All right, guys, so, going back to my new anime reviews is the one I've finished most recently, Code Geass. I'd been hearing about this one a lot. It's my brother's favourite anime and I knew it was hailed as a great show. So all this made me really curious to see it. I even mentioned before about how it was an anime I hoped to start at some point. So, a few months ago, I finally managed to get started on it with my brother's DVDs of it and then after a while, I got my own Blu-Ray of the whole show and finished it. And, in the end, I don't think I loved it the same way everyone else does, but I thought this was a really great show. I'm honestly surprised by how much I like this, but there was so much great stuff in it that I loved. Also, like always, this will have all the spoilers, so be prepared for all the spoilers in this. So, the plot centers around a guy named Lelouch Vi Britannia who's part of a royal family who have subjugated all of Japan. His family also has a huge empire that use giant mechs called Nightmares. This is something Lelouch hates and wants to do something about it, especially to make a better world for his younger sister, Nunnally. But then, one day, he encounters a girl named C.C who gives him a power in his eye called the Geass which can be used to make anyone he looks in the eye do whatever he says. After this, he decides to start a rebellion called the Black Knights with other people who want to free Japan and he wears a mask calling himself Zero. He's having to deal with the fact that his best friend, Suzaku, is now a member of the empire and is fighting against him, and I'm gonna stop there. So, the beginning of the series has a really great set up because it introduces this world and these characters really well while also leaving a ton of things open as questions because it just leaves us curious to know so much. I also liked how this reminds me a bit of something like Death Note but it still feels unique in its own way. And a big part of me liking this were the characters. I really liked so many of them. Some of them aren't that memorable, but the majority of them are, especially Lelouch himself. It's really interesting the way his character is set up and then presented with being in the position he is, but also being incredibly intelligent and manipulative, but in a good way, not like someone like Light. But he's also so well written in so many ways with being this guy who's trying to take down an empire while also trying to keep his identity a secret while also having to deceive everyone around him and having to deal with a whole bunch of stuff in school and other things like that. Another character I really like is Kallen. This girl who's part of the Black Knights who's one of the first people trying to fight against the Britannia empire as well along with some other people like Ohgi with Nightmares of their own and she's eventually thrown through a whole bunch other dilemmas herself. But I also love how the first part of this series goes because it keeps going with Lelouch and the Black Knights trying to free as much of Japan as possible by fighting different factions of the empire's army. But there's a lot more to it considering there's a whole bunch of different twists in this like when C.C returns and sorta acts as like a small guide for Lelouch and teaches him different about the Geass. There's also a whole bunch of other crazy things that happen like when Lelouch is forced to use the Geass to erase the memory of a girl named Shirley who had a crush on him after she realises he's Zero and has done some kinda bad things. But that part actually leads to a pretty cool part with a guy named Mao who also has a Geass in both his eyes who has an obsession with C.C. We also learn that he can't turn his Geass off and his has the ability to read people's minds but it eventually evolved to the point where he couldn't turn it off and it drove him insane. And there's an incredible scene where Mao kidnaps Nunally and he challenges Lelouch to a chess match and every wrong move Lelouch makes means Nunally will die. And what makes it worse is that Mao can read his mind. So Lelouch gets the idea to use the Geass on himself to make him forget a plan he made with Suzaku so he couldn't read his mind about it. That was a fantastic scene and then Mao is then killed by C.C. But Mao's Geass not being able to be turned off eventually leads to something else happening. Anyway, from that point, we get a bunch of other crazy stories like when Lelouch, Suzaku, Kallen and Lelouch's other sister named Euphemia somehow appear on an island during a fight with all their Nightmares after Lelouch tries to use his Geass on Suzaku to live. And Euphemia is like Lelouch in the sense that she wants peace with everyone too but without violence and she serves as like a bright spot in this world until eventually something happens with her later on, but we'll get to that soon. Lelouch has also gotten a reputation for himself as well as added more people to the Black Knights with so many people respecting him as Zero and just having a lot of people on his side. And all this builds up to a point where Lelouch agrees to go to an assembly arranged by Euphemia called the Specially Administrated Zone Of Japan where Euphemia hopes to unite the people from Japan and Britannia together in peace. And Lelouch appears Zero because Euphemia knows it's him and asks him to come as a way to unite everyone. I already knew what was gonna happen at this point which made the eventual scene that follows all the tougher to watch and that more horrifying. It's the scene where Lelouch accidently uses the Geass on Euphemia when he's joking about her killing all the Japanese people and this happens when he begins to experience signs of not being able to turn his Geass off and so the next scene is absolutely terrifying when Euphemia then just starts killing every single Japanese person she can find with the other Britannian soldiers doing the same with no one having any idea what's going on. And it's made all the sadder when Lelouch is eventually forced to kill her. And this makes it worse when Suzaku sees this who'd fallen in love with her and so this makes him even angrier at him. And this is when we're introduced to V.V, who knows C.C. And, again, a whole bunch of stuff happens here like when Lelouch plans to create a new country called the United States Of Japan, Villetta almost kills Ohgi and V.V kidnapping Nunally which leads to Lelouch abandoning the Black Knights to try to save her. And this is all happening while everyone's still fighting Britannia and Suzaku is trying to get revenge for Lelouch killing Euphemia. But then Lelouch, Suzaku and Kallen go to the island they were at before where both Kallen and Suzaku find out who he is as Zero and the first season ends with both of them just aiming their guns at each other. It's totally insane with what happens here, but this first season is really great. It has ingenious writing and fantastic ideas. There's so many scenes where these characters have to use their wits to outsmart each other and it's done really effectively because of just how intelligent all these characters are. And every episode usually ends with you wanting to learn more and know what's gonna happen next because a lot of the endings have cliffhangers that leave you wanting to now what's gonna happen. And a lot of these action scenes are awesome, especially the fights with the Nightmares because a lot of these mechs move super fast with insane movements and weapons that it's really fun to watch. And, really, just a lot of the character stuff itself I did find really interesting like Lelouch at his school and him as Zero talking to everyone in the Black Knights and other characters got great moments too like Kallen, Ohgi and other ones. The one I can mainly think who was kinda annoying was Suzaku. But, I think that was the point. He's the one fighting against Lelouch so it makes sense that you're supposed to be rooting against him. But still, they do try to help us understand him and he's not really an unlikeable character. And then the next season starts and leaves us with even more questions because we're introduced to Lelouch again but he doesn't have any memory of anything and he now somehow has a younger brother named Rolo. This whole part left me really curious as to what was happening and then it's later revealed that Suzaku actually took Lelouch at the end of the last season to Lelouch's dad named Charles Zi Britannia, who's pretty much the main villain of the whole show, who also has a Geass power and he erased Lelouch's memory and made him forget everything and made him think he was in a fake reality and with fake memories of a brother named Rolo he never had. But then, eventually, C.C and the Black Knights are able to bring his memories back with Rolo as well who also has a Geass that allows him to stop time for a few seconds. But then they get back to work with trying to stop the empire while Lelouch finds out Nunally is with his family and now he wants to save her while she's also planning to recreate the Specially Administrated Zone Of Japan and there's a great moment that comes from this too because Lelouch is able to get himself as Zero exiled from Japan but then he managed to get everyone dressed up as Zero which means they're all exiled and are able to leave however they want. Again, just small things like that that're really clever are what made me like this show a lot. And then we get more Nightmare battles in the next few episodes are the story is progressing and other small things happen too like when Lelouch and the other Black Knights kidnap the Chinese Empress as a hostage. And, there's still a lot of sad or heartbreaking moments her like when a weapon Nina created kills dozens of people or when it looks like Nunally gets killed or when Rolo kills Shirley. And you can tell that this is all pushing Lelouch more and more until it looks like he can't take it anymore and you can really sympathise with him and see where he's going. It's just really great storytelling and it doesn't really let up from there because we get a whole lot more stuff with Kallen getting kidnapped and C.C is revealed to be some girl from somewhere who was unloved and wanted to be loved by people which gave her powers and other things which eventually leads to her previous mind coming back and she's scared of everything again but then her memories of the show come back. I did find that part kinda weird and not very necessary it does serve a bit of a purpose with Lelouch trying to take care of her, but still. But you can also tell Lelouch is being pushed towards almost becoming a villain himself with him going through so much and eventually this leads to him confronting Charles and finding out the truth, especially about his mother who he thought was dead but was actually in the body of a girl. I didn't see that coming at all and there's just a whole bunch of revelations happening at this point but eventually, Lelouch is able to kill both his parents who were planning to rule everything. But then, to make things worse, one of Lelouch's brothers reveals his identity as Zero to all the Black Knights and convinces them that they're all under Lelouch's Geass. And this is all leading to something. I like how you can tell something is clearly being planned by someone but you don't know what's gonna happen. I also like how even at this point, the characters still use really clever schemes like there's a point where Lelouch is able to use his Geass on one of his brothers and just the way he does it is super clever. But Lelouch then sorta makes it look like he's gonna be like his dad and be a ruthless leader and takes his place with now fighting against the Black Knights and learning Nunally is still alive. And the eventual ending is sad too where Lelouch makes it look like he's gonna take the Black Knights to be executed but then he has Suzaku agree to dress up as Zero and kill him in front of everyone as a way to unite the world against a single enemy and then free the world. It's pretty sad seeing him sacrifice himself like this with everyone thinking he's still a bad guy. Though I guess it is nice at least when Nunally finds out what he was trying to do and understands him. And I think Kallen does as well. I'm not sure if that's confirmed, but I think she does. But, yeah, overall, this is really fantastic way to end the series. And, as a whole, this was a really, really fantastic show all around. I originally started watching this series back in 2018 but it didn't interest me all that much, but I decided to try it again a few months ago and I'm so glad I did because this was just a really great series overall. It might actually be one of my favourite anime's now. It just has so much good stuff in it, the characters are very complex and interesting, the plot moves at a great pace with fantastic twists in it along with some really heart wrenching scenes and its action scenes are incredibly well animated. Speaking of which, the animation as well is absolutely gorgeous. This was done by Studio Sunrise and they did a great job with this. I will say, sometimes the way the characters themselves move does look a little strange, but it's still really unique and it's not distracting in any way. The dubbing is also absolutely incredible, especially Johnny Yong Bosh as Lelouch himself. I mean, when you get Johnny Yong Bosh in an anime, you know you're gonna get a fantastic performance and he does do an amazing job here. And the rest are great to like Yuri Lowenthal as Suzaku and Karen Strassman as Kallen. I did have a couple of problems in this like there are some episodes could be considered filler and there are some plot points that feel like they could be removed and the story wouldn't feel like it would change much at all. But none of that is a detriment to the quality of the show. It's still really compelling and keeps you invested in its story. But, yeah, overall, I'm super glad I watched this series and I hope to watch it again soon. So, yeah, I highly recommend checking this out. It's a really fantastic series and it's also a great series to binge watch. So, yeah, everyone, that's my review for Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.
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