Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito 5 - Itoshiki Mono-tachi e

The fifth and final installment in Akito journey is the biggest insult to all Code Geass fans.
While it was obvious from the very start how different these episodes from the main anime they didn't just stop there. I watched and enjoyed all previous 4 episodes but that wasn't the case here.
This episode picks-up right after the previous one, Shin and the Order of Michael are attacking Leila castle while Akito and the gang are trying to stop them.
This episode is one hour of overblown robots fighting robots where all the bad guys loose and the good ones march victorious with zero casualties, zero ... attention to characters and zero respect to the main source material. Not to mention the pathetic insult to the Geass power that makes no sense.
Code Geass anime was so great for portraying very realistic and interesting, complicated and deep characters, great story, soundtracks, mind games and intense action...There's nothing of this in this terrible episode.
This episode isn't just bad on Code Geass standards but as an anime in general. There's no point in watching this episode, you're better off just reading a short summary (all the bad guys "go on a trip", end of story).

The good: More code geass! And that's about where it stops. The bad: dos equis machinia or whatever, you'll probably need a dos equis or two to enjoy the ending.

Art 8/10: same art as code geass, I really love the art style, and an hour long segment just lets them get really detailed. Unfortunately, I might be able to watch anything with this art style.

Sound 9/10: I fucking loved the fight music, and almost all the sound effects were amazing, but there were a couple of instances of lines just getting plain annoying, because of repeated words by the same groups of people over and ... over again.

Character 4/10: In Lelouch, almost everybody who had a line had character. And whenever someone died you felt something. Half the character in this series didn't have well defined or really any character beyond 'scientist #3' or 'hot soldier #2-3' (spoiler: yeah those two that just blew up? had the same character, and if they had died I still wouldn't remember their names). But those that were there, were fairly interesting. If their development didn't suck.

Story 1/10: "What the fucking fuck, who the fuck took that shit on the story? I was supposed to mail that in, today, well fuck it, send it in the way it is." Spoilers! obviously. The series had a pretty interesting story until this and the last segment. I dunno why they decided to just give Leila a geass. That was stupid. Plus "it's not a geass cause it's blue" and "geass fragment" (a.k.a. we wrote ourselves into a corner and oh god how do we finish this). But not only did they give it to her, they don't give her any powers until she can just block others' geass's AND summon the omnipotent human collective conscience (aka plot-armor re-imagined as what everyone wants)? BAH. They even had some line in there that said something about brain waves making a singularity and being able to create the universe again using a twisted understanding of the observer effect. This is honestly the most disappointing ending to an anime I've watched. There have been times when I was angry, sad, happy, and all of the above, but never so utterly let down.

Enjoyment 8/10: I really enjoyed the fight scenes, the music especially kept bringing me back, despite the ending being a complete colossal failure at almost every point, I did really enjoy it. It's more code geass! just watered down a little.

Overall 5/10: Sigh. I had such high hopes, so maybe it's just that they got crushed so ... nope, it really doesn't even deserve this high of a score. This is the score that I want to believe it is so I don't feel like I wasted my time. The only way I can really reconcile this is that all of these segments were just hallucinations of Lelouch's while he and Suzaku were in jail. Either that or as soon as they say "Akito has vanished" that it's just hallucinations of Leila who's now traumatized at the deaths of her comrades. The average of the scores I gave is 6/10, but I really can't bring myself to give this more than a 5.

Code Geass Akito the Exiled has finally reached a relatively decent conclusion in my opinion, despite rushing through certain events, but ultimately I can only recommend this last installment to those who do not expect to see the old cast of characters taking the center stage, are willing to rewatch the previous four Akito episodes if they've forgotten any details, and also aren't afraid of dealing with new and mysterious supernatural elements playing a major role in resolving the conflicts at the heart of the narrative.

Story: 6/10

It is not a secret that, for many viewers, Lelouch was the main attraction of Code Geass. Plenty of ... entertainment value came from seeing all of his exaggerated tactics and ridiculous strategies at work during an ambitious struggle to defeat Britannia and overthrow its system. Lots of plot twists and crazy events. In fact, you could even argue this characteristic was a key part of what made Code Geass both so popular and so infamous across online communities.

But, to bring things into perspective, that is almost the opposite of what Akito wanted to offer in the long run. Nope, this project wasn't really targeting the hardcore Geass fanbase at all. If Lelouch of the Rebellion provided us with a fabulous telescope of many colors, then Akito the Exiled gave us a mere microscope with a few study samples on the side. There might be some beauty in looking at a different creator's vision, together with its own unique flaws, but the overall experience is not going to be remotely similar and not all tastes will enjoy it.

The last episode is perhaps the single clearest example of that. Rather than fighting a large scale conflict, the final battle took place around the siege of an old castle. This already established that the stakes would be comparatively low, and more centered on the survival of a small group of people, both European and Japanese. Not on the fate of an entire continent, much less the world. Despite the ostensible dangers of Shin's plans for global destruction, those weren't much of a real concern.

The first half of the episode concentrated on the castle battle itself and that was quite exciting, providing plenty of attractions for fans of mecha combat sequences, especially if they can already embrace the increasing use of 3D in the hands of masters like studio Orange (no relation to Jeremiah, I swear).

However, one could even argue that this concluding entry was less about the actual military outcome, which could be easily predicted with some imagination or past experience, and more about the real or attempted personal redemption of certain characters. Which isn't necessarily all that appealing. If you are the sort of person who thinks happy endings are lame or inherently inferior to bittersweet ones or outright tragedies, then you'll be extremely unlikely to have much appreciation for this approach.

But, in truth, that didn't really bother me at all. Sometimes it's perfectly fine for a story to let most of the cast survive and allow them to become little more than exiles (ah, we can see the title makes more sense in retrospect), whose actions and fates will not change the status quo of the world. If Lelouch will always be remembered inside his fictional universe for what he did as Zero and how he pulled off an insane final plan, the cast of characters in Akito will most likely see their days end in anonymity.

I would say the single most controversial factor in Akito the Exiled, from a general storytelling perspective, was the way in which Geass-related abilities were suddenly used in this last episode. Those magical or mystical aspects had taken a backseat to the action before, even though you could find some old hints about Akito's condition, the BRS system, Shin's past or Leila's abilities in previous episodes with a small amount of detective work. None of these aspects are coming out of nowhere. But it does seem like the co-writer and director of this project, Kazuki Akane, really wanted to compensate for not having a lot of magical powers influencing the narrative before this point.

The result? We get to see a combination of very anime-style interpretations of quantum mechanics employed for the sake of messing around with space/time. Not to mention the introduction of other new concepts, such as an overseeing entity linked to the collective unconsciouness (She has no name, but I'd call her Jupiter-chan). Or a completely different way to obtain a Geass ability in the case of one particular character (Shin), and a more vaguely defined yet symbolic type of power for another (Leila).

I can understand why some folks will react negatively to this. Familiarity often brings calm and sudden novelty can be risky. Even so, I feel those expressions of annoyance may simply be the result of confusion. A lot of these elements may certainly feel odd, especially at first, but I think it's possible to figure out how they are actually supposed to work with some patience and analysis. For instance: Leila's Geass power doesn't really have multiple abilities. It's essentially about communication. Therefore, most of the really crazy stunts aren't her fault. If that's not Leila, then who? Well, it's all because of the supernatural entity (Jupiter-chan) who is responsible for overseeing space and time. When you look at the big picture, it's slightly unexpected yet neither illogical nor random.

To be fair, the original Code Geass series had also relied on the supernatural to resolve important storylines at times. Think back to the metaphysical Ragnarok Connection scenario, which was not resolved thanks to any political reality or brilliant tactical move, as well as arguably the most contrived yet most memorable moment in the entire TV series that happened near the end of the first season. But, at the same time, it is important to note the original story ultimately went back to the real world for its final conflict resolution in both cases.

Here, the supernatural side of the story remained part of the mix during much of the second half of the episode. The BRS shenanigans, when taken to the extreme, literally combined a mental networking technology with the magical power of Geass in order to temporarily alter the fabric of reality. An interesting equation, on paper, but sadly never sufficiently explored in this spin-off.

Something more intriguing, in my view, was the conversation between Leila and the space/time overseer. While we can still question the use of such plot devices to help resolve conflicts as a literal deus ex machina, I think the existence of said being helps expand this fictional universe, even beyond the limits of this episode's script. In other words, it strengthens the Code Geass lore by providing a sense of larger purpose and opens up new story possibilities. Individuals like V.V. or even dear C.C. never really had this effect, since they operated on the same level as humanity rather than above it. To put it another way...I want to see Jupiter-chan show up again.

Oh, I was forgetting something! I will admit that the small and almost insignificant presence of Suzaku and Lelouch in this new story might have distracted the audience, with both unfortunate and fortunate implications, but for me they were always a sideshow in the context of Akito the Exiled. Just a way to give the fans a bonus feature. It wasn't going to focus on them, one way or another, and I think that isn't too unreasonable for a spin-off.

Having said of all this, I would say the resolution provided by the final episode of Akito the Exiled is valid and not impossible to understand, but parts of the narrative do leave me wishing they had chosen something more practical instead. Or, failing that, changing the format of the project into a full TV series rather than a bunch of small movies released every other year.

Art: 8/10

This was really more of the same, so there's little to add. The general animation and art quality was moderately impressive, although I do believe certain scenes might have been edited in a rush (or not at all) in order to release the last episode in theaters. Presumably the physical disc release is going to smooth certain odd spots.

Sound: 8/10

Not much of a difference here either. Good sountrack, although the crazy jazz will surely tend to confuse and annoy those who haven't already gotten used to the work of the composer who has worked on all the previous Akito the Exiled episodes.

Character: 7/10

Let's get the obvious thing out of the way. The characters in Akito the Exiled are not as charismatic nor as larger-than-life as those in the main Code Geass TV series. They also don't have the same amount of development or characterization due to the limited running time. There's a lot of purely secondary or tertiary people in this final episode and the same thing goes for the rest of the series. Some of them could have played a larger role and others got brief scenes that are nothing more than decent. If I were to talk about all of them, I'd be here all day.

Having said this, I think there's some pretty good stuff going on too. Akito's character development arc arguably ended somewhere between the third or fourth installments. This is simply the final stage. What we have here is an already changed man who no longer just wants to die and kill people. He views life in a more positive fashion and tries to see if his brother isn't entirely beyond saving after all. In the end, you could say his goal was mainly about resolving a brotherly conflict rather than a global war. I can see all of this sounding a little unoriginal or even repetitive for some folks, but in my opinion it was still a logical outcome for Akito. Beyond that, he gets to do a lot of neat fighting and that is always welcome.

Curiously enough, Leila herself had more character-based scenes than Akito in this one yet didn't play much of a role in the combat resolution. What she really does do, however, is directly experience the bulk of the supernatural elements that were emphasized during this last episode. I imagine the specifics behind that magical turn of events will always remain controversial, but I thought the underlying meaning was interesting enough. That said, I admit that idealistic and selfless characters are rarely popular in the context of the CG property.

You could say Leila represents the side of humanity that will not give up, even in the face of real or potential tragedies. She had many doubts at the start of this whole story and moments of weakness, unsure about what to do, but those were eventually overcome (with the help of others, such as Klaus and Akito or the gypsy folks too). In other words, that was her development.

In the end, the core message of the story connects to Leila. She believes people can change, despite all the terrible or at least depressing things that have happened around her, her teammates or her own family. That's why she wanted to help Akito and even Shin, both during previous episodes and especially now. It also reflects her accepting former enemies as comrades. Even after seeing something horrible during this final installment (which might even come across as a little cheap, on the surface), she didn't give up nor succumb to despair.

Instead, Leila finally decided to embrace her own Geass ability (and that, in turn, seems to have interested a higher power). Which also reflects how she wants to continue living in the world and not just destroy everyone around her like Shin. What exactly does her Geass ability do? Don't ask me about any explicit rules or lore behind it, that is all vague, but the relevant effect for the purposes of analysis is helping people connect with each other. In my opinion, that worked just fine for this story.

That said, I do have some moderate disappointments here. It is true that Leila technically orchestrated the castle defense, but we didn't really get to see her setting up the traps nor giving the orders. Which makes Leila's role seem passive in that area, although it isn't inherently supposed to be.

I will not claim Shin was a great villain, but his full background history (that family was rather messed up) did help connect a few dots. It explains why his Geass power was not only far too restricted but also very ironic. His weak point, both as a character and as a person, was that he didn't have any concrete ambitions (or motivations) for changing the world. Just destruction. I suppose he was not a completely evil being, since there was some good left in his soul before it was twisted in strange ways, but in the end he was more of an insane person than a healthy individual. Even poor Jean turned out to be more reasonable than him.

Another character-related criticism would be the final fate of Smilas. It felt underwhelming. Predictable due to the chronology and even entirely deserved for his duplicity, in the end, but lacking some more build-up.

Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

I'll say that the last episode of Akito the Exiled felt quite lukewarm in execution when it came to the script, yet still fitting as a conclusion to the main characters and the themes of the story. It's a valid way to end the narrative, but not as strong in terms of impact as that of the main series. I would have appreciated more explanations for the magical elements too.

One way or another though, I still had fun watching it. Not every revelation or decision concerning the storytelling was properly presented either, although a few specific sequences did reflect a lot of directorial or cinematographic skill. To make a long story short, this isn't your past self's Code Geass. Nope, not at all. It does some things better, or at least differently, but others were also worse. How much you care about particular aspects will help determine where you stand on it.

Fuck it. After this review, I'm gonna give this series the Tsukihime treatment*.

*Tsukihime treatment: Pretending that something doesn't exist because it doesn't deserve acknowledgment.

**Spoilers for Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito Final - Itoshiki Monotachi e**

You know, what was I expecting? Really. What did I expect would happen. This entire series has been an absolute joke, unworthy of bearing the name "Code Geass", and people have been saying that this film was the worst of them all, so what was I to expect? Well, the last two films were enjoyable in comparison to the first two despite people calling them terrible in comparison to the first ... two, so maybe I could've been able to see this as somewhat misunderstood. Then again, this is Akito the Exiled, I think the concept of redemption and good writing is impossible for it to grasp. Now, I'm not gonna pretend the main series was perfect, far from it, but even R2, which already had it's fair share of bafflingly stupid and convoluted moments, looks like a masterpiece compared to this atrocity, and it's predecessors. Even then, I thought film 2 was bad. No...film 2 is actually passable compared to this pigshit of an installment. Now, what went so wrong here as to make me want to surgically remove this, and by extension, the entire Akito series from the body of the Code Geass franchise? Well, let's find out, shall we?

Picking up right where we left off, except we jump a week because apparently no one took action in a week. After Ashley fails to convince Jean to join him, she suddenly has doubts about her goal of helping Shin. Then, we launch into a full-blown siege. It's after the Euro-Britannians make it in that we get an infinite amount of problems. The directing is so bad that we usually don't even get to see where those grappling cable latches hang on to. Also, when Ayane corners Jean and has a laughable scene of trying to convince and then hug her, Jean suddenly thinks she's the one with power in the situation. Then we begin the final battle between Akito and Shin after Shin has knocked back Ashley and Ryou. Where was Yukiya? In recovery before going to his new unit and taking down a big cannon on that explodes and land on him before doing so, yet he still survives, but we'll get back to that.

The second half is where things turn from bad to utter bullshit. During the battle of brothers, we see them teleport but still be there (probably thanks to Leila's bullshit geass), and it's at this point where we get a LITERAL DEUS EX MACHINA! Right after the entire command center sans Leila is riddled with bullet holes, we see this geass-related collective entity again in her beautiful glory, as she basically doesn't explain jack to Leila that is relevant aside from the fact that she still has a "fragment of geass" since I guess children can't be able to have full geasses (not unless you're Mao from Code Geass R1 but this series has done enough damage to the main one) but somehow reverses time long enough for Leila to completely rethink the situation to avoid her crew dying (despite the fact that it's the same amount of time she has earlier and she never thought of anything at the moment). I guess Leila's geass allows her to see a vision of her parents conversing with her without knowing it's her, and I guess she can see and project other people's memories, but none of this is explained well at all and we never get a definitive effect if the geass she has (albeit it seemingly does multiple things despite a geass being able to have only ONE POWER, like controlling, forcing one to kill, etc.), and somehow this allowed everyone in the main group to make cheesy speeches about helping Akito and telling Shin not to kill him, no matter how far away they are. Time for the final act, and the final nail in the coffin.

We see Shin's and Akito's sorry excuses for backstory. Apparently, Akito was born from a different father, and when Shin walked in, he not only deduced who the real father is in an instant (despite the father looking nothing like the son whatsoever (not even hair color)) but also became nihilistic due to that, to the point of feeling betrayed by his mother and receiving a Geass that makes people kill themselves (except Akito because fuck logic, right?). About that being, who is what is it? It's fully established that you need a living being that has code in order for him/her to be able to give a geass to someone, not this abstract skull thing that just appeared into this works because whatever. Then, he kills his whole family because Jennie values death (but never takes his own life for some reason) and "wants to set them free from this awful world". As you can see, his backstory is edge-filled and stupid as hell. Also, he devolves into a madman and now both of them can see ghosts and visions of living veins shouting for Akito not to die (none of this makes any sense and none of this is explained), and then Jean appears right outta nowhere to kill Shin and take the fatal sword blow for Akito (because she had minor conflict and was convinced with just a simple hug). Also, yeah, every good guy is alive, even when they shouldn't be, like Yukiya. Also, remember the plot point about Smilas trying to become a dictator? Well, this movie forgot about it until the end credits where he and everyone are quickly killed by Ashley because tying up plot points in a pathetic and clumsy way since we forgot to address this big plot point during the edit the film, is what Akito is best at. Speaking of, Lelouch and Suzaku are told by Rolo (in a post-credits scene mind you) that daddy Charles wants to see them. This doesn't even resolve this dangling thread that jeopardizes R2's existence. It's all just left to dry in the hot sunny day!

Development doesn't even matter anymore; nothing can save these characters from being dogshit. Let's start with Leila. Her geass is horribly defined and nothing but contrivances and deus ex machinas for the sake of the abomination called a plot, and it's thanks to this supervisor whose appearance and existence makes no sense in the context of the franchise. Plus, she's a lot happier this time around for some reason. Ayano, Ryou, and Yukiya also remain the same, and so does Ashley. The biggest problem lies with Shin. I already mentioned how retarded his backstory is, but there's the rest of how he's written, which still made him a generic "not valuing life" antagonist. There's really nothing to him but wasted potential for an interesting villain. Jean has a pathetically realized excuse for conflict and resolution, Suzaku goes out of character to choke Lelouch for no reason, and we're left with a pathetic cast of underutilized and underdeveloped twits that could've been actually interesting and properly written. Oh yeah, and General Smilas is here too. Say hi before he dies because you only see him and his goons for all of 10 seconds in the end credits before they get destroyed. Not gonna mention anyone else either, they're not memorable and suffer from the same problems as Leila: no one was fleshed out or ever written to be compelling beforehand, so they're left to rot here.

Somehow the CGI is more poorly integrated than before, and there are moments where the CGI blatantly dips in quality and integration, like when Ashley disposes of Smilas. The directing here is at its worst, with awful and unnecessary shaky cam and some awful shot composition here and there. The character art and animation are both as good as the previous two films though, so that's a plus (there, I gave this shitty movie a compliment; happy now?). We also get a sort-of sword fight between Shin and Akito (sort-of since it's one-sided and Akito doesn't even do much fighting after the first 30 seconds of swordplay), and some decently done death scenes of Jean and Shin (in terms of look and direction, not content), but overall, the last two looked better than this film.

The only new addition to the mediocre Akito music library this time is the mediocre ED, and it's as boring as the other ones. Remember that I'll-fitting blaring trumpet piece? Well, here they play it in the most ill-fitting battle of the bunch. That piece is for chaotic moments, which doesn't really occur here. I really have nothing left to say. This movie doesn't even add new background OSTs to the mix like the previous two did, which also emphasizes how much worse the production of this one was in comparison to the last one, and this is supposed to be the final hurrah of the sub-series! Bah!

I genuinely wish this sub-series didn't exist, or at least, that is was written to actually respect the logic of the franchise and not ruin itself or fail its characters. This final film really makes the other Akito movies look decent by comparison. I'm done with Akito the Exiled, and I'll probably never see this sub-series again. In fact, why am I even raging? This thing doesn't even exist. None of these films exist, and if they did, they wouldn't have a right to bear the name of the franchise. I don't even know what I'm doing here, ranting on a nonexistent product. Am I a madman? Clearly! Fuck this; I'm out!

This review is just about the last movie, but it sort of encompasses my feelings for the movies before this final chapter as well.

Story(8/10)/Characters(9/10): The whole plot is about what the characters are going through and how they persist. Over time, the viewer eventually uncovers more and more about the the protagonists and antagonists. The final chapter plays a huge part in fleshing out the characters, what their motivations are, and what their pasts entailed. There is a lot of stuff to chew on in the final movie as far as the Geass universe and how it is connected to metaphysics. Anyone who has watched ... End of Evangelion will see inspiration from the NERV raid, and it is very entertaining to watch a base defense scenario. Honestly, there is a lot of inspiration from Evangelion. Some of the story elements introduced in this might feel forced and randomly confusing, but it inspires a sense of a mind f***, which is fun to experience. 8/10 is kind of generous for the story rating, but I felt since this was the climax and the loose ends were getting tied, this would be higher than what I would give to the previous chapters. It does leave me wanting a continuation to the Geass series.

Art (8/10): CG is the only detracting factor. The rest of the animation is somewhere in between OVA and high budget movie quality.

Sound (7/10): The BGM is what makes the Akito movies vastly different from the Geass TV series. Instead of epic choir music from the TV series, you have a crazy jazz saxophone blasting in your ear and rumbling bass with a MIDI-like sound accompanying it. It's a very disturbing combination, and its intention is clearly to cause a disturbing, chaotic mood during the battles. The BGM is what made Geass stand out as a "Death Note" type of show. And both Death Note and Geass had the epic choir music. So to go from a show and "chess-battle" genre that was totally defined by the 'epic music' to something with a completely different vibe, yet same character artwork, does work in its favor. I feel it was someone's selfish intention to go with this music choice as a way to delve into ideas and themes differently than the TV series.

Enjoyment (8/10): If you enjoy action and some conscious-sharing, this will be an enjoyable experience.

Overall (8/10): Although the 4 year wait fresh in my mind while watching this ruined my viewing, I'd rather this as an 8/10.

Wow, what to say about this final installment of the Boukoku no Akito OVA's?

I think the long and short of it is that these OVA's were extremely disappointing. This one in particular. I feel like I waited for three years to see where this story went, only to be left with a big huge steaming pile of crap.

The first two OVA's were great. I loved the characters and potential storylines. Then the third OVA was a bit rushed and all over the place. The fourth was incredibly rushed and left a lot of open-ended questions and lots of confusion.

Finally we ... get to this fifth and final OVA. And I felt completely let down. First off, I watched a really bad SUB, that even with my limited Japanese, I could tell that a lot of the meaning was mistranslated. So the bigger concepts and final wrap ups were ultra confusing.

That being said, while a better SUB would have helped, this last OVA was a random, rushed, ridiculous mess that as a major CODE GEASS fan, left me feeling insulted.

There was so much potential in the first OVA! Instead, absolutely nothing was resolved.

Here is my breakdown:

Story: CRAP. Complete and utter crap. I think that my three year old cousin could write a better story. Nothing made sense, no questions were answered, no plot lines were resolved.

Art: This is the only part of the OVA's that really left any impression. Beautiful background art, lovely character designs, pleasing color palette. I just wish more detail had been put into some of the fight scenes.

Sound: Honestly the music in these OVA's is subpar at best, and if I am being honest, I really hated it. I really, really, really dislike jazz music, and I just cannot understand why you would layer intense jazz overtop of fight scenes??? where is the sense in that? It actually makes the fights seem ridiculous and fake.

Character: (mild spoilers here) What a waste. Some great characters were absolutely wasted with the story line. Rushed character development made a lot of the character interactions unbelievable. Akito was so cold and creepy and unapproachable at the beginning of the OVA's, which made him interesting and mysterious. Then at the halfway point he all of the sudden cares a lot about all of his comrades? And they are shouting ridiculously at him through most of this last OVA? Just... weird and disappointing.

Enjoyment: Do I even need to answer this? Fine, I hated it and was totally disappointed.

Overall: Okay, so in summary, I am a huge Code Geass fan. Like, I have watched the whole series at least 3 times. Lelouch is one of my favorite anime male characters of all time. So if you are a huge fan, don't mar the perfection of the TV series by watching these OVA's.

Man am i glad that i can finally wrap this up. This time, there is nothing like a slight depression when you utterly finish a show, knowing that you have to say goodbye to a cast of characters, at least until you maybe rewatch it again. But for Code Geass, there is only happiness. I mean, yes, Lelouch really is amazing, he deserves his popularity, too bad that the surrounding series just isn't up to par though. But this is about the last part of Akito's story, so this shall be our topic. First of all, no battered Leila in a ripped skirt, the ... promo-pictures are lying, how rude. Sigh...let's do it.

Story: I am done with this, in the end, it was still bad. Basically the movie consists out of the final battle between the Hyuga-brothers, and all their superiors and allies. This whole fight is actually really well done, unfortunately i didn't care for the characters at all, together with all their stupid decisions. Nothing seems to make sense, or maybe i am just not smart enough to actually understand it. There will be spoilers here beware, since i will talk about the things that i didn't understand. First of all, how did Shin get his Geass? From a skull? But that's against everything we learned in the main series. What's his power anyway, the same as Lelouchs or can he only order people to die? On this note, what is Leilas Ability? Is it a Geass-canceller, cause it is also blue? The weird woman describes it as a fragment, but what can it actually do? It does so many things, that its impossible to see any consistent power. That was really well done in the main series, how lelouch always investigated the parameter and turned this mystical power into something easily understandable. The powers in these movies however just seem like really bad writing. I am actually getting slightly agitated while writing this, so i will just conclude it here. I hated it, at the end i was actually laughing at how bad the story actually is. I give it a 2, which seems inconsistent, but all the time, i expected some explanations. They never came, in hindsight i should probably lower the score of all the other movies. I won't, just a thought.

Art:That doesn't mean that the movie can't score in the other categories. The Art is still on the same quality-level, i liked it. There is some actual nudity this time. Oh my, why couldn't it be leila or ayano though. I am sorry.
The animation is nice at well, really liked those quick fights, but i mentioned that before.

Sound: The same as always, i think they changed the ending, i really can't remember.

Character: All the character arcs are concluded in this movie, i'll give it that much. Shin is weird, he basically hates the world and by killing everyone he wants to set them free from this rotten hell. Twisted and insane is what i'd call that, but definitely entertaining. Leila lost her personality somewhere along the way, somehow she felt like a plot-device in this last part. Akito gained something, i suppose, don't really care. Oh and ayano is goddamn stupid. I also don't like how they are all cast aside in the end, to not interfere with the maincanon. But that complaint probably belongs to the story.

Enjoyment: Well i kinda had fun at least, but actual enjoyment? That's going too far. i don't know anymore, just take your 6 again, you retarded movie, you.

"So this is it, our final battle." That's not actually taken from the movie. So, we did it. It took a while. I got a little teary-eyed when i finished Haruhi, but this here? Oh well, i already talked about it in the introduction. The thing is, if they ever do a third season, i'd watch it. That's my conclusion, i think that conveys my feelings for Code Geass. Lelouch is cool, without him, this would all be abysmal and nobody would care.

First of all, there is one thing you have to know about me : I am a HUGE fan of Code Geass, and I also loved the first three OVAs of Akito the Exiled (I did like the 4th OVA, but not as much).
So, for me to give such a bad mark to this episode, it means they REALLY screwed up big. I'll try my best to explain it (SPOILERS FOR THIS OVA, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED).


STORY
Akito the Exiled had a number of plots, all awesome :
- the face-to-face between Akito and his brother, and the mystery behind their Geass and Akito's ability to talk ... to ghosts.
- the war between Euro-Britannia and the rest of the world.
- the corrupt government of EU.
- the mystery behind Layla's power.

This OVA 5 had the task to wrap up ALL these stories. It's too much for an episode, even though it's an hour long.
BUT we could expect them to finish one or two of these stories in a proper way, right? Well, it's not the case. ALL those stories are rushed and ruined. No exception.
- Akito somehow doesn't want to kill his brother anymore.
- They don't even mention how Euro-Britannia winds up after this story. Was it dismantled? Did it become independent? Did it join either EU or Britannia? We'll never know.
- the corrupt government of EU is taken out in 10 seconds.
- Layla's power is terribly OP.
- It all ends HAPPILY EVER AFTER. Seriously? IT'S CODE GEASS! It's not supposed to end up in such a cheesy way! No one dies! All the bad guys are taken out of the picture and all the good guys have a happy ending!!!

Basically : everything is rushed, every story ends in a miserable way, and it's all too cheesy for Code Geass!


ART
Akito the Exiled was wonderful, and this OVA makes no exception. The battle is terrific, the movements are fluid, the environments and visual effects are awesome.
The only problem, as ever with Code Geass, is the chara-design. I still can't get used to that pointy chin xD! Though it's not that much troublesome, I do count it as the main problem in the visuals of Code Geass.

There is, however, ONE THING I don't forgive this episode for : that slow motion scene in the middle of the battle. Akito and Shin suddenly fight slowly for some reason, BUT keep talking at normal speed, which is just ridiculous.


SOUND
The anime had such a wondeful OST, so I don't know what happened with the OVAs. Akito the Exiled has an horrendous OST, it puts jazz during battles and there aren't much variation in themes.
Only the endings are cool, though I don't find them marvelous.


CHARACTER
Characters have always been the strong point of Code Geass. Even secondary characters are awesome and well developed. Akito The Exiled was no exception... during the first 4 OVAs.
In this final episode, the characters lose their charisma and become totally cliché. Shin was an awesome villain because he managed to take over the whole Euro-Britannia and declared war against the world ; but nothing that he did is important in this episode, where he's just a bad guy fighting the good guy. Also, it seems he was given the Geass by a floating skull. Yeah, a floating skull. I didn't get that part either.
As for Akito, he went from "I will KILL that bastard" to "I don't want to fight you, Big Bro!", and winds up crying for his brother who actually tried to kill him.
My point is, their story (as emotional as it can be) was completely screwed in this episode. It was supposed to be a deathmatch between brothers.

As for the rest : Layla went from a badass commander in OVAs 1 and 2 to Princess Peach in OVAs 3 to 5. What was interesting was her Geass. As crazy as it sounds, this power does not betray the standard of Code Geass. Basically, a Geass power is a psychological power. But Layla's allows her to literally GO BACK IN TIME and even TELEPORT. How is that possible? Easy : her "Geass fragment" is actually a way to control the C world.
This is not really well explained, but basically, when she goes back in time or teleport, she actually changes the "vision" of the C World, which is how she affects reality. Remember that EVERYTHING in this anime is just a play, orchestrated by God. Then, whoever controls God can affect reality.
My point is, Layla's power is actually logical. BUT it's OP as hell. I don't understand why they came up with such an idea.
That said, it does explain why this OVA winds up in such a good note : Layla's character is cheesy, and she gets to write history as she will, so of course she would make a happy end.

Finally, worst of all : Lelouch and Suzaku, in the end, aren't useful to the plot. They were important in OVA 3, but they really could have been cut out from the other ones.


ENJOYMENT
This has to be the worst time I ever had watching Code Geass. I loved the first OVAs, liked the 4th, and the anime was legendary. But this one? It's a huge mess. Every plot has ended in a miserable way.
To end on a positive note : I do retain that massacre scene (you probably know which one I'm talking about) and the battle. Overall, the episode is good to watch, but it ruins the series so much that I just can't like it or even approve its existence.

If you liked the previous OVAs, I really suggest you stick to them. SUre you won't have the end of the story... but I'm pretty sure you DON'T want this end.

**SPOILERS** (Unless you don't mind because of how bad it is)

So... where to start off?

Well this was just downright "Wtf is this bullshittery?". Quantum space-time teleportation because of brain-wave overlapping due to Geass interference? This was a downright rushed finale as obviously stated by the BS of "quantum space-time teleportation to nowhere" and "going back in time a few seconds to save everyone you love". The last time I saw this kind of BS was from the game Resistance 3. I'm sorry, but the original Code Geass didn't pull this kind of BS out of their asses last time I checked. And it was a ... typical happy-lala ending again, with everyone happy going home arm-in-arm, hugging and kissing each other goodbye (even their enemies), and so much as watching the sunset together after their intensive battle of trying to earnestly kill each other. What is this, Fairy Tail? At least Fairy Tail showed how they got to get along and in a proper way.

I was expecting a darker ending as with the death flag from Akito telling them they should all be able to go to Japan one day ALIVE. But, this episode simply did a backflip on that. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers. At least I got to enjoy the art and sound once more. The director probably chose to due a full-on hard stop to the story saying that this is it. And despite all the BS involved, it was very easy to understand the characters feelings... or maybe this is a bad thing. However, because I enjoyed it, I'll be generous about it.

Episodes 1-4 - 8/10 up until this episode.
This episode - 4/10
Series overall - 5/10

That will be a review or the whole 5 movies/episodes of spin off series of the Code Geass, Akito the Exiled.

It begins somewhat in character to overall Code Geass and showcase what have happened elsewhere in the world while Lelouch was busy with his Black Rebellion.

In fact it even finds a clever way of inserting some of the main characters into the show, even though they only play a minor role.

Knighmare Alexander that all the main characters are using is cleverly designed and overall makes a good fit into the Code Geass world.

However while first two episodes are still mostly faithful to the original, ... the third is somewhat transitional and the lest two completely veer off into their own direction and tell their own, not always cohesive story.

The way Geass works for example is different from the original and it gets increasingly noticeable in the later episodes.

In Hangyaku no Lelouch each geass user has a unique to them power, that is a reflection of their innermost wishes as well as unique to each of them limits on such powers.

For example Mao's geass allows him to read other people's thoughts while they are in range and Lelouch's to force them to do anything he orderes them to, but just once. As for limitations Lelouch's geass only can only work on each of his targets once and he has to be able to look them directly into the eyes and not say through the display and cameras in their knightmares. In contrast Mao's geass does not have these limitations and affects everyone within half kilometer radius from him.

Akito the Exiled geass users have neither concrete powers not concrete rules of usage. By episode 5 geass is just used as deus ex machina for scrip writers to pull whatever.

While early on Akito the Exiled showcased the life in EU and Euro Britannia, later story became about about authors own values and philosophy of life they wish to sell us.

Overall story mostly revolves around Leila Malcal and everyone else acts as her support, the final episode is about main antagonist Shin Hyuga and pretty much the entire cast is used to stop him from destroying Pendragon and killing everyone.

This unlike the original, here authors want to make a dichotomy between death represented by Hyūga and Life represented by Leila and those who ended up on her side.


Hangyaku no Lelouch and Akito the Exiled have ultimately the opposite views on lfe and values.

The original Hangyaku no Lelouch was about fighting for justice against the unjust system and the unjust world. It clashes this worldview with that of Suzaku but ultimately lets Lelouch's vision to prevail.

However it is also an ultimate tale of battle for one's inner personal happiness, even if the entire world oppose you.

The main protagonist continually defies fate at every turn and twist of his life no matter what happens. It is a story about fight against fate. The story of Ubermensch if you want.

In contrast Akito the Exiled at first endorses monarchy, aristocracy and military dictatorship as 'stronger' systems. Then continues on to endorse basically pacifism, acceptance of fate and saving human lives above all else.

If in the Hangyaku no Lelouch Charles wanted to kill god and Lelouch later geassed god into obeying his vision for the future.

Then in Akito some mysterious girl just acts as a representative of some sort of 'higher power' and fixes the final outcomes of the plot. Not only it is a poor lazy writing, but also a values statement on existance of the said 'higher power', something like a god, the kind of god who is 'a bearded old man on a cloud or a winged goddess' to quote VV from Hangyaku no Lelouch who also said there is no such thing.

It is a story about surrender and acceptance of fate to save lives. And about miserable existence that follows.

There is also underlying message of guilt for being a human. Overall story about being the Nietzschean Last Man and living a medieval lifestlye in some wooden wagon on wheels, drawing water from river with buckets and such. No seriously. How could Code Geass devolve into that is a mystery even for me.

Overall it is a mixed and dubious experience so consider if it is right for you.

This was not good, it could have been arguably better, but chances were missed ever since they abused the classic “kill them all” bait, it would have been fine using it one time, but not, it seems like every movie had several moments of this, but this last one seems to have been composed of mainly just that.
A plot that lives off its hacky armor can never improve the mediocracy it's composed of, I don't know what I was expecting, but the cliché good guys can even escape death has gone out of fashion, even for a show from the early 2010s.

I would, of course, ... give credit wherever it's due, and the animation folks have outdone most of their collective work regarding the whole series, there were some bugging flaws here and there, but this was the best entry to feature CGI that blends with the 2D environment the best.
I feel like I just have to pick on the lack of the majestic ending song that made the previous movies great while at that too. I don't think I'll have to watch this series ever again, or at least, not in the foreseeable 3 years or so.

All Hail Lelouch!

Spoilers ahead please beware. I have tried to cover them as much as I can.

All Hail Lelouch!


Well I am grateful for the makers giving 5 hours of more enjoyment.

When I started watching the first episode I accepted that it will be like Rogue One where it is a good side story and everyone will die in the end. Yes some of the characters die but we can see some happy endings.
...
There are really good mecha combat scenes and the battle for fortress is good. Jean's last scene was touching.

The Story
We have a nice good side story which has enough depth but does not effect "All Hail Lelouch!"

Art
The mecha scenes are clear and you can keep who is fighting who easily than most animes.

Sound
Perfect

Character
With the fifth episode we get almost any main characters' story. Leila Malcal and Jean Rowe are my favourites.

Overall
Great side story, I hope we have Season 3 of Lelouch soon.

Wew, I didn't expect it to turn out this bad, I gave generous scores to the other episodes hoping it would finish up decently, but it did the complete opposite, and buries any chance that this series of OVAs could be taken seriously.

*Spoliers*

First, the combat:
The mech combat is mostly okay, though I felt that the EU knightmares or whatever they are called, were way too powerful, I get that they were spec ops and later got custom made ones, but they should have been used for hit and run tactics, not head on confrontation. There is also the matter of the four legged one ... piloted by Shin which can go 160 kph and switch direction quickly despite being heavily armored, it also has a lever action rifle, which is clearly an outdated design and some bullshit melee weapon made from gears and blades held together with magic, Then there is the one piloted by Ashley at the airship having some bullshit armor than can deflect normal bullets, this also shows us that EU knightmares carry 4-5 different type of rounds which begs the question where do they store them? There is also a serious lack of different type units like tanks or aircraft, we do get a scene with artillery but nothing serious. One of the thing I liked in R1&R2 was the use of mixed arms, and supporting units, which gave it a realistic feel, despite it getting ignored towards the ending.
So, in summary, while most of the mech vs mech action was good, there wasn't really anything else, the battles were uninteresting mostly just the two sides smashing together without any tactics or strategy, basically just a brawl, which is not a problem on it's own, but not what I would expecting of Code Geass.

The plot & characters:
The plot revolves around Akito, as the title would suggest, he starts out as edgy, then after getting tricked into forced labour by a bunch of gypsies, he suddenly becomes kind. He is part of a spec ops team dropped behind enemy lines to create a diversion, we don't get a reason why. It's as bad as it sounds. We barely get any background on him, that only asks more questions, like how did he ended up in the EU army, and how the hell is he still alive, etc. Overall he has no depth and his character develops the way the plot requires it.
Leila, from whose perspective we see the plot unfolding for the most of time, could be called the MC, but if not for that she would be pretty forgettable, generic naive ojou-sama type who can't really do anything on her own. She came up withe the idea of the spec ops team though it only mention once when she is give command of it. She doesn't do much during the films, besides recruiting the eleven pilots, and the bullshit at the end. Her parents were Britannian nobility, seeking refuge in the EU. Her father became a popular politician, who then got assassinated along with her mother. While running away she falls into a lake and freezes solid only to be rescued by C.C. somehow and then given a geass that only activates when she grows up, she completely forgets this until the last episode, where it turns out it's a geass canceller, let's her see the future/travel back in time, teleport, see and interact with dead people and god knows what else.
The third most important character is probably the Akito's nemesis, his brother Shin. Supposedly his geass forces people to kill themselves, but not much is known about it, besides that he got it from a flying skull that came out of a painting. His goal is to kill everyone to free them from the suffering that is life, which IS a valid philosophical argument, though he came to this conclusion because his mother cheated on his father which is at best a cheese. There is also the question of how the hell did he became Britannian nobility and a the leader of a holy order as an eleven, even though he got adopted, and then named successor it makes no sense considering "discrimination against numbers is Britannian national policy", no way would it be allowed or anyone would even consider it.
Honorable mentions goes to the trio of Japanese criminals, who fight alongside Akito, their characters are one dimensional, being there only to support Akito, they don't really have any backstory, they start out hating Akito, trying to kill him and Leila before and during a mission, then after a single battle they became besties.
Lelouch and Suzaku also shows up, though Suzaku has no impact at all, and Lelouch is used as a plot device to change leadership on both sides, resulting in Shin taking power on the Britannian side and military rule on the EU's side, this doesn't have any effect on the plot and is mostly disregarded anyway. And it conflicts with R2 so there goes continuity.
There is Ashely and Jean, Ashley is only role is fighting, he doesn't have much of a character, Jean character revolves around her being in love with Shin, ending with her jumping in front of Akito taking Shins blade, causing her to die, while also shooting and killing Shin.
There also a bunch of other supporting characters but they add so little it would be a waste to mention them.

Sound and Art:
Art is good, about the same as the original series, though I absolutely hate CGI, the music is good even if not memorably, it usually fit with the scenes.

Fun:
The first 3 could be considered fun, the 4th one is bad and the 5th outright terrible, even as a stand alone series. I don't know if they originally planned it to be a 25 episode anime, but there are a lots of things left unanswered and the ending felt extremely rushed.

Overall, anything besides the mecha fights and the character designs sucks, even moreso considering it's Code Geass.

In case you are reading this before beginning the first OVA, if you love Code Geass for everything that is not mecha related, don´t watch this. It´s the equivalent of a Netflix adaptation of Code Geass.

Story:1/10
Art and sound: 8/10
Characters: 2/10
Enjoyment: 2/10 (complete disappointment)

The writers removed all that made CG great, the characters, plot, not cliche background and villains, the Machiavellian strategies, and left us with the more generic villain of all times and the worst utilization of the Geass. Not to say that nothing makes sense lore-wise.
Not to mention that at some point they tried to kind of explain the Geass using ... some sort of mumble-jumbo using quantum physics and all the tech-big words they could find in Wikipedia.

The ending it´s the result of very poor writing and it was very painful to watch (no spoilers) I mean in it in the sense that the conclusion was so predictable and cliche that one cannot stop wondering how come they made such a bad argument under the name Code Geass.

Spoiler free review!
Where to start?
A quick advice, I know this is already the last episode of this movie series but I have to warn you that this is not worth watching. Now I understand why people say this is the worst episode.

The characters are poorly made, the story is way too cliché. The fights are pretty well made but everything else is either mediocre or dreadful. Don’t waste your time unless you like stories where friendships give you power and they become unbeatable. It does have some connections with the original series, cause it’s played after the first season but nothing really influences the ... original series, so just because of that you shouldn’t watch it.
Overall I pretty much hated it, the third episode was kind of okay but the rest though…even the OVAs of Code Geass are better than this crap! Give me a favour and don’t watch this!

First things first, this review is accounting for all the OVAs in conjuction with eachother. Definitely read this review after finishing the series.

Code Geass is my #3 anime of all time, for reasons which should be obvious for anyone who has seen the show. I had heard about this series but never cared to watch it, but I decided to give it a shot. More than anything I’m dissapointed. I honestly think that this could’ve a pretty good show if it was a 25 episode show or something like that rather than 5 OVAs. This show mainly suffers from rushing and laziness.

The story is meh ... but isnt awful. In general is pretty straight forward with some confusingly thrown in elements and pointless subplots but its excuseable for the most part, except the actual Geass aspect which I’ll get into later. As stated before this story could’ve been much better if given more time in my opinion.

My main gripe is just the handlement of characters. I’m a firm believer that a character has to establish relevancy in a story before becoming a larger part of a story. Many characters in this show have nearly 0 established or important relevancy, and yet they’re given spotlight as if they’ve established themself as a character worth caring for. Examples of this are that one doctor lady with the husband in the coma, that one girl Jeanne, and General Smilas. The main cast is alright. Leila is a solid character and serves her purpose well, but everything involving her family could’ve been fleshed out MUCH better, but in general I like her. Akito is very bland and doesn’t add much other than good action sequences, overall he’s very cliche but isn’t bad per say. The band of japanese terrorists that join the party are likeable, but once again they are not set up well as characters. One thing that really annoyed me was in the second episode involving them. During an attempted ambush of the brittanians they start trying shooting at Leila & Akito. This whole situation just gets shoved under the rug once they start fighting the Britannians and is never mentioned again, and they all just go on as happy go lucky buds. Shin Hyuga Shiang is a cliche antagonist with a weak cliche motive. He was introduced very poorly in once again, a forced relevancy manner, just showing up randomly, killing some random guy and all of a sudden hes a big deal. Everything involving him and Akito’s backstory is just filled with confusing bullshit that only leaves questions and no answers, wayyy worse than the whole sword of akasha shit, overall however Shin isn’t terrible. Another character worth mentioning is Ashley, enteraining as he may be, his motive for vengeance against Akito for killing some totally random dude we couldn’t care less about is head scratching, yet another character who isn’t bad but just poorly fleshed out. As stated before, nearly all of these problems could be fixed if this show was in an actual show format rather than OVAs and time restraint wasnt an issue.

The Geass power is just whatever the writers it wants to be in this show. Everything involving it in this show is just wrapped in confusing bullshit that I honestly believe the writers smoked something when writing this shit. I cant even bother to try to wrap my head around it because its the equivalent of trying to form a clear image out of 7 different puzzle sets. The actual Geass aspect of this show is atrocious and just the result of the writers smoking crack and going “what if we add this.”

The OST is lackluster, really nothing much to say about it, the jazz during the mecha fights was cool at first but quickly faded into that of TV static. The animation and art looks very good in my opinion. Improves upon the Code Geass art style in very good way and the 2D animated stuff is very pleasing to the eyes. The CGI is jarring and not very good at first but it steadily improves throughout the show, and the mech fights are great at times.

My last thing to say is that the inclusion of Suzaku and Lelouch as Julius Kingsley is nothing but a reminder saying “remember! This is the same universe as Code Geass!” Something that could’ve been done much better and honestly maybe even cut entirely.

Overall it sounds like I don’t like this show, and that may be partially true, but this show isn’t that bad. Entertainment value is high, the fights and action sequences are very good and the saving grace for it. Mainly I’m dissapointed and like I said before, I think this could’ve been a good show if they were given an episode format. In general I think this series of OVAs is a strong 5 to light 6 out of 10. If you want to enjoy some good mech fights, this series might be worth watching, but for narrative, characters, and everything else, this show is a waste of time and you’re better off ignoring it.

The good:
-The sound was awesome! The music that played during the fight scenes was really fun and edgy, and reminded me of Cowboy Bebop in a way. I also loved the end song.
-More movies in the Code Geass universe!

The bad:
-Well....pretty much everything else

I was really hyped to see that there was a series of movies set in the same universe/time frame as the original Code Geass series. The concept of the movies was good, and I liked the idea of Akito's character. However, everything felt forced and jumbled together - all style and no substance. I imagine that the conversation leading up to ... the creation of this movie series went something like this:

-Marketing: The people loved Code Geass! Let's do some more of that.
-Movie Directors: Okay well let's spend some time making some new, well-thought out characters that -
-Marketing: MORE MECHA!
-Directors: Surely we are going to need to spend some time making a cohesive, compelling plot line so that -
-Marketing: MORE GEASS!!!
-Directors: Well that is good and all but we are definitely going to need to give the viewers that extra special "something" to make this movie stand out
-Marketing: Wut OK make some good music lolz. SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM!!!!

Don't get me wrong, I love a story told on a grand scale with lots of different factors coming into play....as long it all fits together. However, this movie was a hot mess of different ideas that just felt cobbled together, propped up on the previous glory of the original Code Geass.

Even the characters, when viewed apart from the shoddy story line, felt shallow to me. Akito had a decent backstory, but the other characters only had small hints to their pasts and underlying motives. I felt no emotional connection to any of them. Leila was especially disappointing. I LOVE a strong female character, and she was a prime position to become one, but overall she felt hesitant, weak, and superfluous.

En:
It's not a spoiler, and this 5-movie story is an alternate universe or a story that has no axes in time, it's just a story that takes place between season 1 and season 2.
In short: In Season 1, the main character is stripped of his memory by His Majesty, and this story also works for Britain. In this story, the wars between Europe and Britain are mentioned. In general, this series talks about the main character of the story, a Japanese teenager named Akito, fighting on the European side against Britain, Lelouch's commander for Britain with his memory erased, and as usual, the problems ... caused by Geass.
The correct order of viewing is this: Watch the first season of Code Geass carefully and watch the 2nd of the 3 films that summarize the series with 1:23:50, then watch these 5 movies, and then watch the 2nd of the films that summarize the series with 1:26:12 and watch season 2.
In short, this is the order of viewing.

Tr:
Bu bir spoiler değil ve bu 5 filmden oluşan hikaye alternatif bir evren veya zamanla akası yok, sadece olarak 1. sezonla 2. sezonun arasında yer alan bir hikaye.
Kısacası: 1. sezonda ana karakter, Majesteleri tarafından hafızası siliniyor ve bu hikaye de Britanya için çalışıyor. Bu hikayede ise Avrupa ile Britanya arasında olan savaşlardan söz ediliyor. Genelde bu seride hikayenin ana karakteri olan Akito adlı Japon bir gencin Britanya'ya karşı Avrupa saflarında savaşması, Lelouch'un hafızası silinmiş halde Britanya için kumandanlık yapması, ve her zamanki gibi Geass'ın sebep olduğu sorunlardan bahs ediliyor.
Doğru izleme sırası ise şu: Code Geass'ın ilk sezonu dikkatle izleyin ve seriyi özetleyen 3 filmden 2. olanı 1:23:50 olacak şekilde izleyin, sonrada bu 5 filmi izleyin, ve ardından da seriyi özetleyen filmlerden 2. olanı 1:26:12 olacak şekilde izleyin ve 2. sezonu izleyin.
Kısaca izleme sırası bu şekilde.

Holy crap what the hell were they thinking? Sunrise may well have just come out and just said "we don'tactually know what to do with Akito the Exiled lmao". That's how poor this final episode really is. Now this isn't a sudden 180, but the show did hang in the balance after the events of the last 2 episodes with the damn gypsies and other events. The show just proceeds to get down on its knees and slam it's face into the ground joyfully afterwards.

Akito the Exiled finally shown the confrontation between Akito and his "NII-SAN!", ... and we finally after years of this OVA would arrive at this answer. What are the true motives of Hyuuga Shin?! Why does he want his precious younger brother to die?! Because he doesn't want him to go through all the suffering of this cruel world! I killed them because I loved them!

Leila also gets the magic ability to reset time for one convenient try and there was a weird event were Akito and co. disappeared and broke space but Hyuuga Shin's character was so egregious I hardly cared too much about it how silly this was at this point.

OVA's 1 and 2 were a good addition to the main series while 3, 4, and 5 just rendered it another cash grab featuring one of the worst antagonists that I've seen. Thanks Sunrise.

This is going to be my first review here and why not start with a very contradictory show?
Code Geass as a whole is one of my favorites animes and when I found out about these movies I was pretty curious to see what it would be about. I admit I was kinda suspicious regarding it's quality due to the ratings of previous reviews, but don't let them fool you, these movies are great and worth your time. Going to write this review as a evaluation of the five movies as a whole.

I found it pretty clever that they have somewhat expanded the Code Geass ... universe, this time, making the E.U as main scenario, a nation that until now wasn't too much well explored on past medias. The first three movies were perfect when setting the mood, they can be kinda slow paced sometimes but it's a construction that needs to be there and it pays off in the end. The last two kinda throws everything up in the air, trying to give more of a scientfiic or rather, mystical approach on certain things regarding mind collectivness but I'd rather view it as just ''empathy'' for others, be it your friend or foe. Nevertheless it still holds up due to the awesome fight scenes and the tension it builds on the watcher. I myself was about to eat my nails off of anxiety and I love when a show do this to me.
Some things are just in there and doesn't make too much sense but it didn't affect my enjoyment as a whole, at least for me. People saying it's and ''insult to the code geass fandom'' I totally disagree, yes it's different, yes I can see why some people didn't like but it has its charm and it's way too far to be considered a bad show. It's not about Lelouch this time, it's about other characters and their story, their arc to overcome their fears and problems. Yes, you have to be really open minded when going through this movies cause it's definitely not going to follow the exact same pace and plot as the main anime. But it's totally worth it, just for the fun of it.

Give these movies a try. They are really enjoyable.