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| Code:Breaker volume 17 |
STORY: Weight of 25% at 3.0/5
The story follows the adventures of a group of Code:Breakers, government-sanctioned agents given the right to eliminate anything that the law cannot. The story has a much more darker tone than other shounen series and where other series explore the themes of growing up and friendship, Code:Breaker instead explores the darker themes of what is right and wrong, who has the right to judge another, etc.
The plot begins simply enough but slowly "deepens" and "darkens". Plot twists will come in multitudes and everything becomes more and more complex.
However, while the writer attempts to make a dark, well-defined and detailed story, she takes too much time to do so making pointless twists and turns and sometimes ends up focusing on the wrong things.
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| http://i11.mangareader.net/code-breaker/182/code-breaker-3393125.jpg |
CHARACTERS: Weight of 25% at 3.2/5
Like most shounen battle series, there is a large cast for the story. There isn't a single "good guy" or "bad guy" which is good. However, thinking back, none of the characters truly stood out for me. In fact, after finishing the manga and anime over half a year ago, I had nearly forgotten the existence of this series. Granted, each important character was quirky and enjoyable in their own way however, we have seen better of them done elsewhere.
There are two saving graces though, that being the main male and female characters and the relationship between them.
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| http://animengaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/codebreaker.jpg |
However, simply writing him off as a cold bastard wouldn't do him justice either. In actuality, he is much kinder than people think he is. This is caused by him having closed his heart to the world and becoming unable to fully express his thoughts. One think I really like about Rei though is how unconventional of a main character he is, instead of spouting bullshit which is typical of shounen heroes, Rei's view on the world, although flawed, is very "to the ground".
Furthermore, early Ogami was one of the best characters that I had ever seen, falling in line with the likes of Hei (BK-201) from the Darker than Black series or ... Spiderman? But that would be left for dead later.
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| http://media.animevice.com/uploads/2/20791/624927-code_breaker_ep1_8.png |
The other "good" character is Sakura Sakurakouji (that originality though), the main female character and the official romantic interest for Ogami.
Being the polar opposite to Ogami, Sakura does not believe that anyone has the right to judge another and that violence is not always the answer. She voices her opinion and is very straight-forward, to the point of even being the one who takes the lead in their romantic relationship. Although not the brightest and quiet naive, her persistent and even comedic character makes her very interesting.
Overall, however, the character roster was somewhat lackluster and although viewers or readers might like certain characters enough, the masses as a whole will probably, like me, sweep them under a rug when they are done with the show.
MANGA: Weight of 35% at 3.6/5
The manga lasted for 26 volumes and was a mixed bag for me. It grabbed my attention early on, but eventually the interest faded away and I continued reading only for the sake of catching up/finishing the story. The art wasn't exactly bad but felt unpolished or rushed at times. Granted, I myself can't draw for the sake of me, so you can take that with a grain of salt. However, there were some ups with its downs with some scene remaining fantastically memorable like the "confession scene" shown above. But, if you do want to get the complete package that Code:Breaker can give you, with its fine points and its flaws, you should read the manga because...
ANIME: Weight of 15% at 2.9/5
The anime was produced by Kinema Citrus (who is responsible for... uh... Black Bullet.) in 2012 in the form of 13 episodes.
The anime was much like the manga, it caught you during the first few episodes but proceeded to let you down along the way. Some good points would be how they handled the first few chapters. While the introduction of the main characters and the foundation of the setting took quite a bit of chapters, the anime smashed that all together and fit it in more or less two episodes. However, the anime strays from its source material quite a bit and having lived through the FMA anime and FMAB, that might put some people off. Finally, the anime ends with still quite a bit of content left. However, I highly doubt that Kinema or any other studio would ever pick this up because of how much of a trainwreck this anime was as a whole.
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| http://wallpaperpanda.com/wallpapers/dcK/boG/dcKboGb5i.png |
And to answer the question "is the anime better if I didn't read the manga?", the answer is no.
FINAL VERDICT: Overall score of 64.9%
Before anyone start complaining or agreeing, I have to first say that the series is in no way completely unenjoyable. Although I did say that reading the manga felt like a responsibility at a certain point, the manga was never so bad that I would decide to drop it. This is still an action-packed, somewhat thought-provoking and darker than average shounen series that could be enjoyed. However, when there are flaws, we cannot be so loving as to ignore them nor can we ignore what it had done right for the sake of vomiting on it.
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| http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/018/1/8/code_breaker___wallpaper_by_magg93-d5rxeae.jpg |
VIDEO REVIEW: *Coming soon*
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