Code Geass is often considered a fan-favorite among anime fans, introducing a complex story with equally complex characters. In the same vein as Attack on Titan’s Eren Jaeger, Code Geass introduces a complicated protagonist that can often be seen as both a hero and a villain. In a new interview, the co-creator of the anime series, Goro Taniguchi discussed his original plans for the series and how they differed from what would eventually come to be.
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In a new interview, Goro Taniguchi discussed many aspects of Code Geass, sharing how the series first got its start, “Actually, it started without me. The producers of Planetes, Mr. Yukawa and Mr. Kawaguchi, first talked about it with Ōkouchi. It was around the end of Planetes‘ production, and things were getting pretty busy on my end. And so, during one of the last mixing sessions, Kawaguchi came to see me during the break because he had something to talk about, and what he talked to me about would become Code Geass.
“I took the order and started gathering people. Ōkouchi and I started writing plot drafts and did all kinds of meetings for some time. At the end, Ōkouchi brought all of that together in a single document for TV stations, which Yukawa and Kawaguchi went to present. And as our hopes were at their highest, they came back to tell us it didn’t work out and that we had lost to another project. There had been two projects in competition: ours and one brought by studio Bones. We lost to that one.”
Goro then shared that the initial pitch for Code Geass was a bit different from what anime fans would eventually receive, “It began like this. There’s this military school in some military dictatorship, where two young boys become friends. But one of them is raped multiple times by a teacher, and they plan to kill him. But of course, if they did that they’d be executed, so they start thinking about what they can do. They could either try to get some ability, or rise up the ranks so high that they could just kill him without consequences or send him to some battlefield where he’d be sure to die. That’s more-or-less what it was like.”
What do you think of the original pitch for Code Geass? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Lelouch.
