Code Geass

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ), often referred to as simply Code Geass, is a Japanese anime series created by Sunrise, directed by Gorō Taniguchi, and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp.

Code Geass first ran in Japan on MBS from October 5, 2006, to July 28, 2007. Its sequel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュR2), ran on MBS and TBS from April 6, 2008 to September 28, 2008. Both seasons have won several awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, Animage Anime Grand Prix, and Animation Kobe event.

Plot
The series is set after Japan's conquest by the Holy Britannian Empire on August 10, 2010 a.t.b., with their powerful new robot weapons, the Knightmare Frames, stripping Japan and its citizens of all rights and freedoms and renaming the country Area 11. The titular Lelouch vi Britannia is an intellectual Britannian prince who was sent as hostage, along with his sister Nunnally, by his father, Emperor Charles zi Britannia, after his mother was murdered, and has vowed to destroy Britannia. He gains an ability through the mysterious power of the Geass, becoming the leader of the resistance movement to fulfill his two wishes: to seek revenge for his mother and to construct a world in which his beloved sister Nunnally can live happily.

Setting
Code Geass is set in an alternate universe where three superpowers, the Holy Britannian Empire, the Chinese Federation, and the Euro Universe have divided the world between them (with the exception of an independent Australia) and maintain a tentative balance for the first part of the series. The balance shifts in the second season as the E.U. has much of its territory conquered by Britannia while Lelouch engineers a revolution in the Chinese Federation and creates a new alliance of countries, the United Federation of Nations, reducing the number of superpowers to two. 

Holy Britannian Empire
The Holy Britannian Empire (神聖ブリタニア帝国) is an imperial monarchy and the most prominent superpower within the world of Code Geass, controlling over one-third of the world at the start of the series, based in North America with Pendragon, located in Texas near the Gulf Coast, as its capital. Britannian society is an aristocracy run according to a caricature of Social Darwinism, with a hierarchy of competing nobles at the top and the peoples of conquered territories (referred to either by their area number or as "Numbers") living in poverty or as unequal Honorary Britannians.

During season one, the Britannian Empire controls the entire Western Hemisphere (both American continents), New Zealand, and recently conquered Japan, as well as the recently conquered "Area 18" in the Middle East region. During season two, Britannia successfully conquers about half of the rival "Euro Universe" superpower; taking over France, Spain, the western half of Africa, and Russia. The series' history diverges with Julius Caesar's invasion, when a Celtic "super-king" is elected (similar to the Arverni chieftain Vercingetorix), who successfully resisted the invasion and began the Britannian imperial line of absolute monarchy (referred to in the establishment of the Britannian calendar era, "Ascension Throne Britannia" (a.t.b) or the Imperial Calendar in the English dub, fifty five years earlier than the Gregorian calendar).

Japan
Japan is the source of over 70% of the world's supply of the high energy mineral sakuradite. Britannia conquered it to gain control over that mineral. Japan was renamed Area 11 under Britannian rule. Through his alter-ego, Zero, Lelouch attempts to restore Japan's independence as the "United States of Japan", as a step in his quest to overthrow Britannia.

Chinese Federation
The Chinese Federation (中華連邦) is an imperial monarchy that spans the Asian and Pacific regions, including Central, South, East, and Southeast Asia, with Sakhalin and the Korean Peninsula and is the most populous (and poverty-stricken)... of the three superpowers. Its political structure and organization appears to resemble the former Empire of China, with the Emperor regarded as a living divinity and holding absolute political power, though under Empress Tianzi, it has been reduced to a figurehead for the advisory "High Eunuchs" (大宦官) (similar to the feudal era Emperors of Japan). The Vermilion Forbidden City (朱禁城) is the seat of the Chinese Emperor and the government of the Federation is a large palace situated in the capital city of Luoyang.

In the first season, the Chinese Federation attempts unsuccessfully to invade Japan on the pretext of "liberation" using exiled former Japanese officials. The resistance movement in India lends Zero's Black Knights their lead weapons designer, Rakshata, in hopes that an independent Japan will in return aide them in gaining independence from China. In the second season, a Chinese consulate is established with the agreement of the local Britannian authorities and negotiations are held by Eunuch Gao Hai to the end of obtaining a solid Chinese foothold within the colony. After the Black Knights are exiled from Japan, they are granted control of Horai Island (蓬萊島), a fictional artificial land mass built off the coast of China to generate electricity through tidal activity. The Black Knights destabilize and overthrow the government, returning control to the Empress. Shortly after, the Federation collapses and its former member states are incorporated into the new United Federation of Nations.

Euro Universe
The Euro Universe (ユーロ・ユニバース), or E.U., is a democratic union encompassing all of Europe (including Great Britain), Africa, and Russia, which has been long in conflict with Britannia. In the second season, Schneizel leads the Britannian forces against the E.U., successfully conquering almost half of their territory, including Portugal, Spain, France, half of Africa, and the whole of Russia. Following this, former member nations Italy, Austria, and Poland (among others) join the forty-seven founding nations of the United Federation of Nations, leaving only Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Belarus and an area of Africa near the Congo.

United Federation of Nations
Following the collapse of the E.U. and the uprising in the Chinese Federation, most of the remaining territories not under Britannian control join forces and form the United Federation of Nations, a new coalition used by Lelouch to counter the Empire's advance as the sole other superpower. The U.F.N. flag is a white dove with three circles merging at the point where the wings and body meet, over a yellow background. The U.F.N. is composed of forty-seven countries spread across parts of Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern Africa, and the majority of the Asian continent. Decisions in the U.F.N. are determined by a two-thirds majority vote by the leaders of each country, with the population of each country determining their voting percentage. The individual armies of the member nations are abolished and replaced by a new supranational military force under the Black Knights' control.

Geass and Immortals
Geass (ギアス), also referred to as the Power of King (王の力), is a mysterious ability which certain people can bestow upon others (the word itself potentially being an intentional corruption of geas or geis, a type of magical contract in Irish mythology). According to an English edition of Newtype, the power of Geass has something to do with the very existence of humankind and it may be used to destroy or transform just about anything. It is represented by a bird-shaped symbol which glows red when active.

A Geass is set as a contract between an immortal and a human who receives a unique power. It manifests in one eye. Each time the user uses his Geass power it becomes stronger. Eventually the Geass power may become so strong it is out of the user's control. (e.g. When Mao lost control of his Geass power to read minds he was unable to turn it off causing him to have no choice but to read everyone's mind.) The user may eventually learn to control his Geass power. When this happens the Geass power will manifest itself in both eyes. When a Geass is at full power, a person can then become a recipient of the immortal's "Code", that which grants them their immortality. This new immortal receives the Geass mark somewhere on their body, immunity to Geass, and the ability to make their own contracts with others, while the giver is allowed to die (perpetuating an endless cycle). This process is not necessarily consensual, as C.C. received her Code and V.V. had his taken away against their wills.

Immortals have their own set of powers aside from those related to Geass. They are able to project images into the minds of others, causing them to hallucinate. Immortals seem to be able to tell whether a person has received Geass from another or not, and to open a telepathic communication channel among themselves (but this is consensual; even though C.C. is able to converse with V.V. in the first season, she is unable to track him down). Their origin and relationship to the world of C, the latter being a main concept of the series related to the collective unconscious of the mankind, is unexplained, as are their intentions. Events inside the world of C suggest the possibility of communicating with the departed (as the Emperor claims to be able to talk to his deceased son while inside it). This and Suzaku Kururugi's peculiar reactions to and ability to detect the presence of Immortals indicate that there is more to Immortals and Geass than has been revealed so far.

Every Geass power has its own unique set of both abilities and limitations (for example, Lelouch's power, the ability to make anyone obey him, can only be used once on a given person), allowing for their defeat or victory by someone who is aware of its characteristics. According to C.C. in the anime series, the way geass manifests itself in a person is determined by the person's deepest/truest desire (e.g. C.C.'s geass made everyone love her in response to her desire to be accepted and loved). Further understanding of the power of Geass even leads to the development of a device that can undo its effects. All Geass abilities that have thus far appeared within canon of the anime series have been related to the mind, influencing things such as emotion, perception, and memory.

Main characters

 * Lelouch Lamperouge/Vi Britannia
 * The main character, Lelouch is the handsome and intelligent son of the Emperor of Britannia, Charles zi Britannia, and the late Imperial Consort Marianne vi Britannia as well as the Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. After the assassination of his mother and the crippling of his sister, Nunnally, he confronted his father over his apparent lack of concern. Offended by his impudence, the Emperor exiled them both to Japan. In Japan, Lelouch spent his days with his sister at the Kururugi Shrine and met Suzaku Kururugi, whom he befriended after some initial animosity.

Following Britannia's invasion of Japan, Lelouch and Nunnally were forced to leave the Kururugi Shrine, taking refuge with the Ashford family, who were his mother's allies.
 * Suzaku Kururugi
 * Lelouch's childhood friend and son of Japan's last prime minister, Genbu Kururugi. Suzaku is in the service of the Britannia Army as a soldier and is chosen to test an experimental new model of Knightmare Frame, the Lancelot. Throughout the series, Suzaku shows a belief that achieving results by wrong or illegal methods is meaningless, setting up a rivalry with Zero. Suzaku also became Lelouch's classmate.


 * C.C.
 * A mysterious, immortal, green-haired girl who establishes a contract with Lelouch on the condition that he grant her one wish, to die. She passively oversees Lelouch's missions and occasionally helps them succeed to ensure he does not die. Being Immortal C-2 claims she abandoned her humanity long ago. Her real name is Cecilia, and was subtly noted and shown in the anime.


 * Kallen Stadtfeld
 * A red haired Britannian-Japanese who believes herself to be a Japanese person at heart and prefers her birth name, Kallen Kouzuki, over that of her father's prestigious family. She maintains the image of a frail, outstanding student at Ashford Academy, all the while being a member of the Japanese resistance movement and is Zero's most devoted follower. Kallen joined the resistance to fulfill the dream her brother had before he passed away.


 * Nunnally Lamperouge/Vi Britannia
 * Lelouch's younger sister, who was blinded and crippled via Emperor Charles Geass power. Lelouch originally got involved with the war because he wanted to create a gentler world for Nunnally. However in Nunnally's own words just living with Lelouch would have been enough for her.


 * Rolo Lamperouge
 * Rolo Lamperouge is introduced in the second season as an assassin posing as Lelouch's brother, placed there to observe Lelouch following his memory rewrite at the end of the first season. Rolo pilots the Vincent Prototype, and possesses a Geass power in his right eye that allows him to temporarily freeze the subjective experience of time for all persons within a given range. Each time Rolo uses this power, his heart skips a beat when it is activated.

Knightmare Frames
Knightmare Frames are combat mecha, originally developed by the Britannian Empire and imitated by other nations as the series progresses, intended as a replacement for battle tanks and other conventional land, air, and sea warfare vehicles. The name is a play on the word "nightmare" and the Western image of a knight on a horse (mare), with "frame" being the civilian word for bipedal machines in general.

Production
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. 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, the first time Clamp had ever been requested to design the characters of an anime series. 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 & 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, feeling it was necessary for it to be a Sunrise show, and Clamp wanting a unique design never prior seen in any Sunrise series (said mask was nicknamed "tulip" for 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. In working on the animation character designs, he focused on designing them so as to enable the series' other animators to apply them without deviating from Clamp's original art style.

The music for the series was composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa and Hitomi Kuroishi, who had earlier worked with the series' core staff in Planetes and Taniguchi's earlier work Gun X Sword. In addition to the incidental music featured in each episode, 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'" were performed by the singer-songwriter Mikio Sakai, who had also earlier worked with Nakagawa and Kuroishi in Planetes. The bands FLOW, Ali Project, Jinn, SunSet Swish, Access, and Orange Range have provided songs for the opening and ending themes.

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 a Thursday late night time slot. Due to this change, the overall outlook and some elements of the series were changed and further developed to suit the more mature, late night audience.

Anime
Code Geass officially premiered on the Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) television network at 25:25 JST on October 5, 2006. Its satellite television premiere across Japan on Animax was on November 7, 2006. Upon the airing of the first 23 episodes, the series went on hiatus on March 29, 2007, and completed broadcast of the first series with a contiguous one-hour broadcast of episodes 24 and 25 at 26:25 JST on Saturday, July 28, 2007.

The immense popularity of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion followed with the development of a sequel, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, which was first announced on the March 2007 issue of Newtype and later confirmed by Sunrise producer Yoshitaka Kawaguchi on the series' official staff blog on March 9, 2007.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 premiered on MBS and TBS at 17:00 JST on April 6, 2008. Prior to the series' television broadcast, three private preview screenings of episode 1 were held on March 15 and March 16 in Osaka and Tokyo respectively, which was attended by the series' seiyū as well as a pool of 3800 randomly selected applicants. On April 15, 2008, at 17:00 JST, the last 6 minutes of the then unaired third episode was accidentally posted onto the Internet due to an error by Bandai Channel, Bandai Namco's online broadcast channel and the series online distributor, in the midst of testing a system preventing illegal online uploads.

Both seasons of Code Geass have been licensed for release in the United States by Bandai Entertainment, and the first season began airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block in the U.S. on April 27, 2008; the second began airing on November 2, immediately following the first season, both viewable in English on Adult Swim Video. The series finale premiered on June 7, 2009, ending the second season and the rest of the story. On April 23, 2010, Adult Swim's rights to this series expired. In Australia and New Zealand, the series is sub-licensed to Madman Entertainment by Bandai Entertainment USA, and began airing on Australian channel ABC2 from January 19, 2009. In the Philippines, the first season of Code Geass premiered on November 10, 2008, weekday nights at 7:30pm PST and ended on December 15, 2008 through TV5 while the Season 2 premiered on May 4, 2009 and ended on June 5, 2009 at 6:00pm PST also on TV5 and Hero TV on July 27, 2010.

Reportedly, Bandai Visual shipped over one million DVD and Blu-ray discs related to the Code Geass franchise by November 2008, placing it among the most popular contemporary anime series in both Japan and North America.

The release of Code Geass: The Miraculous Birthday (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ　キセキの誕生日) included bonus material about a new Code Geass anime in production called Code Geass Side Story: Akito of the Ruined Land (コードギアスGAIDEN 亡国のアキト), directed by Kazuki Akane. It is unknown what format the side story will be in.

Manga
Kadokawa Shoten has published four separate manga adaptations, each containing an alternate storyline. The first four of the manga series below have been licensed for an English language release in North America by Bandai Entertainment.

The first, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, by Majiko~! and originally serialized Monthly Asuka, focused on the protagonist of the series, Lelouch Lamperouge, with few differences from the anime's basic storyline other than Knightmare Frames not existing.

The second, Code Geass: Suzaku of the Counterattack (コードギアス 反攻のスザク), written by Atsuro Yomino and serialized in Beans A magazine, focused on Suzaku Kururugi in an alternate reality, where he wears a human-sized enhancement suit provided by Lloyd as Lancelot, a masked government-sponsored superhero, who fights against the criminal organization known as the Black Knights.

Code Geass: Nightmare of Nunnally (コードギアス ナイトメア・オブ・ナナリー), serialized in Comp Ace and written by Tomomasa Takuma, focuses on Lelouch's sister, Nunnally. When Lelouch goes missing in the incident at Shinjuku Ghetto, Nunnally encounters an entity called Nemo, which restores her health and grants her the ability to summon the Knightmare Frame Mark Nemo. Using these, Nunnally attempts to seek out the whereabouts of her brother, but arouses the interest of the elite covert-ops Britannian Special Foreign Legion "Irregulars," which seeks to capture or kill her.

A fourth manga adaptation, Code Geass: Tales of an Alternate Shogunate (幕末異聞録 コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ), was serialized in Kerokero Ace. Set in an alternate 1853, Lelouch Lamperouge (琉々朱・爛縁侍) is the commander of the Shogunate's military counterinsurgence brigade known as the Shinsengumi, which fights the Black Revolutionaries (黒の騎士団), a rebel group led by a mysterious masked individual known as Rei (零) (these two organizations turn out to be one and the same, seeking to combat influences of Britannia). Geass is the ability to call upon and summon the armored entities referred to as Knightmares (ナイトメア), of which Lancelot (ランスロット) is one.

In late 2009, Bandai announced a new project greenlit for 2010. It is going to involve the simultaneous release of multiple products. A manga, titled Code Geass: Renya of Darkness (コードギアス 漆黒の連夜), is the first product announced. It features a seventeen year-old boy named Renya with an artificial arm who uses shuriken as his weapon of choice. The story begins when he encounters C.C. It is set in the Edo period. Director Goro Taniguchi is scripting the story, which is meant to be another part of the official Code Geass history. It began publication in the May issue of Shōnen Ace.

CDs
The music for the series, composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa and Hitomi Kuroishi, has been released across two original soundtracks produced by Yoshimoto Ishikawa and released by Victor Entertainment. The first was released in Japan on December 20, 2006, and the second on March 24, 2007. The covers and jackets for both soundtracks were illustrated by Takahiro Kimura.

The series has also been adapted into a series of drama CDs, called Sound Episodes, the first of which was released in Japan in April 2007 by Victor Entertainment, with new volumes released monthly. Written by many of the same writers as the series, these episodes are set between episodes and feature theme songs performed by the series' voice actors. They have also been available online on a limited streaming basis on the Japanese internet website Biglobe.

As of July 2008, eight drama CDs have been released. The first six, released between April 25, 2007 and September 27, 2007 cover the first season of the series, with the following two focusing on the second season.

Light novels
Code Geass has been additionally novelized into a series of light novels. First serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's The Sneaker magazine, they are divided into two separate series (corresponding with the series two seasons), the first Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion spanning five volumes (the first released in Japan on April 28, 2007 and the last on March 1, 2008). All five volumes in the first series of novels have been released in English by Bandai Visual USA.

The second novel series, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 covers the second season of the anime series. The first volume was released on June 1, 2008 and it is still ongoing. A single volume side story novel, Code Geass: Red Tracks (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ 朱の軌跡) was released on April 1, 2008 in Japan.

The first novel in the series was written before the events of the original story by Mamoru Iwasa. It centres around when Lelouch and Suzaku met and became friends when Lelouch and Nunnally were sent to Japan as a political hostages. It also goes into details about Genbu Kururugi death and Suzaku's relationship with Kyoshiro Tohdoh. Taizo Kirihara also makes an appearance in the book covering for Genbu after his death by leading the Japanese government against Britannia. It also goes into Lelouch's ability to trust people after his mother's death, and Nunnally's psychological damage and dependence on Lelouch.

Video games
The series is also slated to be adapted into a series of video games, developed for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 platforms, which was published by Namco Bandai Games. The official website for the first Nintendo DS game launched on July 16, 2007, with the game being released a few months later on October 25.

A second game, titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Lost Colors was developed for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2, and released in Japan on March 27, 2008. It is a visual novel game which follows a new protagonist named Rai (ライ), who suffers from amnesia. He has a Geass ability similar to Lelouch's, but activated by voice.

The third game for the Nintendo DS is a collection of minigames featuring super deformed forms of the characters. The player moves along a board through dice rolls, landing on different spots to activate minigames. The minigames are parody-style events with multiple genres. These include helping Jeremiah grow oranges, racing against C.C. and Shirley in swimming, and a sidescrolling beat-em-up featuring Kallen in Guren-like armor.

Code Geass R2 is slated to appear in From Software (Demon's Souls, Armored Core) and Banpresto's PlayStation 3 exclusive mecha action game Another Century's Episode R, released in Japan in August 2010 and in which both versions of Suzaku's Lancelot, Lelouch's Shinkiro, both versions of Kallen's Guren, and C.C's Akatsuki are playable. A fourth installment of the ACE franchise for the Playstation Portable, Another Century's Episode Portable, will include Suzaku's Lancelot Albion and Lelouch/Zero's Shinkiro, as well as other new mechs from the series.

Code Geass characters are slated to appear as costumes in the PlayStation 3 game, Tales of Graces F. These characters are Zero, Suzaku, C.C. and Kallen.

Artbooks
Two artbooks featuring illustrations of the series, Code Geass Graphics Zero (ISBN 4048540793) and Code Geass Graphics Ashford (ISBN 4048540807), have been published in Japan. Coinciding with the release of the second season of Code Geass was the publication of another artbook, Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion illustrations Rebels (ISBN 4048541692), which featured 134 art pieces of the first season. Another 95 page artbook titled Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion - The Complete Artbook (ISBN 9784048541183) has also been published. Finally, CLAMP, the well known mangaka team who did the designs for Code Geass, put out their own artbook, entitled Code Geass x CLAMP: Mutuality.

Internet radio broadcasts
"Code Geass" 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, Code Geass: The Rebellion Diary (コードギアス 反逆日記), began streaming from October 6, 2006. It featured Sayaka Ohara (seiyū of Milly Ashford) and Satomi Arai (seiyū of Sayoko Shinazaki). The second, Code Geass - Yamayamas of the Rebellion (コードギアス 反逆の山々), was first streamed on December 12, 2006, and were hosted by Jun Fukuyama (seiyū of Lelouch) and Noriaki Sugiyama (seiyū of Rivalz). During R2, a new show named Code Geass - LuluKuru Station (コードギアス ルルクルステーション) was streamed, hosted by Fukuyama and Takahiro Sakurai (seiyū of Suzaku).

Reception
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."

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. 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. In the 30th Annual Anime Grand Prix, Lelouch won first place again and C.C. was voted most popular female character. 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 Kallen Stadtfeld.

Furthermore, Code Geass won the award for Best TV Animation at the twelfth Animation Kobe event, held annually in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, with R2 taking the award in the following year.

Anime News Network's columnist Todd Ciolek attributes the soaring popularity of Code Geass to "the series hitting every important fan sector," with the audience appeal points ranging from a "complex cast of characters and a fast-paced story, told with Goro Taniguchi's capable direction" for "general-interest fans" to "pretty and just-a-little-broken heroes" for "yaoi-buying female fans." Carl Kimlinger also find that the series "has the skill and energy to carry viewers over the top with it, where they can spend a pleasurable few hours reveling in its melodramatic charms." He also adds that Taniguchi "executes the excesses of his series with care, skillfully intercutting events as Lelouch's plans come together (or fall apart) and using kinetic mecha combat".

Columnist Carlo Santos of Anime News Network wrote that the franchise "in a way, [...] reflects the malaise of a generation: the realization that old, rich, powerful people have screwed up the world and that the young are helpless to do anything about it". According to him, Lelouch's actions exemplify the wish to see problems like "economic collapse, class conflict, political instability, radical extremism" solved by "Zero's vigilante methods" but Santos expresses doubt in such an approach and concludes that "the series is at its best when raising questions rather than offering a final solution".

Controversy
On September 14, 2008, the People's Republic of China took action against Youku, one of the largest video sharing websites, ordering the removal of all videos relevant to Code Geass. In addition to the copyright infringement factors, Code Geass seems to be against the censorship regulations in China, as it has been mentioned in an article discussing sex and violence clips on the video sharing websites.