A humorous anthology based upon Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion –for girls!
Creative Staff:
Writer/Artist: Various
What They Say
The Knight anthology series focuses on the male characters of Code Geass and presents side stories by an eclectic group of manga artists.
The Review!
Technical:
As befitting an anthology subtitled “For Girls,” the front cover features the two most popular bishounen of Code Geass: Lelouch and Suzaku. Against a pink polka dot background, the two appear to be feeding one another tea and a tea sandwich. Despite the yaoi-ish overtones of their pose and Suzaku’s unbuttoned shirt, this anthology is not a tribute to BL Code Geass style — well, mostly anyway (see Content section for more details). As the contributors to the anthology are numerous, they are listed on the back cover alongside an illustration of Schneizel, Cornelia, and Lelouch in black, lavender, and red tones.
The anthology includes one color illustration on the opening page (of C. C. and Kagura trying to feed Lelouch pizza and sushi at once) and a small color foldout of the back cover illustration. The color pages are printed on glossy stock. Printing is crisp for the black and white sections, and the binding and pages are sturdy. Aside from one dialog bubble where a sound effect ended up on top of the text, Bandai has done a pretty good job with translating sound effects and replacing text on signs, packaging, and papers.
Also included is a three-page Artists’ Commentary section comprised of self-portraits and brief remarks from the contributors.
Content:
Code Geass is one of the most popular anime in recent years, and judging from their manga offerings, Bandai appears eager to feed the appetites of Code Geass fans. At last count, there are three separate Bandai manga spun off from the anime available in North America, and now Bandai is adding to that lineup with two anthology collections: Knight and Queen.
Knight’s subtitle, “Official Comic Anthology — for Girls,” and the front cover might lead you to think that the pages are rife with BL, but although there are a few jabs in the yaoi direction, the content is predominately general humor even guys can enjoy. There are several parodies poking fun at the Royal Britannian siblings, the quirks of ASEEC, the Lelouch’s sister complex, and cosplay at Ashford Academy. Lelouch, Suzaku, and the other bishounen do tend to hog the spotlight, but the female characters are there, too.
Twenty professional artists, including the mangaka of the three Code Geass manga, contributed to the anthology by way of short form manga or illustrations. From the blurbs in the Artists’ Commentary pages, the pieces for this volume were created between the first and second seasons of the anime. As such, don’t be looking for Rolo or other Season Two characters here. On that same note, don’t pick up this anthology unless you’ve seen at least the entirety of Season One or you won’t understand any of the gags.
The works collected and art styles are as varied as the authors. Some character designs are spot on while other depictions don’t resemble the anime characters much at all. One artist, Kinkoujitama, drew the cast in an absolutely adorable chibi style. Pieces range in length from 4-koma (four-panel comic strips) to a 19-page short piece by Jta Yamada. Nearly all of them are independent of one another, and most depict events that would never have actually happened in the anime. In fact, some take substantial liberties. One manga has Nunally taking pictures with a camera phone, and another has her requesting Lelouch and Suzaku to cosplay for her.
As such, Knight doesn’t add anything to the official Code Geass canon. It’s mostly different artists having a little fun with the rich characters of the Code Geass lineup. If professionally rendered Code Geass fan works pique your interest, then this is a must buy.
In Summary
An anthology of Code Geass stories, Code Geass Knight reads very much like a comedy/parody doujinshi. If you’re into anime fanart/fanfiction, you’ll probably enjoy this anthology produced by various Japanese mangaka. Be warned, there are spoilers! So don’t pick it up unless you’re familiar with Season One of the anime.
This manga is rated Teen for light fanservice and violence.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: N/A
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Bandai Entertainment
Release Date: May 19th, 2010
MSRP: $9.99