Welcome! This will be a brief review of the Code Geass movie, Lelouch of the Resurrection. There will be spoilers within.

For some background, Resurrection is a different ending to Lelouch of the Rebellion season 2. Lelouch famously gave his life and died at the conclusion. This movie explores what would happen if CC brought him back to life. I treat this as an alternative universe and not canon for the original series. I much prefer the thematically strong idea of Lelouch dying once and for all. That being said, there’s no harm in enjoying an alternate universe for a franchise that I love. Let’s get started on this review.

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Visual: 8/10

The art and animation were impressive. granted if you have something against CLAMP then you won’t agree. I’m a fan of their art though. The designs for the new characters are awesome, and the look of the characters we already know was improved somewhat. Everything looks a lot more polished compared to the anime. The backgrounds, settings, and the like are detailed and excellent. Resurrection also features a few cool new Knightmare frames, bright colors, good lighting, and smooth animation.

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Audio: 8/10

Code Geass has one of the most impressive casts of seiyuu out there, in my opinion. It includes Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch), Takahiro Sakurai (Suzaku), Ami Koshimizu (Kallen), Yukano Nogami (CC), and many more. Everyone did a decent job with their characters, but there were some performances that were subpar.

I’m not sure why, but CC sounds completely different, and seems like a different character because of it. Lelouch used his over-the-top Zero voice, but not his normal Lelouch voice. The actor who plays Lloyd is getting very old, and even with very few lines in this movie, it shows pretty badly. Still, I have to acknowledge all the talent here. I also want to note that the instrumental scores were great and exciting, and the insert songs sounded good and worked effectively to enhance the scenes’ mood.

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Story: 6/10

As for story, it wasn’t impressive overall, but it had a few strengths. The plot was fairly well-structured, with the first half being about awakening Lelouch in the prison, and the second half about the mission to rescue Nunnally. Some other elements were done well, such as explaining that Lelouch really did intend to die at the Zero Requiem. But there were some very messy spots, too.

The fight with the enemy queen was too rushed. It was unclear what happened in the World of C both times Lelouch was there. Finally, Resurrection is thematically poor, with no real substance. In a way, it’s just a giant fanservice– not the sexual kind, but the kind that satisfied the large portion of the fanbase who wanted Lelouch to live. The rich and psychological themes of the Code Geass series were absent. I felt disappointed.

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Characters: 6/10

The character category was pretty weak. Not nearly enough time was spent on Lelouch’s thoughts and feelings after being revived. The subject of his guilt wasn’t even touched. There was absolutely no development for Kallen or Nunnally, characters I expected to have bigger roles. New characters don’t get any time to let us get to know and like them. This goes especially for the queen and her brother. Even for a short movie, their development was poor. The important parts of CC’s character changes were left out. At what point did she decide to bring back Lelouch for her own emotional satisfaction, and what led to such a radical choice?

Even the characters who were presented a bit better, such as Cornelia and Suzaku, were not believable compared to their old selves. Though Cornelia might have worked with Lelouch to save Nunnally, she would have tried to kill him immediately after instead of just backing off. Suzaku is moving in a direction of forgiving Lelouch, which is fine. But his guilt and issues with depression and anger were not addressed. As you can see, there wasn’t a lot to redeem this facet of the movie.

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Personal Enjoyment: 6/10

I’ll just leave a few notes on personal enjoyment. I like CLAMP’s art, as well as the designs and colors for all the characters. I also enjoyed the music and the good voice-acting. It was nice to see these characters, who are so dear to me, alive on the screen again.

Other than those points, there wasn’t much to be happy about. The shallow story and lack of interesting character development took a lot from my enjoyment level. So did the new way that CC sounded in this version. I liked her old voice better. Last of all, as stated in the opening, I don’t really care for the idea of Lelouch being revived; as such, there was only so much enjoyment I could get from this movie.

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Overall Score: 6.8/10.0

This score, between “Fine/alright” and “Good/entertaining” is completely dismal compared to the scores I give to the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion series. While I certainly don’t regret watching Resurrection for the experience, it was largely a disappointment. I don’t recommend it unless you really want to see Lelouch alive again; but even then, be aware that his character development is poor. Thanks for reading and please enjoy your day. Sayonara~

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PATREON