussion of the pains of being a gifted person. Gifted people often are very clever at somethings, but when it comes to interpersonal relations, they can often make incredible stupid mistakes, as was the case with Lelouch. My second degree was in education, and I watched Code Geass during that time, and I found his experience to be very similar to that suffered by many gifted students. Of course, it is an exaggerated allegorical version of that, but much of Lelouch’s actions made more sense to me after my studies.
So that’s one person who liked the show and is able to write properly. :p
Comment by Celeste — October 19, 2009 @ 0:14