Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion I - Initiation (2017)

[コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ I 興道]

Director: Goro Taniguchi
Starring: Jun Fukuyama, Takahiro Sakurai, Yukana

Synopsis:
A disinherited prince living secretly in occupied Japan gains a mystic power that helps him to lead a rebellion against the Britannian Empire.

Impressions:
This film is basically just an edit of the the TV series through Episode 17 of the first season with maybe about ten minutes or so of original footage. The voicework appears to be rerecorded (with Nobuyuki Hiyama replacing Kazunari Tanaka as Tamaki due to the latter passing away prior to filming) and the music rescored at least partially. Now, by cutting down over six hours of content into a film that only lasts around two hours means that we lose a lot. Most of the Ashford characters gets majorly sidelined, the plot with the Japanese Liberation Front gets trimmed down, and Mao gets tossed out entirely. In other words, we sacrifice a lot of plot and character development. Also, I don't like that they reveal Lelouch's identity at the very beginning instead of building up to it. Thankfully, because the production values of the original series were so high, you don't feel like you're getting shortchanged on the visuals. If you had no other way to be exposed to Code Geass, this is decent enough, but as an experience it pales in comparison to the original series. Do yourself a favor and see it in full.

Rating:
50/50