Recommended
Code Geass Akito the Exiled has finally reached a relatively decent conclusion in my opinion, despite rushing through certain events, but ultimately I can only recommend this last installment to those who do not expect to see the old cast of characters taking the center stage, are willing to rewatch the previous four Akito episodes if they've forgotten any details, and also aren't afraid of dealing with new and mysterious supernatural elements playing a major role in resolving the conflicts at the heart of the narrative. Story: 6/10 It is not a secret that, for many viewers, Lelouch was the main attraction of Code Geass. Plenty ofentertainment value came from seeing all of his exaggerated tactics and ridiculous strategies at work during an ambitious struggle to defeat Britannia and overthrow its system. Lots of plot twists and crazy events. In fact, you could even argue this characteristic was a key part of what made Code Geass both so popular and so infamous across online communities.
But, to bring things into perspective, that is almost the opposite of what Akito wanted to offer in the long run. Nope, this project wasn't really targeting the hardcore Geass fanbase at all. If Lelouch of the Rebellion provided us with a fabulous telescope of many colors, then Akito the Exiled gave us a mere microscope with a few study samples on the side. There might be some beauty in looking at a different creator's vision, together with its own unique flaws, but the overall experience is not going to be remotely similar and not all tastes will enjoy it.
The last episode is perhaps the single clearest example of that. Rather than fighting a large scale conflict, the final battle took place around the siege of an old castle. This already established that the stakes would be comparatively low, and more centered on the survival of a small group of people, both European and Japanese. Not on the fate of an entire continent, much less the world. Despite the ostensible dangers of Shin's plans for global destruction, those weren't much of a real concern.
The first half of the episode concentrated on the castle battle itself and that was quite exciting, providing plenty of attractions for fans of mecha combat sequences, especially if they can already embrace the increasing use of 3D in the hands of masters like studio Orange (no relation to Jeremiah, I swear).
However, one could even argue that this concluding entry was less about the actual military outcome, which could be easily predicted with some imagination or past experience, and more about the real or attempted personal redemption of certain characters. Which isn't necessarily all that appealing. If you are the sort of person who thinks happy endings are lame or inherently inferior to bittersweet ones or outright tragedies, then you'll be extremely unlikely to have much appreciation for this approach.
But, in truth, that didn't really bother me at all. Sometimes it's perfectly fine for a story to let most of the cast survive and allow them to become little more than exiles (ah, we can see the title makes more sense in retrospect), whose actions and fates will not change the status quo of the world. If Lelouch will always be remembered inside his fictional universe for what he did as Zero and how he pulled off an insane final plan, the cast of characters in Akito will most likely see their days end in anonymity.
I would say the single most controversial factor in Akito the Exiled, from a general storytelling perspective, was the way in which Geass-related abilities were suddenly used in this last episode. Those magical or mystical aspects had taken a backseat to the action before, even though you could find some old hints about Akito's condition, the BRS system, Shin's past or Leila's abilities in previous episodes with a small amount of detective work. None of these aspects are coming out of nowhere. But it does seem like the co-writer and director of this project, Kazuki Akane, really wanted to compensate for not having a lot of magical powers influencing the narrative before this point.
The result? We get to see a combination of very anime-style interpretations of quantum mechanics employed for the sake of messing around with space/time. Not to mention the introduction of other new concepts, such as an overseeing entity linked to the collective unconsciouness (She has no name, but I'd call her Jupiter-chan). Or a completely different way to obtain a Geass ability in the case of one particular character (Shin), and a more vaguely defined yet symbolic type of power for another (Leila).
I can understand why some folks will react negatively to this. Familiarity often brings calm and sudden novelty can be risky. Even so, I feel those expressions of annoyance may simply be the result of confusion. A lot of these elements may certainly feel odd, especially at first, but I think it's possible to figure out how they are actually supposed to work with some patience and analysis. For instance: Leila's Geass power doesn't really have multiple abilities. It's essentially about communication. Therefore, most of the really crazy stunts aren't her fault. If that's not Leila, then who? Well, it's all because of the supernatural entity (Jupiter-chan) who is responsible for overseeing space and time. When you look at the big picture, it's slightly unexpected yet neither illogical nor random.
To be fair, the original Code Geass series had also relied on the supernatural to resolve important storylines at times. Think back to the metaphysical Ragnarok Connection scenario, which was not resolved thanks to any political reality or brilliant tactical move, as well as arguably the most contrived yet most memorable moment in the entire TV series that happened near the end of the first season. But, at the same time, it is important to note the original story ultimately went back to the real world for its final conflict resolution in both cases.
Here, the supernatural side of the story remained part of the mix during much of the second half of the episode. The BRS shenanigans, when taken to the extreme, literally combined a mental networking technology with the magical power of Geass in order to temporarily alter the fabric of reality. An interesting equation, on paper, but sadly never sufficiently explored in this spin-off.
Something more intriguing, in my view, was the conversation between Leila and the space/time overseer. While we can still question the use of such plot devices to help resolve conflicts as a literal deus ex machina, I think the existence of said being helps expand this fictional universe, even beyond the limits of this episode's script. In other words, it strengthens the Code Geass lore by providing a sense of larger purpose and opens up new story possibilities. Individuals like V.V. or even dear C.C. never really had this effect, since they operated on the same level as humanity rather than above it. To put it another way...I want to see Jupiter-chan show up again.
Oh, I was forgetting something! I will admit that the small and almost insignificant presence of Suzaku and Lelouch in this new story might have distracted the audience, with both unfortunate and fortunate implications, but for me they were always a sideshow in the context of Akito the Exiled. Just a way to give the fans a bonus feature. It wasn't going to focus on them, one way or another, and I think that isn't too unreasonable for a spin-off.
Having said of all this, I would say the resolution provided by the final episode of Akito the Exiled is valid and not impossible to understand, but parts of the narrative do leave me wishing they had chosen something more practical instead. Or, failing that, changing the format of the project into a full TV series rather than a bunch of small movies released every other year.
Art: 8/10
This was really more of the same, so there's little to add. The general animation and art quality was moderately impressive, although I do believe certain scenes might have been edited in a rush (or not at all) in order to release the last episode in theaters. Presumably the physical disc release is going to smooth certain odd spots.
Sound: 8/10
Not much of a difference here either. Good sountrack, although the crazy jazz will surely tend to confuse and annoy those who haven't already gotten used to the work of the composer who has worked on all the previous Akito the Exiled episodes.
Character: 7/10
Let's get the obvious thing out of the way. The characters in Akito the Exiled are not as charismatic nor as larger-than-life as those in the main Code Geass TV series. They also don't have the same amount of development or characterization due to the limited running time. There's a lot of purely secondary or tertiary people in this final episode and the same thing goes for the rest of the series. Some of them could have played a larger role and others got brief scenes that are nothing more than decent. If I were to talk about all of them, I'd be here all day.
Having said this, I think there's some pretty good stuff going on too. Akito's character development arc arguably ended somewhere between the third or fourth installments. This is simply the final stage. What we have here is an already changed man who no longer just wants to die and kill people. He views life in a more positive fashion and tries to see if his brother isn't entirely beyond saving after all. In the end, you could say his goal was mainly about resolving a brotherly conflict rather than a global war. I can see all of this sounding a little unoriginal or even repetitive for some folks, but in my opinion it was still a logical outcome for Akito. Beyond that, he gets to do a lot of neat fighting and that is always welcome.
Curiously enough, Leila herself had more character-based scenes than Akito in this one yet didn't play much of a role in the combat resolution. What she really does do, however, is directly experience the bulk of the supernatural elements that were emphasized during this last episode. I imagine the specifics behind that magical turn of events will always remain controversial, but I thought the underlying meaning was interesting enough. That said, I admit that idealistic and selfless characters are rarely popular in the context of the CG property.
You could say Leila represents the side of humanity that will not give up, even in the face of real or potential tragedies. She had many doubts at the start of this whole story and moments of weakness, unsure about what to do, but those were eventually overcome (with the help of others, such as Klaus and Akito or the gypsy folks too). In other words, that was her development.
In the end, the core message of the story connects to Leila. She believes people can change, despite all the terrible or at least depressing things that have happened around her, her teammates or her own family. That's why she wanted to help Akito and even Shin, both during previous episodes and especially now. It also reflects her accepting former enemies as comrades. Even after seeing something horrible during this final installment (which might even come across as a little cheap, on the surface), she didn't give up nor succumb to despair.
Instead, Leila finally decided to embrace her own Geass ability (and that, in turn, seems to have interested a higher power). Which also reflects how she wants to continue living in the world and not just destroy everyone around her like Shin. What exactly does her Geass ability do? Don't ask me about any explicit rules or lore behind it, that is all vague, but the relevant effect for the purposes of analysis is helping people connect with each other. In my opinion, that worked just fine for this story.
That said, I do have some moderate disappointments here. It is true that Leila technically orchestrated the castle defense, but we didn't really get to see her setting up the traps nor giving the orders. Which makes Leila's role seem passive in that area, although it isn't inherently supposed to be.
I will not claim Shin was a great villain, but his full background history (that family was rather messed up) did help connect a few dots. It explains why his Geass power was not only far too restricted but also very ironic. His weak point, both as a character and as a person, was that he didn't have any concrete ambitions (or motivations) for changing the world. Just destruction. I suppose he was not a completely evil being, since there was some good left in his soul before it was twisted in strange ways, but in the end he was more of an insane person than a healthy individual. Even poor Jean turned out to be more reasonable than him.
Another character-related criticism would be the final fate of Smilas. It felt underwhelming. Predictable due to the chronology and even entirely deserved for his duplicity, in the end, but lacking some more build-up.
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
I'll say that the last episode of Akito the Exiled felt quite lukewarm in execution when it came to the script, yet still fitting as a conclusion to the main characters and the themes of the story. It's a valid way to end the narrative, but not as strong in terms of impact as that of the main series. I would have appreciated more explanations for the magical elements too.
One way or another though, I still had fun watching it. Not every revelation or decision concerning the storytelling was properly presented either, although a few specific sequences did reflect a lot of directorial or cinematographic skill. To make a long story short, this isn't your past self's Code Geass. Nope, not at all. It does some things better, or at least differently, but others were also worse. How much you care about particular aspects will help determine where you stand on it.
