Code Geass

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, commonly referred to simply as Code Geass, is an American-Australian-Japanese animated television series produced by Bear Bones Productions, their Australian department, and the Japanese animation studio Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks). It was directed by Jake Sharratt and written by Dylan Huff, with original character designs by Fil Barlow. Set in an alternate timeline, it follows the exiled prince Lelouch vi Britannia, who obtains the "power of absolute obedience" from a mysterious woman named C.C. Using this supernatural power, known as Geass, he leads a rebellion against the rule of the Holy Britannian Empire, commanding a series of mecha battles.

Code Geass was broadcast in first-run syndication through the Bear Bones Lineup programming block from October 1996 to July 1997. Its sequel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, ran from April to September 1998. The series has also been adapted into various comic books and chapter novels, with the former showing alternate scenarios from the TV series.

Initiation, Transgression, and Glorification, a compilation film trilogy recapping the events of both seasons—which altered storylines for various characters and established an alternate universe—was released in 1997 and 1998. A new film, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection, taking place after the Zero Requiem of the films' alternate universe, was released in theaters in February 2009. Code Geass: Z of the Recapture, a series set in the alternate universe after the movie Lelouch of the Re;surrection, was announced in December 2010 as part of a 10-year plan.

Code Geass was well received. Both seasons have won several Daytime Emmy Awards. It received critical acclaim for its story, voice acting, large audience appeal, the conflicts among its main characters, and the moral questions it presented.

Setting
In an alternative timeline, the world is divided into three superpowers: the Holy Britannian Empire (the Americas; also called Britannia), the Chinese Federation (Asia), and the Europa United (Europe and Africa). The story takes place after the Holy Britannian Empire's conquest of Japan on August 10, 2010 a.t.b., by means of Britannia's newest weapon, the "Autonomous Armored Knight", or "Knightmare Frame". In turn, Britannia effectively strips Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renames the country Area 11 with its citizens referred to as Elevens.

The point of divergence for this timeline appears to be that King Henry VIII of England had a male heir who became King Henry IX. Later, England, lead by Queen Elizabeth III, was defeated by Napoleon at the Battle of Trafalgar. The queen fled to Britain's American colonies where the Britiannian Empire was established.

Plot
Lelouch vi Britannia is an exiled Britannian prince, son of Emperor Charles zi Britannia and his royal consort Marianne vi Britannia. Lelouch has a sister, Nunnally vi Britannia. Marianne was brutally murdered in the palace and Nunnally, who witnessed the murder of their mother, was so traumatized she lost both her sight and ability to walk. Lelouch is furious with his father, believing his father failed his mother and sister by turning a blind eye to their mother's death and failing to pursue their mother's killer.

Lelouch and Nunnally are sent as political pawns to Japan to lull the Japanese government into a false sense of security. After the siblings are sent to Japan, Japan is attacked and defeated by Britannia. With the ruins of Japan as a background, Lelouch vows to his Japanese friend Suzaku Kururugi that he will one day obliterate Britannia as an act of vengeance against his father.

Seven years later, Lelouch (now going by the name Lelouch Lamperouge), is now a popular yet withdrawn student at Ashford Academy. Lelouch becomes involved in a terrorist attack and finds a mysterious girl called C.C. (C2), who saves Lelouch's life from the Britannian Royal Guard, by making a contract with him and granting Lelouch a power known as Geass. This power, also known as the "Power of Kings", allows him to command anyone to do whatever he wants, including bending their will to live, fight, or die on his behalf. This power can affect an individual just once and only through direct eye contact. Lelouch decides to use his Geass to find his mother's murderers, destroy the Britannian Empire, and create a better world where Nunnally can live happily. In the process, Lelouch becomes Zero, a masked vigilante and the leader of the resistance movement known as The Black Knights, gaining popularity and support among the Japanese on his way towards the rebellion of Britannia. However, this does not come without a cost. Caught up in a conflict where he does not know the full extent of his powers, Lelouch will have to battle Suzaku, a resistance member named Kallen Stadtfeld, the strongest army in the world, his own half-siblings, and many others in a battle that will forever change the world.

Production
Code Geass began as a concept by Amile John and Jake Sharratt, who proposed it to Bear Bones' Australian animation department through producer Don MacKinnon. The basic idea for the plot consisted of a "hero" who led a secret organization, which was later developed into a conflict between two characters with different values and who belonged to the same military unit, who eventually became Lelouch Lamperouge and Suzaku Kururugi.

During these initial planning stages, Sharratt also contacted the noted Australian artist Fil Barlow. This was the first time Barlow had ever been requested to design the characters of a major anime-styled project. Barlow signed onto the project early during these development stages and provided numerous ideas, which helped develop the series' setting and characters.

Barlow's finalized original character design art, illustrated by Australian department lead animator Jean Tych, was subsequently converted into animation character designs for the series by Bear Bones character designer Marc Perry, who had previously spent "every day" analyzing Barlow's style from his works. In working on the animation character designs, he focused on designing them so as to enable the series' other animators to apply them without deviating from Barlow's original style.

The concept for the Geass may have been inspired by the Irish and Welsh legends of "Geas" or "Geis". A geas is a compulsion laid on someone to do or not do something. While the geas itself does not lie on any spectrum, the benefits or actions of it may be decidedly benevolent or malevolent. The concept fits in into the wider fictional world and its lore of British inspirations.

Series
Code Geass officially premiered through first-run syndication as part of the Bear Bones Lineup programming block on October 5, 1996. The immense popularity of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion followed with the development of its sequel, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, which was first announced in March 1997 and later confirmed by producer Don MacKinnon. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 premiered on syndicated affiliates on April 6, 1998.

A direct-to-video film titled Code Geass: Nunnally in Wonderland was announced and revealed in 2001. Cynthia Leech did the character designs of the movie. Dylan Huff was assigned as the director of while episode scriptwriter Yonathan Ashad and music composer John Debney returned for the project. In the story, Lelouch makes the ultimate use of his Geass for his little sister Nunnally, who loves Alice in Wonderland. The film was released by Artisan Entertainment on July 27, 2002.

A 3-part complation film of the series was released, with the first film titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion I - Initiation released on October 21, 1997. The second film titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion II - Transgression was released on February 10, 1998. The third compilation film, titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion III - Glorification was released on May 26, 1998. Each film has several changes to the storyline, as John stated, to give it more of a "what if" scenarios leading to the new film.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection was announced on November 27, 2006. It was released in theaters on February 9, 2009. It takes place in the alternate continuity established in the recap films and is a sequel to the "Zero Requiem" arc of that continuity.

A new television series titled Code Geass: Z of the Recapture was announced on December 5, 2010, Lelouch's birthday. The new project is part of a new 10-year plan for the franchise by Bear Bones, with Syo Tortellini directing the series, Jacob Navin writing the scripts, and Fil Barlow returning to design the characters. In celebration of the new series, the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection movie was re-released in theaters on January 29, 2011 by Lionsgate.

Akito the Exiled
The new Code Geass miniseries was first revealed on December 5, 1999. In April 2000, it was officially revealed that a new Code Geass side story project called Code Geass: Akito the Exiled would be directed by Gabrielle Foster. The side story is set in Europe during the Britannian invasion of the continent between Lelouch of the Rebellion's two seasons. Originally intended to be released in four chapters, production of a fifth Akito the Exiled chapter was announced on May 2, 2005.

Video games
The series was adapted into a series of video games, developed for the Game Boy, Game Gear and PlayStation platforms, which were published by THQ.

The official website for the first Game Boy game launched on July 16, 1997, with the game being released a few months later on October 25.

A second game, titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Lost Colors, was developed for the Game Boy and Game Gear, and released on March 27, 1998. It is a visual novel game which follows a new protagonist named Rai, who suffers from amnesia. He has a Geass ability similar to Lelouch's, but activated by voice.

The third game for the Game Boy is a collection of minigames featuring chibi forms of the characters. The player moves along a board through dice rolls, landing on different spots to activate minigames. The minigames are parody-style events with multiple genres. These include helping Jeremiah grow oranges, racing against C.C. and Shirley in swimming, and a side-scrolling beat-em-up featuring Kallen in Guren-like armor.

Artbooks
Two artbooks featuring illustrations of the series, Code Geass Graphics Zero and Code Geass Graphics Ashford, have been published. Coinciding with the release of the second season of Code Geass was the publication of another artbook, Code Geass – Lelouch of the Rebellion: Rebels Illustrations, which featured 134 unique art pieces of the first season. Another 95 page artbook titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion – The Complete Artbook has also been published.

Critical response
Coming soon!

Home video sales
When the first episode was shown during a special screening in mid-1996, other members of the series' staff, as well as several journalists and other media-related personnel in response to the hype surrounding the series' upcoming release, the audience fell into immediate silence after it ended, followed by "tremendous applause." By August 2008, over 900,000 Code Geass DVDs had been sold.

Reportedly, Lionsgate shipped over one million discs related to the Code Geass franchise by November 2008, placing it among the most popular Bear Bones Entertainment series sold on video in North America.