This review contains spoilers for Lelouch of the Resurrection 520https://media.comicbook.com/2019/02/codegeasslelouchresurrection11582331280x0.jpeg Part of being a reviewer is knowing yourself and knowing your preferences as a viewer/gamer/reader/whatever. This will help inform you of your possible opinion of a work going in. I once said to a friend I think Im just going to have to accept the fact that I pretty much like everything. My experience with Lelouch of the Resurrection Oh my apologies Lelouch of the Resurrection is proof of this. There were parts of this movie that were confusing there were parts that were kind of dumb and Im still a bit iffy on the entire premise. Yet I still enjoyed this movie. Before I go into the review itself Id just like to point out that I find it very very odd that no one has talked about this movie. I watched a video about someone talking about this movie prior to its release but nothing after it. Its weird because Id expect people to have strong opinions on the continuation of such a popular franchise but there hasnt been an errant Youtube video nor a Reddit post nothing. Its possible that Ive heard nothing because I was off the grid for a couple of months after the movie was released but that doesnt explain all the succeeding months. I assumed it was because it didnt leave an impact. But no the movie certainly has things to say and was engaging love it or hate it. So I remain confused. 520https://manga.tokyo/wpcontent/uploads/2018/10/5bb6e60e46298.jpg I eagerly awaited the release of this movie for Code Geass means a lot to me as an anime fan. This show codified my love of anime way back in middle school. At our anime club watched the first episode of it in our schools anime club and I was taken aback by its action and brutal violence. It doesnt help that it ended on a cliffhanger thus probably explaining my love of shows with cliffhangers thus making me desire to watch more. We watched the first episode the day before a week long break. I binged the rest of the show in two days. I was completely enthralled by the mecha the political intrigue the supernatural Geass and of course the infamous ending. It was stark it felt real. I got its message crystal clear one of sacrifice and the brutality and ethics of armed conflict: one who kills must be prepared to be killed. Still part of me held on to the hope that the Prince made it out. Still I respected the ambiguity and integrity of the ending. I was iffy on a sequel especially one with the title as blunt as Lelouch of the Rebellion. It threatened to undo what made Code Geass ending so compelling to me all those years ago. Some series benefit from a sequel others practically beg for it. Code Geass didnt seem to me one of those works. Giggukhttps://www..com/watch?v=GMc8icI6mmg with more grace and humor that I can ever hope to have makes it clear that to many Code Geass has a perfect ending. Lelouch of the Resurrection has its work cut out for it. Still I was cautiously optimistic. I gave it a watch and Im happy to say that Lelouch of the Resurrection handles the show and its ending with care. It is a year after the climactic Zero Requiem plan the tyrannical emperor Lelouch Vi Britannia is dead. Or so it seems. A terrorist group from the Kingdom of Zilkhistan has attacked and abducted Zero Suzaku and Nunnally vi Britannia. Its up to the Black Knights and their allies to retrieve their leaders before Zilkhistans nefarious plans can come to fruition. On their way they bump into C.C. who seems to be harboring a secret. 520https://i.yt.com/vi/QpJg8UJ1dWg/maxresdefault.jpg And that secret is a surprise to no one for long. Five minutes in we are treated Lelouch Lampherouge reduced to an infantile state. With a title like that Im not sure why I was surprised that the movie was so brazen. It knows why were here and it wont tease us. At first I was worried the movie would treat us to a fake out that Lelouch wouldnt end up being resurrected after all. I never expected my fears would be assuaged so soon. As a Sunrise movie the animation and art is topnotch. Its almost memetic how bad Code Geass can look at times so I was pleased to see what it looks like with a movie budget thrown at it. No offmodel characters here and the proportions dont look too weird either. Some may raise objections at the CGI used for some of the mechs but they seemed to blend in well enough and they were animated well. It helps that as hightech machines it would make sense for them to look quite different from other aspects of the setting. It also helps that they were an absolute treat to see in action. These things are super powerful and seeing them both trash a bunch of mooks and butt heads with one other is really a treat. 520https://i.pin.com/474x/14/b7/99/14b7996e4a9ef9074d3d276b906443b1.jpg As a movie theres not much room for expansion and/or explanation. So its good that were following characters weve seen in the show though its bad that the antagonists are completely new. Theyre serviceable enough though obviously we dont get much time with them. I do appreciate the fact that their villainousness is shown in part because in some ways theyre a villainous mirror of Lelouchs relationship and Nunnally. I was worried that not having seen the show in years I wouldnt be able to follow the plot. The movie doesnt hold viewers hands in acclimating them back into the world of Code Geass but luckily it didnt prove that hard to me since the movie doesnt often refer back to events except for major ones which I do recall. The ending felt a bit rushed. I wasnt sure exactly how C.C. and Lelouch managed to figure out how the Queens geass worked seeing as her Geass makes it so they wouldnt remember her using her Geass though it was shown that Lelouch knew she had a geass and thus subsequent uses made him more aware of how it worked...somehow. I thought people got over Lelouch returning a bit quickly. I wished we got a bit more character interaction. Im a bit confused on how Lelouch returned. The intricacies of Cs World and whatever the fuck was up with Charles went over my head years ago and having been so long since I watched the show I just threw my hands up and turned my brain off though I can acknowledge my annoyance when doing so. Its nitpicking but the insert song montage at the beginning felt kind of narmy. 520https://m.mediaamazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjU4YWU4MzctMzdlNS00ODAwLWFkZTQtMGY5Y2JlZGEwNzI2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw.V1UX477CR00477268AL.jpg Still...when Lelouch finally returned to the way he was I wont pretend it didnt make me happy to feel like I was transported seven years back into the past. I loved seeing him use his geass again. I loved the violence once stark to me now overthetop. I loved the mecha action especially now that I can compare it to other mecha shows. I loved the absolute insanity that is the Queens pseudotimetravel geass and seeing the characters have to deal with it. If nothing else this was fun and fun goes a long way. It reminded me of getting into anime all those years ago. 520https://imissbionix.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/codegeassresurrectioncanada.png?w=584h=329 And at the same time it respected the show it didnt just try to entice me with fun while disrespecting what made the fun possible. Lelouch once again cited his philosophy that those who kill must be prepared to be killed. Given that the guy just popped back from the dead and is immortal now that can sound hypocritical. However the movie makes it clear that hes only back in the fray because the situation is so dire namely he really loves his sister and he doesnt announce to the world that hes back for his belief is important enough that he feels the populace should believe in it. Once his job is done he doesnt take up the mantle of Zero again. To further drive the point home he discards both the name Lelouch Lampherouge and Lelouch Vi Britania at the end of the film. They are still dead. He is L.L. and he shall travel the world with C.C. so cute So I appreciate that the movie took strides in making sure it didnt seem just like a cash grab. The creators clearly care about the world and story of Code Geass and as a fan Im grateful for it. There might be a bit of confusion since this takes place in the continuity of the movie trilogy and not the television series. The only thing that I found confusing was the survival of Shirley. Some might state that the series made it explicit that Lelouch was dead but as I hinted at earlier there was always the possibility that he was alive due to the scene of C.C. talking to someone on the wagon. Of course if this wasnt an alternate continuity this would make the ending less ambiguous. If you dont like the ending tampered with rest assured that this is technically not canon. If you like this ending and enjoy the television series you can rest assured that these continuities fit pretty nicely together. 520https://66.media.tumblr.com/300e834dda1214c4dd463b7ef647306f/tumblrinlinepolvbb1EZK1sl37g31280.png This movie would work well as a grand finale not doing much but to show that Lelouch is back. But apparently Sunrise plans to continue the series and this movie leaves me confident for the future. I certainly wasnt blown away but the movie was a lot of fun while still staying faithful to the show that preceded. If youre a fan of Code Geass then I recommend giving Lelouch of the Resurrection a watch. 8.2/10 B