The Politics of Code Geass
By Yash Srivastava
“Anime and politics go hand in hand” -literally nobody
Have you ever said “omg this is literally like that one anime” in an extremely serious conversation and received weird looks from everybody around you? No? Just me? Now it’s hard to talk about how anime portrays politics without sounding like someone who spends way too much time on reddit and watching hour long analysis videos on Youtube about why Eren was right (spoiler: he was not). But I will try my best.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 20 or so years, you would have probably seen or atleast heard of Code Geass: Lelouch Of The Rebelion. There is always something special about anime that takes itself way too seriously. This genre of anime typically does not conform to tropes that are characteristic of anime such as way too much fanservice, emphatic japanese, or questionable noises being made by the characters every 2 seconds. Examples include Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Attack On Titan, Ouran Hig- ok maybe not that one. Code Geass is one of those anime. We follow Lelouch (the protagonist) on his quest to DESTROY THE EMPIRE. Without getting into the reasons as to why he wants to DESTROY THE EMPIRE, I will instead focus on how the anime goes about portraying the HOLY BR- ok I will stop doing that, The Holy Britannian Empire.
Set in an alternate reality where the Brtiannian Empire basically rules the world, Japan (known as Area 11) is subject to things characteristic of despotism. For instance, from the very beginning, we are made aware of the social hierarchy that exists between the Japanese (known as Elevens) and the non-Japanese people. Their neighbourhoods are bombed, they are frequently abused, and systematically oppressed in basically every way possible. Naturally, this fuels the call for rebellion among the Japanese people which is the plot of the entire anime (it’s literally in the name). Another aspect of soft power we are introduced to is the fact that a lot of marriages within the Empire are strategic i.e. to form or improve political relations with other territories.
However, soft power is only accessible to the Empire because of its sheer military might. The cornerstone of the Empire’s military arsenal are its Knightmare Frames which are highly advanced robotic mechs that are piloted by humans. The Knightmare Frames have a range of abilities including flight. Knightmare Frames allow the Empire to assert its dominance in a way that on-foot battles could not. The Empire does not shy away from using the mechs for violent conquest to take over territories, or to induce fear within the non-Britannians to minimize the risk of a rebellion. This military and technological prowess scares anyone from intereferring with the Empire’s goals and thus, only the Empire continues to assert its dominance over its occupied territories.
However, this choice of the Empire to be a military-first regime is fundamentally flawed. The Empire seems to be Hobbesian in its approach to governance i.e. by using fear to rule. Relying on the technological might of the Knightmare Frames is inherently problematic and unstable since it is predicated on a fear of rebellion and violence to keep its citizens in check. In fact, Lelouch exploits this very fact. By creating an alternate persona of “Zero”, he uses psychological warfare to spark rebllion against the Empire. By challenging the Empire’s idea of military dominance, the anime shows us that the power to spark a movement and inspire people is more influential than any weapon could ever be.
In conclusion, Code Geass does a pretty good job of portraying what absolute dystopia looks like. It forces us to think about the very nature of oppression and how empires come about in a that’s accessible and understandable to most people. Is it analogous to the real world? Well, that’s for you to think about.
