Anime: Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Let me preface this by saying this is the fourth time I've watched Code Geass, and it never fails to impress. I'm also well aware of the many reviews attacking the show for its alleged defects, often going out of their way to tear it apart based upon questionable criticisms instead of offering a sincere assessment on the merits. I can only surmise that the bulk of these are the product of the counterculture phenomenon: the series is so popular and mainstream that it must suck. Obviously I disagree, and I'll do my best to explain why.

Code Geass starts with a great, deceptively original premise. The world is at war. Its sole superpower, the Holy Britannian Empire, has recently conquered Japan using advanced weaponry known as the Knightmare Frame. Lelouch, a well to do, perpetually aloof boy living in the Tokyo Settlement, escapes his otherwise dull life by beating nobles in high-stake chess games, until the day that he is caught up in a fight between the colonial government and pro-Japanese terrorists, meets a mysterious green-haired girl named C2, and is given the power of Geass (in his case, the power to order anyone to obey his command). War, mechas, and special powers are nothing to sneer at, even if stories incorporating these elements are a dime a dozen. Yet Code Geass stands out in its ability to infuse richness and depth into virtually every element and central character of the story. The war isn't just about land - it's about political philosophy. Britannia, by far the most powerful, nationalist, and aggressive of the world's political powers, is also the most morally deplorable, founded upon racial superiority, economic inequality, and the principle that the strong should devour the weak. The European Union and Chinese Federation, by contrast, choose to grant equal rights or equal wealth to their citizens, but are consequently weak.

Nor is Lelouch some random guy who gets special powers and decides to become a terrorist. Besides being one of the best and most complex male protagonists in the last decade, he is an outcast prince of Britannia who despises its philosophy and the Emperor because both deny the worth of his crippled sister Nunnally. Through his alter ego, Zero, he seeks to destroy the world through virtually any means so that he may rebuild it anew. Suzaku, Lelouch's best and yet worst friend and pilot of the invincible Lancelot, isn't just some trite rule follower, either. He is driven by his own dark past to believe that no good can come to oneself or others from an end attained by wicked means. C2 has her own complex history and a soul tempered by an existence outside of time. In her most candid and beautiful moment, she explains that her real name is all she remembers, and so she goes by C2 to ensure that it may only be spoken with tenderness, honesty, and affection. A number of characters beyond the main cast are also remarkably well-developed: Kallen, who leads a double-life as a Britannian student and terrorist and fights to give meaning to her brother's death and mother's life; the deliciously ruthless Cornelia, who presents a formidable challenge to Zero's plans; the maniacal Jeremiah Gottwald, aka Orange Boy, whose devotion to the Crown causes him to lose his very humanity; and Euphemia, the sweetest, kindest, and most tragic character a mecha anime has ever seen.

Beyond incredible, dynamic characters, Code Geass offers a superb story with perfect pacing and an endless supply of suspense and emotion. From the first episode, when Lelouch narrowly escapes death using his newfound Geass powers by ordering the Britannian soldiers to kill themselves, I was completely hooked, and things never let up. While the plot is initially and ultimately about the conflict between the Black Knights and the Britannian government, there are some nice subplots that enrich the main story: Suzaku's rise within the Britannian military and incessant ability to thwart Lelouch's efforts; Shirley's internal struggles; C2's past; the origins of Geass; and the Emperor's obscure plans for the world. Underlying the story are two philosophical questions, one common albeit well executed, the other quite novel - Can revolution be justified if it requires sacrificing the lives and happiness of others (i.e., can the ends justify the means), and if so, who should bear the blame for the consequences? The conclusion is also one of the best of any anime. True, it's the biggest cliffhanger ever and had I been watching during the initial broadcast I would have gone into a fit of rage, but it manages to create one of the most emotional moments I've ever seen, and it ensured viewers would be back for the second season.

Fortunately the studio realized it had a great story and went all out on the animation, soundtrack, and voice casting to make this a top-notch production. The character designs in particular are stunning, with facial expressions that often bring them to life (see especially Cornelia when she goes mad). The soundtrack is essentially as good as it gets without hiring Yoko Kanno, featuring a mesh of classical tracks with an imperial flavor (e.g., Noblesse Oblige), beautiful symphonies (e.g., Boyhood), jazzy trumpet pieces (e.g., Pessimistic Time), and a couple of amazing Hitomi tracks (e.g., Stories). The voice cast is essentially as good as it gets (no qualifier), featuring Johnny Yong Bosch (Lelouch) in probably his best performance, Kate Higgins (C2), and an exceptional fit and performance by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Cornelia).

Alright, so at this point I sound like a fanboy foaming at the mouth, which is partly accurate. But I like to be fair, so I'll close with the few things I did not like about Code Geass. First, and most critically, there are a few times when things line up too perfectly. Eye contact, for instance, is occasionally an area where Lelouch takes a huge gamble and gets lucky. Episode 22 also borders on unbelievable, but is ultimately acceptable because a foundation is established earlier on. Second, events accelerate a bit too much in the final 3 episodes and one more episode would have been nice to spread things out. Finally, I don't like Nina (mainly because of her voice) and I can't stand Tamaki.

Obviously those are minor criticisms that had little effect on my opinion of the show, and try as I might, I can't think of any others. Really I'm sure I could add more reasons that I love it, but this review has gone on too long already. Put simply, Code Geass is a masterpiece, and at least for now, it's the gold standard by which I review new anime.

Code Geass is a bad show, why?.
Well, for start the character they are flags, Its unique attribute is to be "smart" and even is. Light, for example, at least knew how to bring a situation or make plans instead Lelouch is disgusting character that manages all by chance and end of the day, does not even have a real evolution.
Another problem I have with the program is its design. Seriously, it's horrible, you know I hate with all my heart to elderly degenerate CLAMP. But, beyond that is my main problem with the show and its artists that displeases me ... The design is definitely bad, the heads are small, the characters are 3 meters, arms and legs are long, and Pokeballs eyes seem, are disproportionate, and at the end of the day, the mechas ... are pretty good, I remember shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion and although I do not like them, admit they are pretty bad ass.
But after all, my main problem with this show is its script. The strategies are full of deus ex machinas that has not been presented. Without going any further, in the second episode, Lelouch gets a fucking army of robots to their friends when they never said they were there. Also as I said, situations happen because the script requires it, in the second episode seems that Lelouch will die, oh no wait, a lady falls from the sky and will save, in the first look set to kill Lelouch ah not expected. If the girl with no personality magically doing it with his magic .... Are you serious ?. So the situation is not resolved, and if you're going to do, has the power of a bitch girl at least.
Hopefully, the technical work and mobility of the characters is very well done and robots unlike humans in the series. They have a very masculine design

4/10 Very Bad
In conclusion, is it Code Geass recommend? ... There really is very poorly written and does not serve to casualfag material.

First, for the sake of those who don't like reading much, I'll try to summarize what I can say about the anime in general.

While may sound exaggerating, I would say this anime excels in almost everything. Even though the idea on which the anime based is pretty average and feels like a replica of other series, I assure you that everything about Code Geass is actually more unique and special than you think.
The simple idea of "a boy receiving powers and executing revenge" was taken to new heights in this epic anime. The plot of this series is most likely the most intelligent, unpredictable and fast-paced you'll ever see in your life. Predicting the plot of this anime isn't hard – it's impossible!
It moves so fast and has so many twists, that at some point you'll surely give up about predicting it and will simply enjoy it.
The characters in the anime, differently from most famous shonen series like Naruto, feel realistic. Most anime try to offer unique characters with many strange and interesting features. But when you look closely, you should notice that those characters feel unrealistic because they have awfully extreme characteristics, which you won't find in real people. In Code Geass, the characters are much more balanced and feel much more real, while still being very unique and different from each other. Another strong point about characters is their development. You will usually see how different characters deal with though decisions, and may eventually even change the side they are fighting for.
The animation of the series isn't something I can say much about. Personally, I like it. With that said, it's not my "perfect" style of art, and yet I have to admit it's a unique one. Rather than simply being "good" or "bad', I think it's more about your taste. If it fits your taste – you like it, and if it doesn't – you don't.
The voice acting is really strong, especially for the main character – Lelouch. Since the anime focuses a lot about Lelouch's thoughts and decisions, the voice acting plays an important role in delivering the watcher his feelings and emotions. I think it was done beautifully in this anime. I could really feel how heavy each and every one of his decisions was, as well as how he felt before and after making the decision.
The music played a very important role as well, and like the voice acting – it fulfilled well its duty. Putting aside the action and tense moments, in which the music was great, I would rather focus on the tragic and dramatic moments. In these very plot-wise important moments, the music was simply perfect. Seeing the same moments without the music will make these moments simply "another forgetful part of the plot". But with the music, these very moments will most likely be the ones you'll remember the best after finishing watching the series.

Now, for those who wish to read a more deep analysis about the series...

Plot: The basic idea, which you most likely already read about somewhere, is "Lelouch receives special power from a mysterious girl, and decides to use it in order destroy the Britannian Empire, both for revenge for his mother's death and to make a peaceful world for his sister". You will most likely also see similar words over and over when watching the beginning of each episode. It's hard to believe there are many people who read such description and say "this anime gonna be epic!". I doubt if there are any at all. And I can't blame them, because it really sounds like a pretty average and simple idea. But the strength of Code Geass isn't hidden in this basic idea, but rather in the way its plot was executed. A basic plot pattern for the idea will be something like this: "Lelouch and his organization fight against the evil commanders of the Britannian Empire and defeat them. At some point, the evil "final boss" arrives and Lelouch defeats him as well. Happy ending. Credits. Bye bye"
That's what I believe most people would expect from this anime, and I was no exception. At the beginning, it really feels like it's going to follow this plain pattern. But very soon, after watching a few episodes, you'll realize that Code Geass's plot is nothing as simple as that. To start with, there is no even "Good vs. Evil" in this series. You can't simply classify the characters and the different organizations in the series as either "good" or "evil". If I had to pick, I would rather say that the main character himself is actually "evil". But the most important thing about the plot, is that there are many things which make the plot very complicated. The main character, Lelouch, has more to do than just "fight against the empire". He also has to make sure he hides his identity, act normally in front of his sister and friends, and most of all – to be a strong and reliable leader in order to make people believe in him and follow his orders. If you think these are trivial matters which has nothing to do with the plot – you are gravely mistaken. Each and every one of them affects the plot strongly at some point, and shows you that the plot won't go the way you thought it will.
The plot itself is very fast paced. You may not notice this at first, as it feels like things moving a bit slow at the beginning. But once you get to the main parts, you'll be flying trough the episodes, and be warned – you may not be able to stop. For me, the plot was the biggest source of entertainment in this anime. It just keeps on going and never stops to take a break. With each passing episode, my curiosity about "what will happen next" only grew bigger and bigger. I'll admit it – I got addicted to the plot of this series, and to the series as a whole.

Characters: Alongside with the great plot of this series, stands the amazing cast of characters. While the anime focuses a lot on the plot and on moving the story fast, it never forgets about character development. This anime has many characters, like most anime. What makes it different, and better in my opinion, is the balance of the characters. You won't see "an idiot who shouts the whole day" or "a girl which hits everybody when she's angry" type of characters. Every character has its own unique features, but in the same time they are all "humans". Which means that no matter what personality a character has, it'll never act in extreme or unrealistic way. Such balanced characters are easier to understand and to become attached to.
Another strong aspect of the characters is their "state of mind". You often see how different characters must make hard and heavy decisions, which will affect them or their surroundings in different ways. The main focus is on the main character, Lelouch, but many other characters also make important decisions in their life, like Lelouch's childhood friend – Suzaku. Every character has its own past, beliefs, wishes and values. Together, they affect the decisions of the characters, and usually even put them one against another. If you look at the battles in this anime, then you'll see they are mostly based on each person's beliefs. These aren't battles between "good" and "evil", but rather between what each character "believes is right". This adds a lot to the series, and doesn't allow you easily judge a character as "good" or "evil". Some people may say Lelouch is "good", while some may say he's "evil". Personally, I belong to the latter type.
But just like I said – they are humans. Every human sometime loses his way and falls into confusion and despair. You can see it perfectly in this anime. Many characters tend to become confused of what is "right" and what is "wrong" at some point. One event can totally change the character's personality, and to shake its beliefs and values. Some characters eventually even change the side they support and fight for. Your enemy in the beginning, may end up as your ally in the end and vice versa. If you ask what are the things that make this anime unpredictable, then this, without a doubt, is one of them.

Animation: Since the character design is done by Clamp, it's not strange to see how similar the art style between Code Geass and Clamp's manga, like X. The characters usually look tall and slim. That's how I always described Clamp's art style, and I think this description pretty much fit Code Geass. I'm a big Clamp fan. Not because of the art style, but because of their great ideas. This art style is pretty much unique to Clamp and you can either like it or not, depends on your own taste. Thus, it's hard for me to say that the art style is either "good" or bad". Even though it's not my "perfect" type of art style, I still liked it a lot. I think that in term of quality, this anime was done well – no matter whatever you like the art style or not.

Sound: Since the characters are put trough different situation, the voice acting plays a very important role in this anime. If it's done well, then the watcher can understand well how complicated or tense the situations are. If done badly, then everything about the anime will feel shallow and boring.
I say it was done well. Very well.
Notably is Lelouch's voice acting. No matter what the situation was, it was easy to understand it well thanks to the voice acting. Especially when Lelouch was lost or was making hard decisions, I could really understand how difficult and heavy these decisions were. Also, since Lelouch has more than one "identity", it was important that he'll feel different in every environment. He really felt like a fearless leader when he was on the battle field, but also as a carefree student when he was at school.

Music: It's always important to have a great music. Thanks to music, many events become better and more memorable. While the anime had great music during action scenes, I would rather focus on the music during sad and dramatic moments. In these very important moments, the music was perfect, beautiful and irreplaceable. It made those few moments the most memorable ones about the series. Even seeing them again, with this perfect music, will make you enjoy them almost as much as the first time. Without this perfect music, the same scenes just won't feel as great as they did.

Enjoyment: No matter how many things I say I liked about this anime, what really made it my favorite one is: that I really enjoyed it; and to enjoy is the most important, right?
It almost didn't have any boring parts. It was always active, and was moving forward without taking a break. It was unpredictable to a degree I have never seen before in a series, and I LOVE unpredictable things. Basically, the anime was very thrilling for me. It's like riding a roller coaster – once you start, you can't quit until it ends; but you don't regret it, because every moment was epic and thrilling.

Overall: I recommend this anime to everyone. No matter what you think about it, and no matter whatever you think you won't like it – just try it. I was quite sure myself I won't like it. For me it was "Robots? Who the hell is going to like an anime with big robots?"
That was the reason it took me so much time to actually try this anime. But when I tried, I realized how stupid I was. It doesn't matter whatever there are robots or cliché base idea. What really matters is how well it was done, and how much you enjoyed it.

- REVIEW -

1.STORY AND PRESENTATION

Lelouch of the Rebellion draws inspiration from great shows such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, 08th MS team and other shows that use grand-scale wars and moral ideas to make a thrilling narritave, but... decides to take a turn and use uninspired plot-twists , shock factor and massacre to "surprise" the audiance and has very little geniune executing plot points, while attaining a low-quality inspirational mech war drama about revenge.

4/10

2.ANIMATION/ART/CHARACTER DESIGNS
Code Geass's animation is good and makes battles feel alive, my only issue is the slenderness of the characters they feel like stickmen than human beings... Seriously do the characters need to have such triangular chins? While the art quality is as good as a Sunrise show from 2007 can be.
7/10

3.SOUND/OST
The sound quality and tracks in Code Geass are well... Limited but decent, nothing much I can say here as I didn't like most of them. The ambient music and usage are great though.
7/10
4.CHARACTERS
God forbid any development in this show, other than LELouch no other character gets any decent charactization and it's limited as all hell. All the characters feel like wooden planks with their horrible development, and the antagonists feel as idiotic as the rest of the characters, their personality is one-sided and feel like they were written by an idiot who doesn't know anything other than the stereotypical "I am rich and powerful let me show you that power rules over brains bla bla bla"
4/10

5.ENJOYMENT
I didn't enjoy myself much by taking it serious, but taking it as a joke is literally the way its ment to be watched.
5/10

Code Geass is definitely a very popular anime, no denying that, but I wouldn't exactly call it a master piece, but it is however, a fun and entertaining show, you just don't need to put too much thought into it.

STORY: Once upon a time, there was a famous animation company that decided to mash up as many genres as they can to make an anime that would try to appeal to as many anime fans as possible.

The end result was Code Geass, and it was a success, popularity wise.

But before I get on to the actual review I have to say honestly, I really like this anime, but it can pretty much ruin the fun of the anime if you try to look at it objectively, but that being said, it's hard not to since this anime tries way too hard to appeal to too many genres that fans are into.

Admittedly, the story itself is quite interesting, an alternate reality where England, now named Brittania, has taken over the world and just really hates Japan to the point of ethnic cleansing (It's a little unsettling to say the least). But the main focus of the anime is about a royal family member castaway, Lelouch Lamperouge, trying to get revenge on his father, the leader/king of Brittania for the murder of his mother. So yeah, essentially the story is just another revenge story, nothing too original (How are revenge stories so damn popular I will never know).

But the anime starts to show its short comings, and really early on. The anime tries to make you assume that Lelouch is a genius solely upon him being good at chess, with no other reason, he's genius cause he's a beast at chess, that's it.
There's no character build up to show he's a genius other than playing chess (But I would not know since I don't play chess, maybe it really does make you a genius, maybe I need to try it out before making this judgement).

And besides being a genius, he receives a power which allows him to control people's minds, once per person, called Geass (Get it? Because the show is also called Code "Geass"), which by the way, is the best used character/plot device in the anime, and it's entertaining how Lelouch uses it in dangerous situations or when he's trying to outsmart his foes.
However, the way he obtains just seems that not enough thought was put into it, in other words, kinda lazy, he meets a girl in a strait jacket being chased by the military, and bam! Mind control powers.

This is also where you also should realize a major plot hole in the early episodes, with his mind controlling powers, he could get his revenge in a heart beat, but that's not fun to watch at all, but if he could simply kill off one of his family members easily in less than three episodes (Don'y worry, that character's death is just another way to advance the plot), what's keeping him from getting his father like that too?

Additionally, Lelouch isn't really a likable character (His comes off being arrogant and is just a calculating and sadistic bastard), but the rest of the cast though, have a little more going on for them.

The benefactor of Lelouch's power, C.C. (Pronounced C2) may not be terribly interesting herself, but like myself, she's just there to watch the whole show play out and snack on pizza (Fun fact, this anime was endorsed/sponsored by a pizza company).
In fact I would've been fine if her character just died on the first episode (Spoiler: she gets shot in the head), it would've been more interesting to see Lelouch figure his powers all on his own anyway. But apparently, she must have been a favorite of the creators of the anime, enough so they keep her to mess a round with Lelouch and eat pizza, so at least she's amusing.

Childhood friend and some what frienemy of Lelouch, Suzaku, is arguably a better protagonist than Lelouch and was developed into his character much better than Lelouch too, but his focus on what he wants to do isn't exactly clear (I want to save Japan/I want to be a knight for britiania, blah, blah, blah), and though his character development is better than what Lelouch's was, it can be arguably be called lazy, because most of it was through flashbacks to his past, though later episodes are more enjoyable due a girlfriend he gets.

But, the real stars of the anime are the genres that are ungracefully crammed together.

It tries to be school life anime, a harem, an action anime, ecchi anime, psychological anime (TRIES to, it isn't), romance anime, and a mecha anime all at the same time, but if you look down at the core of this anime and try to piece it together, you'll realize it's a gigantic mess.

Especially how this anime tries to integrate mecha (Get it? Because it's called Code Geas... wait, don't the majority of mecha anime have the name of a mecha in it's title? Gurren Lagann or any Gundam for example) into the story, they're just literally there to just be cool and to be used as weapons of war, nothing more, absolutely nothing more. Shallow is a better word to describe it than lazy.
The anime would honestly be just as effective without the mechs (Apparently the creators are aware of this because two of the manga series have no mechas in them), in fact, it isn't a mecha anime.
A mecha anime is a mecha cause one of it's major focuses is on it's robots, Code Geass focuses on anything else but the mechas, they're there just to appeal to mecha fans, so really there's no point what so ever for the mechas to even exist in this anime, they're just cool to throw in because they're giant robots.

But, there is one thing this anime knows what it is, a loud cluster f**k of many gernres, and despite that it's not a great anime, it's fun to watch and at least pretend that it knows what it's trying to be.

ANIMATION: For me, this is best part of the whole anime, it looks great, the girls are hot, the boys are pretty, everyone wins, plenty of eye candy for all.
Especially for fans of clamp, who were generous enough to do the character designs.
The mechas look cool enough, but the stupidest parts on them are the wheels slapped on them, they look so ridiculous. But the action scenes more than compensate for them.
But other than that, this a gorgeous looking show.

SOUND: Both the Japanese and English voices are great, but I only watched the english dubbed due to my own preferences.
Johnny Young Bosch, Yuri Lowenthal, Michelle Ruff, Steven Blum, Kate Higgins, and so many more top notch notable voice actors are in this anime, but of all of them, Johnny is damn good as Lelouch and Yuri's Suzaku is a great compliment to Johnny's performance.
Each theme music is enjoyable and what you'll except for a mainstream anime, though the back ground music doesn't really stand out.

OVERALL:
The Good:
+ Very entertaining and fun to watch.
+ Good looking characters designed by Clamp, and great animation overall.
+ Good english dub, Johnny Bosch's Lelouch is arguably one of his best performances.

The Bad:
- Can be faulted for trying too hard to appeal to multiple audiences by shallowly cramming genres together.
- There's honestly there's no point of the mechas other than to be used as weapons to fight.
- Weak character development, C.C. honestly feels thrown in.
- Lots of plot holes

Despite what I have said in this review I would still recommend this to any one.
And I'm surprised I didn't reference Death Note once in this review... Wait a minute... Damn, so close.

This review only covers the first season of Code Geass.
Review
Code Geass comes with a bang, riding the wave of high-quality shows released in its season and managing to create a tale of intrigue, scheming, and action with enough flair to make it stand as one of the most impressive works of the japanese animation industry. This is a shounen at it's heart, a tale of warfare and revenge filled with some classic tropes and plot twists, yet this is also a theatrical piece, a political family drama giving us a lot to think about.

This is the saga of Lelouch, former prince of the massive Empire of Brittania, and his quest of revenge against the cruelty and omission of his father. In this fictional world, Brittania conquered half the world, imposing their culture over its colonies and ditching the regional identity of its people. Japan is one of those countries, now called Area 11, and the place where Lelouch accidentally gains a power called "Geass", which allows him to give one single unquestionable order to anyone meeting his gaze. With his new power, it is time for Lelouch to start his quest.

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1. A shounen with style
   Code Geass has mechas, military, spies, terrorists, and of course a high school filled with students. This setting is also heavily influenced by the fictional Brittania, an empire inspired in our Great Britain, but whose dominion over the world grew exponentially and where its leader started to act more like a god than an emperor. It is a place for nobles, for fancy young people of the high society, but also for the conquered, people living as a lower class.
   
   It is intriguing how CLAMP fit almost perfectly in all of this. It's shoujo style of characters, with long arms and legs, big expressive eyes, and thin silhouette is a perfect match for all the theatrical play of the nobility. The bright colors, the clothing, everything seems to work in favor of making the Brittania empire seems like a place of cocky nobles living in luxury. It also gives Code Geass an impressive identity, making it easily recognizable. Of course, there are negative points in that, mainly in form of giving us mechas that seem more like rubber toys and making the poor japanese seem far too clean and beautiful for people living under harsh treatment and subpar conditions.
   
   It's a tale of many faces
   At its start, Code Geass is a tale about a young boy, gifted with a great power and intelligence, making a resistance against the forces of the empire. Lelouch takes the mantle of Zero, a masked terrorist mustering the scattered forces of the defeated Japan to topple the regional government. As the show goes on, however, there are more faces to see. It can be wacky with its high school setting, which seems to hang around for longer than necessary. It can be dramatic as Lelouch has to deal with the consequences of his actions as Zero, which slowly destroys those around him. It can also be a high-level mecha show in the likes of Gundam, with a lot of exquisite models, super beams, and high-speed combat.
   
   And it works
   Although the high school can be annoying at some points, these many faces of Code Geass work when blended together, granting Lelouch a better personality than just that of a vengeful boy and giving room to a support cast with enough charisma and background. It also works because of Suzaku.
   
   Yes. Suzaku. That piece of shit.
   Suzaku is Lelouch's childhood friend, the son of the last prime minister of Japan. He could be resumed as the typical protagonist of a shounen anime given a twist: he is insanely attached to his crazy ideals. While Lelouch wants to destroy the empire to build a world where the minorities can be respected, Suzaku thinks he can do that by respecting the institutions and making changes from within. Yeah. He is so completely wrong at many levels, yet he genuinely believes in this crazy concept. As a consequence he becomes Lelouch most dreadful foe, a super-power soldier piloting a god-like mecha under the orders of the empire.
   
   Suzaku also show us how being crazy and believing in tyrants is wrong, but also open a lot of opportunities. While Lelouch struggles with his minions, Suzaku gains status and rank for obeying the empire, even though many of his orders are pure cruelty. He ends up being an annoying idealist, but perhaps one of the best characters the tale give us considering its political views and consequences.
   
   Surprises
   Political scheming, rise to power, and mecha combats are not the major strength of Code Geass though, its surprises are. Many moments in the show give a twist to the tale, showing us a unexpected decision made by Lelouch, a crushing defeat while we were teased a victory, and a superb pace of mixing these new moments with preparation and refreshing fillers (although the cat episode could be left behind). Every important character gets a deal here, CC, Kallen, Nunnally, etc. They also get time to shine, to give us some unexpected event, and ultimately contributing to make the political drama work.
   

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Comments
Code Geass is a superb mixture of shounen entertainment. It has a lot to offer in this first season, crafting the tale of Lelouch and his rise to power with all the hardships expected from the setting laid out at the beginning. You see, this is a prince trying to tackle an empire whose territory expands to half the world. It could've easily lost itself trying to rush things, explore multiple points of view to introduce flashy characters, and ruining the experience with too much content and little depth. Fortunately, it focus its attention on Japan, Lelouch, and the Black Knights of Zero, a slow burn that pays off by the end.

There are very few shows with the impact of Code Geass. It traces back some elements to The Legend of Galactic Heroes, Gundam, and Berserk, but its style, its setting, and its focus make it stand proudly on its own legs. For a first half of a greater Saga, this is close to the best the industry can offer.