How to watch the Japanese anime Code Geass online? [Archive]

WordMan

03-30-2012, 06:46 AM

In this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=625286), the topic is the Japanese anime and manga Death Note. I revived the thread because my son and I just saw it and enjoyed it and want to see what is out there that might be like it.

One name that came up as we have looked around is Code Geass (http://www.amazon.com/Code-Geass-Lelouch-Rebellion-Limited/dp/B001AZ5IU6)(Amazon link to DVD set).

First of all - anyone seen this? Thoughts, esp if you've also seen Death Note?

Secondly - forgive my online ignorance, but is there any legit way to stream this online? I don't see it at Netflix or Hulu, only a bunch of sites I don't quite trust that seem to skirt copyright/licensing laws.

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Jragon

03-30-2012, 06:55 AM

There doesn't seem to be a (legal) way. I can't even find the dubbing company, but it didn't seem to be any of them that host their dubs/subs online (Funimation has been putting up their properties for streaming).

GovernmentMan

03-30-2012, 07:41 AM

Code Geass is not good.

WordMan

03-30-2012, 08:57 AM

Code Geass is not good.

Can you give me any more to go on?

Airk

03-30-2012, 09:02 AM

Can you give me any more to go on?

It's...really generic. I watched a couple of episodes (and I'm relatively forgiving of this sort of stuff) but it was just bland and felt like it was designed by comittee to fit some sort of successful formula. It had no soul to speak of.

That said, if you're looking to watch anime online and don't want to go into grey-area fansubs, your best bets are Crunchroll.com, Hulu, and maybe crackle.com

I'm not super sure what's available out there right now though, and there's no guarantee we'd have overlapping tastes anyway, so I suggest just kicking back and watching a couple episodes of a bunch of things until you find something you like - don't necessary going with the "popular opinion" or you'll end up with stuff like Code Geass and Naruto. :P

WordMan

03-30-2012, 09:06 AM

It's...really generic. I watched a couple of episodes (and I'm relatively forgiving of this sort of stuff) but it was just bland and felt like it was designed by comittee to fit some sort of successful formula. It had no soul to speak of.

That said, if you're looking to watch anime online and don't want to go into grey-area fansubs, your best bets are Crunchroll.com, Hulu, and maybe crackle.com

I'm not super sure what's available out there right now though, and there's no guarantee we'd have overlapping tastes anyway, so I suggest just kicking back and watching a couple episodes of a bunch of things until you find something you like - don't necessary going with the "popular opinion" or you'll end up with stuff like Code Geass and Naruto. :P

Okay. Bummer.

Don't know what Crunchroll or Crackle are, but can check them out...

Methyl Ethyl Death

03-30-2012, 01:32 PM

WordMan, just check out the Amazon reviews in your link.

21 5 star reviews
1 4 star review
2 3 star reviews
0 2 star reviews
0 1 star review

It's good. Give it a shot. Can you rent the DVDs? Does it have to be streaming?

WordMan

03-30-2012, 01:34 PM

Methyl Ethyl Death

03-30-2012, 01:38 PM

Sorry to hear. I hope you find it.

Hodge

03-30-2012, 02:19 PM

I thought Code Geass was good but not great. Wildly-over-the-top drama with political backstabbing and double-crosses played out between competing royal families amidst a brewing revolution. I'd say its worth watching but don't expect it to be on par with Death Note.

The main reason I posted was to point you to http://www.crunchyroll.com/. They're an anime streaming service, 100% legit. I can't speak to their quality, though, since I've never used their service.

Kamino Neko

03-30-2012, 02:23 PM

Crunchyroll does have it. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/code-geass-lelouch-of-the-rebellion)

WordMan

03-30-2012, 02:28 PM

Crunchyroll does have it. (http://www.crunchyroll.com/code-geass-lelouch-of-the-rebellion)

First of all, Hodge and Tengu (and Airk who mentioned it first) - thank you.

Second - how does a site like this work. I am at their FAQ page: http://www.crunchyroll.com/help

And sure enough, they seem both free and legit:

2.Is this site free to use?
Of course! You can watch most of the videos without paying a dime, although we do provide a premium service through Premium Membership which enables some awesome features.

3.Is it legal to watch videos here?
Crunchyroll is your 100% legal source for Anime and Drama on the internet since we work hard to obtain all of the proper licensing rights in order to provide these videos for your consumption. In short, it is legal to watch videos here.

So - basically: I sign up for, say, an iPad account, find the series I would like to check out...and watch it. That's it?

And they appear to have Cowboy Bebop, Wolfs Rain and a few others - so we should be able to watch them via this site?

Kamino Neko

03-30-2012, 02:37 PM

You don't even need to sign up for a lot of it. (I just logged out and watched the first little bit of episode one of Code Geass.) I think you only need to sign up for a free account to watch ones rated mature (I think that's why I signed up in the first place).

You can also sign up for a paid account, that gets you access to the episodes earlier (and turns off the ads), but I don't find that to be worth it.

The FAQ says they might not have the license to a particular show in all countries, but I've yet to encounter that. If they do have it for your country...yep, you can watch it via Crunchyroll.

WordMan

03-30-2012, 02:39 PM

You don't even need to sign up for a lot of it. (I just logged out and watched the first little bit of episode one of Code Geass.) I think you only need to sign up for a free account to watch ones rated mature (I think that's why I signed up in the first place).

You can also sign up for a paid account, that gets you access to the episodes earlier (and turns off the ads), but I don't find that to be worth it.

Cool. Thanks again.
And am I correct that Cowboy Bebop and Wolfs Rain are on the site? I did a search and there appear to be links, but I was having a bit of trouble navigating - and don't want to spend a lot of time on this at work...

Kamino Neko

03-30-2012, 02:45 PM

And am I correct that Cowboy Bebop and Wolfs Rain are on the site?

Checking, neither of them seem to be there, no.

WordMan

03-30-2012, 02:48 PM

Checking, neither of them seem to be there, no.

Okay - I was afraid of that. I did searches that returned entries - but there was a top set of results labeled Videos, and below that, another set of results labeled All Results.

When I search for Code Geass, for example, there are results in the Video section and the All Results.

For Cowboy Bebop, none in Video, but some in All Results.

So i wasn't sure if All Results was relevant - from the sound of it, it is not; Crunchyroll must list their contents in the Video results section...

Drunky Smurf

03-30-2012, 03:13 PM

Crunchyroll is legit.

I used to watch anime on there before they were legit for almost a year and I paid to be a premium member. Then right when I was in the middle of a couple of series they disappeared.

All the popular shows like Cowboy Bebop got pulled with just a message saying, "Please support these awesome shows by buying the show." So I left and then a long time later I went back to check them out again and they had shows for viewing again but they were all shows I had never heard of.

I just went back and they are still mostly shows I have never heard of but there were some that I had. Some that had been pulled back when. So they must have obtained the rights and be legit these days.

As to Code Geass I watched a dozen episodes or so and I thought it was OK. Nothing spectacular but it wasn't a dud either.

Ooh I see they have Durarara which I just started getting into watching on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim.

Ha they also have Viewtiful Joe which was on Saturday monring cartoons about 6 or 7 years ago. I liked that show. I might have to watch it again.

Drunky Smurf

03-30-2012, 03:14 PM

Okay - I was afraid of that. I did searches that returned entries - but there was a top set of results labeled Videos, and below that, another set of results labeled All Results.

When I search for Code Geass, for example, there are results in the Video section and the All Results.

For Cowboy Bebop, none in Video, but some in All Results.

So i wasn't sure if All Results was relevant - from the sound of it, it is not; Crunchyroll must list their contents in the Video results section...

Yeah even if they don't have videos for a show they will still have a description and rating about the show so thats why Cowboy had no video but it did have results.

WordMan

03-30-2012, 04:51 PM

All that makes sense - thanks.

Measure for Measure

03-31-2012, 01:11 AM

I recommend Code Geass. I haven't seen Death Note -- but I have read the manga and I enjoyed it. Like many animes Code Geass grows on you after a few episodes. The dubbing is solid, especially of LaLouche, the protagonist.

Admittedly, it was designed as a hash of genres. They meld high school romantic drama, with fighting robots, political intrigue, strategizing, mind games and scifi-fantasy. And the premise is terrific: take a character with the traits of a villain and set it up so that he fights an evil empire. Put the character with more typically heroic traits and make him defend it. Don't want to have unnecessary bloodshed you know.

The West Coast's Anime Lane: Recommended
Incidentally, you can rent DVDs online of course. Netflix offers some. I've found AnimeLane (http://www.animelane.com/default.php) to be superior to Florida's RentAnime.com. AnimeLane manages to deliver disks at the very top of my queue. RentAnime in contrast might send disk 4 months after delivering disk 3, even if I had Disk 4 at the top of my list and the title was still in print. Delays associated with DVDs labeled "Low availability" can vary greatly. This recommendation is based upon about a year's experience with the Florida outfit and ~3 months with the West Coast one.

Methyl Ethyl Death

04-02-2012, 07:37 PM

Thanks for the link Measure, I subscribed over the weekend. I've been with RentAnime for years and I agree, their service is slowly declining.

WordMan, whether you or your son like Code Geass or not, I would value your opinion. Just curious if my recommendation met your request.

Maeglin

04-03-2012, 01:25 AM

I also think Code Geass is excellent. It is one of the most interesting meditations on terrorism in any anime I have ever seen. I have been watching it via Amazon DVD, so I can't give you much help on seeing it streaming.

WordMan

04-03-2012, 06:25 AM

WordMan, whether you or your son like Code Geass or not, I would value your opinion. Just curious if my recommendation met your request.

Methyl, thanks for the recommendation - unfortunately, it may be a few weeks. While I was trying to figure out what anime to watch, I went ahead and bought discs for Cowboy Bebop and Akira, since I know they are classics. Akira, I feel bad saying, was only kinda meh - I get the impression its impact back in the day was bigger that the impact it delivers today. We are a few eps into Cowboy Bebop, however, and love it.

We're away for Spring Break for over a week and will finish CB and figure things out from there. If we go after Geass, I will report back.

Maeglin - thanks for the additional review.

Measure for Measure

04-03-2012, 08:35 PM

Akira, I feel bad saying, was only kinda meh - I get the impression its impact back in the day was bigger that the impact it delivers today. Along those lines, avoid the "Classic" movie Ninja Scrolls. This five star feature is worse than meh, IMHO.

I saw Akira some years after its heyday and enjoyed it vicariously as it were. Meaning, I felt that I would have thought it awesome when it came out. I find it remarkable how much anime and manga have advanced: I think we're truly living in a Golden Age. I'd place the start date in 1995 with the initial release of Evangelion. It is one of the most interesting meditations on terrorism in any anime I have ever seen. Yes. It was also a terrific melodrama: LaLouche's histronics were rather entertaining. The show worked on a lot of levels, though that was partly a result of the creators kitchen-sink approach to their project.

I should concede that I'm a manga/anime enthusiast though. There are a number of shows that I liked better than Code Geass.

Methyl Ethyl Death

04-03-2012, 08:40 PM

WordMan, I loved Cowboy Beebop. Once you're done with the CB series, don't forget to follow it with Cowboy Beebop, The Movie. It was also well received by the fans.

Totally agree with you on Akira. I saw it over a decade ago. I just don't get it's popularity in anime culture.

Hell, while I'm posting, I might as well highly recommend you and your son watch Soul Eater (hopefully it's streaming). Funny much of the time, serious when it needs to. It's in my top ten list of anime series'. And I'm Old School: watching anime since the 1980's.

This is just my two cents. YMMV.

WordMan

04-04-2012, 06:26 AM

Airk

04-04-2012, 11:33 AM

I think both Akira and Ninja Scroll (neither of which I particularly enjoy) are "popular" due to what I call the "FF7 Effect" - they were a LOT of people's first experience with medium ("serious anime" in the case, or "non-terrible JRPGs" in FF7s case) and people were stunned that stuff like this actually existed. Don't underestimate the power of "OMG! Violence, blood and boobs in a cartoon!" on the high-school set. In its defense, Akira was excellent on a technical level when it came out, but is much less impressive today.

Humorously, I'm a big anime fan, and Akira was my first anime experience and truthfully, I didn't like it at all. I didn't get into the hobby until someone who really knew about the stuff (instead of someone who basically liked Akira for the aforementioned violence, blood and boobs) showed me Nausicaa and Bubblegum Crisis. :P

In terms of recommendations, I suggest Vision of Escaflowne (old, by now) and Last Exile (also far from new) as some of my personal favorites.

kushiel

04-04-2012, 04:56 PM

I think both Akira and Ninja Scroll (neither of which I particularly enjoy) are "popular" due to what I call the "FF7 Effect" - they were a LOT of people's first experience with medium ("serious anime" in the case, or "non-terrible JRPGs" in FF7s case) and people were stunned that stuff like this actually existed. Don't underestimate the power of "OMG! Violence, blood and boobs in a cartoon!" on the high-school set. In its defense, Akira was excellent on a technical level when it came out, but is much less impressive today.

Humorously, I'm a big anime fan, and Akira was my first anime experience and truthfully, I didn't like it at all. I didn't get into the hobby until someone who really knew about the stuff (instead of someone who basically liked Akira for the aforementioned violence, blood and boobs) showed me Nausicaa and Bubblegum Crisis. :P

Yup, don't let someone pressure you into something by saying 'it's anime, you have to like it!'. Some people will watch every anime and love it because it's Japanese, but anime is a medium, not a genre. There's plenty of series I love that my friends dislike and vice versa.

No, really. My favourites are Lodoss, Escaflowne, Utena, old school CLAMP and Tytania. I'm pretty sure Gurren Lagann, Haruhi and Elfen Lied are not up my alley. Also, you can stop asking if I've seen Full Metal Alchemist. It's like the new default.

Airk

04-05-2012, 08:36 AM

Fullmetal Alchemist isn't even that good - I'm sorry, I refuse to forgive them for their sharkjumping ending.

kushiel

04-05-2012, 10:54 AM

Fullmetal Alchemist isn't even that good - I'm sorry, I refuse to forgive them for their sharkjumping ending.

They redid it as FMA: Brotherhood after the manga ended in part because of the crappy anime ending. From what I understand, the two anime are pretty much the same until the original deviated from the manga and the second one continued it.

randwill

04-05-2012, 11:04 AM

Anyone watching Mawaru Penguindrum? I'm about 8 episodes in and I'm really getting into how freakin' strange it is.

Animastryfe

04-05-2012, 08:39 PM

They redid it as FMA: Brotherhood after the manga ended in part because of the crappy anime ending. From what I understand, the two anime are pretty much the same until the original deviated from the manga and the second one continued it.

However, the presentation of events differ between the two shows. I preferred Brotherhood; I think it had a bigger budget, and I preferred the manga's plot over the first anime's plot.

audiobottle

04-05-2012, 09:27 PM

Anyone watching Mawaru Penguindrum? I'm about 8 episodes in and I'm really getting into how freakin' strange it is.

I've been watching it. I'm at episode 14 now. The beginning was so confusing I couldn't figure out if I liked it or not. I've decided that at this point the only thing keeping me going with it is wondering how it all ties together (I really, really hope it does) and the voice of Himari. It's strangely appealing to me.

Airk

04-06-2012, 08:42 AM

They redid it as FMA: Brotherhood after the manga ended in part because of the crappy anime ending. From what I understand, the two anime are pretty much the same until the original deviated from the manga and the second one continued it.

I'm not sure I can be bothered to watch...pretty much the same thing again. I mean, it was entertaining, but it didn't really IMPRESS me in the way that would make me want to go back and watch it again.

Vicullum

04-06-2012, 09:03 AM

I've been watching it. I'm at episode 14 now. The beginning was so confusing I couldn't figure out if I liked it or not. I've decided that at this point the only thing keeping me going with it is wondering how it all ties together (I really, really hope it does) and the voice of Himari. It's strangely appealing to me.

I've watched the entire series and found it confusing and underwhelming. And the big reveal of what the Penguindrum actually is just made me go "So that's it?"

Vicullum

04-06-2012, 09:18 AM

Death Note, Code Geass, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are all excellent anime as other people noted.

You may also want to check out Steins;Gate which deals with a somewhat crazy lead protagonist, his experiments with time travel (his time machine is a combination phone/microwave!), and the unintended consequences of making selective changes to the past.