Yay or Nay: Code Realize (Anime) (July-Joint Review)

The real reason why I decided to review this: When standing in line to meet J. Michael Tatum at Anime North in Toronto, Olga and I met this nice girl named Elise. One of the things she wanted Tatum to sign was the game for PS Vita: Code: Realize. This is a game that I've heard about on various channels and praised for how good it is. Alas, I do not own either PS 4 or Vita, and so I never got to experience the game. 

*Dramatic Pause*.....Until Elise tells me that there's an anime, featuring a) one of my favourite voice actors in it, and b) it's directly based off of the game.

And here we are. 

The Story 

So for a quick recap, Code: Realize(the anime) centers around the story of Cardia Beckford, a girl with a deadly touch. Essentially, a poisonous invention by her father Isaac Beckford, called the Horologium is keeping Cardia alive. As a result, her body has become an acidic weapon, dangerous to any life she comes in contact with. She is locked up in her father’s old mansion after her father disappears, and there she waits until the British Army comes to take her away. Intercepted by Arsene Lupin, the “Gentlemen Thief” (i.e. Hello Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon), she discovers that the Queen and Army of England are partnered with the terrorist organization “Twilight”, led by a mysterious man named Finis. 

Lupin and his friends, an adorable engineer named Impey, a chemist named Fran (Victor Frankenstein), and a nobleman named Saint Germain, they convince Cardia that together, with her help, they will defeat Twilight and Finis. Lupin, promises to steal Cardia’s “heart” and find a way to achieve Cardia’s wish to touch people without killing them.

At least that, in a nutshell, is the first episode’s premise, setting up the entire twelve-episode series. 

Our Thoughts

It’s a lot to take in, but what really got me was the artistry and style the anime went for. I really loved the steam-punk Victorian style of outfits and technology that you get to see throughout the series. They really take advantage of that, especially with the character Impey and his creations. In fact, there’s a whole subplot of that in the earlier episodes. The design and art of it all are so fantastic. It’s in everything, from the large clockwork gears Finis stands behind, to the smallest details in clothing, like Cardia’s dress. 

Additionally, the pacing of the episodes made it easy to fall in love with. For the most part, they did a good job of crunching story and a character route into one twelve-part series. If you don’t know, this anime takes the “true” route, and Cardia falls in love with Lupin (although at some point I started shipping her with either Van or Saint). The good news is that this romance actually doesn’t take up most of the story, but a final arc at the beginning and end. The anime is purely plot-driven, and for once, I really appreciate that. It’s better than other otome-based anime *cough* *cough* Hiiro No Kakera (which I will review next week!)

I did laugh at some of the silly things as well. Lupin dresses exactly like Tuxedo Mask, and arguably, is otome-Tuxedo Mask 2.0. But he also has a dark backstory, and admittedly, is kinda attractive, and isn’t just around to be eye-candy. Each character has their own backstory or dark secret, and the show takes the time to spotlight each character if they can. That was also a plus when I was watching it, especially in Van’s case, Saint’s, and Fran’s. 

He's a gentleman. And a thief. It's so contradictory that it just works! 

And then I came across Herlock. And I laughed. So hard. Not in a bad way though, but I was surprised to see what they’d done to that world’s rendition of Sherlock Holmes. Herlock Sholmes becomes an advisor to Queen Victoria and has this, like, Sean Connery accent when he speaks. It was silly, but also kinda fun, which was also enjoyable. That and the fact that Lupin is his version of Moriarty in the anime. 

But let’s be honest, the best version is always Benedict Cumberbatch, seconded by Robert Downey Jr. 

Overall, I’ve read some posts online saying this was a bad anime. That may be true when compared with its source material (and I’ll get around to that at some point). As of now though, I do not have the means to compare it with the source material, so I’m reviewing this as a standalone anime. As a standalone, however, it’s pretty good. Like, really good. It’s definitely geared towards a certain audience, but this isn’t a horrible piece of work. Given that it’s got both a dub and sub, the dub handled by Funimation, and starring J. Michael Tatum, an iconic and popular voice of English dub acting, says a lot on its own. Aside from getting him on the project, there’s so many good voice actors and good character development in this anime. At first, I wasn’t sure about Cardia, but she does get some development, and by the end, I was not one bit annoyed by her. Well, I was a bit confused and kept waiting for the moment she’d use her poisonous touch to save those she loves, but that never came. Similarly, the same went for Lupin and Van, as well as Saint (these were the three prominent ones). 

So, all in all, going in, I would definitely recommend. 

Now, for the negatives. As I mentioned, I haven’t played the source material, BUT the anime shows that clearly, the otome had a deeper story than the anime let on. This is because overall, the story was rushed. It definitely should’ve been more than twelve episodes, bordering, I would say near twenty-four to flesh it out better. There is so much backstory left out, and there’s a lot of characters who suffer for it. Namely, Cardia, Lupin, and Finis, the villain. These were the ones I noticed the most. Extensions of what happens between episodes that probably should be in the episode, like a backstory, or a cliffhanger, is a rushed cutscene after the credits. And for some of these, they’re important, and not repeated in the corresponding episodes. So if you miss one, you’ll be confused about going into the next. This seems a bit problematic as not everybody might wait until after the credits (I mean this isn’t a Marvel movie). There’s one episode concerning Cardia, and a family she met when she was being hunted by religious fanatics, which is why she leaves Lupin and the others briefly. But there’s no context as to WHY she does this, other than “Oh, I killed this family”. It’s definitely unraveled by the end and given context, but at the beginning, I was so lost as to why she was doing this. It had not been once mentioned in previous episodes. I thought she had lived in her father’s mansion, never leaving, until she was forcefully removed. 

As for Finis, poor him, his entire story was so rushed. He would appear in some places, try to steal Cardia, and then fail. Or treat Cardia like shit, and then say nothing other than “I’m going to make Code: Realize a reality!”. But it goes from that sporadic story to suddenly Finis only wanting his father to love him. That all seemed rather rushed and unexplained. Especially the science about how Cardia and Finis were created—and why Cardia is more loved than Finis. All of a sudden it becomes a matter of Cardia trying to redeem Finis while destroying Code: Realize. And it didn’t make me want to sympathize with him because I barely knew anything about his character other than he’s neglected and mistreated, and as a result, has a warped sense of right and wrong. 

Am I the only one who thought a) BLACK BUTLER, and b) Princess Leia meets Alois Trancy? You do you, Finis. 

That laugh also managed to sufficiently creep me out. 

But the rushed depth of these gaping holes in the stories (rushed or otherwise), indicated the game actually might offer more in terms of detail, which is why I stand by my suggestion of having this be a twenty-four episode anime. It’s not as if the story, characters, or art was lacking in this case. With the large cast of characters and balanced writing between the filler and plot-filled episodes, it likely would’ve been done, and done well. My only other pet-peeve that would be about the writing is whenever someone discusses Cardia or the Horologium, it’s always said as the “Poison in your chest”. All the time. That, after a while, is a tad bit annoying, but that’s just a pet-peeve of mine, and definitely not a big deal, I just thought I’d point it out.

Our Rating 

I actually was looking for a DVD release copy of this anime, just in case I meet J. Michael Tatum again (haha). But I also don’t want to have to rely on streaming, I want the physical copy of my favourite things, and that’s how you know I like this anime! For now, until you decide though, Funimation has free streaming of it on their website, so you can stream it without any real problems, or worrying about sketchy pop-up ads. The only thing is that they do show “Funimation based ads”, repeatedly. But it doesn’t happen to often, so you can enjoy watching it in peace. 

Our Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's got a good story, characters, and aesthetic. You may get angry at how rushed the story gets at times, but it is by no means boring, or exclusively romantic. It's a good anime!

Check it out! 

~Meghan and Olga