Code Geass R2: The Return of Zero

Storyline

Code Geass R2 takes place exactly one year after the events of the first season and Lelouch Lamperouge is back in Ashford Academy while leading the exact, regular lifestyle he had prior to the Black Rebellion. However, Area 11, otherwise known as Japan, has been placed under a high security status and all rebellious elements against Britannia are slowly eliminated, namely the remnants of the Black Knights lead by C.C (The green-haired girl who granted Lelouch his Geass abilities). Meanwhile, Lelouch continues to play chess to earn his keep, totally unaware about the situation of the Black Knight’s and their mission to restore him as their leader. A fight using Knightmare Frames (the bipedal combat machines of season one) soon breaks out in the Babel Tower, a casino for rich Britannians, where Lelouch is engaging in a chess match. In the ensuing chaos, Lelouch once again runs into C.C, sparking his second rebellion back from square one…

Art and Music

R2 introduces quite a few new characters to the storyline, including Li Xingke and Rollo Lamperouge. The former is a bodyguard for the Chinese Eunuch ambassador (Yes, you read right…) hailing from the Chinese Federation while the latter is Lelouch’s younger brother who ferries Lelouch to his chess sessions however he has a rather mysterious and sinister side to him. Both new characters (who are set to play a large role in the storyline of R2.) are designed by CLAMP, the artist team responsible for bringing all of Code Geass’s characters to life.

The powerful Knightmare Frames also make a return to the series, while having changes to their combat performance. The Lancelot, piloted by Suzaku Kururugi has received a new Conquista flight unit armed with a powerful Hadron blaster which output far surpasses that of its Variable Ammunition Repulsion Impact Spitfire ( VARIS) rifle. As for the Guren Nishiki, it has (unfortunately) a lowered combat potential due to it being equipped with a temporary less-efficient Fukushahadō, courtesy of battle damage from the Lancelot during the Black Rebellion. A new, prototype Knightmare Frame has also been produced on the Britannian side, the Vincent, a high-performance unit which was built based on data from the Lancelot while sporting a very impressive red-and- gold colored scheme.

As for the music in R2, it has both opening and ending themes done by Orange Range, a best-selling Japanese Rock band that has also done numerous openings for popular animes such as Naruto and Bleach. It should be noted that the opening song, “O2” hit the top of Japanese charts on the day of its album release, showing the band’s immense popularity in Japan. The animation for the opening theme also contains quite a few hints to the new storyline so viewers should keep their eyes peeled…

Conclusion

Just like its season one’s counterpart, Code Geass R2 is indeed a worthy watch especially for fans of the first-half of the series who want to find out what happened to Lelouch after the Black Rebellion’s failure as well as the fates of the other characters. The blatant (but nevertheless enjoyable) fanservice also continues in the show together with the epic Knightmare Frame battles and Lelouch’s ingenious strategies that made Code Geass such a hit to begin with. Unfortunately, the anime is still running within Japan but there is no doubt that DVDs will be made available very soon in the shops. Until then, kindly enjoy this tidbit of a review!

(From top: Suzaku Kururugi, Rollo Lamperouge and Lelouch Lamperouge.)

Done by Stanley Lim