Code Geass


Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, often referred to as simply Code Geass, is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp. It follows the exiled prince Lelouch Lamperouge, who obtains the "power of absolute obedience" from a mysterious woman named C.C.. Using this supernatural power, known as Geass, he leads a rebellion against the rule of the authoritarian Holy Britannian Empire, commanding a series of mecha battles.
Code Geass was broadcast in Japan on MBS from October 2006 to July 2007. Its sequel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, ran as a simulcast on MBS and TBS from April to September 2008. The series has also been adapted into various manga and light novels.
Initiation, Transgression, and Glorification, a three-part compilation film recapping the events of both anime series' seasons, was released between 2017 and 2018. A new original film titled Code Geass Lelouch of the Re;surrection, taking place after the Zero Requiem, was released in theaters in February 2019. Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture, was announced in December 2020 as part of a 10-year plan. On 7 December 2024, after the screening of Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture, series producer Taniguchi revealed that multiple sequels are being produced.
Bandai Entertainment licensed most parts of the franchise for English release in December 2007, airing the series English-dubbed on Adult Swim in the United States. Most manga and light novels have also been published in North America by Bandai.
Code Geass has been well received in Japan, selling over a million DVD and Blu-ray discs. Both seasons have won several awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, the Animage Anime Grand Prix, and the Animation Kobe event. The series received critical acclaim for its story, voice acting, large audience appeal, the conflicts among its main characters, and the moral questions it presented. It is considered to be one of the best anime series of all time.

Synopsis

Setting

The world is divided into three superpowers : the Holy Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation, and the Europa United. The story takes place after the Holy Britannian Empire's conquest of Japan on August 10, 2010, a.t.b., by means of Britannia's newest weapon, the "Autonomous Armored Knight," or "Knightmare Frame." In turn, Britannia effectively strips Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renames the country Area 11, with its citizens referred to as Elevens.
The point of divergence for this timeline appears to be that during the reign of Elizabeth I, though the queen remained unmarried and bore a son. However, several alternative timelines exist in the Code Geass universe, and the point of divergence may differ between each. The most common point of divergence in all timelines is in the Code Geass universe, with Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain between 55 and 54 BC ending in failure when the British Celts united under Alwin the First. They forced the Romans out and established the First United British Kingdom in 54 BC, which became the first year of the Britannian Calendar. While other Roman invasions had been followed, by 43 a.t.b. Britannia was recognized as an independent kingdom by the Roman Empire. As such, while many events in the Code Geass universe share similar dates with actual history, in truth they take place about half a century earlier. Almost all timelines share a version of the Geass Order/Cult/Directorate, an organization that controls and uses Geass users and abilities and which is heavily involved with the Britannian Imperial Family.

Plot

is an exiled Britannian prince, the son of Emperor Charles zi Britannia and his royal consort Marianne vi Britannia. Lelouch has a younger sister, Nunnally vi Britannia. Marianne was brutally murdered in the palace, and Nunnally, who witnessed the murder of their mother, was so traumatized that she lost her sight, and stray bullets to her lower body took away her ability to walk. Lelouch is furious with his father, believing he failed his mother and sister by turning a blind eye to their mother's death and failing to pursue their mother's killer.
Lelouch and Nunnally are sent as political pawns to Japan to lull the Japanese government into a false sense of security. After the siblings are sent to Japan, Japan is attacked and defeated by Britannia. With the ruins of Japan as a background, Lelouch vows to his Japanese friend Suzaku Kururugi that he will one day obliterate Britannia as an act of vengeance against his father.
Seven years later, Lelouch, now under the alias of Lelouch Lamperouge, is a popular yet withdrawn student at Ashford Academy. Lelouch becomes involved in a terrorist attack and finds a mysterious girl known only as C.C., who saves Lelouch's life from the Britannian Royal Guard by making a contract with him and granting Lelouch a power known as Geass. This power, also known as the "Power of Kings", allows him to command anyone to do whatever he wants, including bending their will to live, fight, or die for him. This power can affect an individual just once and only through direct eye contact. Lelouch decides to use his Geass to find his mother's murderers, destroy the Britannian Empire, and create a better world where Nunnally can live happily. In the process, Lelouch becomes Zero, a masked vigilante and the leader of the resistance group known as the Black Knights in the rebellion against Britannia's tyranny, gaining popularity and support among much of the Japanese. However, this comes with a great cost; caught up in a conflict where he does not know the full extent of his powers, Lelouch navigates various conflicts with Suzaku, a resistance member named Kallen Stadtfeld, the incredibly powerful Britannian army, his own half-siblings, and many others in a battle that will forever change the world.

Production

Code Geass began as a concept developed at Sunrise by Ichirō Ōkouchi and Gorō Taniguchi, who proposed it to producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi. Kawaguchi had previously approached Okouchi and Taniguchi during the production of Planetes. The basic idea for the plot consisted of a "hero" who led a secret organization, which later developed into a conflict between two characters with different values and who belonged to the same military unit, who eventually became Lelouch Lamperouge and Suzaku Kururugi.
During these initial planning stages, Kawaguchi also contacted the noted manga artist group Clamp. This was the first time Clamp had ever been requested to design the characters of an anime series. Clamp signed onto the project early during these development stages and provided numerous ideas, which helped develop the series' setting and characters.
While developing the character designs for Lelouch, the protagonist of the series, Clamp originally designed his hair color to be white. Ageha Ohkawa, head writer at Clamp, said she had visualized him as a character to which "everyone" could relate as being "cool," and literally, a "beauty." During these planning stages, Clamp and the Sunrise staff discussed a number of possible inspirations for the characters, including KinKi Kids and Tackey & Tsubasa. They had wanted to create a "hit show," a series that would appeal to "everyone." Lelouch's alter ego, Zero, was one of the earliest developed characters, with Ōkouchi having wanted a mask to be included as a part of the series, feeling it was necessary for it to be a Sunrise show, and Clamp wanting a unique design never prior seen in any Sunrise series.
The concept for the Geass may have been inspired by the Irish and Welsh legends of "Geas" or "Geis." A geas is a compulsion laid on someone to do or not do something. While the geas itself does not lie on any spectrum, the benefits or actions of it may be decidedly benevolent or malevolent. The concept fits into the wider fictional world of the series and its lore of British inspirations.
Clamp's finalized original character design art, illustrated by its lead artist Mokona, was subsequently converted into animation character designs for the series by Sunrise's character designer Takahiro Kimura, who had previously spent "every day" analyzing Clamp's art and style from their art books and manga series. In working on the animation character designs, he focused on designing them so as to enable the series' other animators to apply them without deviating from Clamp's original art style.
The music for the series was composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa and Hitomi Kuroishi, who had earlier worked with the series' core staff in Planetes and Taniguchi's earlier work, Gun X Sword. In addition to the incidental music featured in each episode, Kuroishi also composed numerous insert songs for the series, including "Stories," "Masquerade," "Alone," and "Innocent Days," which were each performed by Kuroishi herself, while "Picaresque" and "Callin'" were performed by the singer-songwriter Mikio Sakai, who had also earlier worked with Nakagawa and Kuroishi in Planetes. The bands FLOW, Ali Project, Jinn, SunSet Swish, Access, and Orange Range provided songs for the opening and ending sequences in the original broadcast.
When the series was being developed for broadcast on MBS TV, it had been given the network's Sunday evening prime time slot, which was later changed to a Thursday late-night time slot. Due to this change, the overall outlook and some elements of the series were changed and further developed to suit the more mature, late-night audience. The supernatural "Geass" ability finally came into the show at this point and was first conceived as a special power granted by an "angel" to the main character, though this last part was also modified.