Code Geass: Roze of the Recapture ep 1 Review: The Nameless Mercenaries
Witness the glorious return of Code Geass. About time since they teased this series about…2-3 years ago? With a supposed “10-year-plan”, Roze of the Recapture is a long-awaited OVA to end the drought of the Code Geass franchise. Just like Akito, this spin-off will be about a new main cast – with some cameo sprinkled in. And once again, we dwell into the fascinating world of Code Geass where Japan has, once again, been oppressed.
Since this is just episode one and it has been a long while since the last Code Geass anime (Resurrection), we get a brief overview of how the situation has changed. We got a new Britannia, and a Neo Britannia that is sorta the old Britannia. Confusing – I know, but the only thing we need to note is the Neo Britannia has taken over Hokkaido, wall themselves in with an energy barrier system and basically enslave the Japanese people once more. As usual there is a Rebellion force fighting to liberate Japan (or Hokkaido in this case). And our protagonists are mercenaries that wanted to join the Rebellion…despite being Britannia themselves (sound familiar?).
With all the basic, cliche setting of a Code Geass series, Roze manage to grab the viewer’s attention with the charm of its character – especially Roze. The contrast of a very bloody and infuriating opening with a completely silly and joyful roadtrip is Code Geass’ signature. Reminds us of the heavy oppression that the Elevens were suffering compared to the relatively peaceful life Nunnally was living in the original series.
As for the start, we’re introduced to the first cannon fodders of the series: the Kirkwayne brothers. They are just the most stereotypical Britannian you can pull from Code Geass: hating Japanese and treating them like toys and animals. They really know how to ramp up the hate factor by having one of the brothers acting all polite but then he turned around and murder a Japanese person in cold-blood. Watching that made the Rebellion’s blood boil – as does the audience. And of course, we need the Nameless Mercenaries on the scene.
And we got a road-trip with the two “brothers”! They go around picking stray pets and interact with them just like us normal humans. But we also got a subtle hint on Roze’s geass after the stop at the fuel station. Although I reckon it won’t last long as anyone who is nice to the Japanese will feel the wrath of the Neo-Britanians sooner or later. But as they are just side-side-side char, I hope they’ll be okay. But Roze and Ash quickly show the Seven Shining Stars Rebellion why they have the ability to do their job. Roze is obviously the brain while Ash is the brawl. And then we get an impressive debut for the new KMF.
As for the start, we’re introduced to the first cannon fodders of the series: the Kirkwayne brothers. They are just the most stereotypical Britannian you can pull from Code Geass: hating Japanese and treating them like toys and animals. They really know how to ramp up the hate factor by having one of the brothers acting all polite but then he turned around and murder a Japanese person in cold-blood. Watching that made the Rebellion’s blood boil – as does the audience. And of course, we need the Nameless Mercenaries on the scene.
And we got a road-trip with the two “brothers”! They go around picking stray pets and interact with them just like us normal humans. But we also got a subtle hint on Roze’s geass after the stop at the fuel station. Although I reckon it won’t last long as anyone who is nice to the Japanese will feel the wrath of the Neo-Britanians sooner or later. But as they are just side-side-side char, I hope they’ll be okay. But Roze and Ash quickly show the Seven Shining Stars Rebellion why they have the ability to do their job. Roze is obviously the brain while Ash is the brawl. And then we get an impressive debut for the new KMF.
The little skit Roze and Ask put off was pretty funny. And it oozes Zero’s theatrics and charms. I guess Lelouch did passed down some of his ego to Roze. The Zi-Apollo is a sleek Knight Mare Frame, remind me of the Pendulum and the Alexander Liberte. It’s sleek, slim and acrobatic. It has no external weapons or default load-out (which is rare), and is only armed with arm blades and knee blades, basically pointy armors. It fight by stealing the enemies’ weapons and use it against them. Which is a pretty smart strategy that we haven’t seen in a while for CG. Of course that means they don’t have to source weapons and ammunitions, making them less traceable.
As this is the debut of the main characters and their KMF, of course we’ll see them overpowering literally everyone and while it is quite predictable, it is still a sight to behold. The Zi-Apollo checkmate sequence was amazing and is very unique. The OST playing while the Zi-Apollo switch modes give me chills, and the way it stole the big swords from the Kirkwayne guy was hilarious. Coupled with how elegant it danced around with swords bigger than itself gives the battle an impactful performance. Ash is like a phantom dancing in the night while the Neo-Britannian plebs got owned.
As this is the debut of the main characters and their KMF, of course we’ll see them overpowering literally everyone and while it is quite predictable, it is still a sight to behold. The Zi-Apollo checkmate sequence was amazing and is very unique. The OST playing while the Zi-Apollo switch modes give me chills, and the way it stole the big swords from the Kirkwayne guy was hilarious. Coupled with how elegant it danced around with swords bigger than itself gives the battle an impactful performance. Ash is like a phantom dancing in the night while the Neo-Britannian plebs got owned.
And then we got the nail in the coffin for the Kirkwayne: Sakuya…I mean Roze’s Geass. Well if you already watched the episode, you’d have learned Roze’s real identity. Yep she is the real Sakuya Sumeragi – the user of the auditory Obedience Geass. The voice-changing and eye-color-altering gimmick is insane though, I don’t understand how it works but when it unlocks her Geass and her true voice, it’s pretty amazing. And I wonder how she can fit her hair into that wig lol. Either way, Sakuya pulled a Lelouch episode 1 and have the Kirkwayne dipshit kill himself, which is pretty satisfying. But it’s kinda sad that even at the end of his life, he still views Japanese as Eleven trash. Well, some people just can’t be saved I guess.
That concluded episode 1 – a very cool debut for Roze and Ash, as well as the Zi-Apollo. Hopefully we’ll get an amazing story since episode one is going pretty fast with the Roze/Sakuya stuff. Let’s see how they cook the next Eleven episodes 😉
Aaron
That concluded episode 1 – a very cool debut for Roze and Ash, as well as the Zi-Apollo. Hopefully we’ll get an amazing story since episode one is going pretty fast with the Roze/Sakuya stuff. Let’s see how they cook the next Eleven episodes 😉
Aaron
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