Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture

Episode 5

There's a distinct structure starting to emerge in each trio of episodes of the TV version of Rozé of the Recapture. The first episode sets up the protagonists forming a plan to foil the Britannians; the second episode is action-packed as they carry out their plan, which is only partially successful; and the third ties up the events while still leaving things open for the next installment. It's almost like they were originally written as movies and are following the requisite three-act structure! Next week will be the test of my theory, as this episode wraps up with everyone in a very bad place.

But let's start at the very beginning, shall we? The whole episode is basically one big action sequence, as the Seven Shining Stars and Northern Wolf Army confront the Damocles and its FLEIJA nuclear missiles. Leading the Britannian forces on the ground is Narah, a high-ranking Einberg and Ash's long-lost orphanage sister, while General Kuroto leads the resistance forces. Up in the air, Sakuya and Ash face off against Divock, a turbo-racist who looks like he walked out of a Gō Nagai manga while calling the Japanese “monkeys.”

My patience for extended action scenes that go over, say, fifteen minutes without taking a moment to breathe is fairly limited, even more so with this case of COVID-19 I'm fighting. Even then, I have to admit that this was a solid battle sequence. The stakes for both sides are set from the start: if the resistance fails, the Britannians will drop a nuclear missile on Sapporo. However, Divock is fighting with the desperation that comes from the knowledge that if he fails, his life will likely be forfeit thanks to Norland's still-undefined geass. There's a fundamental tension between him and Narah, who is less driven by hatred and doesn't seem to be facing the same consequences for failure.

The Knightmare fights are slick as well. Sakuya also has her own Knightmare now, one capable of flight and transforming into a nifty little fighter jet. The design is one of the most unsubtle bits of Imagery in the show so far, with a masculine blue outer armor over an inner golden bit that has boobs. You know, like how she's pretending to be a boy but is actually a girl! I make fun but it's the kind of goofiness pretending to be thoughtful that I really appreciate and makes this feel like a Code Geass story without outright aping the original series. Haruka and her Keisetsu only get a brief moment in the spotlight before Divock turns tail and runs but what we do see is cool.

Oh, and Sakuya's Knightmare combines with Ash's? Who doesn't love a good gattai scene? It was so unexpected I couldn't help but laugh and clap.

One moment that let me down was when Sakuya tried to geass the bridge crew into stopping the Damocles but they're set upon by guards who shoot them in the head in a surprisingly bloody scene. I was a bit disappointed by her reaction—or lack thereof—since she's been set up as a more compassionate protagonist than Lelouch. This, plus the torture scene in the previous episode, seemed to be setting up for her to be horrified by the consequences of what she's doing to these people but no such luck. Maybe this will come up in the next episode because otherwise, I'm not sure why they're putting such emphasis on it. Either way, her plan fails, and she slips away, cursing her poor luck.

The episode cuts away from the action only twice. The first is a scene of Sakura, still posing as Sakuya, asking Norland not to attack the Sapporo ghetto, citing criticism of the international community as a reason not to. Norland, of course, refuses, and Sakura realizes that her agreement to ascend to the throne hasn't ceded her even the meager power she hoped it would. I must reiterate that while I know the story was planned long before the genocide in Gaza reached its current relentless onslaught, the echoes are a touch spooky.

The other cutaway wasn't much; just Christoph talking to Norland for a brief minute. It is, however, a good excuse to mention that Christoph is played by James “Rusty Venture” Urbaniak in English, who is very much not a dub actor. I wonder how this came to be—maybe producer Mike Sinterniklaas called in his old buddy as a favor? Or Urbaniak is secretly a huge fan of Code Geass and begged his old buddy Sinterniklaas to cast him. I imagine tears were involved.

In the end, all their efforts—three anti-FLEIJA devices, several dead bridge crew members, Tomi (you know, our old buddy Tomi, the resistance fighter with a scar on his face) sacrificing his life, and a sweet gattai—were for naught. Nina miscalculated and the Neo-Britannians had four FLEIJA missiles, not three—and Christoph uses the final one to blow up the Damocles and send it crashing down over Sapporo and the resistance. I had a feeling someone was going to be cutting that thread…

As I said, this was a solid action-based episode, even for someone who struggles to pay attention to extended fight scenes. Everything made sense—unlike the big empty prison of the second episode—and the characters had solid motivations and their choices had consequences. I hope next week we get some time to really sit with the literal and metaphorical fallout.

Rating:

Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+, depending on your region.