I was wrong about Code Geass, but that's OK

Wow. This one's pretty embarrassing, not going to lie. 

Perhaps I really had forgotten to take off the Rozé-tinted shades after all, because it turns out that a lot of assumptions I made about the new Code Geass were, flat out, wrong. For instance, I had not been aware that the first 3 episodes were already previewed, to a select group of people in Japan. For the benefit of anyone that didn't get to watch this compilation, I'm going to go ahead and point out exactly which points I was absolutely wrong on. 

Rozé and Ash are not twins. This one is way more clear in episode 2, where they reveal the two are not related, at all. Rozé is Sakuya's alter-ego that she's playing for the benefit of Ash, who she has brainwashed with her Geass, after he had murdered her father. She intends to wield Ash as a weapon against her enemies, then murder him herself. Still pretty cool, I must admit this premise is intriguing, but not what I was hoping for. It seems this show is really committed to re-creating that Lelouch/Suzaku frenemies dynamic. I teased in my first article that NOT ALL GOOD IDEAS HAVE TO BE NEW, but in this case, they really went with the old idea and pressed send. 

"But wait! Sakuya still has a twin sister. named Sakura, you were still sort of right!" Nope. Even that, which I failed to point out in my first post, is directly contradicted by the second episode. Sakura is only masquerading because she's Sakuya's royal body-double. No magic, no illusions. Sakura seems to imply that they're not even related, and that Sakuya shouldn't even be going to great lengths to save her. We'll see how this one plays out, but I'm disappointed to say the least. 

Speaking of "no magic, no illusions," they seem to have already abandoned the magic and illusions motif.  Sakuya is shown taking off her Rozé hair, very plainly, several times throughout this episode. When Sakuya did this in front of Greede in the first episode, I thought it was still fairly ambiguous which of her personalities was the main one in control. The magic has been stripped away, and what's left is someone just using a magical voice-changer, of unknown origin, to play Superhero. Again, this is pretty cool, but completely opposite of how I read it initially. 

I thought, for sure, the one thing that I nailed was that Sakuya's Geass forces her victim to make an immediate, uncomfortable choice. Even in this, I was wrong. In the second episode, Sakuya uses her Geass on multiple people, and to (probably only) my surprise, it's exactly the same as Lelouch's from the first series. No choice necessary, that was just some extra flair Sakuya threw at the camera in front of Greede. but it had nothing to do with the mechanics of the power itself. This one I really should have seen coming, but only hindsight is perfect. 

I don't think Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture is a terrible show, but I was clearly wrong about a lot of things. For me, it's still a new entry in a classic franchise, with really great action scenes, and some intriguing plot elements. I mentioned that I had been reading a lot of Joe Abercrombie lately, and maybe for that reason I was immediately sold on the bloody scene of Gran and Greede firing relentlessly at innocent Elevens. I began to read the rest of the episode more generously. It's a cool show you might be interested to check out, but hardly the artful masterpiece I thought it was. But what do I know? Just remember guys, I'm no expert. I'm just An Orc. 

Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture has no right to be this good in current year.

Howdy, I’m An Orc. 

I’ve never really been one to participate in blogging, as a whole. For a while, I thought it was kind of silly, and if I’m being honest, slightly narcissistic to put your thoughts out there for everyone on the internet to see. With the massive widespread use of social media today, and dispersion of AI-generated content being slopped around absolutely everywhere, even I can concede there is a massive problem. Today’s content landscape has an alarming lack of voice, and everything is beginning to sound the same. 

A little tiny bit more about me before I get to the point, I promise to keep it short. I’m 34 years old and from New York. I like Orcs and wizards. I work in IT for a pharmaceutical company. None of these things are particularly important right now, but what is important is that I’m a lifelong nerd. I love reading, tabletop wargaming and RPGs, anime, gaming, tech in general, yadda yadda. This isn’t to inflate the word count, I swear. 

So where do I come in? I don’t know to be honest, who knows how long I’ll decide to even keep doing this. My own narcissism has limits, but a few things recently have summoned the will to throw my hat into the ring. Specifically, a friend of mine’s really cool gaming blog, an incredible podcast about films called Four Play, and just reading more in general. You didn’t ask, but if you’re curious I’ve been really enjoying the work of Joe Abercrombie lately. I’ve also been a lifelong fan of anime, and the mecha genre in particular. The works of massive franchises such as Gundam or Evangelion generate staggering amounts of revenue, but despite this, if you were to ask someone today the state of the genre; the honest answer is that, outside of these two franchises specifically, it’s largely considered dead. 

Code Geass is not a new entry in the genre, it’s quite a celebrated franchise. But it’s been the better part of two decades since its last entry began airing. So imagine my surprise when I saw that a new episode of Code Geass came out. What a rare treat, indeed. Let me summarize it for you, while coloring it with a bit of commentary. 

Okay, actually, before we begin I should probably talk maybe just a little about what Code Geass is, beyond just a mecha anime. There’s a couple of key players here. THE HOLY BRITANNIAN EMPIRE is a fictional kingdom in this show, loosely resembling the modern day US, and many other countries previously colonized by the British, notably excluding the UK itself. If that's a little confusing, here's a map with Britannia pictured in blue. Other nations in this fictional setting are: the CHINESE FEDERATION, who is a pretty obvious parallel, EUROPIA UNITED, basically the rest of the EU sans the UK, (actually wait - that one kind of tracks for modern day, huh?) and AREA 11. Area 11 is Japan, its citizens are often referred to as ELEVENS. Remember this is an ANIME, so yeah, Japan gets to be a superpower in its own right. 

Code Geass largely follows its protagonist, Lelouch, in his quest to end the regime of the Britannian Empire. Lelouch is not exactly a tough guy, and he meets a witch, named C.C., who gives him the power, called GEASS, to mind control people once they stare into his gaze. But only once, per person, ever. He uses this newfound ability to immediately force some soldiers to kill themselves. Wow, this is violent, and it kind of rules. The rest of the plot is getting to watch Lelouch as he weaves dastardly scheme after dastardly scheme to manipulate absolutely everyone that gets caught in his web, be it family, friend or foe. Moments in this show are fucked up, in the most deeply human kind of way. 

Okay cool, but that show stopped airing in late 2008, so what’s been going on in regards to Code Geass since then? Scarcely much, I’m afraid. There have been a couple of OVAs, and a sequel movie, but none of them were anywhere near as popular as the original series. I’m gonna be real with you, you probably should watch the original series if you plan to pick up the show because it directly relies on the previously established canon. The good news is that you can watch these movies which recap the 2 seasons of the first series, in their entirety, with some minor retcons. 

Okay, okay, okay. Now let’s dive into Rozé of the Recapture because I think this is pretty sweet. The show opens with an extremely brief explanation of what’s happened since the last series, and shit’s all fucked again. Area 11 has been locked behind a magical wall, for reasons yet unexplained, but the short of it seems to be that no one can possibly get in or out. The governing elite of NEO-BRITANNIA are holding Area 11’s metaphorical nuts with an iron grip.

We see a group of Japanese protestors, and a pair of very sharply dressed brothers. Their names are Gran and Greede Kirkwayne, Neo-Britannian nobles, and by the way, I should mention these guys are twins. Gran seems to be trying to send a message to these Elevens, particularly the one standing on a bridge, threatening to kill himself in protest. Yeah, maybe not the best hand in this game of poker. Gran seems to give zero fucks, and pops the guy in the head, the body falls to the water below. A nearby woman shrieks in horror for her dead husband, these people have it very rough. Greede steps in frame, with one of the most gangster lines of dialog I’ve seen in a while. “A slight miscommunication. Please forgive my brother.” No doubt, a miscommunication indeed,  and for the refreshing clarity, she spits in his face as thanks. He takes out the pistol he’s stashed in his coat pocket, and puts a bullet in the woman’s skull. The next line’s a real banger too “I’ll handle this. Play nice, and they’ll walk all over you. That’s the problem with these brainless monkeys” as he opens fire on the crowd. Holy shit. 

The tone of this scene is what made me stop and grab a notebook. I mentioned before that I’ve been reading a bit of Joe Abercrombie lately, and I’m not sure what it says about me as a person, but I find there’s something beautiful about fictional violence, with purpose, exploding onto a page out of nowhere. It’s brutal, visceral, and impactful in a manner that I can’t describe in a PG way. This scene captured that feeling of whiplash on the page. It’s rad. 

After this, we’re introduced to our protagonists, Rozé and Ash. They’re twins, with opposite colors in their hair styles, and that really matters here because Rozé in particular is a nonbinary character. I like his design a lot. It’s worth mentioning here that characters in Code Geass are designed by CLAMP, and if you’re not familiar they are a group of manga artists that have a storied history of designing extremely beautiful, effeminate looking men. A quick scan on Wikipedia will tell you that they have been involved in the designs of popular manga, including Cardcaptor Sakura, xxxHolic, and Chobits. Their design is distinctly shoujo, feminine, in style. Well it seems they’ve finally decided to dial that idea up to 11 (not an intentional pun, but I think it’s funny), and committed to making a character outright nonbinary! Nothing new or shocking these days, BUT NOT ALL GOOD IDEAS HAVE TO BE NEW, what’s more important is how well you execute those ideas. More on that later, hint hint. 

They’ve taken this idea of nonbinary, and absolutely sprinted mad with it. This theme informs everything about the rest of the show, like looking through Rozé tinted shades. Hehe. Okay, I’ll stop with dad jokes, but seriously, this theme of nonbinary is everywhere if you open your eyes and are receptive to it.

Rozé and Ash are driving a truck casually on an otherwise nice looking day, they run out of fuel and stop at a local gas station. The owner of the gas station is clearly Britannian, judging by his appearance, and he’s screaming at his worker who is an Eleven woman. Not willing to stand by idly while injustice is happening right in front of them, Rozé and Ash intervene. Ash grabs the owner’s arm as he’s about to come down and strike the poor woman, asking if there’s even any point in hitting her, rebutted with “This Eleven is mine. I can do whatever I–” and in comes Rozé to de-escalate. Rozé insists they can work this out, and steps away to chat with the owner off-screen. A few seconds later, the owner comes back and apologizes sincerely for his actions. 

It’s pretty obvious to the viewer that Rozé has a Geass, but we’re not shown its mechanics, yet. Extremely thankful, the Eleven woman heartily thanks Rozé and asks if he’s a magician. Rozé, effortlessly adorable, replies “A magician huh? I like it.” and warms your heart with a smile. I love this character. But wait, she just referred to Rozé as a magician, I wonder if this magician can pull off any illusions? More spoilers, he absolutely can, but I’d like to point out that even that notion is an extremely clever way of saying “Be whoever the fuck you want to be, whenever you want” – sounds nonbinary to me! 

The very next scene we see Ash and Rozé rescuing a kitten, going out of their way to try to find an innocent, baby cat a new home. It’ll become clear later but our two protagonists, while clearly kindhearted, are also killers. Again, we’re running with this theme of duality – sounds nonbinary to me!

Let’s skip to the end of the episode, Gran and Greede reappear and I’ll quickly point out that these twins are real pieces of shit. Even the motif of twins, and duality, in this show are in themselves, a layered metaphor for duality. Kind of mind blowing –  sounds nonbinary to me! 

Gran is piloting a mech, and doing some real bad stuff. Our protagonists have spent the remainder of the episode amassing allies and have constructed a plan to fix things! The end result is that Rozé makes his presence known by suddenly appearing, flamboyantly illuminated in front of a mech, I might add. This show rules. After a quick little speech, Rozé disappears in a puff of smoke, which quickly dissipates and reveals that Rozé’s mech is now manned, and ready to start fixing problems! It’s not instantly apparent, but it’s not even Rozé piloting the mech he was standing in front of before, it’s Ash. More illusions! This show itself is fucking magic. Ash quickly takes care of Gran, who’s no match for Ash’s superior skills as a mech pilot. God, mechs are cool. 

Wait, so where did Rozé go? We’ll get the answer, but not before we shift perspectives to Greede, who is watching the battle commence from a position of safety. He might as well be sipping on fine wine, while his brother’s out there doing the dirty work, what a prick. Speaking of dirty work, hi Rozé. Like another magic trick, he suddenly appears in the scene. He gives a speech about justice, and how this motherfucker absolutely ain’t it, before he drops the guise. 

Rozé reveals he can transform his appearance and voice in this moment, yet another illusion. Ash and Gran’s willingness to get their hands dirty is starkly contrasted by Rozé’s and Greede’s complete opposition to it. Rozé morphs their appearance to cope with having to kill someone. Even yet more duality - sounds nonbinary to me! 

It turns out Rozé is masquerading as Sakuya, or maybe the other way around, who knows? Sakuya is seeking to topple Neo-Britannia, and seems to be personally connected to the people who have wronged her.

She casts her Geass on Greede, and the mechanics are finally clarified. Sakuya gives Greede a choice, either commit to saving the lives of 100-times the amount of people he’s killed over the years, or blow his brains out, right here and now. Fucking coward makes the easier choice, and commits suicide. But wait, a choice? Holy fucking shit, even the mechanics of Rozé’s superpowers are in itself a metaphor – sounds non– Hmm, maybe this bit is getting old. But yeah! 

Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture has absolutely no right to be this good in current year. A lot of media today harkens back to my youth where I remember the teacher would point at a blackboard, and painstakingly explain to me exactly how I should feel, and why I should feel that way. This isn’t that. It’s done with subtlety, and nuance, all while helping you to swallow those vegetables with the sweet, sweet taste of bloody violence. Get that iron up. By all rights, the mecha genre is dead, so why the fuck is this so good?