CODE GEASS

is a Japanese anime television series, created by Sunrise. Directed by Gorō Taniguchi and scripted by Ichirō Ōkouchi, both of whom had earlier worked on another Sunrise series, the acclaimed ''Planetes'', it features character designs by the noted all-female mangaka group, Clamp.
The series premiered across Japan on MBS from October 5 2006. Its satellite television premiere across Japan on Animax was on November 7, 2006.^[3] It has been announced that a sequel of the series is in production.

Production

Staff
Planning	Kenji Uchida Seiji Takeda Kazumi Kawashiro
Original story	Ichirō Ōkouchi Gorō Taniguchi
Series composition	Ichirō Ōkouchi Hiroyuki Yoshino (associate)
Original character design	Clamp
Character design	Takahiro Kimura
Knightmare Frame design	Akira Yasuda Eiji Nakata Jun'ichi Akutsu (Bee-Craft)
Mecha conceptual design	Kenji Teraoka
Main animators	Takahiro Kimura Yuriko Chiba Eiji Nakata Seiichi Nakatani
Music	Kōtarō Nakagawa Hitomi Kuroishi
Art director	Yoshinori Hishinuma
Color design	Reiko Iwasawa
Photography director	Sōta Ōya
Editing	Seiji Morita
3D-CG director	Tetsuya Watanabe
2D-CG director	Masoto Miyoshi
Special illustrations	Shigeru Morita
Sound directors	Yasuo Uragami Motoi Izawa
Sound production	Audio Planning U
Sound recording studio	Apu Meguru Studio
Mixer	Takaaki Uchiyama Hisanori Ōshiro (assistant)
Sound effects	Masahiro Shōji (Fizz Sound Creation)
Music producers	Yoshimoto Ishikawa (Victor Entertainment) Keiichi Tomura (Sony Music Entertainment) Noboru Mano (Sunrise Music Publishing)
Producers	Hitoshi Morotomi Yoshitaka Kawaguchi Takao Minegeshi Atsushi Yukawa
Assistant director	Kazuya Murata
Director	Gorō Taniguchi

Development

''Code Geass'' began as a concept developed at Sunrise by Ichirō Ōkouchi and Gorō Taniguchi, who proposed it to producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi while they were working on ''Overman King Gainer'' and later, ''Planetes''.^[4] The initial concept of the plot consisted of a secret organization led by a "hero", which was later developed into a conflict between two people with differing values of morality, belonging to the same military unit.
During these early planning stages, Kawaguchi contacted the noted mangaka group Clamp, which was the first time Clamp had been requested to design the characters of an anime series.^[5] Clamp signed onto the project early during these development stages, and provided numerous ideas, which helped develop the series' setting and characters.
While developing the character designs for Lelouch Lamperouge, the protagonist of the series, Clamp had initially conceived of his hair color as being white. Ageha Ohkawa, head writer at Clamp, said she had visualized him as being a character to which "everyone" could relate to as being "cool", literally, a "beauty". During these planning stages, Clamp and the Sunrise staff had discussed a number of possible inspirations for the characters, including Kinki Kids and Tackey and Tsubasa. They had wanted to create a "hit show," a series which would appeal to "everyone." Lelouch's alter ego, Zero, was one of the earliest developed characters, with Ōkouchi having wanted a mask to be included as a part of the series, because he felt that a mask was necessary for it to be a Sunrise show. Clamp had wanted to design a unique mask never prior seen in any Sunrise series; said mask was nicknamed "tulip", due to its distinctive design.
Clamp's finalized original character design art, illustrated by its lead artist Mokona, was subsequently converted into animation character designs for the series by Sunrise's character designer Takahiro Kimura, who had previously spent "every day" analyzing Clamp's art and style from their artbooks and manga series. While working on the animation character designs, he designed them in such a manner which would enable the series' other animators to apply them without deviating from Clamp's original art style.
When the series was being developed for broadcast on Mainichi Broadcasting System, it had been given the network's Saturday evening prime time slot, which was later changed to its current Thursday late night time slot. Due to this change, the overall outlook and some elements of the series was changed and further developed to suit the more mature, late night audience.
When the first episode was shown during a special test screening, which was attended by Ōkawa, 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."

Broadcast

''Code Geass'' officially premiered on the Mainichi Broadcasting System television network at 25:25 JST on October 5, 2006. The immense popularity the series soon experienced led to the creation of a sequel, which was first announced on the March 2007 issue of ''Newtype''^[6] and later announced by Kawaguchi on the series' official staff blog on March 9, 2007, which noted that the sequel's format, be it "TV broadcast, OVA, or theatrical release," had not been "confirmed." The series went on hiatus on March 29, 2007, upon the airing of the first 23 episodes^[7], and resumed with the one-hour broadcast of episodes 24 and 25 at 26:25 JST on Saturday, July 28, 2007.^[8]

Music

:Main articles: List of Code Geass albums

The music for the series was composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa and Hitomi Kuroishi, who had earlier worked with the series' core staff in ''Planetes''. In addition to the incidental music featured in each episode, Nakagawa and Kuroishi also composed numerous insert songs for the series, including "Stories", "Masquerade", "Alone", and "Innocent Days", which were each performed by Kuroishi herself, while "Picaresque" and "Callin'" was performed by the singer-songwriter Mikio Sakai, who had also earlier worked with Nakagawa and Kuroishi in ''Planetes''.
The first opening theme song to the series was "Colors," performed by the band FLOW, while its first ending theme song was , performed by Ali Project. Both the opening and ending theme songs were later replaced in episode 13 with , performed by the rock band Jinn, and , performed by SunSet Swish, respectively. The opening theme song is replaced in episodes 24 and 25 with , performed by Access.^[9]
Numerous character theme songs have also been performed for the series by its seiyū, which have been released with the ''Sound Episode'' drama CDs.
The first original soundtrack for the series was released on December 20, 2006, while the second original soundtrack for the series was released on March 24, 2007. The covers of both soundtracks were illustrated by Takahiro Kimura, and are published in Japan by Victor Entertainment.

Storyline and settings

Main articles: Settings and themes of Code Geass

Characters

Main articles: List of Code Geass characters

Plot summary

Main articles: List of Code Geass episodes

On August 10th, 2010, a.t.b., the Holy Empire of Britannia overpowered Japanese forces and conquered the country with their robotic weapons, the Knightmare Frames, in less than a month. Japan lost its freedom and rights and was renamed Area 11, and the Japanese people were renamed "Elevens" and forced to survive in ghettos, while Britannians lived in first-class settlements. Rebel elements persisted, however, as pockets of Japanese organizations struggled against the Empire for the independence of Japan.
After his father, the Emperor of Britannia, did nothing to pursue the terrorists who murdered his mother and crippled his sister, a young boy named Lelouch vowed to destroy Britannia. Seven years later, in Area 11, he encounters a mysterious girl who gives him the power of the Geass. With it, he finally has the power that he needs to defeat Britannia and fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister can live happily.

Distribution

Television

''Code Geass'' premiered across Japan on Mainichi Broadcasting System from October 5, 2006. Its broadcasting runs across Japan also include:

Broadcast network	Broadcast term	Broadcast day and timings (in JST)
Mainichi Broadcasting System	October 5 2006～March 29, 2007 (original run)	Thursdays 25:25 ~ 25:55
Hokkaido Broadcasting		Thursdays 26:10 ～26:40
Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting		Thursdays 26:50～27:20
TBS	October 6 2006～March 30, 2007 (original run)	Fridays 25:55～26:25
Touhoku Broadcasting Company		Fridays 26:15～26:45
Shizuoka Broadcasting System		Fridays 26:15～26:45
RCC Broadcasting Company	October 7 2006～March 31, 2007 (original run)	Saturdays 26:40～27:10
RKK Kumamoto Broadcasting	October 8 2006～April 1, 2007 (original run)	Sundays 26:30～27:00
Sanyo Broadcasting	October 9 2006～April 2, 2007 (original run)	Mondays 26:25～26:55
RKB Mainichi Broadcasting	October 10 2006～April 3, 2007 (original run)	Tuesdays 26:30～27:00
Animax	November 7 2006～April 24, 2007 (original run)	Tuesdays 23:00～23:30

DVD releases

Volume	Release dates	Episodes	Additional information
Volume	Japan	Episodes	Additional information
1	January 27, 2007	1	The first volume of the series contains the first episode and has a running time of 25 minutes, presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and Japanese Dolby Digital audio. It includes audio commentaries by Jun Fukuyama, Yukana, Gorō Taniguchi and Ichirō Ōkouchi. The release also contains numerous bonus features, including a picture drama detailing Lelouch's childhood, the 30-minute preview to the series, ''Code Geass: Emergency Navi News'' and other extras, including original character sketches by Clamp, 10 illustrations featuring original art from the ending theme and a special CD containing the internet radio broadcast.
2	February 23, 2007	2-4	The second volume of the series contains episodes 2 to 4 and has a running time of 75 minutes, presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and Japanese Dolby Digital audio. It includes audio commentaries by Jun Fukuyama, Ami Koshimizu, Ken Narita and producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi. The release also contains a picture drama, stage 3.25, set shortly after episode 3, which features a conversation between the female members of Ashford Academy's student council, and numerous other bonus features and extras, including a special series of cover illustrations.
3	March 23, 2007	5-7	The third volume of the series contains episodes 5 to 7 and has a running time of 75 minutes, presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and Japanese Dolby Digital audio. It includes audio commentaries by Jun Fukuyama, Yukana, Gorō Taniguchi and Ichirō Ōkouchi. The release also contains a picture drama, stage 6.75, set after episode 6, which features a conversation between Suzaku and Rivalz about Suzaku's past prior to joining Ashford Academy, and numerous other bonus features and extras, including a special original handkerchief.
4	April 25, 2007	8-10	The fourth volume of the series contains episodes 8 to 10 and has a running time of 100 minutes, presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and Japanese Dolby Digital audio. It includes audio commentaries by Jun Fukuyama, Mitsuaki Madono, Kazunari Tanaka and Yoshitaka Kawaguchi. The volume also features the first volume of a special short manga based on the series by Clamp. The release also contains a picture drama, stage 9.75, set after episode 9, which features a conversation between Lelouch, Nunnally and Sayoko, the television recap episode 8.5 and numerous other bonus features and extras.
5	May 25, 2007	11-13	The fifth volume of the series contains episodes 11 to 13 and has a running time of 75 minutes, presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and Japanese Dolby Digital audio. It includes audio commentaries by Jun Fukuyama, Yukana, animators Yuriko Chiba and Eiji Nakata and associate director Kazuya Murata. The release also contains a picture drama, stage 4.33, set after episode 4, which features a conversation between Jeremiah and Viletta regarding Jeremiah's past, and creditless versions of the first ending theme (episodes 1-12) and second version of the first opening theme (which was used in episodes 9-12), and numerous other features and extras, including five illustrations featuring the ending theme's original art.
6	June 22, 2007	14-16	The sixth volume of the series contains episodes 14 to 16 and has a running time of 75 minutes, presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and Japanese Dolby Digital audio. It includes audio commentaries by Jun Fukuyama, Fumiko Orikasa, Gorō Taniguchi and Seiichi Nakatani. The release also contains a picture drama, stage 8.75, set after episode 8, which is set at a beach resort and features each of the characters wearing swimwear, and numerous other bonus features and extras, including a creditless version of the first version of the second opening theme (which was featured in episodes 13-17).
7	July 27, 2007	17-19	The seventh volume of the series contains episodes 17 to 19 and has a running time of 100 minutes, presented in 16:9 aspect ratio and Japanese Dolby Digital audio. It includes audio commentaries by Jun Fukuyama, Takahiro Sakurai, Ami Koshimizu, Hiroyuki Yoshino and Takahiro Kimura. The release also contains a picture drama and numerous other bonus features and extras, including original character sketches by Clamp and the second volume of the special short manga by Clamp, and also includes the television recap episode stage 17.5.

The DVD releases of the series are distributed in Japan by Bandai Visual^[10], with a total of nine volumes scheduled to be released. ^[11]
Sources: ^[12]

Online distribution

The series has been distributed online via a streaming basis on the Japanese internet website Biglobe.

Other media

''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'' has been adapted into a wide variety of media, including manga, light novel, video games, and drama CD adaptations. Several official tie-ins have also been released both online and in print, including numerous artbooks and novels.
Three different manga adaptations of the series were published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, which have each contained alternate storylines.^[13] The primary adaptation, containing the same title, focused on the protagonist of the series, Lelouch Lamperouge, and was originally serialized in the ''Monthly Asuka'' shōjo magazine in its October 2006 issue, featuring art by Majiko!, with its first tankōbon compilation (ISBN 4-04-854065-3) being released under the Asuka Comics DX label on December 26, 2006. The second, , which began serialization in the sixth volume of the ''Beans A'' magazine, focused on another character, Suzaku Kururugi, and featured art by Atsuro Yomino. Another adaptation, , focused on Nunnally Lamperouge, Lelouch's sister, and was first serialized in the tenth volume of ''Comp Ace'', featuring art by Tomomasa Takuma.
The series has also been adapted into a series of drama CDs, called ''Sound Episodes'', the first of which was released on April 2007, and which have continued to be released in Japan by Victor Entertainment each month. Featuring audio episodes written by many of the writers of the series, these are set between the series' episodes and feature theme songs performed by the series' seiyū. They have also been available online on a limited streaming basis on the Japanese internet website Biglobe.
It has also been adapted into a series of weekly internet radio broadcasts, which were streamed online on the BEAT☆Net Radio! portal, the first of which, , began streaming from October 6, 2006. It featured Sayaka Ohara (seiyū of Milly Ashford) and Satomi Arai (seiyū of Sayoko Shinazaki). The second, , was first streamed on December 12 2006, and were hosted by Jun Fukuyama (seiyū of Lelouch) and Noriaki Sugiyama (seiyū of Rivalz). The series is also slated to be adapted into a series of video games, developed for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and Wii platforms, which will be published by Namco Bandai Games.^[14]^[15]^[16] The official website for the Nintendo DS version will be launched on July 16, 2007.^[17]
A 30-minute preview of the series, , featuring interviews with the series's creators and cast, as well as footage and theme songs from the series, was broadcast on TBS a week prior to the series's premiere, on September 29 2006. Hosted by Teriyuki Tsuchida, it was produced by Kyodo Television, directed by Hiroshi Watanabe and written by Noboyuki Toyama. It was streamed online on Biglobe and was also included in the first DVD of the series.
The series has been adapted into a series of light novels, which began serialization from April 28, 2007 in Kadokawa Shoten's ''The Sneaker'' seinen light novel magazine. Two artbooks featuring illustrations of the series, ''Code Geass Graphics Zero'' (ISBN 4048540793), and ''Code Geass Graphics Ashford'' (ISBN 4048540807), have also been published in Japan.

Reception

Since its premiere, ''Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'' has collected numerous awards and accolades. At the sixth annual Tokyo Anime Awards held at the 2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair, ''Code Geass'' won the best TV anime series award.^[18] In noted Japanese anime magazine ''Animage's 29th Annual Anime Grand Prix, ''Code Geass'' won the most popular series award, with Lelouch Lamperouge also being chosen as the most popular male character and "Colors" being chosen as the most popular song. At the first Seiyū Awards held in 2007, Jun Fukuyama won the award for best actor in a leading role for his performance as Lelouch Lamperouge in the series, while Ami Koshimizu won the award for best actress in a supporting role for her performance as Karen Stadtfeld.

Notes and references

External links

★ Official site

★ MBS's official site

★ Sunrise's official site

★ Official blog

★ Animax's official site

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