Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebellion Complete Season 2 Blu-ray Review

Director: Goro Taniguchi,

Starring: Jun Fukuyama, Johnny Yong Bosch, Takahiro Sakurai, Yuri Lowenthal, Ami Koshimizu, Karen Strassmen, Yukana Nogami, Kate Higgins,

 Running Time: 625 minutes

Certificate: 15

Season 1 of CODE GEASS: LELOUCH OF THE REBELLION absolutely blew me away: intricate characters, brilliant designs, complex stories, well debated ethics and morals were just some of the sublime elements that helped to craft one of my favourite anime series of all time. But how will a second season advance the themes and story threads set up before? This is truly one of those shows that could never possibly live up to its promises…or is it?

Last season ended on a cliff-hanger – the classic cut to black before hearing a gunshot. Delving straight into this box set without any hesitation I immediately wanted answers. What I got was more questions. CODE GEASS: LELOUCH OF THE REBELLION decides to pull a complete 180 and put us back in the school. Some characters are missing (as in don’t exist anymore), and Lelouch inexplicably has a brother. He seems to have no memory of ever having been Zero and his Geass power is absent. Thankfully, the show doesn’t drag this out to extend the season, but uses it as a neat set-up and answers most of our questions by the end of episode 2. This shows great respect to the fans, and also gives us plenty of new conflict. Lelouch comes to realise he is not all powerful, and perhaps his enemies may trump him in many respects.

This season, maybe even more so than the previous one, manages to handle the multiple characters exceptionally well. No word of a lie, there are at least 30 prominent characters who are all handled with intricate intimacy in terms of their progression and arcs. It’s most important for the series to represent these characters in such a detailed way, as there are sudden twists and changes of allegiance throughout this season, but each one is understandable within its own context. Characters you never would have believed were capable of working together become the best of friends and we never doubt it for a second.

Once again all the fights have a specific purpose and the animation is exceptional. We get more Nightmare (big robots) based fights than before, but never do the animators clutter the frames with unintelligible action. We’re always very sure of where we are and what we’re looking at, and considering most of the characters are placed within huge metal structures while involved in wide-spread skirmishes, that’s no simple task.

The series is as great as ever. It has a very finalised ending, which will no doubt create some conflict and disagreement amongst fans. With a show like this, that explores every political, religious, emotional, and ethical ideal with respect and dignity, of course a single ending couldn’t please everyone. When paired with Season 1, you have one of the strongest stories ever told. It’s worth watching, debating, enjoying, and analysing to its full extent.

CODE GEASS: LELOUCH OF THE REBELLION COMPLETE SEASON 2 is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 11th March.

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