Since the demise of the man believed to be Britannia's most wicked emperor one year ago, the world has enjoyed an unprecedented peace under the guidance of the United Federation of Nations. However, this fragile calm is shattered when armed militants successfully kidnap former princess Nunnally vi Britannia and Suzaku Kururugi, the chief advisor of the Black Knights, sparking an international crisis.
The powerful and untrustworthy Kingdom of Zilkhstan is accused of orchestrating their capture. To investigate, world authorities send Kallen Stadtfeld and her associates on a covert operation into the country. There, they encounter the immortal witch C.C., who is on a mission to complete the resurrection of the man responsible for the greatest revolution in history—a legend who will rise up, take command, and save the world from peril once again.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
GolbeztheGreat
More than anything else, this is a movie for those who want to see the Code Geass cast again. As long as you have limited expectations and are willing to adapt to the changes in format, presentation and characterization, the movie may reward you with a good time If you're not a fan, this will do little for you. If you want everything to be the same as before, results will be mixed. And, if you're a shipper, this movie might either warm your heart a little or send you into a spiral of depression and denial. Before analyzing the film, let’s take a step back.Was Code Geass a masterpiece or a train wreck? Perhaps both or something in between? Even at this late point, over ten years after the dramatic conclusion of Code Geass R2 that sent waves of emotion and memes across the Internet, the lasting popularity of the show among contemporary anime viewers is an unquestionable fact but history, which remains beyond all of our fleeting emotions, has still not reached a final verdict on its quality.
For the sake of transparency, it must be pointed out that this new movie, Lelouch of the Resurrection, does not pretend to be a direct sequel to the Code Geass R2 television series. On the contrary, it has been publicly described by director Goro Taniguchi, writer Ichiro Okouchi and other Sunrise staff members as a canonically separate product existing within its own alternate universe. What does that mean? The story of Lelouch of the Resurrection is a parallel one. It is an alternate continuation, one which follows the three recent compilation movies that introduced a set of more or less significant changes to the original story.
Keeping that in mind, this new movie presents a variation of the original Code Geass phenomenon. It may not be as structurally compromised as the second season, thankfully, but the film still seems likely to produce a high degree of controversy and polarization for completely distinct reasons. This time, the fans will have to decide whether they can accept that a shorter running time inevitably leads to reduced expectations of complexity. While never a profoundly sophisticated anime, there is going to be an objective limitation in narrative scope, introspection and thematic depth when the staff is asked to tell a new Code Geass story within no more than two hours.
Can this movie be worth watching in the eyes of most Code Geass fans? I believe so, yes. There are more than enough moments of raw theatricality, improved cinematography, character highlights, thrilling mecha action sequences, impressive animation, excellent sound composition, nods to audience favorites and appeals to nostalgia within Lelouch of the Resurrection. Furthermore, the film does live up to its own subtitle, which is usually taken for granted yet always good to confirm. Whether each of us was looking forward to it or not, the truth is that Lelouch has come back.
Nevertheless, Resurrection also presents both Lelouch and us with a quiet yet relevant challenge. Time has passed and the world has moved on. As such, the film provides somewhat different interpretations of beloved characters that may not necessarily react as we expected. In that sense, fans will have to question their own preconceived notions and memories of those familiar faces they had once embraced more than a decade ago and contrast them with the reality of these fictional individuals who are now living under a variety of different circumstances.
STORY: 7/10
Above all, it is an essentially traditional premise, based on tracking the return of a legendary hero who will then bring the cast together for the sake of carrying out a rescue mission. That simple framework is fully compatible with the Code Geass brand. For the intended purpose of providing entertainment value, the story does a more than serviceable job and hits all the minimum notes. As events develop, initial success brings forth more complications and the enemy responds, which in turn requires the use of additional counters. Fanservice for all genders is present, perhaps not in excess by the standards of currently popular anime but also not at the level of scarcity seen in more distinguished productions. Code Geass always tries to have something for everyone, or at least that's the impression a lot of us have received.
When considering the story of Lelouch of the Resurrection from a purely critical perspective though, it doesn't manage to consistently impress. Code Geass never did have strong writing form, so those expectations must already be held in check, but in a way the apparent simplification of the story beats actually makes for a more comfortable viewing. We are not following a particularly complicated web of intrigue, no, but witnessing an extra adventure within the status quo of a world that is mostly at peace as a direct result of Lelouch's final grand plan: the Zero Requiem.
There is a fair degree of amusement though, in the knowledge that the titular protagonist is initially indisposed, so to speak, for a reasonable chunk of the movie. That allows other characters to take action early on. What's more, the story also gives us a few short opportunities to see the metaphysical side of Code Geass in a way that had not been possible during the original television broadcast, presumably due to the budget limitations of a seasonal production.
As previously mentioned, the plot itself is rather straightforward with only a handful of genuine surprises. If you seek a barrage of plot twists, that is not exactly the case here. Overall, I would say there are no more than two of them. Both the running time and, likewise, the large cast size are harsh mistresses indeed. To be clear, key characterization sequences are still present yet often abbreviated. Small but arguably telling details in the dialogue or in the facial expressions of the characters may be missed if you happen to blink at the wrong time or lose concentration. A number of topics are only addressed in a brief, implicit or indirect manner, which may cause certain viewers to feel confused or annoyed. This being Code Geass, after all, means that most folks are going to look for a grand spectacle instead of nuance, but it is worth noting how exactly that translates to a movie format.
In that respect, the underlying structure of this new film works much better when digested as a Code Geass anniversary project or cast reunion special, rather than taken as an absolutely necessary part of the storyline. I believe those who are prepared to cherish it as such may, at the end of the line, find most of the experience to be a welcome one. Others, sadly, will not be so lucky.
Fortunately, I believe there are a number of secondary paths available for those who wish to alleviate such concerns with an open mind. While the tapestry is indeed far less complex than before, that doesn't mean there is no room for any thematic analysis. It may be obscured or simplified, at first glance, but the elements for that exercise are still there. For instance, the main antagonists do have less screen time and layers than others we have seen before. Yet, all the same, there is a point being made there. Why, pray tell, are the High Priestess and the King of this new enemy nation so...familiar to another pair of Code Geass siblings? Rather than qualifying this as nothing more than a lack of creativity, I believe it is entirely intentional and is purposely showing us the inherent risks of an excessive reliance on brotherly or sisterly love as motivation.
See, amidst all the posturing and bombast, one question that Lelouch of the Resurrection does quietly ask is whether there is still room for a newly resurrected Lelouch in the world of Code Geass. Which is a topic that, to say the least, also has implications for the future of the property as a whole. Even when Lelouch comes back, to the joy of many characters and the audience, he is no longer a factor for rebellion and instability, at the global or strategic level, even though he may still bring fabulous chaos to the battlefield on the tactical level. One way or another, the world has moved on. This isn't a fight against, say, a remnant of Britannia or a personal vendetta against the royal family. That's all in the past, so it is natural to see the situation through other lens.
To reiterate the above, I do not deny the finer points of this state of affairs are often left up to the viewer to piece together because they are only occasionally voiced by the cast in an explicit manner. That is a valid line of criticism. Yes, I absolutely wish this movie had been a full television season in order to slow down the proceedings and carefully portray the emotional conflict at hand in great detail, scene by scene, episode by episode. That is why this movie cannot possibly be entirely satisfactory in this regard.
Nevertheless, at least some unspoken questions and unspoken answers can still be communicated to the audience with other forms of expression as well as in retrospect. I do not believe the Resurrection movie ignores every underlying issue at the back of the fan's mind, such as what Zero Requiem meant for the world and for Lelouch. We do not witness an extended debate or exposition dump about it, no, but that does not mean the characters have ignored the consequences of it. When the film is taken as a whole and carefully dissected, a few of the relevant implications can be reconstructed and brought into the light.
In other words, my thematic reading is that at least a portion of the spirit of Zero Requiem has been disseminated throughout the film and fuels the initial reactions of various characters, particularly at the beginning of the movie as well as, to an extent, around the mid-point of the film and right at the end. The explicit absence of related terminology from the dialogue does not mean it doesn’t inform the situation. Perhaps more importantly, subject to the viewer's own interpretation of the movie narrative, I believe that Lelouch's choices at the conclusion of Resurrection implicitly yet undeniably represent, beyond any other immediate trigger or whimsical timing, an acceptable answer to what role he sees for himself in this new alternate version of Code Geass and what would be the best way to move forward.
Whether my summarized arguments happen to convince you or not, the simple fact that I am able to make them in the first place should be a sign that no, you do not necessarily have to turn off your brain or view everything cynically in order to watch this movie. Not more than when it comes to discussing the original Code Geass, in all honesty, with its variable amounts of realism, insanity and campiness.
I do have a warning for those who may wish to solve the once infamous mystery of the cart driver, red herring or not. They will soon find that, technically speaking, this new theatrical feature is not providing an answer to their question. Instead, Resurrection is simply showing us another route that the story of Code Geass could have taken, in an alternate world, but it is not meant to be interpreted as an obligatory sequel. The viewer is still free to believe the original series is complete and didn't lead to the events of Resurrection. As you can imagine, some have chosen to do just that.
Quite sincerely, I do not hesitate to acknowledge that there is always the option of leaving this movie to the side and choosing to remember Code Geass, with all of its highs and lows, as having already ended back in the year 2008. The march of time may not have been stopped in real life, nor within the boundaries of the entirely fictional World of C, but time can still remain frozen inside the hearts of the select groups of viewers, if that is what they unquestionably prefer.
CHARACTERS: 7/10
As previously stated, knowing there have been vocal fan reactions to Lelouch of the Resurrection, the portrayal of the main characters is a decisive factor in terms of determining how much of the movie can work for each individual person in the audience. Some will find any noticeable changes or unfulfilled expectations to be a source of intolerable inconsistency, while others can find ways to be at relative peace with the character portrayals found here. As I will now proceed to explain by focusing on the main characters of this motion picture, I happen to belong to this second group.
Once Lelouch has been fully reintroduced to the audience, he displays several of the same characteristics as a magnificent bastard, albeit on a more limited scale, which is a welcome sight. What does qualify as worrying, to a degree, is that he might feel detached or even aloof at points. His reactions can come across as muted. Lelouch isn't entirely lacking in emotion and charisma, yet the man is no longer thirsty for revenge or redemption. That fire isn’t burning anymore. After all, the conclusion of the previous storyline had extinguished it in grand fashion.
Quite bluntly, Lelouch has already gone through an entire character development arc in the original TV series as well as in the new compilation movies that adapted the same basic plotline and set the stage for this story. We are not here to see him face such challenges again, nor is the story about renegotiating the terms of the Zero Requiem. This new film is no more than an extended addendum, appendix or epilogue to the same, rather than an attempt to portray a second character arc of equal impact, length or complexity. Simply put, there is no time for rediscovering the wheel during this adventure.
Similarly, there are very few among those Lelouch encounters during Resurrection who haven’t decided to move on and accept that the world is in fact a better place now thanks to him. This had been established before in previous Code Geass materials, including the last scenes of both the new compilations and the TV series. As things stand, Lelouch’s return is not a source of great controversy to the majority of the returning cast. There are doubts expressed, but only briefly. With a longer running time, rather than a single movie, it would have been interesting to explore that tension in greater detail rather than through a mere handful of objections.
It might be obvious as a result of the title and what a number of fans used to speculate back in the day, but the movie makes this much quite explicit: Lelouch's own status is no longer that of a regular person. With that in mind, the fact he isn’t quite the same starts to make sense. Lelouch even dares to make an unusual choice during the final scenes of the movie in a manner that is rather telling. After all, this is not the same Lelouch who rebelled against Britannia. Too much has already happened since then and Lelouch is, in a way, merely witnessing the world that he once left behind. Therefore, the conclusion of the movie retroactively puts his new behavior in context by giving us the general idea of what could be Lelouch's remaining goals and, upon closer inspection, why he cannot go back to the ways of old.
Curiously enough, this is a Lelouch who, based on certain fleeting lines of dialogue, is aware of the initial events of this movie even if he doesn't sit down to discuss them. Once again, the lack of a profound exploration of his humanity can be tangibly felt and is sure to alienate a portion of the public. Even so, I find that this change is both intentional and entirely warranted in the context of the new status quo. For me, it is neither irrational nor incompatible with the resulting fallout from his previous characterization.
On that specific note, Suzaku Kururugi finds himself in quite a literal and figurative bind during this film. In this, he is also likely joined by several of his out-of-universe supporters. He was half of the emotional and melodramatic engine that drove the original Code Geass, as a result of his many contradictions that could often polarize the audience as well as make up part of his appeal, but at the end of the story he had reached a landmark state by becoming the heir to Zero. That was in fact, the outcome of his development as a character after the rollercoaster of Code Geass R2.
This movie does, to a certain extent, depict how Suzaku is taking his new life. What is sure to cause controversy is the fact that Suzaku clearly isn’t the focus point. He has become merely an important member of the secondary cast, rather than returning to his earlier standing as would-be deuteragonist. After all, Lelouch of the Resurrection is neither a story of revolution against the system nor a conflict over using the right methods, so Suzaku can no longer be expected to serve as a foil to Lelouch. That chapter is, at least for the time being, closed.
Even then, the staff did not forget the nature of their chemistry and interactions. Suzaku's conflicting emotional response upon meeting Lelouch would be senseless if he did not remember and value their mutual dynamic. But surely, even Suzaku himself is not the same man anymore. How could he possibly be? Suzaku begins this movie by being defeated, as shown in the official trailers and the plot synopsis that is publicly available. That would shake anyone's self-confidence, especially facing the prospect of meeting the original Zero again. Under those conditions, Suzaku has the right to consider if he was in fact the right person for the job. Nonetheless, I do not interpret this as an abandonment of duty on his part. I think it’s a very human reaction. While the sequence in question is longer than that dedicated to other reunions, which reflects that the staff recognizes his relevance, it is still not enough to exhaust all the questions left in the air. Still, we do get to see a proper glimpse of what worries Suzaku now and what he thinks about Lelouch after all this time. As much as I might desire a less abbreviated and much more elaborate handling of the subject matter, given its more prominent portrayal back in the original show, I am of the opinion that it is not impossible to reconcile and rationalize what has happened here.
Conversely, the character known as C.C. ended up playing a more high profile role during Lelouch of the Resurrection than initially expected. For about half of the movie, it would not be an exaggeration to consider her as the co-protagonist. We are able to see a number of events from her perspective. That’s unusual for the property and, in my opinion, a refreshing change of pace. In a way, I almost wish the entire movie had chosen to keep that framing and take its time to fully explain the details, but I can still appreciate what we got.
Moreover, C.C. also represents another dividing line between the characters as seen in the Lelouch of the Rebellion storyline and those who are present in this film. She is not in the same situation, so her interactions with the rest of the cast have changed. Undoubtedly, that is bound to trigger some disbelief, misunderstandings and disappointments.
At the end of the original TV series, it would appear that, one way or another, C.C. had come to terms with her immortal life and was able to move on by living in the new world that Lelouch had created. Make of that what you will. However, that outcome was changed in both subtle and blatant ways due to the three recent compilation movies. In short, during the recap films C.C. was not satisfied by Lelouch’s last decision and felt that neither her own wish nor Lelouch’s promise to her had been fulfilled. That was directly expressed in the last scene of the final compilation.
Therefore, without Lelouch, what would she do? As it turns out, this new story confirms C.C. was willing to take action for herself. Looking back, you could argue that C.C. was more comfortable around Lelouch than with any other character. I have always been of the belief that their relationship was beyond something purely romantic and closer to that of equal partners yet, by the same token, also included an element of seeking companionship. This, as expressed by C.C. herself in both the movie and some of its trailers, is undeniably a selfish action. But who are we to judge? Few things are more human than the search for happiness, an egotistical yet entirely natural objective that would be more relevant for an immortal who is tired of simply accumulating experiences. That is a legitimate outlook and, under the circumstances depicted, can in fact override other aspects of an individual’s personality.
If we take a step back, there is an inherent contrast between selfishness, arguably represented by C.C. in this case, and selflessness, which is more closely symbolized by Lelouch’s decision at the end of the previous storyline. It is also, in my opinion, represented by the ultimate choice Lelouch makes here. Without going into the concrete details, even C.C. couldn’t predict what would happen. She made a gamble, or rather, two of them. One before the movie even started and, perhaps not entirely consciously, another at the end. As with other aspects of Lelouch of the Resurrection, I am of the subjective point of view that the movie provides us with enough building blocks to make reasonable inferences and deductions, but it doesn’t go ahead and spell out everything that is going on. Especially if you take into consideration what had happened beforehand in this alternate Code Geass universe, rather than only having the world of the TV series in mind.
As a final note, a few words must be said about the rest of the characters. There are several quick cameos or smaller roles that will be appreciated by specific subsets of fans but, sadly, I am afraid the sheer size of the ensemble cast of Code Geass emphasizes the restrictions of the film format as well as the consequences of the type of story the staff has chosen to prioritize.
Even so, I found a few interesting points. I am glad to report that Kallen does play an active part during the story, as a powerful fighter both inside and outside of her mecha, but the instances where she can display her own thoughts and emotions are mainly confined to the early half of the film. Nonetheless, it is worth highlighting that she too, makes note of the fact Lelouch has changed. Amusingly, we also see Kallen team up with Sayoko, the infamous ninja maid, for a while.
Furthermore, I almost didn’t expect to see Cornelia again and yet here she is. Compared to the last time we saw her, I found this to be a return to Cornelia’s better days, both with respect to her personality as well as regarding her direct participation in the action. Her own scene with Lelouch is brief but, logically, one of the more emotionally charged.
Shirley is alive in this alternate universe but does not play a huge role. Ultimately, I would say that the most disappointing scenario involved Nunnally, Lelouch’s younger sister, who once again became more of a plot device than anything else. To be fair, she does get at least one big emotional scene that was properly acted and interestingly set up, especially for those who may share a few elements of my previously sketched interpretation of the movie, but her presence was largely lacking.
ART AND ANIMATION: 9/10
The character designs remain, as expected, a striking combination of CLAMP's original drafts and Takahiro Kimura's adaptations for the purpose of animation. If you were fine with all the noodle figures before or even found them pleasing to the eye, you are probably going to feel the same this time around. If not, then I can only wonder why you haven't run away in disgust or laughing like a maniac.
Mechanical designs are another point of interest. The new mecha are, by and large, different enough from what we had seen before but not out of place. Variations on old models, such as the Guren and Lancelot in their latest versions, might be slightly more divisive.
On that note, Lelouch of the Resurrection combines the use of 2D and 3D mecha assets when it comes to portraying the numerous robot battles. I wasn't a fan of this approach, on paper, yet in practice it turned out to be a nice way to appeal to nostalgia as well as open the door to another possible way of expression. Still, I would say Akito the Exiled remains ahead of the 3DCG game in strictly technical terms.
The movie looks wonderful as a work of animation and storyboarding. Compared to the original TV series, the quality of background scenery and character motion has absolutely increased. Not universally, but enough to deserve genuine praise. This is what a Code Geass movie should, by all rights, look like.
SOUND: 8/10
As expected, the sound department is back and mostly in good shape too. Kotaro Nakawaga brings his signature style of instrumental and orchestral composition as well as a small number of more bold tracks and a few familiar pieces which, I can say without hesitation, will contribute to make the majority of Code Geass fans feel right at home in terms of the audio presentation.
Those familiar with ALI PROJECT might want to know there is one of their songs on the soundtrack. I've always found them to be an acquired taste, so I won't really comment on their effectiveness. Unfortunately, FLOW did not participate. Besides that, the OP and ED themes are entirely appropriate for the purposes of the film, particularly if you can look up the translated lyrics and then put them in context.
ENJOYMENT: 8/10
For those who would say the secret to enjoying Code Geass is to sit back and grab a bag of popcorn, this movie definitely delivers. It has that same type of blockbuster appeal.
I don't deny that form of enjoyment. It's always been a part of my experience but I am more inclined to engage in a combination of stances. Don't take seriously what doesn't need to be, because one has to just go with the flow of certain scenes, but be prepared to analyze and think about whatever can be dissected.
Lelouch of the Resurrection didn't provide me with as much ammunition as the original TV show, so I had to recalibrate my expectations. This wasn't possible right after watching the movie just once, which was mostly a visceral experience, so I had to go back and rewatch as well as look up more information and make up my mind about whether the overall package was deserving of my investment. In the end, I think I've come up with a good method. Am I asking everyone to do that? No, just charting out a possible path for interpretation.
If you want to know the temperature in the room, so to speak, the movie has been mostly well-received in Japan. I suspect that's because most fans are willing to play ball with the idea of the film being a celebration of Code Geass that, while perhaps gratuitous and unnecessary, does have some of the energy and feel of the original. Whether it lacks the soul or not, of course, is an entirely different matter. Almost no popular work of fiction is made entirely out of love for the art form. Did Code Geass have a soul to lose? Some would immediately say no. I'd beg to differ, but my short answer is that it is in a transitional state and the future of the property will be what gives us the last word on that.
There are, however, various segments of the fan population who have either ignored or sworn off Lelouch of the Resurrection. Let them do so in peace. You can please some people all of the time, but you can only please all people some of the time. There is no escaping that. Code Geass has been a very good example of what happens when such a rule is taken to the extremes and Lelouch of the Resurrection is once again proving that.
pearlesscucumber
[Spoiler Warning] I write this review as a die-hard (male) fan of Code Geass. It was ten years ago when I saw Lelouch of the Rebellion and the degree of plot complexity and rich characterisation was beyond anything I have seen in anime as a teenager. In a certain sense, that anime series helped to shape my anime tastes for the next decade, among other anime classics such as Madoka, Cowboy Behop and Neon Genesis Evangelion. But is it worth it? Well, there are redeeming points to make about the movie. - the animation is smooth, well-detailed and its nice to see Code Geass so beautifully rendered onthe big screen compared to the animation standards 10 years ago.
-The fighting sequences were just as tight and well choreographed as it were in the anime series.
But the answer is no. The movie is a huge slap in the face especially for diehard fans because it disregards the winning formula for what makes Code Geass so brilliant in the first place. A) Lelouch was such an iconic character in anime for good reason, because there is such intelligence in the way he’s being portrayed. In this movie however, his characterisation is reduced to a 2 dimension caricature of who he used to be. Given the enormity of what he went through in season 2 where he decided to DIE for all his actions, in this movie, he doesn’t even seem to CARE why he was brought back – and his return was brought back with a certain degree with indifference. Given the emotional charged nature of his death in season 2 which is the culmination of all his actions and manipulations and lies, Lelouch have always mentioned that he knew he would have to pay the price for all of his actions, hence his famous philosophy in season 1 episode 1 “Those who may shoot are those who may get shot themselves.” The indifferent nature that Lelouch is portrayed with regards to his resurrection negates the emotional investment and cathartic nature that the whole of season 2 has been building up to.The significance of Zero Requiem in second season doesn’t seem to matter, his complex love-hate relationship with Suzaku and other characters are neglected, it’s almost as though this movie centers entirely around the mission in which Lelouch is resurrected to without exploring his motivations, his history, and how he reconciles his death in season 2 with his resurrection in this current reality. As such it’s hard to take seriously that this paper-thin characterisation of Lelouch could actually be the same character as the ones we see in Season 2.
B) One of the most enjoyable points of the Code Geass anime series were the cat-and-mouse games that Lelouch plays with his opponents. Lelouch is such an amazing chessmaster that even as the audience, you cannot see where the plot is moving towards and it’s also gag-worthy when his opponents are competent enough to turn the tables on him. In this movie, I was surprised at the utter laziness of the writing as there were none of those twists and turns that were so brilliantly crafted in the anime series. Instead, Lelouch’s Geass was used as a device that could power through most of the problems faced in the movie. If one only watches the movie and not the series, it would be difficult to see that Lelouch was an intelligent manipulator and mastermind as established in the anime series.
C) The ending is also particularly canon-defying in so many ways. I am not going to spoil any major details, but after the problem was resolved, Lelouch basically makes an arbitrary decision to spend the rest of his life with one person. Which is very weird because firstly, Lelouch in the anime series comes across as the guy that had multiple romantic interests, but he was not interested in pursuing any of these because his main motivation was in destroying Britannia and in saving his sister. The renouncement of his romantic desire for the higher good is in one sense one of the ways which established him as such an iconic anti-hero in the first place. Secondly, the ambiguity of his romantic interests is also why there is a proliferation of various fanbases shipping him with different characters: C2, Kallen, Shirley, Suzaku etc. Given that this was a 2 hr movie and that most of the movie lies in establishing the setting, introducing the problem and new cast, reintroducing Lelouch and henceafter, the resolution of the problem, Lelouch makes a last minute decision to spend the rest of his life with one character, without any rationalisation whatsoever. I remembered asking my friend at this point if I missed any romantic subtext that existed throughout the movie that could explain why Lelouch would make such a well… life-changing decision and the answer is no. It’s basically as coherent if I asked the person sitting next to me in the theatre if they would like to marry me after this. The infuriating thing is that even after a canon-romantic interest is established in the movie, Sunrise continues to release merchandise within the next few days with Lelouch and other characters in postures and positions that suggested a romantic/erotic subtext. It’s as though they wish to exploit the fanbases of all their money, at the risk of disregarding what was even established in the movie. It also cheapens all the relationships that the fandoms are invested in.
Basically, this movie is heartbreaking as it details the utter decline of Sunrise as a respectable anime-production company. Which is actually not surprising because – well look at the Akito movies. The anime series ended perfectly – there was no reason to bring back Lelouch and bringing him back weakens the anime series – it’s like if Shakespare brought back King Lear or Othello; it cuts the cathartic element of the original series. To make it worse, Lelouch is brought back as a shadow of his former self with none of the rich complexities in terms of his characterisation or plot. It is sad that this movie has the depth and richness of a fandisk OVA, rather than a proper follow up to what is arguably one of the best anime series created.
CodeBlazeFate
*spoilers for Code Geass R2 and Geass Movie 3, and minor spoilers for this movie* And there I was, terrified. “There’s no way this could work,” I said knowing of Zero’s past oversights and inability to come up with decent contingencies and rewrites. I’ve witnessed imbeciles foolishly latch themselves onto his name and provide nothing of value, unless you count unnecessary complications as valuable. I’ve seen him redo ideas to mixed results, and tamper with the inexplicable. As the moment of truth came, I cast my fears aside and prayed for a miracle, as a fellow Black Knight. Somehow, we made it, if not in one piece.Zero is the miracle worker, after all.
Revival sequels are a strange gamble. Often without the vision of the original team, these titles are put up against nostalgia. They’re confined by the rules and possible mistakes of their predecessors, as well as the expectations of those who cling to them. When looking at the likes of Diebuster or FLCL Progressive for example, I see nothing but mockeries of their predecessors and misunderstandings of what made them popular to begin with. Even the better examples I’ve seen such as the 2018 Halloween sequel and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are still decent at best, therefore still incapable of stacking up to their predecessors. When you consider the legacy of Code Geass, how monumental the series finale was, and how messy its second season was, it’s hard to see this film justifying its own existence, let alone living up to either season. While this film never entirely succeeds at either, the fact that it doesn’t fail miserably is a miracle in itself.
There are a few aspects of the film’s narrative that I must praise. For one, they finally tried explaining C’s world instead of leaving it as a convoluted nonentity connected to a bunch of disparate, inexplicable aspects of Geass such as the Thought Elevator and how most of the new Geass powers are tied to the insecurities of the characters that wield them. It makes just enough sense for me to not question everything about it. The way they use this to justify Lelouch not being dead mostly adds up when you consider what happened in R2. The revival aspect was the main thing this movie needed to justify, and it did so while fleshing out something that both demanded scrutiny and damaged Geass R2 so heavily.
The subsequent reunion scenes were generally solid, touching on the baggage most of the characters had with Lelouch in ways perfectly befitting most of these characters, even if the way they handled the major reunion and Lelouch’s character in the first leg of the film was questionable. Despite that and how the characters tend to stand around and talk instead of shoot, the film’s narrative is relatively functional. Most of the film’s setpieces work well, and every scene that touches on the former student council and most of the characters not heavily involved in the plot was handled in sweet and satisfying ways. It has a surprisingly decent final climax, and an incredibly interesting mental and supernatural chess match between Lelouch and the film’s gorgeous main antagonist, Princess Shamna. On the surface, the film’s plot is serviceable.
That said, it wouldn’t be a Geass narrative if it wasn’t a mess, and it all revolves around the antagonists and their nation. The kingdom of Zilkhstan apparently suffered as a result of the Zero Requiem, which was meant to help restore peace and unify the world. They’re a war-torn country who was so powerful they once took down a Britannian army twice its size, and the pair of main antagonists, Shanma and Shalio, want to restore it to its former glory using C’s world. There are three major problems that destroy this entire thing. First off, where were they during the main series? They didn’t even try to justify the nation’s lack of involvement given their supposed strength and how their specific powers would have thrown everything out of whack for all warring nations in the original series. Given that they fought Britannia once, why did they stop, and when did they fight? Perhaps answering all of this would have been too difficult, and I currently can’t come up with a good one myself, so this seems like a lose-lose situation.
Problem number two: the fact that the kingdom became war-torn following the Zero Requiem defeats the purpose behind the plan. Sure, this follows the film trilogy’s continuity, where the plan was only a step in the right direction towards world peace instead of an automatic win for world peace, but there shouldn’t be any signs of war. In fact, barring the fact that the kingdom started the conflict in the first place, there aren’t any. We don’t see anything resembling a war-torn, broken country. It’s literally just a third-world country. Where’s the chaos? Where are the casualties? Where is anything resembling compelling evidence that this kingdom was brought to ruin post-Zero Requiem? It’s the sole reason behind the villains’ motivations and we don’t see any of it, making us believe that these characters are just power hungry instead of the desperate souls they are. More on why these characters don’t work later, but keep in mind that this is one of the two main reasons the antagonists are less than the sum of their parts, and it’s the final reason the kingdom of Zilkhstan doesn’t work.
*Note: Apparently, the idea of them being war-torn was a change made in the dub, as they were noted to have been a mercenary economy in the subtitled version. While that would ultimately justify why they were impoverished once the Zero Requiem kicked in, it still doesn't make the antagonists of the film any more compelling, as they merely tell the audience that "our kingdom is in ruins so we had to do this" without us actually seeing any kind of economic ruin. We can't get a proper view of their kingdom to help us sympathize with them and the extremes they go to in order to salvage their nation. I have no idea why the dub changed them from impoverished mercenary economy to a war-torn nation as that just makes things worse, but at the same time, it's not like we get to see their kingdom in ruins so it's difficult to care no matter what version you're watching. I just had to point this out after receiving comments from others who have seen the film in the sub format.*
To go back to the film’s positives, let’s look at some of the characters. Lelouch himself, barring the questionable state he was in the beginning, is as charismatic a Char clone as ever. He carries this film, both in terms of personality, and in terms of how they deal with his errors and lasting impacts. He’s taken to task for the emotional turmoil he’s caused, and we’re reminded that underneath the mask of a magnificent bastard, he’s a tortured, petty soul whose ability to handle being forced to rethink his plans is still lacking. Surprisingly, in spite of having no new character arc to follow up his long, arduous, series-spanning character arc, Suzaku stands out as likable, and even consistent. He’s not the hypocritical douche he once was, but he’s every bit as emotional, and his hang-ups regarding Lelouch’s return are some of the most believable in the film given his character.
Sadly, it goes downhill from there for a variety of reasons. Simply put, barring the return of the hilarious, sassy and borderline sociopathic scientist, Lloyd Asplund, the series seems to have run out of charisma for its characters. This is most noticeable with C.C and Jerimiah Gottwald. The former was a sassy, sarcastic, snarky vixen whose banter with Lelouch and his allies made for some of the funniest moments of the show. The latter was a monumental ball of ham across both seasons. Both characters are robbed of these traits, and even though C.C is now more important than ever before, her attachment to Lelouch and the insecurities she would often guard are given infinitely more focus than anything else about her. Sure, some of the banter and antics of the characters kept entirely intact are some of the most charming and entertaining parts of the film, but it feels like they have a hard time writing the personalities of most of the other characters without at least a little bit of strange deviation. Most of the reunion scenes were still great, but a lot of the returning characters that are remotely active in the main plot don’t feel quite right. If nothing else, the student council and scientist characters from the show were kept intact.
The new characters are easily the worst ones in the film. The secondary antagonists are incredibly one-note and leave little in the way of charisma despite how much screen time they take up. The main antagonists, Shamna and Shalio, are their own anomaly. The film tries to make us sympathize with them and see them as broken, desperate individuals rather than bland, badly-written characters, but this fails for two reasons. Firstly, we don’t actually see their kingdom in a horrible, war-torn state. They just tell us that it is and that this drove them to take drastic measures. As a result, we can’t feel for them and how much they claim their people have suffered for them. The second reason they fail is that half of the time, Shamna and Shalio are simply portrayed as a generic, power-hungry ruler without morals, and an angry, bloodthirsty psychopath and cult lunatic. Those portrayals are at odds with one another. As a result, these villains feel like half-baked characters that don’t truly commit to being either kind of antagonist. Even if they’re not the worst main antagonists this franchise has, they’re honestly less than the sum of their parts.
The surreal, mixed bag quality doesn’t stop at the writing, as it impacts the visuals as well. I have one question to start with: why didn’t they use the updated art style of the remake trilogy? That art style was a perfect recapturing of the original, as it provided more detail and polish than ever before. The new style isn’t bad, but it isn’t as good as what was given to us this past year. To be fair, most people likely wouldn’t notice, as it’s still a functional update of the original art style. Still, if they were gonna make it less detailed than in the trilogy, they could have allowed the characters to move more. It’s not badly animated or distractingly limited like in most of the Akito films, but even the original TV shows had more 2D animation than this. That doesn’t mean the artwork isn’t pretty, even though it’s surprisingly inconsistent. However, it’s partially put to waste when the new character designs are a total mixed bag. Some of the redesigns look stellar, but barring Shamna, the new character designs look anywhere from mediocre to just awkward and practically overdesigned.
Another major problem is the CGI, as the sort of Gamecube cel-shaded CG machines look and feel borderline uncanny at the best of times, and horrendous at the worst of times. There’s even more of it than in R2. What’s all the more baffling is that the Akito films actually got this right with the later films, making the mechs look metallic. Why didn’t they opt for that look? It’s not like the mechs have that much movement anyway compared to the TV series. Hell, there’s only one breakdancing mecha action sequence in the film. Speaking of mechs, the new designs are god awful. The clunky, Mobile Armor-esque armors surrounding the iconic Lancelot and Guren units are just ugly, CGI or no. The antagonists’ mechs look ridiculous as well, and one of them is a scorpion mech, which damages the design philosophy of the franchise’s mechs in a way not seen since the spider and horse mechs of Akito back in the first half of this decade. The CGI doesn’t stop there as they decided to make C’s world CGI for most of its scenes, and that was a terrible idea. The production is overall subpar for a film release, and while not the worst the series offers in the visual department, is still not even on the level of the first season back in 2006.
The audio presentation is also a disappointment. Kotaro Nakagawa actually managed to disappoint me with the film’s new compositions, as not a single one of them stands out. None of it is bad, in fact, they’re serviceable. However, given how bombastic and magnificent the OSTs of both seasons of the original were, it’s a massive step down. It makes me glad they decided to reuse some of the original series’ tracks, as they were the most noteworthy pieces in the film. In fact, I wish they used more of them. As for the opening and ending credits tracks, they are also decent tracks, even if they’re not ones I would go out of my way to listen to. I also feel that the dub is weaker than it should have been. Most of the returning female voice actors sound off when you compare their performances here to the TV show. C.C is the most obvious example I can point to. Most of the actors voicing the new characters give subpar performances, with the only exception being Elizabeth Maxwell as Princess Shanma. As for the returning male characters, they’re also a mixed bag. Lloyd, Lelouch, and Suzaku are voiced just as well as they were originally, but the other male characters range from decent to mediocre. Even Crispin Freeman feels underutilized in his reprised role as Jeremiah Gottwald, as his scenes are limited, and he never really gets the chance to go full ham. No one does, in fact, not even Lelouch, who still shines in spite of that. Frankly, it feels like a lot of the returning cast were out of practice and the new actors weren’t up to snuff. That’s the modern dubbing industry for you.
I feel like I’m being harder on this film than I intend to be. In spite of the film’s glaring problems on the writing and audiovisual aspects, and how disappointing certain hallmark aspects of this franchise were here, I had a good time watching this film. I appreciate how they handled the return of one of the most iconic anime characters of all time and how the other characters interacted with him. I loved seeing the character interactions, including some of the interactions of the antagonists. I reveled in Lelouch dawning the mask of Zero and coming up with insane, 4D chess match plans once again. I’m amazed they didn’t entirely fuck up the supernatural elements which seemed impossible to make function. I wasn’t dissatisfied with what I got, even if the writing had glaring issues to fix and the audiovisual presentation wasn’t up to the series’ standards. It’s not even the first time this franchise failed to meet those particular standards thanks to the Akito films. Above all else, this film had to justify its own existence without destroying the monumental ending of R2. Given that it’s set in the continuity of the film trilogy, that makes this task easier than it could have been. The fact that it worked at all is a miracle in and of itself, even if I’m still a little wary of the inevitable installments that this film sets up. All things considered, this was a decent way to revive the series, and that makes me happy.
Written and Edited by: CodeBlazeFate
Proofread by: Peregrine
liujuju
When the hit TV anime "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion" first ended its run 11 years ago, its dramatic finale created a divide in the fandom so deep that it appears to exist even today: half the fandom wanted Lelouch alive, the other half wanted/believed him dead. Whichever camp you are from, however, it was probably difficult not to feel at least a little curious (if not excited) when Sunrise first announced its plans for a continuation. Now, with the recent recap/compilation movie trilogy and this new sequel, "Lelouch of the Re;surrection", Sunrise attempts to reboot its most iconic series from the late 2000s andbreathe new life into the franchise, presenting "another possibility" (in director Taniguchi Goro's own words) with regards to the series' ending and hoping to delight fans with an alternate path and beginning that is offered to Lelouch. And having been a big fan of the original series for 11 years, I was of course interested to see where they would take it.
As a continuation that still relies on the same major plot elements from the TV series to pull its weight, though, "Re;surrection" fails in terms of plot and characterization - and fans hoping for a sequel that at least stays true to the tone of the original series may find themselves sorely disappointed. *Mild and non-detailed spoilers ahead.*
Those who enjoyed the original series ("Rebellion") would be able to agree that two large factors contributed to its overall success across a wide demographic: 1) Plot complexity and 2) Complex and three-dimensional characterization, especially in the case of leads: Lelouch, C.C., and Suzaku. "Re;surrection", however, not only fails to meet the standard of both - but even as an "alternate", ultimately ends up destroying what was crucial and praiseworthy about the series it is based on.
1. Story
Given that this is a two-hour movie, it was probably difficult to fit in any philosophical discussion about politics and ideologies, something which was a driving force behind "Rebellion". While that is fine, and understandable (the world is supposed to be mostly fixed by now, after all), the writers struggle to introduce new stakes to the story that are just as compelling. A new country and a new cast of characters are brought in, but are clearly manufactured as an excuse to bring Lelouch back for one final "mission", since they aren't developed much by the end of the movie and the audience is not given much meat that would help us sympathize with their motivations (if anything, sympathy for Chamna and Chalio is cheap since it relies on evoking the same "oh my younger sibling cannot walk" sentiment that we got with Lelouch and Nunnally). The conflict that arises due to the presence of these new characters also does not provide much room for the twists and turns which made the story of "Rebellion" so enjoyable - indeed, at many points it starts to feel as though Lelouch's Geass is more of a trump card than his brilliance and his scheming. Only one noteworthy "twist" is present, and even then it is already set up such that every member of the audience is already expecting it by the time it happens.
There are also several inconsistencies plotwise, but one in particular stands out, and shockingly so: As a new story that is built entirely on the impact and result of the Zero Requiem, there is a complete and inexplicable failure to address the objective of the Requiem, and how Lelouch's return is in conflict with it. Whether or not you feel that Lelouch is better off dead, any serious and long-time Code Geass fan would be able to acknowledge the impact of this conclusive plot event, as well as the meaning it lent to all of Lelouch's actions throughout the course of the series. And everyone should be able to agree that any continuation which involves Lelouch coming back from the dead must at least acknowledge the fact that it contradicts the atonement that Zero Requiem was supposed to serve as for Lelouch i.e. the reason why Lelouch died in the first place. Whether brief or at length, this conflict needs to be discussed in order to provide some reconciliation, and give meaning to the path that Lelouch will choose for himself now that he is alive once more.
But none of that takes place here. Despite other characters "telling" us in one or two brief lines that Lelouch had fully intended to die, Lelouch himself is not shown to have much of an opinion on the matter, doesn't say anything about it, and appears blase about having been brought back from the dead throughout the entire movie. The Zero Requiem is hardly mentioned, the POINT of Zero Requiem is never discussed, and in fact, nobody in the movie seems to really remember it - not even Suzaku, who clearly demonstrates that he has also forgotten its purpose for himself (explicitly laid out by Lelouch in his death scene and just as explicitly accepted by Suzaku) in one of his conversations with Lelouch. And if Lelouch DOES have any issues with being resurrected against his will or how it goes against what was originally intended via Zero Requiem, they are never brought up.
And while Lelouch's failure to display any misgivings OR any indication of gratitude at being brought back to life is somewhat troubling, what is more unfortunate is the effect that this puzzling refusal to address Zero Requiem has on story elements: 1. the Zero Requiem is reduced to some cheap plot device/excuse for why everyone is now happy to welcome their savior back with open arms without questioning him/questioning whether or not it is right that he should live (Lelouch saved the world and we miss him, let's forgive him for all his crimes!) - making light of the entire reason why Lelouch died in the first place 2. Lelouch is now a typical Mary Sue, loved and helped by all, and even the one character who can be said to initially display SOME resistance is superficially hesitant and won over very quickly.
Which brings us to the next point:
2. Characterization
This suffers most notably in Lelouch's case. As the centerpiece of this new movie, our main character now appears detached, distracted, and lacks the fire that once gave his character charisma and dimension. Where "Rebellion" was either brimming with emotional intensity or the occasional sentimental slice of life moment meant to remind us that Lelouch is also a schoolboy who tries to care for his friends (and sometimes fails) - Lelouch's reunions, reactions to, and interactions with other characters are now mostly brief, superficial and lukewarm - some don't even happen on screen at all. Since the basis for all of this relies so much on the Zero Requiem while the Zero Requiem is simultaneously now The Event That No One Wants To Talk About, Lelouch conveniently doesn't need to say or do anything to win characters over - and they also don't have much content for conversations. The only scene that can be considered a proper conversation and an attempt to provide some closure with respect to the preceding storyline is the chat that he has with Suzaku, and even then the impact of this is questionable or hit and miss, given that Lelouch spends half the time being distracted by a laptop (so that they can include a montage of other characters so that this can be introduced into the conversation, ultimately making the entire execution clumsy and somewhat artificial).
As such the characterization relies a lot on the previous series and/or compilation movies to pull its weight, and in some places does not even feel faithful to the original. All of this is indicative of unimpressive writing and the fact that the characterization here cannot stand on its own, especially if one were to compare this to stronger, long-awaited sequels like The Incredibles 2, where beloved characters are expanded, given even more dimension, and given just as warm a reception by audience members who were entirely new to the story.
Lelouch's lack of reaction and opinion to his new situation also means that we are given little insight into what his goals now are, thus making for a flat and uncompelling resurrected Lelouch, who currently doesn't appear to be driven by anything other than a need to rescue Nunnally - a simplistic problem that obviously gets resolved by the end and doesn't do anything to improve Nunnally's characterization either, since she is once again back to being the poor damsel in distress and kept unconscious for most of the movie.
A similar problem plagues C.C., who used to be complex, layered, and one of the few people capable of calling Lelouch out on his bullshit. One would have expected a continuation to at least touch on points that "Rebellion" did not cover or close sufficiently, such as her current motivations or view on living on post-Requiem, but all we get are repeated and vague insistences that she is being "selfish", we learn nothing new and nothing more about her, and because she no longer challenges Lelouch in any way here, she ends up as nothing much more than another girl in Lelouch's harem of admirers.
C.C. and Lelouch ARE given a scene where she mentions her past to snap him out of his funk but 1) this is done in a way that is more reminiscent of Kallen slapping Lelouch in Turn 7 rather than C.C.'s original personality 2) it still gives us nothing more than an airy vague two-liner reference to C.C.'s past, 3) the fanservice here (one reason why the Code Geass franchise will never make it to the list of anime classics like FMA, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away) in this scene is so awkward, unnecessary and done in such bad taste that any emotional impact this moment was meant to create is immediately stripped away - and you are left wondering if Sunrise really believes its target audience to be so imbecilic that they are incapable of appreciating any emotional scene between two characters without being given something to drool over.
Now of course, Lelouch's transition from anti-hero into full hero is one possible, logical development that one would have expected a sequel to take. But because this transition suffers from a weak plot and such flattened characterization, Lelouch has now become no better than a convenient vehicle for male wish fulfillment. (And before anyone tries to tell me that his horrible stamina is a flaw - no, it's not, in fact it makes him even more of a vehicle since it makes him all the more relatable to that particular segment of the audience.)
Not all is lost though, as the film does still deliver in other areas. Every character looks stunning throughout the film, all the illustrations were consistently high in quality, and the animation is nearly flawless, with the exception of one or two small instances with stylistic choices that suggest possible budget cuts (I've never seen Lelouch being faded out to sketchy still images while he sits and thinks, for example).
The action and battle sequences were all thoroughly enjoyable, KMF and hand-to-hand combat scenes alike. Fans of Sayoko and Kallen will not be disappointed as the two get plenty of screentime in fight scenes. And while the character dynamics certainly make Lelouch seem more Mary Sue-ish, most fans should still be able to suspend their disbelief enough to experience and appreciate the emotional high that comes from seeing beloved characters reappear and now unite for a common purpose.
Ultimately, however, while the film certainly carries elements that all Code Geass fans are likely to enjoy - its disregard for and inconsistencies with major plot points, lack of a compelling new story/conflict, and frightfully bad characterization, all make it difficult to see it (and by extension the preceding movie compilations) as anything more than a sloppy "alternate universe" OOC fanfic, and a desperate cash grab by the studio.
Sunrise's own insistence that you treat this as an "alternate timeline" from the original series (at the time of writing the official Code Geass Twitter account has recently reiterated that "Re;surrection" "must not" be mistaken as "Rebellion" while linking related buzzfeed interviews) should more than speak for itself: this sequel has to be presented as separate from the original anime “canon” precisely because it deviates from the tone and character of the original, and cannot function as a true and proper follow up to it.
But even when taken separately with the new compilation movies, the writing is so poor that "Re;surrection" doesn't manage to make itself a faithful and worthy successor to the name of Code Geass - and it certainly is not one that any seasoned and invested fan of Geass would ever be able to take seriously, no matter how much one might still delight in certain parts.
Schlappy
I just saw this movie at my local cinema, this being the first anime movie I have ever seen on the big screen and let me say out of the gate it was so worth it! This is one of the best anime's I have seen in recent memory and for any fan of the show I highly recommend a watch!!! The story was fantastic picking up where the original series left off adding upon the narrative after that heart cutting ending of the original. It introduces new elements into the series and puts twists on pre-existing features making it into a fresh and interesting narrativeto experience for fans of the show, a word of warning being the recap films changed elements of the series story so a brush up is recommended so fans aren't shocked seeing characters reappearing from the grave.
*edit 24 hours later* after further consideration the twist or element in the film revealed in the third act could of been used to a greater effect to re-contextualise a lot more of the film and develop more layers into the story and antagonists.
The art in the film was above my expectations and was surprisingly brilliant with vibrant colours, defined lines and limited usage of CGI allowing for more defined and visually appealing fight scenes throughout.
The sound as similarly stated with the artwork was above my expectations even with the series previously spectacular songs throughout especially the openings and endings. So I'm happy to say the opening and ending were really good along with the backing music accompanying the movie throughout.
The characters were fantastic in this movie and were a major reason for this films success as they felt so natural following the original series despite the few jarring changes from my perspective as having not watched the recaps. The many characters from throughout the series were perfectly incorporated in the movie and had me smiling during their appearances. A word to fans I'm happy to state CC and Lelouche were handled wonderfully in the movie having surprisingly brilliant development throughout from specifically beginning to end and in all honesty when rewatching certain scenes from the movie via the old trusty youtube hand cams it had me tearing up.
*edit 24 hours later* after further consideration the antagonists could of been developed far greater in the film as their motives aren't fully fleshed out along with lots of their history.
Enjoyment in this movie personally was a reason for its high rating, after having doubts for the past few days if I was really enjoying anime anymore this movie has really cleared a-lot up as personally most of the movie was extremely enjoyable. I've been wondering for so long if I'd ever find another anime that'd give me that feeling again, that passionate love for a show and I can confirm this is it, I absolutely loved this movie and have been frantically listening to the movies and currently the series soundtrack while shaking about.
Overall I'm really finding it hard to criticise this movie as it ultimately full-filled all my expectations and then some in all departments having an amazing story, art, sound, characters and enjoyment managing to get me tearing up on clip rewatches and ultimately making me fall in love with this series even more so then after the masterpiece which was season 2's ending and I will definitely be keeping my ticket as a souvenir. In a bit of a side-note after finishing the movie and when walking out I was pretty mixed on the whole movie though I believe I've finally finalised my opinion to a reviewable degree :) (This review was made roughly 2hours after my first watch and I am seriously wanting to see it again henceforth I might be slightly biased towards this masterpiece).
LelouchviBritMER
This movie was a big disappointment as it was nothing more than mere fan service. It can't persuade that it was ever more than just a cheap attempt at a quick cash grab. There was no real story to tell, so instead they went with easy fan service. It's as if they googled some fan stuff and threw what they found in a cauldron and let it boil until stuck together a little bit. This movie is nothing more than shipping, shipping, shipping and the most hilarious "no, but also yes" stance on a popular theory. - Without going into spoiler territory first a history lesson toexplain the context. The original anime had an old (though debunked) theory about the ending. The show staff always denied that theory, official statements contradicted it, in 2009 they made a completely new epilogue to hammer on the fact that the theory was wrong. In some statements they even explicitly denied core points of the theory. (for more information visit the Code Geass Community Information database, this can easily be found by googling "Evaluating Code Theory, main body + index", this information database also includes the new epilogue from 2009 which was mentioned above)
Fast forward to the present and this movie, the hilarious thing is that, while this movie does indeed fully contradict that theory (Lelouch even explicitly denies the theory when Suzaku first meets him again!), it then simply goes on and "borrows" some of the theory's points and applies it to an entirely new lore concept which was made specifically for this movie.
So basically, they're saying "your theory is wrong, but we're going to steal parts of it anyway and use it ourselves for something else".
Facepalms ensued.
- The so-called "story" of the movie deals with barely fleshed out antagonists who are the leaders of a previously non-existent country. A country which allegedly defeated one of the biggest super powers in their world, and yet were never mentioned before, or never sought to be allied with when the war for the entire planet raged on during the original anime.
The goals and motivations of the antagonists was nothing more than the same
recycled goals and motivations of the antagonists of the original series, just in a different jacket and with different words.
To make things worse, some of the drastic actions taken by the antagonists (kidnapping Nunnally, starting the entire conflict) was based on mere conjecture and baseless assumptions by said antagonists. Hilariously, these assumptions were wrong (Nunnally has no code) and thus even if Lelouch hadn't defeated them, they still would have failed in their plan. C.C., however, does have a code, so it would make much more sense that they'd go after her and capture her like Clovis once did, but then of course she couldn't have resurrected Lelouch and thus the movie wouldn't have its chicken with the golden eggs, so that common sense decision was out of the window.
The large cast of well developed characters which Code Geass could proudly present in the original anime has been reduced to meaningless cameos. they appear, say a few lines, do a minor thing and then have no more impact on the story anymore. This adds to the feeling of the movie being ordinary fan service rather than having substance.
- Story aside, and fair is fair, the art of this movie was great. It stayed true to the feel of the original while still being an improvement. The character designs are still very much CLAMP, so your mileage may vary.
The music was also well chosen to suit the scenes, though didn't have the emotional weight some of the original music had, like Madder Sky.
All in all, your enjoyment of this movie will depend HEAVILY on what you want from the movie. If you want a good story, an ORIGINAL story, good character development, and no ridiculous "the fan theory is completely wrong, but we're going to use it for ourselves anyway", then you'll not find much joy in this movie.
If you're just looking for some fan pandering and cute shipping moments, you'll appreciate the movie a lot more.
Naofumi_kun
Awesome one!You all should give it a try!At first I was like this is going to be a flop as r2 gave us a smooth ending and continuing code geass would be an utter decision but now i feel that this is one of my my favorite movie.So please dont just jump to the conclusions and dont decide not to watch it because i am sure you will love it if you really are a code geass fan. And moreover Code Geass fans will love each minute of the movie. I recommend you all to watch this anime. All Hail Lelouch!!
Mikoro
[Disclaimer] If you haven't watched the prequel, Code Geass R2, you have no business watching this movie and best avoid reading this review. (Actually, no one has business watching this movie regardless, but that's what the rest of this review is about). [Summary] In the aftermath of the fantastic grande finale of Code Geass R2, many of us fans were left with a hole in our hearts. In the presence of the heroism and tragedies of colossal scale, we cried and mourned and hoped that things would be different. These feelings, along with some vagaries in the plot, served as breeding grounds for much speculation and fan fiction.If there is one thing that Code Geass tells us, however, it is that we must let things of the past die to move forward to the future. In this sense, this fan-service of a movie has robbed us of the depth and meaning of the masterpiece that was the ending of the original series, and put it to shame.
[Elaboration]
Art-wise, everything is pretty and high quality. Quite splendid to watch.
I didn’t pay much attention to sound, but I suppose there was nothing to complain about, except some dialogues being too quiet compared to battle scenes.
Characters are very flat. They are like caricatures of their prequel counterparts, exaggerating their most distinguished traits into memes. There aren't any interactions of substance as far as I could see. Some characters seemed to have even been taken a step back and reduced to some form that they had already transcended by the end of the original series.
The plot is nothing more or less than a generic shonen movie plot. I would dare argue the plot is built around the fan-service, which is the real aim of this film. The explanations that enable this movie to run along in the pretense of coherency are half-assed and ad-hoc (if ever present). I also found the homage to old catchphrases and objectives appalling.
[Conclusion]
Milking the dead cow is nothing new in the world of sequels. If you're dead bent on getting some more Code Geass fantasy content, go ahead, but be warned:
The void left behind by the original series is also its greatness. It is the the sacrifice and tragedy that inspire us as part of the human condition. A cheap sequel like this robs the series' events of their essential meaning and robs you of 2 hours of your life. It’s a mockery to the original.
The world would have been a better place without this piece of work.
Renkageno
Code Geass was a masterpiece and always will remain in of the best anime I've ever watched if I had to watch even more Code Geass than this move I would be really happy to do so. I really enjoyed the movie but I wish it was made as a series not only one movie I really hope for the continuation so I can enjoy more of my favourite character in all of the shows I have watched. The only thing I would say that was a little bit bad was that there was not enough time to actually make this movie even more better.
Beatnik
This review assumes the reader has already watched either the original two seasons of Code Geass, or the recap movie trilogy, as this particular movie, Lelouch of the Resurrection, follows on from the trilogy (which created its own timeline). Something just felt so off with this movie to me, that it did not feel sincere at all. Like, literally every single character from the previous two seasons of the original show / movie trilogy are all somehow ok with Lelouch now, a guy who had angered both sides of the conflict between Japan and Britannia, a guy who had ordered the deaths of thousands of people,brain-raped everyone around him, and literally massacred children.
It's just bizarre and contrived to suddenly surround him with people who are totally fine with being in his presence. The characters as a result don't feel genuine, they have no consistent moral code or personality, no meaningful inner lives or depth to them, they go wherever the writer needs them to.
Lelouch himself has been defanged into a good guy (which had already begun to happen at the end of the second season of the original show / third movie), which is a shame, because his morally ambiguous anti-hero shtick was the most interesting thing about Code Geass in the first place. (with all the mystical cosmic shit the least interesting thing, which sadly this movie does not agree with me about)
The antagonist in this movie ostensibly has the same goals as the antagonist of the original show, which made things a bit repetitive. And it's a shame their nation wasn't more diverse in its characters, considering it evokes somewhere like Afghanistan.
Otherwise, some positives:
The animation was nice.
The music was nice. (still not as good as the first season of the TV show)
The main antagonist's geass is really cool and the movie does creative things with it.
The resolution to the characters was satisfying.
I've seen far worse movies than this, so I can't hate on this one, if the review seems overly critical it's because I enjoyed the first season of the show so much and wanted something to rival it. But at the same time this movie was missing many qualities that made us love the original franchise to begin with. The cliffhanger endings, the intersection of politics and philosophy, the underdog fight against the odds, etc.
Finally, to add my two cents to the eternal debate: you can add add my vote to the opinion that this movie can be watched after the second season of the original TV show. Rather than subject yourself to a trilogy of recap movies set in their own alternate timeline, all you really need to know is that one character who died in the original show did not actually die in this new timeline, but even knowing that info barely has any consequence on proceedings. That is indicative of how pointless those movies ended up being, that changing the fate of one minor character had no meaningful impact on anything. So trust me, don't bother yourself with the movie trilogy, they removed far too many scenes from the original show to justify themselves anyway.
Actar
Alright. Let's talk about the Code Geass movie. Mild spoilers. I... did not hate it. In fact... I kinda liked it! How about that? The first sequel project to not completely disgust me! And why is that? Well, for one, it didn't feel contrived. While the enemies were kinda just okay (while still making sense), all the characters felt true to their roots. Their motivations were all consistent and their roles and actions felt like natural extensions of who they were in the original series. Seeing old characters again did not feel like deliberate nostalgia fanwanks. Instead, it was great to see what all of themwere up to after all this time and most of them had rather significant roles to play. C.C. was definitely the star of the movie with Kallen still being my personal favorite. I also absolutely loved the fact that the movie built upon the themes, ideas and mythos of the original, proving and disproving fan theories along the way. It actually added to the original, instead of being just a shameless retread.
The story, just like the enemies, was really nothing special, but it got the job done. It was rather barebones, but it did what it did to get all the pieces moving and in place. There were quite a number of pivotal moments that really harkened back to the feeling of the original with clever tactics, use of powers and twists.
If there is one criticism that I have about the movie, it's that they didn't have enough time to properly showcase all the characters and the new Knightmares. As mentioned, while most of them had great standout moments, a couple of them only had minor cutaways and that's it. I was really looking forward to the new Lancelot and Guren, but the fights were really short and somewhat anticlimactic. In addition, while most of the scenes were beautiful 2D mecha action, there were some really bad 3DCG scenes interspersed throughout... sigh... this is the first time I wished we could have had more of a sequel project.
Last but not least, for the uninitiated, this movie is not canon to the original series. The compilation movies that came before this changed some key events (nothing TOO major) and, in doing so, created a new timeline. This movie is a sequel to those compilation movies. So, in essence, this movie a sequel that's both canon and not canon at the same time, essentially letting you have your cake and eat it. Brilliant.
In conclusion, this movie did something that Digimon, Cardcaptor and Yu-Gi-Oh! did not. This movie was not made for the fans, but for the characters. And that is why it succeeded. You could tell that the creators not only understood the characters, but loved them as well. While the original series had a perfect ending story-wise, this movie was a love letter to the characters, giving them a chance to experience a cathartic resolution to their emotional arcs, allowing them to have a happily ever after that they deserve after all they have been through. And that, I think, is something that most fans would agree with as well.
Akonova
THIS REVIEW HAS A SPOILER-FREE AND A SPOILER TERRITORY PART. IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS, STOP READING ONCE YOU REACH THE SPOILER TERRITORY PART, WHICH IS AT THE END. I can't believe what I just watched. This movie is an utter insult to the fanbase and to the efforts of the people who made the original TV shows. And, considering that it is made by the same people, the only reason, I can think of, that this movie exists must be because a big company came back to milk the blood out of it. STORY: Pathetic. Nowhere near the quality of the original TV shows. Itwould be bearable if it was a completely different anime, but this is Code Geass. And this movie's story doesn't meet the standards that of the TV shows. This is probably because it's trying to build on to something that's already finished. It's like trying to build a skyscraper on top of another skyscraper. The story doesn't feel significant in any way. And from the very first minutes you can feel that not much thought went into it. So bad that it feels like a poorly made fanfiction. Don't get me wrong, nothing's bad about fanfictions. But we all know that a poorly made fanfiction disregards everything the original establishes. 1/10
ART: Very good. Animations were decent, although they felt a little rushed in some parts of the movie. Drawings were similarly excellent. The portions of the characters' faces were done right, and it didn't look different from the original at all. And this is a good thing since no one aged that much. Unfortunately, this is the only thing the movie gets right. 8/10
SOUND: Pathetic. Music plays an important role in hyping the audience. Even the shows that have poor characters or story can hype its viewers by simply using proper music in fitting situations. Unfortunately, this movie's music is hardly heard let alone hypes anyone. Most of the time where it should be loud and hitting to the audience it is instead quiet and hardly noticeable. In various scenes I was expecting and even searching for an epic orchestral but there was nothing to hear. Some scenes have sound but they are too quiet to be noticeable. It was like the sound aspects of the movie were too shy to voice their singing. Voice acting was similarly bad. Though most of the voices were good, for some reason, the voice of the main character, Lelouch's voice, didn't feel right at all. They lacked punch and emotion. It's like the actor was forcefully brought back to perform. This is unacceptable for a main character. It made the whole two hours a torture. 1/10
CHARACTER: Pathetic. This is where the show fails the most. The most interesting and unique aspects of Code Geass were its highly complex and interconnected characters and their motives, and complex and well-constructed story. Since the story failed, characters were the only hope of this movie. In fact, if the characters were handled right, the movie could use the feeling of nostalgia to save the day by making us ignore the pitiful story. But unfortunately, it does the opposite. By betraying to the original values and features of the characters, it hits rock-bottom. No character here felt like the ones we saw in the TV shows. Especially Lelouch. For the entire half of the movie I thought something was wrong with him and it was going to be addressed later. But no, there is nothing wrong with Lelouch, it was just bad writing. C2 didn't feel like herself too. She felt like a try-hard imitation. Kallen was weird, she felt like she didn't have enough time to show herself. In a scene, she suddenly started crying for about 3 seconds, without proper build up, then suddenly stopped and went back to her usual self. Similarly, Cornelia was weird as well. In one scene she was arguing with Lelouch. Although she was very against his request, she agreed in an instant without telling why she decided to agree suddenly. Her change of mind happened too fast. The lack of screen time of Schneizel was very disappointing. I was hoping for him to do more than what he did. Wasted opportunity. In contrast, why was the scene with him and Rakshata took that much of screen time? Their conversation didn't advance the plot in the slightest. The only reason I can think of is fanservice, but if that's the case, I didn't know people were shiping them. Suzaku was a total failure. He felt like a side character and had no significant impact on the story. I wouldn't be lying if I said he was used as a plot device. There was a miserable scene where he tried to imitate the conversation between him and Kallen where they were fighting on The Damocles by constructing some philosophical sentences, but failed since there is no philosophical ideas clashing in this movie. Also, both Kallen's and Suzaku's fight scenes served no purpose other then them just fighting the enemy. They relied heavily on Lelouch and couldn't achieve anything by themselves. Which is sad because in the original TV shows, even after parting with Lelouch, Kallen was still an ace pilot. And Suzaku never even relied on him to begin with, not even in the end. Even though she received little screen-time, Nunnally was totally wrong. She was used as a plot device. She was used as a plot device in the original TV shows too but it wasn't to this extent, and even there she had personality and motives. Here she is just a person that should be saved, no more. Villains weren't more than big bad evil guys. Their motives and prowess were nowhere near the motives and prowess of the Emperor Charles. The geass of the enemy was very bad too, but I won't criticize it here since it would contain spoilers. The only good thing on the character side is what they did with Nina. Unlike in the TV shows, she is much more reasonable and bearable this time. But I'm not sure if that's entirely good because that just means they took away what made Nina Nina. Other than that, garbage. All the characters felt like they were controlled by a geass to stick to this horrible writing. If I could rate any lower, I certainly would. 1/10
ENJOYMENT: Decent. Even with all the horribly bad things about this show, I must admit that seeing Lelouch get revived was interesting. Even though it is poorly done, his revival itself is an interesting idea to tackle. If it was done so in a way that didn't kill the ending of the TV shows, and if there was a proper reason for Lelouch to get revived, this show would have been awesome. Unfortunately, awesome shows are the least efficient way of making money it seems. Also, this movie doesn't have a philosophical question behind it. In the original TV shows it was "What is justice?" and characters with different views on justice would clash with one another, symbolically their views would clash as well. This made the overall experience much more meaningful and enjoyable, and the interactions and conversations between characters with different views on justice were interesting to watch. Sadly, there is no philosophical question in this movie, although Suzaku seems to think otherwise. 4/10
OVERALL: Poor. Disappointing, wasted potential, imitative, try-hard, insulting, greedy, unbearable, unnecessary, bad, horrible, I want to puke. Why? Just why? I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy. 3/10
SPOILER TERRITORY. STOP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS.
There are some problems that I couldn't mention because they would be spoilers.
First, why is Shirley alive? I don't know if I missed any explanation but it doesn't make sense. Seriously, why is she alive? If she is brought back to life by C2, why didn't she bring back Lelouch at the same time? Doesn't make sense.
Second, why time travel? Anything but time travel! It breaks the rules that the show establishes and then acts like it didn't. C2 is affected by this geass. It would be alright if her memories were intact when the geass rewinds time. But no, she is sent back in time too. You could argue that the only thing the geass does is send back the memories of the future to the past self so she doesn't make the same mistakes and that's why C2 technically isn't affected. But that just creates more problems. Like, if the geass sends the memories from future self to past self, and then the past self goes and changes the future, then that means the future self never sent those memories. If the future self never sends memories back to past self, then the past self couldn't change the future. But if she doesn't change the future then she's going to do the same mistakes again. See where I'm getting? Time travel can easily create a paradox and make the audience question their necessity. Unless writers are prepared to give reasonable explanations, they shouldn't venture near this plot device. The movie Arrival handles this very well.
Third, why does Lelouch leave Nunnally? This breaks all the ideals and thoughts of the TV series' Lelouch. And why does he have to choose one anyways? Why can't all of them stay together? Why does C2 has to go? Why does Nunnally accept her brothers selfishness so easily after losing him? Nunnally cries for him to not leave her at the end of the TV shows. Are you telling me those are the same people? And what about Lelouch calling himself L2? Just because you changed your name doesn't mean no one's going to recognize your face. Although L2 does sound very cool, it's not enough to overlook the fact that Lelouch's face is recognizable by a lot of people.
IcarusxIcarus
(This review contains no spoilers for the film) First and foremost, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection is a fanservice film, and as a fan of Code Geass, I can confirm that I was adequately serviced. This film was created for a different purpose than the original TV anime, it was created to both revive the Code Geass franchise, and to be an enjoyable film for the fans. I think that it succeeded at doing both of these things, as I had a great time watching it, and I’m also excited for the future of Code Geass. This film had a difficult hurdle to clear, as itreally has no reason to exist. The original Code Geass TV series has perhaps the best ending to a story in all of fiction, it could be interpreted as open ended, however, I found it to be very conclusive and the perfect ending to Lelouch’s story. So, how could a sequel possibly justify its existence? That’s simple, all it had to do was have the same characters, have them interact with each other, and more or less just hit all the same notes that the original did. And as you may have expected, it succeeded in doing all of this. I found Lelouch’s resurrection to be handled very well, as it did not belittle the sacrifice that he made in the final episode of Code Geass in the slightest. Lelouch and C.C also undergo some satisfying character progression, which was surprising.
Despite being so positive, the film still has some issues. First of all, there are moments when characters seemingly show up out of nowhere, purely so that they can all be on screen together. Also, some of the new characters who were introduced served little to no purpose and were more or less entirely forgettable. There are a few more issues but I don’t want to get into spoilers. So, the film has some issues, but so did the second season of Code Geass, so I won’t criticize it too much, seeming as most of my criticisms of R2 also apply to this film.
So, does Code geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection justify its existence? In my opinion, yes it does. It’s main purpose is to revive the franchise and entertain so as long as you go in with that in mind, you’re sure to enjoy it.
Calathar44
Altogether, a great follow up to the original series. Not quite as good, but close, and it makes a great third chapter. The best part, for me, was the characters. It was wonderful to see them all again, and they were all in character and felt like natural continuations. They have changed, but the core of them is still there. It was a nostalgic feeling, but it never felt forced or overdone. Their development in this film felt natural and well done. C.C. in particular I found to be good here. I do feel like some characters, such as Jeremiah, could have had more of apart, but that's only natural for a film rather than a series.
The art and sound was great as well, and in my honest opinion actually surpassed the original. this is probably to be expected of a film, but the world of this anime felt more realized than before, which is really saying something for a series as fleshed out as Code Geass.
The story was good, but slightly confusing in parts. In particular I was not quite sure what the villains actual plan was, and even after thinking about it, it's still not entirely clear. The story makes sense besides that, and is actually quite engaging. It's just it was never really explained what the villain was aiming for.
Beside that though, it was a great movie, and a worthy successor to what is, in my opinion, one of the best anime I've seen.
Shinkuo
Let me keep this short and simple: This movie is like a surprise birthday party when you haven't celebrated your birthday in over a decade. You didn't expect it, but when you had it it was great having all of your old friends back and seeing what is going on with them. If you liked the series, give it a watch. It won't blow you away, but you will definitely get some warm and fuzzies from seeing the cast all together again. Even with the ending of Season 2 being such a conclusive finale, it doesn't really detract from the fun to be had with the moviesince so many loose ends were left over from the show.
Give it a watch if you have the chance, you won't regret it.
Akiyo
This is the most appalling garbage I've seen in years. I'm not even going to spend time to mince words, its just that bad, and it put fear into me that people can actually finish this series and not feel physical pain. It watches like a bad anime's side story. The original cast is completely butchered, the story manage to go absolutely nowhere and convinces me that it will never go anywhere with their 10 year plan. If you loved the original, do not watch this, save yourself the disappointment. There is absolutely nothing of value here, maybe with a tiny exception of the ending scene if youare a shipper - even then, I wouldn't watch the movie just for that if I were you.
VeiledEdge
What happens when you take the epic plot of Code Geass and replace it with a generic action plot? You get Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re:surrection (R3 for short). I don't want to call R3 a cash grab, though I'm sure there's plenty of people calling it that, but it was missing that special spark that made Code Geass so great. The plot wasn't, "let's save humanity from the instrumentality project" like R1 and R2, it was, "your sister was kidnapped, come and rescue her." Very different. One's Evangelion, the other is Taken. I don't even want to get into the Lelouch being alivecontroversy. It's obvious C. C. has him at the end of R2; I thought he was alive when I watched it. Plus, they spend the first half of the movie trying to explain this. If you think this is a big deal, get some suspension of disbelief and just enjoy having more good Code Geass.
[Recommendation]
If you've watched R1 and R2, I would recommend R3. It is more of that without the cool plot. I liked it.
LambdaLlama
To start off: If you did not like the original Code: Geass, and you have not watched it recently, most of the movie will seem weird. Some of the movie may seem weird even if you have seen it all recently. The movie as a whole only works if you understand the smaller details of the Code/Geass system, and as such the best parts of Code Geass (the Edge, the planning, a=the overly complicated traps that get explained) get the shaft in favor of a linear plot. As a 12-episode TV series the story would be given time to flesh itself out, but as amovie there's just not enough there.
Story: 7/10
The story follows two arcs: The first is the plan to revive Lelouch at C2's plan, not his. Barring the contrivance of running into Kallen, the Doctor and the Maid while in not-Arabia (can't remember the actual name), this arc plays out fairly well. Of course, they revive him, he begins orchestrating things like in chess as in the previous two seasons, and has to hatch a plan to solve the problem of the second arc, where they fight whatever country. That arc is the weakest, since it doesn't explain itself adequately and we don't get as much insight into the plan, which is necessary to justify how contrived it is.
Art: 8/10
Half the time its like the first two seasons, but other times the trains and mechs will switch to a CG that isn't quite as good as Akito: the Exiled and isn't composited very well. But good on them for keeping the style of everything else on-point all the time, and as much as I will rag on the stationary CG mechs, seeing the Gurren and Lancelot in Akito-style looked really cool. It's a shame they introduced those clunky knightmares-for-knightmares that looked horrible, but oh well. Brought it down from a 9 to a 10.
Sound: 8/10
Sound was solid, the music was good and used well. It didn't sound like too many stock effects were looped, but I'm not a good judge of that, so middle-of-the-road score here.
Characters: 7/10
Here's where me and other reviewers may disagree: Lelouch, C2, and Suzaku are characterized well. Some people didn't like that Lelouch was cool with being revived when it wasn't even his plan, however given that he was immediately tasked with saving everyone AND his philosophy of "you shouldn't kill unless you are ready to be killed yourself" still carries through after he saves Nunally. While it is dumb that he didn't understand the Code/Geass system even after Charles gained his code right in front of him, it's nothing that can't be overlooked. And, even though some people disliked resolving the harem situation, after he was revived there were three problems with it continuing: 1) he put off on picking a girl because he was focused on creating a world for Nunally, and thought he might die at any moment because of it, and thus after reating this world he could pursue love, 2) He's immortal, so choosing two of them would be highly inconsiderate, and 3) he had a promise to fulfill. C2 was, of course, selfish enough to try to revive him after the requiem, and Suzaku is understandably angry because he only followed through with the plan because Lelouch was going to die, and he still has distaste over being Zero.
The older characters, when they try to be put in the foreground, are a disappointment. Kallen can no longer talk to Lelouch as a human being, Shirly is chill with helping C2 revive Lelouch even though she should have had anger over him killing her father (pretty sure that was kept through the retcons), and everyone els eseems like they were in the same place they were at the end of R2, maybe with children if they had a love interest.
The new characters are horribly under-developed: there's a Cs-world -obsessed royalty, a zealot who worships his sister for saving him "with the lives of many," although that's never explained very well. There's a couple of other one-note villains, but that's it.
There's also Nunally, but she's Nunally, ya know?
Enjoyment: 10/10
Except for the whole "Lelouch didn't mean for this to happen" and "CG spider mechs" bit, all of this was in retrospect. When watching it two times in theaters, I was blown away each time minus some cringey dub acting. I would recommend watching the originals first, and not jumping into any of this rebooted series, but the only thing that seems to matter between them is that Shirley is alive to help C2 escape with Lelouch. It was fun, it was flashy, the characters kept their ideals intact, the series kept it's themes. While it is hardly perfect, as a recent fan of the series it was a nice conclusion with a trippy ending.
Lakas1236547
If you liked the Code Geass anime you probably won't like this. If you liked the recap movies and get slightly drunk, you might actually enjoy this. Sadly, I lacked the foresight to do so. Writting: Shame on all the people involved in writting a plot for this mess. The movie functions on the recap movie timeline, but it might aswell not matter at all, since the writters forgot the plot of those movies in the first place. Instead of rewatching them, or looking at the Code Geass wiki summary of those movies they decided to hope they remember hem well enough. The result, of course, isthat basic plot elements are simply wrong(very important ones at that) and they would still be wrong even if they had followed the original timeline.
The movie goes for an intresting approach to story telling. Give audience tons of questions every few minutes and never answer a single one of them. Another "beauty" of their writting is stating that something will happen and then doing the exact opposite. Minor spoilers:
C.C.: If he stays there longer he will lose everything
This took place in C's world which she knows very much about. Yet, she was completely and totally wrong.
For some reason Code's immortality was completely redone, but it has literally no impact on the plot.
The entire start of the movie until the ressurect Lelouch is really an uneeded and serves only to introduce and make the gang fight the baddies. Also Lelouch is SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER a braindead(literally) person, that was never explained either, until they ressurect him SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END which they could have just not done and only reintroduced him at his ressurection
Part of the main plot is a Geass splinter group(why it wasn't destroyed or forcibly controlled by Charles or why he didn't take their code bearer is not explaines), and a country that is basically full of people who do nothing more than fight and apperantly have managed to defeat Britanian invasion which is hard to believe. What is also hard to believe is that it was never mentioned before and that Lelouch didn't conquer it which hw should have done for his master plan to work
The best way to enjoy the writting is to attempt to just consume the product, because even slight thinking will raise far to many questions which the movie will hate to answer.
Lelouch's former death:
Despite being an important part of the series...it was barely mentioned. Suzaku punched Lelouch a few times when he was reborn....and that's about it. Lelouch didn't care that he was ressurected against his will and seemingly, no one else did.
Characters:
The main villans are...sad. If you wanted great villans like we used to get before, that's not gonna happen. You get the disabled guy(who is really good at knightmares, but they kill him for some reason(never was explained)) who's main wish is to become the strongest to protect his sister and his country but the furtherst the movie delves into this is at his final fight where he kept screaming that. You also have the main villan which is some evil chick with SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER super op Geass that allows her to travel back up to 9 hours upon her death. She uses that to make "prophecies". She also has a code(near her vagina suprisingly enough), but since the movie likes to screw over establiched canon, geass still somehow works on her. Oh, yeah, and she can use both Geass and Code too. Not sure why. They failed to explain that too. SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END. Her main goal is to rewrite the whole world. You never really root for her because frankly she lacks character. Then you also have bunch of barely relavant minions.
Lelouch is fine, I guess. He does his cool talks, great strategies and more or less everything you expect him too. If you used to like him before, you probably will still like him. He also has both Code and Geass which also was never explained(although I theorise that since he didn't sacrifice his geass to gain the code but instead was given it by...actually they never explained that too. Either Charles or God SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER which apperantly Lelouch managed to kill sometime ago and then redo entirety of C's world(related to the main Villans goals) while in actuallity canonically he did the exact opposite(He saved God from being killed by Charles in both the recap movies and original Anime) SPOILER END SPOILER END SPOILER END. The code is on his neck, exactly where Charles grabed him before his own death.
Suzaku:
When meets Lelouch:
"I HATE YOU! YOU LIAR!" then punches him a lot. 3 minutes later they are literally best friends who couldn't even think of hurting eachother.
Kallen: she's fine although her interactions regarding Lelouch are laughable
"Hey, you seem different. Are you?"
"Maybe"
"Okay, I'm not gonna question you further and never mention this again"
Next time while talking with C.C.
C.C.: If you want to tell him something, tell him now. He might not be here tomorrow.
Kallen: I don't even know what I would talk to him about anymore, but i do have plenty of questions.
This is never mentioned or touched upon again
C.C. Seems a bit more emotional which is unlike her, but then again, having Lelouch in her life die change her. She also sounded a bit weird, but that might be just me. Other than that, she's fine.
Nunnally is a big point of the story but she really only does thinks for about 2 minutes or so. Not much to say really.
Super weird hands that saved Lelouch and Nunnaly in C's world looked pretty. Lelouch apperantly recognised them, but I sure as hell didn't
They never really developed or touched upon any characters so they kinda feel weak and reliant on your memory of them.
Music and Art look and sound great.
Tl;dr: It's bad and well deserving of the overall 2 mark I gave it. I don't recommend watching it at all.
