Common Name: Code Geass
Alternate Names: Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion
Score: 10/10, 5/5
Length: 2 seasons of 25 episodes
Genre: Action, Military, Mecha, School Life, Sci-Fi, Super Powers
Summary: In a world where the British Empire not only stands, but stands as the dominant military power, the Holy Empire of Britannia has conquered a large majority of the world and turned nations into simple numbers. What was once Japan is now known as Area 11 after being conquered with the aid of the development of the bipedal tanks known as Knightmare Frames, but these mobile armors are not Britannia's only secret to success. When Lelouch Lamperouge, former prince of Britannia, is caught in a terrorist attack, he finds one of Britannia's other great secrets as well as the key he's needed to start his own rebellion.
Review: While it is a revenge-fueled, political action series at it's core, Code Geass is a series that tries it's hand at a lot of different things and succeeds on pretty much every account, up until the second season when it stumbles for a time before ramping up for the show's conclusion. While the military action and political tactics drive the plot of the show, the real intrigue that makes the show great is it's lesser themes: friendship amidst war, love in spite of loss, the war of ideals in a family, the gray of good and evil, the inherent responsibility of power, and the evolution of technology to name only a few. A single one of these themes is enough to keep an audience interested and engaged, yet Code Geass juggles all of these things in such a way that they rarely feel oppressive as the show soldiers from battle to battle. Unlike a lot of it's ilk though, Code Geass does not shy from portraying the necessary war and it's leading players as something abhorrent. Rather than being an infallible and unstoppable genius fighting a righteous crusade, Lelouch and his actions are inherently flawed. Even he comes to question his goals and methods and their worth as he and those that ally with him suffer both blood stained victory and overwhelming loss. In short, Code Geass is an action-packed series that rarely ever grows dull, but excels because of the thought and heart put into the work as the action escalates from games of chess to nuclear warfare.