Format: Region Free Blu-ray, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English and Japanese Subtitles
Length: 5 episodes, 51 minutes (episode 1), 59 minutes (episodes 2 to 5)
Production Date: 2012 – 2016
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes
Set in-between the two TV series of “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion”, this five part movie/OVA series begins in 2017 a.t.b (Ascension Throne Britannia) where the 132nd regiment of the United Republic of Europia (European Union or EU) military is taking on a unit of Knightmares from Holy Britannian Empire. The war between the two superpowers has been ongoing for some time now. In this particular mission, the EU military is planning to take back St Petersburg, however have been blocked at Narva (southwest of St Petersburg) by the Britannian military. The EU’s soldiers in this battle are made up entirely by Elevens, refugees from the island nation once known as Japan. However they are losing the battle with the Britannian military decimating the EU’s Alexander Knightmares. The commander of the mission, Leila Malcal, orders a retreat to save as many lives as possible. However her commanding officer, Pierre Anou, rescinds the order and pulls a gun on her. She disarms him and he is taken away by military police. The battle is coming to an end and the sole surviving solider is Hyuga Akito, who seemingly under influence of Geass, surprisingly singlehandedly defeats all of the Britannian Knightmares.
Afterwards Leila with Akito as her bodyguard travel to Paris in order to argue her case for a much broader offensive to General Gene Smilas, current leader of the EU. She argues her case but doesn’t get what she wants. Later Leila and Akito become escorts for the general in his motorcade. En route they are attacked by a small band of Elevens. One manages to take out the transport for Guardmares (security Knightmare robots) as well as the Guardmares themselves with his Knightmare, while a second throws a grenade under the general’s car, forcing Smilas and Leila to flee before it explodes. Smilas is then taken hostage. But Akito manages to subdue the Eleven and his Knightmare, barehanded after his Guardmare is disabled. The three Elevens, Ryou Sayama, Ayano Kosaka and Yukiya Naruse eventually surrender when they realise their plan to hold Smilas hostage in order to obtain more Knightmares is doomed. Leila makes a deal with them; either join the EU army under her command or go to prison. Of course they choose the former.
Leila, Akito and the new recruits return to their base, Castle Weisswolf in the French Alps. Ryo, Ayano and Yukiya are assessed as suitable to become members of the squadron, however some have misgivings. As a result the trio are confined to their quartes and the mess hall. Akito warns Leila that if they are not given free reign they will rebel. The trio soon discover that there are secret passageways in some sections of the castle and plan to steal several Knightmares and escape. They hack into the security cameras and upload a program that looks as if they are in their quarters and change the settings on their security passes. However Leila and Akito soon discover and thwart their plan. Leila guarantees their safety in an upcoming battle when Ryo claims that they’re being sent on a suicide mission. Much to their disbelief, Leila tells them that she will be accompanying them on the mission in her own Knightmare.
The audacious new battle plan has Ryo, Ayano, Yukiya, Akito and Leila being launched in a rocket into space, where their capsules will re-enter the atmosphere and their Knightmare’s will burst out, and paraglide down to the surface with a backup force of Knightmare drones already on the ground. Their mission is attempting to take back Warsaw. However right from the start things don’t go to plan. Ryo, Ayano and Yukiya attack Akito in an attempt to kill him. Their plain is thwarted when long range cannon fire (from 500km away) engulfs the area and everyone is forced to flee. They end up running into a Britannian force which they eventually defeat. Leila suspects that someone has leaked their plans. Eventually they arrive at the town of Slonim but cannot find a living soul there. They ambushed by a waiting elite Britannian Knightmare squad. Akito’s Geass takes over and he manages to “infect” Ryo, Ayano and Yukiya who fight like savages and manage to defeat some of the enemy Knightmares. At this point their commander, Shin Hyuuga Shaingu, in his insanely over the top golden centaur like Knightmare (named Vercingetorix) takes on Akito, breaking his Geass hold on the others, who end up losing their battles and exiting their Knightmares. Shin reveals that he is Akito and that he is going to kill him.
It wasn’t all that surprising that “Code Geass” got a sequel (though this more of a quasi-prequel/side story). But I wasn’t really expecting much as the OVA which came out prior to this. “Code Geass: Nunnally in Wonderland”, was a kind of crappy 25 minute picture drama that wasn’t worth anyone’s time or money. I really wasn’t expecting much at all from this series and bought the first disc pretty much on a whim on my last day in Japan on a holiday in March 2013. I wasn’t immediately won over, but upon a second viewing I was floored. The story is pretty damn good (and far less over absurdly the top than the TV series), the animation is brilliant and so are the mecha and character designs (with CLAMP returning as character designers). This series is one of the increasing numbers of big budget OVAs released theatrically (with ticket holders getting an early copy of the OVA on Blu-ray) then given a general home video release some months later. It seems to be working a treat for Bandai Visual and as an added bonus most of these types of releases from that company have come with optional English subtitles.
Apart from the main story of Leila and Akito’s unit, there’s also a parallel story involving the political machinations of Euro Britannia, made worse by the arrival of Julius Kingsley (a barely disguised Lelouch Lamperouge) and his bodyguard Suzaku Kururugi, apparently sent by Emperor Charles zi Britannia in order to reignite a stalled campaign to gain more territory. C.C. also returns but not as you’d expect. One other character from the TV series makes an appearance, but it’s a bit spolierish, so I won’t mention who it is. Like the TV series there is a huge cast, almost too many people to keep track of. Other than the characters I mentioned, Britannian Knightmare squad members Ashley Ashura and Shin’s offsider Jean Lowe are also interesting characters to watch out for. As is Claus Warrick, Leila’s military underling and a bit of a drunk. Director Kazuki Akane (“Vision of Escaflowne”, “Noein”) certainly has made the show look spectacular, however there isn’t much in the way of clues to help you try and figure out where the series fits within the larger “Code Geass” franchise. The only real clue to when this takes place is the 2017 date, which you may have missed if you weren’t watching the first TV series too closely. The fact that the EU has a completely different year calendar (Revolutionary Calendar year 228 is 2017 apparently) only confuses things further. As does the way the EU treats the refugee Elevens (just as appalling as or worse than the Britannians) or the fact some of the EU military outfits are just as dressy as the Britannian’s. As a result I was kind of confused as to where the story took place, until the Britannians showed up.
The only other problem I had with the show was some of the sequences were a bit silly and the post climatic scenes seemed a bit daft (until we get to the post script at the end). However overall the series is quite restrained compared to the amazingly over the top atmosphere of two TV series. It also feels a lot more plausible as a result. The Geass phenomena is also fleshed out a bit more (with a rather intriguing character called the Caretaker of Space-time making a couple of appearances), however not all is revealed and in the end it’s still quite a mystery. The Knightmare battles are pretty amazing and really well choreographed. All of them are CG instead of the hand drawn Knightmares in the TV series. I really like Shin’s insane Vercingetorix, a transformable centaur/humanoid type gold in colour with a bizarre lance made of gears. The Japanese releases are pretty good with great artwork and full colour booklets. I’m really glad I got these over the Funimation release.
I’m really surprised this series hasn’t made more noise in western fandom. I guess it’s because no one is streaming it. I think it’s one of the best anime series to be released in the last few years. It looks fantastic and the story is really good (maybe a couple too many side departures from the main story). In the last couple of weeks I watched the two TV series again before watching the entire “Akito the Exiled” series. It really surprised me how insane and melodramatic the original TV series were. I’d say “Akito the Exiled” is a far better sequel than the original because it chooses to be a little bit more subdued. 8.5 out of 10
Remaining Backlog: 14 movies, three OVAs/specials, five TV series, also waiting for second parts for four shows to be released before viewing them.
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