Code Geass quickly captured the hearts and eyes of anime fans when it debuted in 2006. Following the tale of Lelouch Vi Britannia, the exiled prince of the authoritarian Britannian Empire, the series seamlessly blends high-octane mech vs. mech action and character-driven political drama into a highly satisfying cocktail.
With the debut of the latest entry in the series, Code Geass: Z of The Recapture, on the horizon, fans of the franchise are probably looking for anime that can fill the Code Geass-shaped hole in their hearts so they don’t have to rewatch the original series for the umpteenth time. Here are our picks for the top ten anime like Code Geass.
The Best Shows Like Code Geass
Each anime listed below has many similarities with Code Geass but still brings something new that acolytes of Lelouch can enjoy. Whether they are straightforward mecha action shows or more cerebral psychological thrillers with themes of rebellion and interpersonal drama, the anime on this list have at least one element that will appeal to Code Geass fans.
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10. Neon Genesis Evangelion
In the year 2000, a global cataclysm known as the Second Impact devastated Earth, tilting the planet off its axis and wiping out half of the population. Fifteen years later, troubled teenager Shinji Ikari is recruited into the paramilitary organization Nerv, which uses experimental giant mechs known as Evangelion Units to battle against massive alien monsters known as “Angels.”
As Shinji, alongside fellow underage Evangelion pilots Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu, battle increasingly powerful Angels, the dark secrets of Nerv and those who run it slowly come to light. With a prophecized “Third Impact” slowly closing in on the horizon, Shinji realizes that the real battle he has to win is the one inside himself.
9. Monster
When a young boy and the mayor of Düsseldorf arrive at Eisler Memorial Hospital bloody and on the brink of death, Dr. Kenzo Tenma refuses to bow to the political pressure placed on him by the city’s leaders and saves the boy. When the doctors who spitefully blacklisted Kenzo for following his heart end up dead, his career and personal life collapse.
Years later, Kenzo learns that the boy he saved, Johan Leibert, has grown into a prolific serial killer and was responsible for killing the doctors who wanted to leave him to die. Accused of the murders Johan has committed by an overzealous detective, Kenzo is forced to go on the run to prove his innocence and undo the mistake he made by allowing Johan to live all those years ago.
8. The Vision Of Escaflowne
Hitomi Kanzaki is a lonely high school student who struggles to express her emotions and connect with her peers. One day, Hitomi meets and saves the life of a mysterious boy named Van, who is quickly revealed to be a prince from a parallel world known as Gaia on a quest to hunt a dragon.
After she is accidentally transported to Gaia, Hitomi becomes caught up in the war between the authoritarian Zaibach Empire and the other nations of Gaia. Armed with newly awakened psionic abilities, Hitamo helps the mecha-piloting warriors of the resistance battle the force of the Zaibach Empire while slowly unraveling the many mysteries of Gaia and searching for a way to return to Earth.
7. Eureka Seven
Renton Thurston, the son of a famous scientist who sacrificed himself to save the world from a cataclysm, leads an ordinary life on a post-apocalyptic Earth ravaged by an organism called Scrub Coral. One day, a giant robot piloted by a mysterious girl named Eureka crashes onto his front lawn and joins her on a quest to deliver a mysterious power source to its destination.
Joining Eureka’s allies, an anti-government resistance group known as Gekkostate, Renton embarks on a coming-of-age journey that sees him step into the pilot seat of surfing robots and battle agents of the authoritarian government that rules his world. Along the way, he realizes the depth of his feelings for Eureka and discovers the true nature of the Scrub Coral.
6. 86
As far as the people of the Republic of San Magnolia know, their idyllic, democratic nation has successfully waged a casualty-less war against the Empire of Gaid. What they don’t know, however, is that the “autonomous” Juggernaut mechs waging war against the Empire’s legions are piloted by members of the “86,” an ethnic minority who are considered subhuman cannon-fodder by the Republic’s racist leadership.
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Major Vladilena “Lena” Milizé, an idealistic young military officer, learns the truth about the Juggernauts when she is made leader of the Spearhead Squadron of the Eastern Front, an elite squad of hardened and cynical 86 veterans. Working alongside the squad’s leader, Shinei “The Undertaker” Nouzen, Vladiena strives to end the war with the Empire and end the oppression of the 86, discovering dark secrets her government is willing to kill to conceal.
5. Guilty Crown
On December 24, 2029, a meteorite crashed into Japan, bringing with it a plague known as the Apocalypse Virus that caused the country to fall into anarchy. Eventually, a United Nations-endorsed pharmaceutical company known as GHQ managed to end the pandemic, only to end up transforming Japan into a corporate police state.
While trying to save musician Inori Yuzuriha from GHQ’s paramilitary forces, Shu Ouam becomes embroiled in a guerrilla war between GHQ and a resistance movement known as Funeral Parlor. Infected with an altered strain of the Apocalypse Virus that grants him the ability to create viral constructs, Shu becomes a central figure in Funeral Parlor’s battle to restore Japan’s freedom and discover a cure to the still-active Apocalypse Virus.
4. Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans
Finally fed up after years of economic and political oppression inflicted on them by Earth, the nations of a terraformed Mars launch a campaign for independence. To ensure she reaches Earth safely, Mars’ ambassador, Kudelia Aina Bernstein, hires the Chryse Guard Security company to protect her from the extremist pro-Earth paramilitary organization Gjallarhorn.
Soon into the journey, Chryse Guard Security’s Third Army Division, comprised of child soldiers, rebels against their abusive superiors and forms their own mercenary company, Tekkadan. Joining the war for their homeworld’s independence, the young pilots of Tekkadon find themselves fighting for a future where they can be more than the disposal tools they’ve been treated as all their lives.
3. Akame Ga Kill!
Desperate to earn money to help support his impoverished village, Tatsumi embarks on a journey to the affluent Capital of the Empire. Soon after he arrives, he discovers that the Empire has become a cesspool of corruption. He narrowly escapes being killed when he encounters members of Night Raid, a group of assassins who serve a rebellion that seeks to overthrow the Empire’s Prime Minister, Honest.
Arming himself with a Teigu, a mystical weapon wielded by the Empire’s military elite, Tatsumi joins Night Raid and dedicates himself to restoring the Empire to its former glory. Along the way, he and the other members of Night Raid battle high-ranking, Teigu-wielding members of the empire, and not all of them live to see the end of the regime.
2. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
In the far future, the inhabitants of Earth have been condemned to live in isolated, underground villages by Lord Genome, a tyrant who rules the surface with an iron fist. When a shy young miner named Simon discovers the dormant head of a mecha known as a Gunmen, he and his surrogate elder brother Kamina embark on a journey to the surface and join a brewing rebellion against Genome’s regime.
Aided by a quirky cast of fellow revolutionaries and a powerful, fused Gunman that comes to be called Gurren Lagann, Simon learns to find the confidence he always lacked and become the leader Kamina believed he could be. As he does, he slowly unravels the mysteries of his world, most notably the nature of the “Spiral Energy” that powers the Gunman.
1. Death Note
Light Yagami is a high school prodigy who has become disillusioned with the world, which he sees as a crime-ridden cesspool where evil-doers go unpunished. One day, he discovers the Death Note, a book that possesses the innate ability to kill those whose names are written on its pages.
Deciding to use the power of the Death Note to cleanse the world of all criminals, Light reinvents himself as “Kira,” a bringer of “divine justice” who quickly gains a cult following. Light’s crusade soon encounters an obstacle: an introverted but highly skilled and dedicated private detective named L, who dedicates himself to unmasking and arresting the self-proclaimed embodiment of justice.
