Code Breaker - 13 (END) + Series Review

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Let's start the New Year by following the saying, "Out with the old and in with the new." Code Breaker, being the remnant of 2012 is the old and I wonder what the new is (Care to venture a guess ).

The conclusion to Code Breaker was as expected. It had been building up to this moment for the last few episodes now and the penultimate one confirmed my suspicions about how it will play out. Very textbook, no surprises and nothing to really complain about.

Everything from Hitomi's exit to the Code Breakers farewells to Sakura brought back deja vu from every single Hero-based TV series or movie that wasn't high budget. Sakura remained the annoying naive girl right to Hitomi's last breath, making way for Ogami's post-victory breakdown. She's always affected Ogami in one way or another with her annoying attitude but never to the point of him getting angry.

It didn't matter, because I was more focused on Heike. Perhaps my favourite of the bunch, his reactions to Ogami's new-found powers was amusing beyond reason. That campiness that he to his character really helps bring some comedy, be it intentional or not. At the end of the episode, he was sad for the first time and revealed to be a triple-agent (fantastic writing right ) which was both pleasant and awkward; having his last moments be goofy would have been bad but I liked that about him.

The ending itself was a "To be continued" type. New plot was briefly introduced leaving new questions to be answered, and of course not everything was disclosed about Sakura's powers. My guess is that this was to entice people to pick up the Code Breaker manga or not completely shut down the idea of a second season. Either way, it was average.

Series Review

After an initial disappointment with the series, I accepted Code Breaker for what it was. An average shonen action series with a corny over-used plot that anyone could write. When I say anyone, I mean anyone.

Being one of the rare Kinema Citrus anime projects, helmed by a decent staff, the series was a flop. Just because this series looked close to a BONES production, there was some expectations of quality which went out the window between the second and fifth episode.

Still, I don't hate Code Breaker. It definitely had its moments, most of which were comedic but are moments nonetheless. My frustrations with Sakura were aided by Ogami's cool character and Heike's over-the-top presence which meant I could actually enjoy it a little more.

With good production value, I do feel slightly disappointed about how this anime turned out but then again I did hear about certain issues with the manga. It was entertaining, but is never going to be re-watched by me.