SUNRISE/PROJECT G-ROZE Character design ©2006-2024 CLAMP・ST
Well, dang. I put it off for a week because a bunch of premieres in one day meant the preview guide was all I could handle without crying at all, and Rozé of the Recapture is fine. It doesn't feel like its predecessor, but instead has its own story and identity. And all it needs is some time for the character beats!
Now that we have the whole picture of Sakuya and Ash's rather strained relationship, him killing her father and her making him believe she was his little sister, the third episode focuses on exploring what that means. Sakuya takes a moment to free her breasts from the book; while it was definitely an excuse to draw her tattoos flailing around, I laughed in acknowledgement and she let out a sigh of relief, and I'm sure most viewers with breasts of their own would do the same. After a long nap, she heads to a cafe run by a trusted friend to meet Natalia, the daughter of her mother's former assistant and Sakuya's insider. When Natalia convinces Sakuya to work as a waitress as an opportunity to dress up in girly clothes, well, who should wander into that cafe but Ash!
This scene is so compelling that I can't believe it. I don't think I would have been convinced without it. Ash doesn't recognize Sakuya because he just sees her as his little brother Rozé and is quite fond of her. He tries to flirt, but that consists of making her refill his coffee ten times while he stares intently at the table and asks for information about her life. Maybe it's just because I have a penchant for traditionally attractive and extremely nervous guys, but it's adorable. The guy is very handsome, as Yoko noted in the last episode, but he has no game at all.
It's also a chance to show how little Ash and Sakuya know each other—she only knows him as the boy she brainwashed into being her ally after he committed an act of political violence against her family. Her hatred of him is completely justified, but when he stutters awkwardly about wanting stray pets to like him as a brother, she can no longer see him as an emotionless monster. It's clear that, despite Ash's regard for Rozé as the most important person to him, he doesn't really talk much at home. It also opens up a potential romance later on, which could be messy (but entertaining).
This arc was fun, and it really made me wish there was a series that would take some time for full episodes of Sakuya hanging out in cafes and trying to get by with disguises and alternate personalities. I don't like the term “filler” that's been bandied about as much as it has over the past few years; I enjoy narrative economy as much as the next girl, but stories like this would benefit from a little breathing room. I want to see what the characters are like when they hang out, what different sides they bring out in each other, and what motivates them!
Feeling invested in the characters and their motivations made it much easier to get drawn into the story. More broadly, the new characters that appeared in this volume felt much more compelling. Natalia, for all she was an ally of Sakuya and the United States of Japan, had a close relationship with the young emperor of Japan, Callis, after saving him from an assassination attempt. When Callis suddenly died, supposedly of heart failure, and Natalia was the only one crying at his funeral, I felt it! I felt her grief for the poor boy who had been robbed of his childhood and had nothing to do but fear the Japanese.
When the story picks up again in episode 4, the start of the second movie, I found it much easier to stay invested than I did, even without the big Knightmare battles. After the death of Emperor Callis, “Princess Sakuya,” aka Sakura, still in disguise, ascends the throne as the last surviving member of the Brittannian royal family who has not yet abdicated. Although the members of the Seven Shining Stars are suspicious of her alliance, Sakuya knows that Sakura is nothing more than a figurehead, backed by the real power behind the throne, Norland von Lunelberg and his Einberg family.
Now that we've seen Sakuya make some morally gray choices, I'm more interested in her as a protagonist, not just a flawed one, but a hero. The chess metaphor in the first episode doesn't work for her because that's not who she is as a leader. She doesn't treat the Seven Shining Stars like pieces on a board, using them to her advantage; she's a peacemaker and a negotiator. When the SSS receives a new, advanced Knightmare, Keisetsu, she offers to choose the pilot to prevent infighting. When the Northern Wolves, another resistance group, want to form a council that would limit the SSS's ability to act quickly, she finds a peaceful solution that ensures the interests of all organizations will be represented. She notices Haruka's agility and skill and adapts Keisetsu to her abilities, settling the dispute over who will pilot it and giving Haruka the opportunity to contribute more. It also means the isolation caused by her geass is all the more painful.
Meanwhile, we finally get a look at Norland and the threat he and his Einbergs represent. I’d eat my hat if the man didn’t have some kind of geass, but it’s still unclear exactly how it works. When Heath, one of the Einbergs, “committed suicide” after a major setback, he didn’t have the telltale circles around his eyes, nor did Callis, when he was absolutely certain he didn’t die of natural causes. Either way, he was a leader in his own right–that man was Char if I’d ever met him, and the Einbergs seemed to mostly follow him of their own accord.
The fourth episode also marks a number of appearances by characters from Lelouch of the Rebellion: Cornelia appears as part of a conference with the Black Knights in charge. We get confirmation that Lelouch, now known as LL, has given Sakuya her geass, as well as a scene of him and CC discussing their search for “geass fragments”. Most importantly, Nina steps in to give the SSS an anti-nuclear device, seemingly cured of her racism, and is accompanied by Sakai, a Black Knight who I believe is her girlfriend until proven otherwise.
I wonder if that is true.
I wonder if that is true.
I wonder if the creative team decided to delay introducing the original characters in the hope that Rozé of the Recapture would first establish her own identity. I think this was the wrong choice; it’s only when they show up that this movie really starts to feel like a proper sequel. It’s only been five years and no one has retired. Well, JereKarenh is out there in his orange grove and I wish him well, but many others are still involved in world politics. The choices they make, like Nina helping to create FLEIJA, continue to have a huge impact, and isolating the characters from that impact doesn’t make sense. Bringing in the old characters would provide essential context and facilitate the main story beats.
The main story is like the plot of using FLEIJA to blow up the Sapporo Ghetto! Now that Rozé of the Recapture really has all the ingredients a story needs to keep me invested, I'm really excited to see what happens.
Episode 3:Rating:
Episode 4:Rating:
Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+, depending on your region.
Disclosure: Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. (Sunrise) is a minority, non-controlling shareholder in Anime News Network Inc.