In a recent interview with Matteo Watzky and Dimitri Seraki from Full Frontal, renowned anime director Goro Taniguchi shared insights into the anime’s original plot ideas. Code Geass and the challenge it faced before it became a cult classic.
It seems, the fan-favorite classic, Code Geasstoday, has not even achieved what was originally expected, let alone been introduced to television stations.
We have broken down the topics to make it easier for readers to learn the insights shared by Goro Taniguchi:
About the original plot idea:
According to Taniguchi, the original plot of the series was set in a military school in a dictatorship, where two young men befriended each other. However, one of them became a victim of repeated abuse by teachers.
Motivated by a desire for revenge, the boys plan to kill him. But it quickly became clear that such an action would result in their execution. To avoid such consequences, they planned to find a way to level up to execute him without any consequences, or sent to a battlefield where his death was inevitable.
“There was a military school in a certain military dictatorship where two young men became friends. But one of them was raped multiple times by the teacher and they planned to kill him. But of course, if they did that they would be executed, so they started thinking about what they could do. They can try to gain some ability, either level up so high that they can kill him without consequences or send him to some battlefield where he will surely die. More or less, it’s like that.”
Regarding the original intended context:
In addition to revealing the initial plot idea, he also shared what could be the film’s setting involving a completely different planet.
However, he completely scrapped the idea out of fear that Japanese audiences might not see it. Ultimately, the decision was made to set the film in Japan.
“Also, the fact that we held the show on Earth. At first, I wanted it to take place on a completely different planet, but even if foreigners watched it, I was afraid Japanese people wouldn’t watch it because it would turn out to be science fiction. So we decided to make it happen in Japan instead. For the villains, we thought about Australia or Africa, but America is easier to understand for Japanese audiences so we decided they would come from there. But just pitting Japan against America wouldn’t be interesting, so we decided to let the British invade America. Before that I thought about Spain or Portugal, it would be funny if they conquered America. Hope the British get the joke.”
Code Geass’s journey from an initially rejected project to a cult classic:
Surprisingly, Goro Taniguchi was not initially part of the project. The producers of Planetes, Mr. Yukawa and Mr. Kawaguchi, initially discussed the matter with the series creator, Okouchi. Taniguchi was brought onto the project later during a busy period at the end of Planetes’ production.
While the idea was met with enthusiasm, Taniguchi quickly assembled a team, where Okuchi and he began writing a story draft, their initial offer was rejected in favor of a new project. from Studio Bones despite their best efforts.
“Actually, it all started without me. Planetes’ producers, Mr. Yukawa and Mr. Kawaguchi, first talked about the matter with Ōkouchi. It was towards the end of production on Planetes and things were getting pretty busy for me. And so, during one of the final mixing sessions, Kawaguchi came to me during a break because he had something to say, and what he told me would become Code Geass. I received orders and started gathering everyone. Ōkouchi and I started writing storyboards and held all kinds of meetings for a while. In the end, Ōkouchi compiled it all into a single document that was sent to the TV stations that Yukawa and Kawaguchi came to present. And when our hopes were at their highest, they came back and told us it didn’t work out and that we lost another project. There were two competing projects: ours and one by studio Bones. We lost to that person.”
However, they decided to give Code Geass another chance, this time around late at night. Okouchi initially planned to scrap the project entirely, but due to the commitment of the staff involved, including famous creators such as CLAMP, Taniguchi urged the project to continue.
“Since we lost, we decided to try again late at night. But Ōkouchi felt that he could not meet the manufacturer’s expectations under such conditions, so he wanted to get rid of it, as if it had never happened. But I have already gathered many people, including CLAMP, so my position is a bit delicate…”
Okouchi finally appeared, the Project was remade, leading to the Code Geass series that fans know today.
“Also, as a director, you have to care about your own employees. The project was not successful but I still had to give them some work, because my job is to support them, help them earn a living. I brought in staff from the previous work Gun We reworked the project and it became the Code Geass we know today.”
Note: You can read the entire interview by clicking the source link below.
Source: Full front