SUNRISE／PROJECT G-ROZE Character Design©2006-2024 CLAMP・ST
Okay, dang. I looked away for a week because the torrent of premieres in one day meant the preview guide was all I could handle with only the tiniest bit of crying, and Recaptured Luo Ze Become good. It no longer feels like a copycat of its predecessor, but instead has its own story and identity. All it takes is spending some time on the character beats!
Now that we know the full extent of Sakuya and Ash’s rather fraught relationship, with him killing her father and her goading him into believing she’s his brother, episode three leans into exploring what that means. Sakuya took a break and freed her breasts from the binder. While this was definitely an excuse to let her tits bounce, I laughed and she breathed a sigh of relief, as I’m sure most of the viewers who have boobs of their own did too. After a long nap, she heads to a café run by a trusted friend to meet Natalia, the daughter of her mother’s former assistant and Sakuya’s insider. When Natalya convinces Sakuya to take a job as a waitress as an opportunity to wear some feminine clothes, well, who should walk into that cafe but Ash!
This scene is so charming that without it I don’t think I would have been won over. Xiaozhi does not know Sakuya because he only regards her as his younger brother Luo Ze and likes her very much. He tries to flirt, but that involves asking her to refill his ten cups of coffee while he stares intently at the table and delivers the message of his life. Maybe it’s just because I’m partial to conventionally attractive and extremely angsty men, but it’s cute. As Yoko pointed out in the previous episode, this guy is handsome, but his game level is zero.
It also becomes an opportunity to show how little Ash and Sakuya know about each other – she only knows him as the man she brainwashed into becoming her ally after he committed political violence against her family. Her hatred of him is entirely justified, but when he awkwardly stammers about wishing stray pets would like him as much as his brother, she can no longer see him as a heartless monster. Apparently, even though Ash considers Roze the most important person to him, he rarely talks at home. It also opens up a potential romantic path that will be messy (but in a fun way).
This one is so funny and it really makes me wish there was a full series, with time to watch full episodes of Sakuya hanging out in a cafe and trying to have another disguise and persona. I don’t like that the word “filler” is used as much as it has been over the past few years. I love narrative economy as much as the next girl, but a story like this needs some breathing room. I want to understand what these characters are like when they hang out, what different sides they bring to each other, and what drives them!
Being invested in the characters and their motivations made it easier for me to immerse myself in the story. By extension, the new characters introduced in this episode feel more engaging. Natalia, despite being an ally of Sakuya and Japan’s United States, became close to the young Japanese Emperor Kallis after saving him from an assassination attempt. When Callis died suddenly of heart failure, Natalia was the only one who cried at his funeral and I felt it! I felt her sadness for that poor little boy who had been robbed of his childhood and had known nothing but fear of the Japanese.
When the story picked up speed in episode four (the beginning of the second movie), I found it easier than before to stay engaged even without the big nightmare fight scenes. With the death of Emperor Calis, “Princess Sakuya” (also known as Sakura) still disguised herself and inherited the throne, becoming the last living member of the British royal family who did not voluntarily abdicate. Although the members of the Seven Shining Stars are suspicious of her alliance, Sakuya knows that Sakura is nothing more than a puppet controlled by the true power behind the throne, Noland von Runelberg and his Ai Inbergs support.
Now that we’ve seen Sakuya make some morally gray choices, I’m more interested in her as a protagonist, not just as a flawed character, but as a hero. The chess metaphor from the first episode doesn’t work for her because that’s not who she is as a leader. She does not see the seven shining stars as pawns on a chessboard, using them to further her own interests; She is a peacemaker and negotiator. When the SSS acquires an advanced new nightmare called “Keisetsu”, she offers to select pilots to prevent infighting. When another resistance group, the Northern Wolves, wanted to form a committee, risking limiting the SSS’s ability to move quickly, she found a peaceful solution that ensured each group’s interests were represented. She noticed Haruka’s agility and skill and customized Kyouyuki to suit her abilities, resolving the dispute over who would pilot it and giving Haruka a chance to contribute more. It also means the isolation caused by her geass is even more painful.
Meanwhile, we finally get to see Noland and the threat he and his Einberg represent. I’d eat my hat if the guy didn’t have some kind of geass, but it’s unclear how exactly that works. When one of the Einbergs “killed himself” after a critical failure, he had no discernible halo around his eye circles, and neither did Callis when he absolutely, absolutely committed suicide no Death from natural causes. He’s a leader in his own right anyway – a Charr if I ever saw one, and the Einbergs seem to follow him mostly of their own volition.
Episode 4 also features actors from Rebellious Lelouch: Cornelia shows up at a meeting of the Black Knight leaders. We have confirmation that Lelouch (now known as LL) gives her geass to Sakuya, as well as a scene where he and CC discuss finding the “geass fragment”. The kicker is that Nina comes in and gives the SSS an anti-nuclear device, apparently cured of her racism, and is escorted by the Black Knight Sakai, who I was convinced was her girlfriend until it turned out otherwise.
I wonder if the creative team decided to hold off on having characters from the original appear, hopefully Recaptured Luo Ze It starts with creating your own identity. I think this was a bad choice; it’s only once they show up that this really starts to feel like a proper sequel. It’s only been five years and no one has retired yet. Well, Jeremiah is in his orange grove and I wish him the best, but many others are still involved in world politics. The choices they make, such as Nina helping to create FLEIJA, continue to have a huge impact, and it makes no sense to isolate the characters from that impact. Introducing old characters creates necessary context and allows for major story beats.
The main storyline is like using FLEIJA to blow up the Sapporo Ghetto! Now Recaptured Luo Ze Actually having all the components a story needs to keep me invested, I’m really excited to see what happens.
Episode 3:score:
Episode 4:score:
Code Geass: Rhodes Recaptured It’s currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+, depending on your region.
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. (Sunrise) is a non-controlling minority shareholder of Anime News Network Inc.
