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The last few years have been pretty tough for anime in the UK. Several distributors have gone under or exited the market since 2008, taking a large number of top series and films with them, but this year the remaining distributors have started at the titles formerly owned by their rivals. Beez - Bandai's European subsidiary and custodian of the Gundam franchise - was one of the most recent companies to close its doors, and its from their vaults that Kazé have rescued the fan-favourite mecha series Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. Code Geass brings us to an alternative near-future Japan that
has been conquered by Holy Britannian Empire, a global superpower which has used
the power of its armoured 'Knightmare Frame' mecha to take over a large portion
of the world. Stripped of its sovereignty and even its name, Japan now
exists as Area 11 and the native Japanese (or 'Elevens' as they are now known)
are second-class citizens to the ruling Britannians. The story focuses on
the Britannian student Lelouch Lamperouge, a prodigiously intelligent young man
who dreams of making the world a better place for the sake of his disabled
sister Nunnally. However, his life is turned upside down when he tries to
help the drivers of a crashed lorry, only to find that the lorry drivers are
members of the Japanese resistance who have stolen a top-secret military weapon.
Caught in the middle of a massacre as the military forces sweep through the
Shinjuku ghetto, Lelouch accidentally releases the weapon but finds that it
instead of containing poison gas it holds a young woman who grants him a special
power or 'Geass'. Lelouch's power enables him to order other people to do
anything - even kill themselves - as long as he looks them directly in the eyes,
and after dispatching a squad of soldiers he takes control of the rebel forces
and co-ordinates them to defeat the military assault. Using his new power
Lelouch secretly takes on a new persona, that of Zero - a masked terrorist
leader who quickly comes to lead the rebels in the battle against Britannian
rule - whilst maintaining his everyday life as a Britannian student. With
his tactical nous and otherworldly power the rebels begin to stand a fighting
chance against the military order, but Lelouch's priority is not to the Japanese
cause but for a peaceful future where Nunnally can live safely. To this
end he will journey down a dark path and commit any atrocity, but can he keep
his double life a secret from his fellow Britannians and his Britannian heritage
a secret from his fellow rebels? And what can he do about Suzaku Kururugi,
his best friend and a Japanese 'honoury Britannian' who fights for the
Britannian military? |
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Code Geass was one of those series that was too popular to stay away for long, and Kazé and Manga have not only brought it backi to DVD but also to Blu-Ray for the first time too. The series boasts some fantastic design and artwork which lends itself well to the HD format, but its story, characters and action are fantastic no matter what the viewing method. Whilst Code Geass is strictly speaking an action series, and does have an abundance of superb action sequences and battles, it is very much character driven with the anti-hero |
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Lelouch at the centre of the story. In many ways Lelouch is reminiscent of Light Yagami from the series Death Note, like Light he has been given an extraordinary power which he can use to shape society, and like Light he uses his intelligence and power for an objectively noble cause, although in both cases their methods are callous and sinister. In another parallel to Death Note Lelouch has a nemesis in the form of his friend Suzaku, a man who fights for the same goal but uses markedly different and more subtle methods to achieve it. Lelouch and Suzaku's friendship and conflict form the heart of the series, they're friends who want the same thing, but the methods are completely incompatible and leads them down a path that can only end in tragedy. Code Geass is a series that effectively follows the villain, with Lelouch's duplicity and end-justify-the-means attitude making him seem far more evil than the majority of the often ruthless and snooty Britannian Royalty. In fact, apart from the Britannian Emperor, most of the royals depicted seem to be quite complex, driven by duty and so far removed from the lives of ordinary colonists that they can't empathise with them. They may be capable of ordering massacres, but they are also capable of beautiful art, benevolence and showing real care and affection. Apart from to Nunnally, Lelouch shows very little attachment to anything and rarely thinks about the human cost of his actions, treating his battle with the Britannians as some kind of game. Despite this you still root for him for nearly the entire first series, and this is a remarkable achievement when the central character is, by most measures, charismatic but pretty unlikeable. Code Geass comes from the same studio -
Sunrise - that produces the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, and
the similarities between the two franchises are marked. The series
seems to take several integral elements from Gundam, including
the mecha battles, the central plot of having a colony fighting for
independence from an oppressive military government, the conflict - both
physical and ideological - between two friends fighting for opposing
forces and the complex politics that underpin the story, but adds a
layer of fantasy with Lelouch's otherworldly powers and a unique visual
style courtesy of leading manga creators CLAMP. However, the
elements all come together brilliantly, and although when watching it
parts of the series are reminiscent of Gundam SEED or Gundam
Wing or even Death Note, as a whole it has an identity of its
own which has drawn in both male and female fans alike. One of its
main strengths is is the way it turns it humanises its characters, even
the stereotypical callous rich twit Prince Clovis, whose actions start
Lelouch on his dark path, is shown to be a high-minded and caring
brother to his siblings and an artistic prodigy as the series
progresses. Suzaku isn't just the good side to Lelouch's evil
coin, he has dark secrets in his past that he has to face and overcome,
shaping his character and sending him down a different path. It's
this complexity of character coupled with a thoughtful yet action-packed
story which makes it hard to predict what's going to happen, beyond the
certainty that at some point Lelouch and Suzaku will have to face one
another. |
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The story is truly engrossing and it's really addictive viewing for the most part. You can see that Lelouch is making a lot of mistakes, errors which could come back to bite him and bring the whole house of cards crashing down if he isn't careful and you are always drawn into his schemes...until one point in the series. This could be a completely subjective point, but after a certain event towards the end of the series I found Code Geass a lot less enjoyable to watch. One of Lelouch's errors has truly catastrophic consequences which turns the |
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story on its head, and Lelouch is all too quick to exploit it for his own ends. It was this moment that turned the series from something dark yet entertaining to something that was much harder viewing, mainly because it removed one possible happy ending and makes further tragedy all the more likely. Even past this point the series was still compelling, but for me it had lost an element of enjoyment, which in turn tarnished the series as a whole. It was, however, a brave decision for the story to make, and its difficult to see where the second series will go after the tone of the first one changed so dramatically. For me the final few episodes, although brave, marred my enjoyment of a series which overall is excellent. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is an darkly compelling series boasting excellent and distinctive design and artwork, a flawed, human and complex cast of characters, great action and a superb and intelligent story. It doesn't always do the obvious and the character development takes a cast of typical anime archetypes and makes them into something far more intriguing. The ending leaves a big cliffhanger for the second series and although the final few episodes took the gleam off the series as far as I'm concerned I'm still intrigued to see where the story will go for the second half. It's hard to see what is going to happen, but I can guess that we'll get a lot more tragedy before Code Geass is over. It's an emotionally draining journey, but few anime series really challenge the viewer like this one and for that alone - and despite my misgivings about the way the story goes - I really can do little else than recommend it highly. It's challenging viewing at times, but Code Geass is a fan-favourite for a reason - It's superb. Extras Plenty. There are front-loading trailers for the fourth Bleach and first Berserk and Trigun films, commentary tracks for nine episodes featuring the Japanese cast and crew and a series of picture dramas. Having commentaries featuring the Japanese cast and crew is a real bonus, as we get first-hand production and recording anecdotes plus background info from the actual series creators rather than the US dub cast. The picture dramas are excellent too, these feature the voice cast acting and narrating over still images but as well as the usual comedy offerings you get from these kinds of bonus shorts there are also dramatic ones which give some character background or additional content for an episode. They really add something to the series, and along with the commentaries are really worth a look. One odd thing is that the DVDs have more extras than the Blu-Rays, with the clean opening and closing sequences only appearing on the DVD version. This is probably due to the series being squeezed into two Blu-Ray discs rather than the six discs in the DVD set, but the extras are impressive regardless of version. Ratings Feature:
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