So as you might have already noticed, this post will be exclusively for Death Note and Code Geass so if you don't like either or are just not interested you can move on to another post because I will publish a second everyday-routine post a bit later. Consider this a special.
Death Note and Code Geass are known to have many similarities that make them pretty much the same but with a different storyline and different way of describing epicness. So I am gonna make all those similarities go against each other and let's see who wins in the end. Before I start, there will be MAJOR SPOILERS ahead so if you haven't finished either of them, I suggest you leave because both have great plot twists.
First of all, the main characters.
Code Geass has Lelouch Lamperouge ( Real name: Lelouch Vi Britannia )
Death Note has Light Yagami
So, they share similarities.
Both are antiheroes. They are both known with their regular names, Light, a normal Japanese high school student and Lelouch, a normal Britannian high school student. Although they are known with their real name, they both have an alias with which they are also known to the public. Lelouch is known as Zero, a supporter of the Elevens(Japanese) at first and then a leader of the Order Of The Black Knights against Britannia. His case gets really messed up though so he can be many things as Zero, one of which is neutral, Britannian, Eleven, traitor, leader etc. Light is known as Kira, people consider him to be a god who kills criminals and wants to bring peace to the world. His role of Kira never really changes as all he does is kill criminals. At first. None of them show their face when presented as Zero or Kira. Well, in Light's case, he never presents himself in front of people with the name of Kira, he just exists for them.
Now that we got the alias thing covered up, let's proceed to each character's character. Lelouch is a genius, a great strategist and when he is around people he can be lively. Mainly so he doesn't get noticed. Light is also a genius and great strategist but he loses his temper pretty easily. When he is around people he never really talks but he never did either. They both have a sister which they want to protect ( Lelouch's feeling is a bit stronger ) and a father who has a high position. Lelouch has Charles Di Britannia, the 98th Emperor of Britannia while Light has Soichiro Yagami who is the Police Chief ( i think ).
Finally, their fates are similar yet different. Lelouch becomes "evil" and betrays pretty much everyone alive in the world (even the sister he tried to save) in order to make all the world hate him so he could put an end to all the hatred by ending his life as well. Of course, he couldn't let people know about this so he put Suzaku, his childhood friend, to do it for himself while in Zero's uniform. He succeeded in doing so and the world is at peace while his sister, discovering his real intentions became the 100th Empress of Britannia. Light has another story. He tried to beat Near until the end and his intentions were evil unlike Lelouch's. He lost sight of what he wanted to do and saw what he could become after killing L( Lelouch lost sight of his goal halfway through but he "regained conciousness" ). In the end, his plan backfires and he ends up dead after trying to kill Near again by pieces of Death Note he had hid in his clothes and accesories. He fails miserably though. Ryuk kills him to be exact because he was bored to wait for him to die in prison so he could get his death note back. Death Note was manga based though and the endings were different but anyway. Now, both had Director's Cut versions with some big open endings. Code Geass showed that the cart driver whose cart had CC on was Lelouch showing that he was immortal since he received the Code his father had after killing him. The main reason we understood that was because C.C.'s last words were "Isn't that right, Lelouch?" This is really complicated so most people just want to believe that he is dead. Death Note showed that Ryuk was back at the Shinigami world after killing Light. He then procceeds to tell the story of Light to another Shinigami who was 90% Light. The main reason that rumour exists was because just like C.C., Ryuk said "Aren't I right, Light?" after finishing his story. That alone isn't reason enough though. Here is where the manga comes in. In the manga it is more clear that the users of the Death Note go to "nothingness". In the anime Ryuk just says that the users of the Death Note go neither to Heaven nor Hell. In the manga, Ryuk also says that the Shinigami world is "Nothingness" since there is nothing to do there.
(Further details on characters or the powers used will be shown below)
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Immortal Side Characters
Code Geass has C.C.
Death Note has Ryuk
They share similarities as well. What a QUINCYdence.
OK, first of all, I guess you have noticed that both of the immortal characters that gave the two main characters their powers have an obsession with something. Ryuk is one healthy son of a bitch, eating apples all day. If he doesn't eat apples for a long time, he will start getting weird side effects like walking on his hands. C.C. is his obese version. She is so obsessed with pizza ( the pizza is always from Pizza Hut. Obvious sponsors ) she even came close to ruining Lelouch's cover by trying to eat a huge Pizza in the school ( don't ask ). So, C.C. is more helpful than Ryuk ( who serves the role of comic relief like C.C. when he is not serious ) since she actually helps Lelouch with some all-out fights but that is just because the genre is Mecha. She doesn't say much to Lelouch about Geass's power and lets him understand its power himself. Actually, in the first time Lelouch used the Geass, it was on his own with no help. Throughout the anime we also learn some of C.C.'s past so there was more character development there. Ryuk is like C.C. but he helps Light use the Death Note and tells him the basic rules. Light finds the rest out by himself like Lelouch. There is nothing mentioned about his past so him being comic relief is stronger than C.C.'s but in the end, unlike C.C., he was the one to kill Light in both the manga and the anime.
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Titles (stupid but why not lol)
Code Geass has:
And:
(Sorry for the inverted English-Japanese places)
Death Note has:
To begin with, Code Geass R2 logo is included because it is practically in the same series but since Code Geass wasn't manga based and its success wasn't sure, they couldn't allow 50 episodes of the bat so Code Geass is 25 episodes and R2 is 25 episodes as well. So, Death Note's title logo looks way more badass than CG's but let's get into details. "Death Note" refers to the Death Note. That's it. "Code Geass : Lelouch of the Rebellion" refers to the Code the witches and Charles Di Britannia have. Geass refers to the Geass power, while the rest Lelouch of the Rebellion refers to "Zero" being with the Rebellion of the Elevens against Britannia. Doesn't suit half of the anime though because almost all of R2 was Lelouch betraying the Elevens.
Now, R2 has a deeper meaning. You know I like deep things. It can refer to "Rerouch Ramperouge" since the Japanese language has no "L". In Japan, L=R to make it clear. C.C. is almost only reffered to as C2 in CG R2 because it has two letter C's. So two letter R's = R2. This may also show that Lelouch didn't die as a Britannian in the end, but as "Lamperouge", with the surname he grew up with. Another clearer meaning is Rebellion 2 which can either mean that it is "Lelouch of the Rebellion 2" or that the Rebellion has changed since the first one.
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Now let's go to openings ( has to be done.)
(Note here that Code Geass had 2 seasons in total and in 25 episodes, the mid season is considered episode 13 so there were 4 official openings for the anime. Death Note was intact and its mid-season was in episode 25 so it has 2 openings. I will only include CG's first one and R2's first one since the other 2 are a bit copy-paste. )
Code Geass has:
Death Note has:
And:
Ok, so... The first openings of each are waaaaaaaaay better than the second ones. Death Note's 2nd opening doesn't even fit with the dark theme of Death Note. Still badass though. Death Note wins this one though since Code Geass's opening one is all it has in front of Death Note's intros. Even intro 2. Might be a bit over the top for Death Note but still... Ryuk dancing with an apple while L kicking is badass.
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OK, one more fun thing, I swear
First Blood
Code Geass has:
Well, there wasn't a serious video on Light's first kill (since he didn't kill someone alone just like Lelouch) and also, it wasn't as badass as "Lelouch Vi Britannia commands you... Die." so there was no video of it. By the way, I hate dubs and I didn't have time to find the original video or a better queality on Lelouch's "first" kill so I am sorry. Anyway, the award probably goes to Lelouch since he just made a handful of soldiers his bitches.
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Now let's get a bit more serious.
Antagonists/Heroes
Code Geass has Kururugi Suzaku
Death Note has L (Real name: L Lawliet, reffered to as: Ryuuzaki)
Here are the two main antagonists for both series. Well, Death Note is a bit different here because L dies by a Shinigami halfway through the series but he is still considered the main antagonist and he did all the research by himself so I am not gonna consider Near or Mello antagonists even though they played a somewhat important role. So, Suzaku was a friend of Lelouch since they were small children. Suzaku played an important role throughout the whole series being Lelouch's antagonist but in reality, he was the hero of the anime since he fought for Britannia which he didn't like but decided to climb on top and create peace by obeying the law and being a loyal soldier. He really is Lelouch's greatest antagonist since all of Lelouch's plans went just about right when Suzaku came in riding the Lancelot which would turn the tide of battle. The Lancelot was somewhat countered in Code Geass R2. Near the end of the first series, Suzaku, finding out about Lelouch, tries to kill him in a duel that was suddenly cut of only to continue in flashbacks in R2 where Lelouch was beaten. In the end of R2, Suzaku kills Lelouch wearing the suit of Zero so people don't lose hope on "Zero" who stays as an idea forever. In order to do that though, Suzaku should die as a military hero which he "did" in the fight with Kallen. Then Suzaku is left for dead and lives as Zero forever. I should also mention the popular physically impossible Spinzaku Kick he always does. L on the other side is a different story. He is a detective as smart as Light and the police calls him everytime they are in a difficult position with a case. He suspected Light being Kira since really early in the series and it looked like he confirmed it a long time before his death. There is not much to discuss about L since he died a bit early in the series but he was the main reason Light was caught and killed like I said before. Without him people would live in a world conquered by the great god Kira D:
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Endings
Code Geass:
Death Note:
Once again, I didn't find the whole Death Note ending since the events are connected with previous actions a lot so the video would be like 30 minutes. Anyway, both anime end with the same way. The antihero dies, Justice wins and (almost) everyone is happy. Code Geass's ending was a bit more epic than Death Note because of the music and whole plot twist. Death Note was more serious and dark though since there is Ryuk getting serious and killing Light, Misa suiciding and a lot of people dying in vain.
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Powers
Code Geass has the Geass
Death Note has the Death Note
Both are really helpful and can be used in such a way that no one will ever understand your identity. Geass has a lot of powers, only one for each person. Throughout the series we can see a Geass reading minds, a Geass literally making people the owner's bitches so they can do whatever you ask them, a Geass rewriting memories etc. It is known as the power of Kings because of its abilities. Some Geass powers like the one reading minds have no limit but some others like the one controlling people can only be used once on a person. Lelouch's mind control Geass requires people to see you directly in order to work.
The Death Note is a lot more simple but a lot more complicated at the same time. It has a lot of "rules" despite it being so simple. What it basically does is kill people within 1 minute ( i think ) if you just write someone's name or kill people within a given time and with some given possible cause. If only the name is given the person dies of heart attack. It is mentioned that if you write someone's name in Japan and tell him to die in 2 minutes in America, this is impossible so the person will just die of heart attack. There is one price though. You have to know the name and the person's face. You can trade half of your life span with Shinigami's eyes though which make you see a person's lifespan and name instantly.
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Alias
Lelouch is Zero
Light is Kira
Now, both had a great impact to the society around them. Zero might have had a bit more since he first lead a rebellion which was cheered by not only Japanese but foreigners too. He has been considered a great leader, a traitor, a murderer and an "idea". In the end "Zero" is the idea of freedom, as Lelouch planned it to be. It was not a person anymore so Zero as a person ends with Lelouch, Zero as an idea starts with Suzaku and Lelouch's sacrifice. Kira now, does not lead any rebellion or ever remains as an idea because he is considered god. Light never let people see him and see what he's done so no one knew that Kira was a person. Lelouch always attracted attention in order to achieve something a better way so everyone knew he was a person but like I said, Kira was a god. In the manga, there are a lot of Kira followers all over Japan even after Light's death. In the anime, we know little about what the world thinks of him but this doesn't change the fact that he is a huge thing out there.
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Epic Like or Hate moments
This will probably be my last topic. Both anime had moments that were absolutely amazing if you are talking about how well-written the scene was or how good character development or plot had but some people can't just let the moment go by like that when so many fucked up or dark things happen. If I begin you will get what I mean.
Code Geass had numerous of these moments. One of them was Euphemia's death. You probably saw that coming. So, in case you don't remember, Euphemia tried to unite Japan and earn all of the Japanese people's trust by promising peace when she becomes the Empress of Britannia or something. Lelouch then discovers to Euphemia ( which he didn't hate since they were childhood friends ) that he has a power called the Geass. Note that at the moment, C2 had warned Lelouch that his Geass might go out of control at any time now because he used it a lot. Lelouch's exact quote to Euphie was : " I could even tell you to kill all Japanese now". Then the Geass was enabled and Euphemia was killed by Lelouch after murdering all Japanese gathering to this area. Most people hated Lelouch after that but people like me loved him even more. Note that I love anti heroes more than anything else. That's why I loved things like Death Note, Code Geass (oh, and Breaking Bad!) even more.
Death Note's most love or hate moment was probably L's death. Light supporters loved it, L supporters stopped watching the whole thing. Most people hated Light though. He was just a son of a bitch. He pretended to be sad over L's death when he showed L the evilest smile he could show someone just before L died. The director's cut version had the whole group on Kira's case, including Light, go to L's grave and express their gratitude. Light asked to be alone with L for a moment and after everyone left he fell on the grave screaming "I WON L" several times. He even spit on L's grave if I remember correctly. That made some people think "wow so badass" when other people just hated Light for the rest of the series.
OVERALL : It is hard to tell. Both are great in terms of plot, animation,, sound and suspense. So let's see what we have here.
In terms of main character, I will call it a tie because Light wins if this is about the most evil hero but Lelouch wins about the succesful and perfectly excecuted masterplan he thought of. In overall, they can't be compared. CG 0 - 0 DN
In terms of supporting character, the win goes to C.C from Code Geass. It is hard to compare the anime like I said before because they are of different genre but every way you think of it, C.C. was more helpful than Ryuk, became a total comic relief character like Ryuk at some point and in the end, she just let Lelouch procceed with his masterplan. Again, Ryuk can win this if the award goes to the darkest char. but this isn't what we're doing here. CG 1 - 0 DN
In terms of title, Code Geass wins hands down since there are even some little Easter Eggs on the second title. Death Note wins the darkest award here as well since even the title seems haunting. CG 2 - 0 DN
In terms of openings, Death Note wins with little competition. Code Geass only had opening 1 as an awesome one and it can barely surpass Death Note's second opening, let alone the first one. CG 2 - 1 DN
In terms of First Blood, the win goes to Code Geass since Lelouch didn't hesitate to kill his first targets ( in an awesome way too!). Light killed a lot the first time he used Death Note as well but the deaths were simple heart attacks, not "Yes, your highness" suicides. CG 3 - 1 DN
In terms of antagonists, they are pretty much equal but L wins. Not only did he die by a shinigami and not by Light ( so yeah, Light didn't exactly "win" ) but all the credit went to Near and not L and even Watari, who both died unfairly for the Kira case. Suzaku was a good antagonist as well, he even went on Lelouch's side in the end like L did but riding the Lancelot and destroying Mechas is pretty much as much as he did.
CG 3 - 2 DN
In terms of ending, Code Geass won and Death Note cannot be compared to Code Geass's ending because it was a bit of a fail ( preffered the manga's ending ) but still, ONCE again, the dark award goes to Death Note. CG 4 - 2 DN
In terms of power, the Geass wins since even if "Quality beats Quantity", all Geasses can be extremely powerful and each one of the Geasses can almost counter the Death Note's user single handedly. For example, you can hear one's thoughts with a specific Geass so you can just wander around town and wait for something like "How could I find the Geass user's name so I can kill him" in the middle of nowhere kind of thing and go investigate what's going on. With Lelouch's Geass you can just make Light kill himself or kill all of his family and then suicid thing. CG 5 - 2 DN
In terms of Alias, Kira wins. Zero was more badass making everyone his bitch and managing to fool somebody so easily but he had C.C.'s support, he had a whole rebellion at his side and even if he got in a tough situation, he would probably be saved cause the rebellion was hopeless without him. Kira on the other hand, was all alone since Misa was not much of a help and Ryuk couldn't care less. CG 5 - 3 DN
Finally, in terms of "Love or Hate" moments, it is hard to tell. Really hard to tell. Both anime had a handful of those. L's death, Euphemia's death, Shyrlay's death, Chief Yagami's death, Lelouch's death, Light's death and so on ,and so on. However, as you might have noticed most of Code Geass's love or hate moments were deaths of super annoying to some people girls. Well, most people felt sorry about Shyrlay but she was just a pain in Lelouch's ass for the whole CG and half of CGR2. Death Note though, had a lot of deaths to annoying characters too but deaths like Soichiro's just made you hate Light more and more while feeling relieved about Soichiro not ever learning about Light's identity as Kira which made him rest in peace.
CG 5 - 4 DN
So, that's all. Given this info and my personal opinion on some matters, Code Geass wins. The competition is really amazing since both anime are considered one of the best of their own kind. They both belong to the psychological thing and they have aced at it for a long time but Code Geass being more of a mecha (not entirely mecha since it is like Evangelion. The story was never about a boy and big robots. It was just a story adapted in mecha for the best )and one of the best too. Death Note on the other hand, is my second best in mystery after Monster.
If you don't agree with something, want to hate on me, want to hook up with me or whatever, leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.
Note : I believe you noticed that this post being longer than the others ( which will be my intention on the next post to come ) takes more time and I believe this one took about 5 days of developing and gathering information. In order for a post to become good, more time is needed, and if you take THIS post as great, then it would be really easy to make great posts. Some posts may even take me weeks, but with the holidays coming up, I will have some more time to search for a topic to cover. You can always leave a comment with a suggestion and I may consider publishing a post for it.
