The series of Manga books called Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is set in a world where the Country Brittannia world rules over one third of the world. It includes America and part of Europe, but Caesar was never assassinated and built the Roman Empire into a world super power which later became Brittannia.

The story begins revolving around a teenager named Lelouch (Lay-loosh). This person is the most interesting character of many in the series. Hi is extremely intelligent but does not go to most of his classes and gambles in chess when he does attend, and always wins.

Then one day Lelouch gets involved with a terrorist attack. He lives in what is called “Area 11” which used to be Japan before it was taken over by Brittannia. Because of this there are multiple resistance groups fighting them in Japan.

Lelouch meets a girl during the attack and she gives him the power of geass (gee-oss). That means the absolute ability to compel anyone to obey him. He uses his power to try to achieve his dream; the complete destruction of Brittannia.

One of the greatest aspects of the show is that it really makes you think about life and society; making multiple references to many things in history. One of the best quotes that really has meaning and stays true to the very end is when Lelouch first obtained Geass and was confronted by soldiers. “The only ones who should kill, are those who are prepared to be killed.” This quote says a lot and represents the way Lelouch thinks.

Another aspect that drives the series is Lelouch and his best friend from childhood, Suzaku. Suzaku believes he can change Brittannia from within even though he’s Japanese. This contrasts Lelouchs’ goal to “Crush the world and build it anew.” There is also a conflict of beliefs. Suzaku believes that even if you’re able to achieve a desired goal, that contemptible methods of getting there render any result useless and immoral. However, Lelouch is driven to accomplish goals so much that he focuses on results alone. This long lasting conflict in the series really keeps the reader hooked into it.

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion really outperforms in almost all categories. The philosophical talk in this series really makes the reader think. Sometimes it can get so confusing an entire section needs to be reread to get a grip on what the meaning is. At times, that can hurt the story line in that for me it’s more interesting to go back over the more complicated parts, but it does take time and breaks the flow. Others might not care or even make an attempt to understand it so it wouldn’t slow them down.

All in all, this series of books is serious with a little comedy at times. Being that it is from anime, it fits into a variety of categories. It’s similar to a Japanese soap opera in the sense that there’s a surprise around every corner, you never really know what’s going to happen next. If someone tells you they know they’re big liars. The big difference is, unlike a soap opera, events and everything else in the book is fast paced. If you want an interesting read this book is for you. If that’s not enough, watch the original show (which I think is even better) which has many differences from the Manga adaptation. This series gets a 10/10 from me, read it and see what you think.