Code Geass: Akito the Exiled (2012-2016)

[コードギアス 亡国のアキト]

Director: Kazuki Akane
Studio: Sunrise
Starring: Miyu Irino, Maaya Sakamoto, Satoshi Hino
Episodes: 5

Synopsis:
A Japanese refugee serves as a Knightmare pilot in the EU's war with the Britannian Empire.

Impressions:
This spinoff set between the first and second seasons of the main series of Code Geass gives us an interesting change of setting, focusing on the EU's war with Euro-Britannia. Naturally, we pay special attention to the resident ElevensJapanese. Amusingly, we learn that the EU really isn't much better than Britannia and our leads tend to be a rather checkered bunch, but they compare much more favorably to the main villain (and they also get some significant character development). Leila is a little too much of a Pollyanna for my tastes, but that's par for the course in series like this. The ending is a bit sloppy with a number of loose ends tied up a little too conveniently, but so it goes.

The production values are quite good. Though I'm not much of a fan of mixing CG and 2D animation, there's a lot of dynamism to the action scenes, both in terms of choreography and camera work. Some of the mech designs are really neat, particularly the Alexanders. Xin's Vercingetorix is a little much, but in a franchise that revels in being over-the-top, I can't fault it too much. The music is fairly interesting, particularly the use of feverish, near-discordant jazz for some of the fight scenes. Also, we get theme songs composed by Yoko Kanno and sung by Maaya Sakamoto, which is always great.

I won't claim this is perfect by any stretch, but if you're looking for another view on the Code Geass world, then this is definitely worth checking out. Give it a watch at the very least.

Rating:
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