Ichirō Ōkouchi’s Code Geass has once again returned to make its presence feel in the anime world with its third season, Code Geass: Roze of the Recapture. The series has introduced a new narrative that has finally brought Code Geass fans back together after 16 years. However, the narrative of the third season is created by Noboru Kimura, who followed Ōkouchi’s footsteps.
The story was divided into four different films, which were released on four different dates, with a new plot that feels even more interesting than the previous two installments: Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (which had two seasons) and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Resurrection (movie). However, what many fans don’t know is that the second season of the first installment proved to be more difficult to create than the first one.
Ōkouchi once revealed that although he had a better environment while working on the second season, the story became more challenging for him. This challenge was mainly because of the pressure to raise the level of the series with the second season.
Planning Code Geass’ Second Season Was Difficult for Ichirō Ōkouchi
In 2008, Animage interviewed Ōkouchi after the release of Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2. During the interview, Ōkouchi was asked about the multiple plots that the series has delivered to fans and how difficult it was to create a second season compared to the first season. The creator then decided to point out the problems he faced while writing the series.
Ōkouchi stated:
It was difficult for me, especially with the mecha and school elements. In the first place, when the story was being planned out, I had to work with many things. Compared to the first season, the stage of second season moves from Japan to a wider stage – the world. The amount of information that had to be provided definitely increased.
According to Code Geass’ creator, the second season was much more difficult because the elements of mecha and school life posed a problem for him. Although Ōkouchi had a bigger stage for the second season, he was compelled to add more information to the series, which was certainly not easy.
Season Two of Code Geass Brought New Followers
While talking about Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2, Ōkouchi revealed that the second season was considered by many to be an entirely new series. This was because of the change in the background and basic themes. Thus, it brought with it a new fanbase who were not completely aware of the story.
Ōkouchi revealed:
And at the same time, because R2 was considered a new program, we had to make adjustments for the new followers and those who were already familiar with the series from before. Because I was challenged to take the story to another level, to advance it further, it was difficult. When the outcome was decided, that was only the time were I felt confident.
While this was a good thing for the popularity of the series, it also proved to be a challenge for the creator as he had to balance the narrative between the old fans and the new fans.
He wanted to advance the story further, and introducing new elements was one way to do so. Thus, in the end, the season gained even more popularity, which finally brought confidence in Ōkouchi.
You can watch Code Geass on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
