Preview

In a not so distant future, the Brittania Empire has taken over most of the world using superior technologies such as the Knightmare mecha frames. After being taken over, Japan is called just "Area 11" or "Eleven" and most originally "Japanese" people is stuffed into ghettos and are ostracized "elevens". Lelouch Lamperouge is a Brittanian living as an "Eleven" but with a major grip against his family, past and birth. As he is caught in the middle of a battle between police and Japan rebels, he mets C.C. a girl which eventually grants him an amazing power, which with he could lead a rebellion to excel over the Brittanians and attain his most secret goals.

Pacing

Code Geass focuses on Lelouch and his advance using his new power on the ranks of the Japanese rebellion, fighting with both strategy and aggressivity to smash the Brittanians in Japan while attempting to reach personal goals that seam in par with the Japanese rebels wish. As he moves forward, he also sees the need to keep his identity secret, so he creates the identity of Zero, the powerful leader of his own agenda, one that not even his closest friends know about.

Character development jumps from Lelouch/Zero to the supporting cast, both in his Zero part as the rebel leader (where we meet the determined Karen), or his supposedly calm and peaceful life as a student at Ashford Academy (where we meet his childhood friend Suzaku, his blind disabled sister Nunnally, and a couple of friends such as Shirley). Aside from that, some other important characters such as Lelouch's royal cousins Cornelia and Euphemia also take a major role during the show.

As Zero further establishes himself as the leading rebel bringing more and more attention from Brittania rulers to the insurgent movement, he also have secondary agendas such as finding who was responsible for his mother's death 10 years earlier, protecting his sister Nunnaly, trying to prevent his friends and innocents at Area 11 being hurt, and seeking revenge against the Brittanians, responsible for most wrong doing in most areas Lelouch came to know.

As much as one would like, there is little development on the C.C. front, and her cute character is mostly used as a doll that just does whatever she feels like. There is a couple of episodes that focus on her, though never giving way to much plot development about her origins or past, and the very little character development come after a controversial change of objectives in the anime direction on the last episode.

Code Geass was rated to be the best anime during it's season, but greed from the producers and directors (and obviously Sunrise, a studio know for not knowing to hold it's boundaries when money is involved: if it gets famous, they will stretch it as long as they can no matter how plot-smashing it can be) had an original episode count of 23 to be enlarged. As the series reached mid season and it's popularity was skyrocketing with all the amazing effects, involving and intricate plot filled with mysteries and charismatic characters and an ever present feeling of fear that this or that character could end up dead (Code Geass does not spare characters as one would like, and even main characters eventually die off - though there are plenty to play with anyway), the choice to stretch the first season up 2 episodes and glue it to a second season was rushed. Two extra episodes for the first season were rushed (though delayed) in an attempt to connect the dots.

With most fans still believing they were on for only one season, others that it was all originally planned to be a two season show, it quickly became clear that it was not. The pace, plot continuity and character-driven series fall apart. Events that were clearly meant to be the climax of the ending were chopped down into sub-events that would only lead to an inconclusive ending. Characters were cut off clearly for the sake of enabling the series to continue (if such characters survived, it would be too hard to explain a second season, and the plot budget for the second series clearly didn't make it for the corrections needed to sew it together with the new ending the first season required). Poor choices were made, new pinnacle plot centered characters that should always be there were added by episode 23, new information that changed everything and should be know and handled (at least by CC) were added during the last 3 episodes.

What were not only an eye-candy but also an immersible plot due to it's extreme politics and strategies saw everything fade as the usual "make the excuse now, explain later (or in the next season)" took place. If every single event during the whole show made perfect sense even if they were surprising or new as they always fit the universe and goals of each character, things became nonsensical or mechanical just for the sake of opening the huge cliffhanger required to get fans to earn for a second season.

Here is the thing: Code Geass was famous and above all averages not only because of it's excellent characters, plot and image, but also because as much as things happened and surprises arrived, the audience got the feeling, the clear and ever present feeling, that things were going somewhere. People could not wait for the next episode because the series KNEW WHERE IT WERE GOING and KNEW HOW TO GET THERE, and you would need to watch the next episode to see how things would turn out - that is - until money spoke the loudest and the order came: we don't need things to make sense, we don't need a series that seams composed and with a definite plot, what we need is another season, regardless the fact that the plot is pretty much dead, "YOU MUST REVIVE IT NOW!"

And thus the plot was revived, new characters had to be included to add even a glimpse of continuity to what would usually be clearly a forced sequel (and still is), characters died faster than they should, characters died without any extra tear when they should, and the "last episode", as if people didn't got it there would be a second season, ended with an annoying cliffhanger that brought even less resolution to any aspect of the series. They could at least make an arch come to an end and start another, but no, they just smashed any logic from the ONE plot they had to stretch it to a second season that, to the moment of this review, wasn't even officially announced.

Conclusion

With so much effort into dismantling a perfectly fine series just for the sake of making a new season out of thin air (since there clearly are no plot whatsoever, so everything is going to need a lot of inventing), the only hint is: wait for both series, and than enjoy both.

Being nearly impossible to judge Code Geass from only one season, a review would only suffice to say that all character and plot developments were halted, betrayed or simply thorned when it should be reaching it's climax, and that made the series loose all shine. Even if it was humanly possible to create an awesome second series the same way as the first SHOULD have been, it would still mean that everything got an unwanted intermission where things are dragged into a new dubious plot.

Sunrise created the world famous Gundam series, which from the multiple lack of creativities from the multiple series with multiple seasons you can tell what Code Geass will look if this prevailing intention of earning on top of something successful will cost in terms of quality. The best critic received series from Sunrise were the ones which success only hit months or years later it was aired, removing any chance of chopping off parts of the original ending for a sequel (though it's likely they will one day have the bozo-like decision to make an unwanted sequel for the ever-present moron fan who believes "everything good never come to an end").

THUS ... gear on for the next season of Code Geass, and pray they will fix the series.