Breaking the Code

After stating the basic points that make the anime, Code Geass, the great show that it is in my previous post, I'll get down to breaking down and analyzing things a bit further. Yeah, you may say I'm a bit conceited after you read through the next blocks of text, and I won't hold it against you. But try to enjoy the read, anyway. =P

I've previously outlined that the perfect blend of all the necessary plot elements is a major contributing factor to the anime's success. If one will look into the story a bit deeper, he'll see that there's nothing new actually. There's the bit of a chaotic royal line, which the main character/s is a part/member of. Internal conflicts are also subdued, and not made public, since the main character/s is/are living quite double-lives/hiding their true identity at the start of the first season. The main protagonist being a highschool students is not, and never will be, new as the romance bit that is almost always present.

And then the main characters will be piloting mecha (tsk... too cliche), and they'd be doing very much well as compared to professional pilots/soldiers. As such, death of extra characters (as well as main characters) are also there.

tl;dr version: It's not what makes up the show per se that makes it a hit. Therefore, I reiterate: it is the proper blending of the individual components that make it so.

But there is another important keyword behind the show's success: reinvention. Yes, they did a good job at it. They took all the elements that will endear the show to the viewers, mixed and matched them, and reinvented to make a show that has made a niche into an average anime-lover's heart.

The show capitalizes on that which silently resides in each and every viewer's heart: desire for power. Be it political power, sexual power, supernatural powers - the show was able to incorporate everything so as to encompass whatever that which the viewer so desires. By using a not-so-ordinary high school student as a symbol, the show's creators are able to tap into the innermost desires of the viewers to effect changes into a society that they're not able to do in real life.

Everyone wants to make a difference; yet not everyone is given the chanceAt the core of it all, is the fact that all the viewers wanted to be either a Zero or a Suzaku (or whichever of the main characters). Everyone wants to make a difference; yet not everyone is given the chance. By capitalizing on the viewer's empathy, the producers ensured that they've made a place for Code Geass among the most famous shows on the planet.

But as to all gambles, there's a risk the show conceptualizer took: to not maintain a neutral enough position. Sure, they've made it PG-13 but I doubt any average teenager can actually realize the beauty behind it all.

On the contrary, I'm highly anxious about the Code's effects on the average viewer. Sure, I didn't need to watch the show twice to separate that which are the true, though subliminal, messages that should be absorbed. But that is the 24 year-old me talking.

I just shudder at the thought of another kid doing a Gaara. There's way too much violence in Code Geass than Naruto, and unlike the latter, the former can't have the violence dampened with a few cuts and splices on the storyboard.

But for those who are able to appreciate it for what its worth, I'm sure they'd agree that Code Geass is top-notch. Very nicely done, 9.5 out of 10.