Code Geass

Plot and Storyline
The story takes place in an alternate history of the world where the Holy Empire of Britannia takes over most of the world using high tech mecha suits. Japan was conquered swiftly and renamed Area 11. Many rebel factions formed to fight against the tyrants but to no avail.
Lelouch Lamperouge, a Britannian Student, was caught in a crossfire between the rebels and the Britannian forces but manages to survive because of a mysterious girl named C.C who offers him the Geass, a power bestowed to kings. He decides to end the tyranny of Britannia by masking himself as Zero and using his newly obtained power along with the rebels of Area 11.

Characters
The characters are very varied in the show, they could either be very plain and one dimensional or incredibly complex and realistic. It also has a wide array of characters from regular highschool students to rebels fighting against the empire to immortal beings with special abilities.
I'll talk about some of them in detail,

• Lelouch Lamperouge: A 17 year old with a genius-level intellect, though he appears too disinterested to apply his intelligence beyond games like chess. This is how he presents himself to the world, and how we first see him—a brilliant but seemingly apathetic student. Yet, this is just one layer of the many masks he wears. To Nunnally, he is a kind and devoted older brother, always on her side, never lying to her. To his friends, he is a reliable member of the student council, and to Suzaku, he is a trusted friend who would never betray him. Lelouch is all of these things and more, but none of them know the full truth, that he is a Britannian prince, secretly plotting revenge against the Empire and his father for refusing to protect his mother and exiling them to Japan. To achieve his goal, Lelouch literally dons a mask in the form of "Zero." As Zero, he is cold, calculating, and yet intensely charismatic, uniting the rebels in Area 11 under the banner of the Black Knights. But, this constant act of balancing between his identities take a huge toll on his mental health but despite all of this, he keeps trying to achieve what he's set out to do...to create a kinder world for the sake of Nunnally.

• C.C: A special being who is immortal and has lived for centuries, also the person who Lelouch gets mixed up with at the beginning of the series and this leads to him getting the "Power of the Kings" or the Geass in other words which lets him control anyone who he can make eye contact with. She calls herself an ally of Lelouch at the start but this is only because she believes he can fulfill the contract she has with him. Throughout the season, she slowly learns more and more about him to the point she's the only person in the story who knows every part of him but this also works the other way around as Lelouch learns more about her as well which leads to her changing slowly throughout the show's runtime. Eventually, she was ready to forget about the contract and protect Lelouch from Mao just because she wanted to which was the complete opposite of how she would have acted in the beginning of the series. She's also somewhat unreasonable and unpredictable at times which causes Lelouch a lot of trouble and it's usually because she's hungry for more pizza.

• Suzaku: A 17 year old with a naive but honest mindset and an incredibly athletic body. He's also the first true friend that Lelouch made and their goals are very similar but also very different. Suzaku plans to free Japan by being an honorary Britannian soldier and changing things from inside the government while Lelouch wants to free Japan by destroying the current government and establishing a new one in place of it. Suzaku's naivety stands as a polar opposite to Lelouch's way of thinking and achieving results no matter the methods. After he gets chosen as the processor for Lancelot, he slowly changes the perception of those around him including Cornelia to consider him an ally.

• Kallen: A 17 year old who's soft spoken and physically weak, or atleast that's the facade she keeps up in school. In reality, she's a hot blooded rebel working to overthrow Britannia from Japan. Although people think she's Britannian, she's actually half japanese in secret which is why she's working with the rebels. She eventually meets Zero and follows under his leadership because of his flawless plans and the results he brings despite him not revealing his identity. She also grows closer to her fellow Britannian students once she joins the student council which lead to some internal conflict but her resolve was strong enough to keep being a part of the Black Knights.

Animation and Art Style
The animation has dated pretty well compared to other shows especially when you consider the fact that it came out in 2006. It's pretty average consistently compared to newer shows but some of the mecha fights had pretty decent animation and there was no use of CGI either.
In terms of the Art Style, the striking look they went with the sharp, angular features along with the detailed outfits fit the show perfectly. They're very memorable and unique character designs which is partly because of the large and expressive eyes. The mechas in the show were designed really well too; the Knightmares used for military purposes were all a single color and looked like a tank or some other war machinery but advanced and personalized Knightmare frames like the Lancelot had really recognizable features and designs. The visual effects used to show how the Geass effect worked was really cool and instantly recognizable by any anime fan nowadays.

Soundtrack and Songs
The soundtracks are songs do fit the show very well but they didn't stand out to me to the point where I remember many of them but some of them are amazing and iconic. These were the few ones that did stick around in my head for a while along with some of my favourites,

• Cold Nobility
• Devil Created
• Innocent Days
• In Justice (Probably my favourite ost, it usually played when Lancelot was in action)
• COLORS
• Yukyoseisyunka

Pacing and Direction
The pacing was fast paced with lots of plot twists happening often to keep the viewer on the edge of their seats all the time. But certain episodes like the one with the cast chasing around a cat who stole Zero's mask kind of ruined the suspense and excitement created by the fast pace but it was great other than that. The direction is amazing as well, there was a perfect balance between emotional and dramatic scenes with high intensity action scenes. The use of clever camera angles and other visual story telling methods like sweeping shots and detailed compositions enhanced both the quieter moments and the action filled moments. It's one of the biggest reasons Code Geass is as popular as it is right now.

Emotional Impact
Honestly speaking, my expectations for Code Geass was so high after hearing all the praise for it that I don't ever think it could have lived up to my expectations but it was still an amazing show that I enjoyed a lot. The plot and characters seemed chaotic at times but it made more sense as I kept watching and there were only a few aspects of the show that I didn't enjoy like Mao's inclusion or the previously mentioned Cat episode but the good parts of the show completely overshadow it all. The ending was a perfect cliffhanger that made me want to watch season 2 almost immediately because of it's dark plot twist that caught even me by surprise.

Overall Thoughts
It's a great show despite the fact it's almost 2 decades old at this point and I recommend it highly to those who enjoy sci-fi or mecha anime.