Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 [2008-2009] Season 2. 25 Episodes

Code Geass returns for a second season with a twist -actually with too many twists.  Those of season one were balanced out by moments of release.  A roller coaster’s twists are fun because there are contrasted by sections of straight track.  Constant twists would be little more than nauseating.  In Code Geass R2 the constant twists served to detract form the overall experience encouraging less investment and eventually mild apathy for most of the characters.

Does she really like him? Will they smooch? Or is her secret wish a desire to be killed by LeLouch? Sadly it is a the latter, and the kind of downer twists you will get all season long. (You need counseling girl.)

Now a challenging one-sentence synopsis:  In a world dominated by the empire of Britainia a young prince of that empire fights against it for revenge and the hope of a better world for his sister with the aid a mysterious power that bends people’s will but along the way his rebellion will cause millions of deaths and the destruction of nearly all he holds dear as the price for freedom.

Technically Code Geass R2 is high quality.  The mecha are reasonably consistent, evolve and engage in action usually fun and interesting especially earlier on when supported by plot you could get behind.  The battles often made strategic sense for that was one of the selling points of the series and its lead character’s abilities.

Less frequent than season 1, Code Geass R2 still occasionally excelled at compelling strategic battles.

While you may be a strategic genius LeLouch, you really need to hit the cardio harder.

Artistically the character design is top notch.  The female characters were a pleasure to behold and the male characters varied and interesting.  The outfits were flattering and sometimes quite detailed.

Kallen seen here in one of the only shots the entire season not depicting her brows knit together in anger, intensity - or both. (If the latter sounds like one of your dates, it is time to break up.)

Check out the detailed braid in Cornelia's hair. (Those hair twist products you see advertised on daytime TV really work!)

The animation quality is superb for a show of this kind.  Non-mecha action scenes were smooth and the characters moved with a well planned grace.  High kicking knights and fast moving ninja were all handled with equal aplomb.

Your secret is finally out Sayoko. You are not just a maid, you are a - ninja!?

However those good qualities could not staunch eventual frustration as one character after another was twisted, killed or both.  Some were brought back amazingly -and killed again, yet sometimes still not dead.  Others died unexpectedly, quickly or ingloriously (sometimes all of the above) which left you wondering whether to cheer or mourn.  Some of us eventually did neither, but rather grumbled at the constant “gotcha” moments.

We liked Diethard. He was different. A savvy media thinker. The fall and inglorious death of this character was uncalled for. (Even for a network executive.)

Toudou was the stoic no-nonsense character you could get behind. Not only did he have the squintiest eyes in the series, but he died twice and still lived to have a happy ending.

Good characters you got behind turned bad and bad characters good.  However they were at least understood.  Many others went back and forth so many times that we just did not care anymore.  Characters that were sympathetic became less so until so unlikeable that you actually wanted them to “get it”.

The emperor was bad, but even Lelouch's mother turned out to be an unsympathetic disappointment. At least the two were atomized from the bottom up, insuring a contrived but dramatic exit.

The episodes started fun and went downhill from there.  Nearly every episode’s victory was stepped on by an undermining twist.  The formula of establishment, tension and then release was interrupted too many times and eventually we grew weary of the manipulation.

Zero gets the award for most dramatic pose since Ash Ketchum won his first Pokemon gym badge.

The additional evolutions and additions to the mechs kept them fresh and exciting. (And knowing how to strike a pose in one's mech is key to being an ace pilot.)

However we were invested in many of the supporting cast, so could not help but still care as they were forced into contrived alliances which pitted them against others you also were once behind. When determining who to root for requires a guidebook, calculator or star chart a drama is too muddled for its own good.

Fetching Villetta wonders which side she is on.

Enigmatic Zero actually wonders which side HE is on.

When you take the desire to root for one side out of a otherwise great action scene you rob it of the key ingredient that makes it memorable and exciting,  Without it the scene just becomes a technical exercise.

On occasion they built up the enjoyable tension in a mech battle scene like the days of old. This one from season two episode 6 is well worth watching. (Ace pilot Kallen doing what ace pilots do - striking a dramatic pose in her mech Guren.)

Sometimes the plot bogged down in pretentious philosophical nonsense, other times strange occurrences were poorly explained.  Many people ( perhaps too many) now had different versions of geass powers, and there was a geass realm -neither of which were explained to clarity.

They did spend a lot of time with Milly. It was one of the few characters that got treated consistently and consistently well. (Being a class president in Japan is akin to ULTIMATE POWER!)

Code Geass often still manages to entertain despite many characters taking turns annihilating huge numbers of people.  It mattered little if they were “bad guys” or “good guys”.  Those who enjoyed season one view season two with caution.

The score? Ocean one; Battleship zero.

Click here to check out our take on Code Geass season one.

See another swell picture of Kallen in Top Ten Animated Pics Vol 01.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion [2006-2007] Season 1. 25 Episodes

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (Code Geass) is a well paced, high-quality endeavor.  It does well in the action and design categories, and okay in the the emotional content and plot categories.

Code Geass is a serious show dealing with serious political issues and war.  We did not get too many warm fuzzies.  Characters will die, especially in and around the season finale.  The producers also took their own show a little too seriously.  Each episode’s recap/intro is accompanied by narration which is obtuse, self-important and liberally throws around deep sounding phrases like “atoning for sin”.

Will these two starcrossed lovers make it? Or will one shoot the other in the stomach?

That aside the show beings a lot to the table.  The action has been tactically thought out and that is communicated clearly to the viewer.  The mechs are fun to watch and engage in interesting ways.  Part of the technology of Code Geass involves offense grappling hooks.  They seem strange for a moment but you get used to them fast enough.  Diversity in the mech category usually comes in the “prototype” variety.  Yup, another super-mech trashing the regular ones.

We thought a key strength of this series was the long lanky character design.  (You will be hard pressed to find a single overweight person in the entire series.)  You get used to it quickly, and before you know it you like it.  Then you start to relish each obviously crafted shot of good looking characters in fitted outfits.  They actually got better at this as the season progressed.

Cecile:  Well that subtitle says it all.

Where Code Geass did not fare as well was in the area of story and plot.  The half hour episodes held up well enough.  However the overall progression of interconnected characters, factions, government entities and desires often wove a web over such a wide area that it was too thin to walk upon.  “Okay, this one is a duke; this one a half-sister related to that mother who was killed by… who?”

“Sir, I am picking up some dangling plot questions.” “Good, stay on them.  And by the way, that outfit looks smashing on you.”

Okay, here is our patented one sentence synopsis for Code Geass – and if you have watched this show you know how hard this is:  In a future world dominated by a new British empire a wronged young royal takes the guise of a mysterious rebel leader and using a special new power to control minds unites the freedom fighters in Japan against their imperial oppressors so that he may eventually destroy the empire and avenge his mother.  Whew.

Code Geass may start a new unexpected trend of putting capes on mechs.

Unfortunately the show splits your viewer allegiance on many fronts.  This may be the its biggest deficit.  Who you root for gets very muddy.  You want to root for the wronged royal “Zero” who is the star, but he skirts along the dark side too much.  You could root for the earnest true hearted friend – but he is fighting against the rebels for the bad empire.

The enigmatic Zero. Also the ruthless Zero, and occasionally the soft-hearted Zero.

They also cause this splitting in regards to the romances.  They set up many potential couples that you may indeed want to see unite, but in the end only a few of the many possibilities will make it, and that leads to disappointment.  Some characters are set up with misplaced emotions.  Some are enmeshed in love triangles… ah squares… I mean pentagons actually.  The emotional quandaries for viewers detract from the whole.

C.C.:  “Would I give you an amorous look like this if I didn’t mean it?”

Despite the complex plot and multiple characters which take extra concentration to follow, and the questions you think could have been answered in 25 episodes but are not, Code Geass is definitely worth watching.  We would have preferred more of a season ending – because it leaves you in a unhappy place.  However they knew they were coming back for season 2.

Check out our take on Code Geass season two.