The premise for Code:Realize – Sousei no Himegimi seemed pretty interesting, but when I watched the first episode, things didn’t exactly pan out the way I had thought them to be. That’s the odd thing about a synopsis… you may end up with something that you weren’t completely expecting, but was that a bad thing for a show that includes a colon and a subtitle in its name?
Let’s Go!
First Episode Impressions
In short, Code:Realize is about Adlet Mayer and Tuxedo Mask kidnapping a girl who is the very definition of abstinence.
Okay… so maybe not.
Cardia Beckford has a poison inside of her body that will cause anyone and anything to dissolve if they come in contact with her skin. The British Army attempts to kidnap her on orders from her father, who is the one who placed a crystal in her chest which, effectively, poisoned her. A thief by the name of Arsene Lupin and a mechanic by the name of Impey Barbicane intervene and end up being the ones who kidnap her. They tell her that they did so because her father is looking to start a war to overthrow London, which has been re-imagined as a giant steampunk city that is the world’s economic and political center. In fact, we just said goodbye to an anime that also re-imagined London as a steampunk city in Princess Principal. I guess this is the new trend?
In the end, she is taken to a stronghold (i.e. a luxurious mansion) where she is introduced to Victor Frankenstein, who happens to be a wanted terrorist, despite the fact that he looks like he just came out of a science lab after attending a cocktail party. They pretty much tell her that the mansion will be her new home, but she runs into a dog with a steampunk-esque prosthetic leg and decides to chase it out of the mansion where she is attacked by a pack of wild dogs. One of them goes to bite her and ends up turning into a bowl of Purina.
And that’s how our first episode went… yeah
OP and ED Thoughts
Okay… can we just take a step back here for a moment? I need some time to stop my brain from experiencing nirvana.
Yes, the opening to this show is THAT GOOD. “kalmia” by Mia REGINA starts off with a nice slow and calm piano. Her voice is soothing and it makes you think that this is going to be one of those slow/somber opening themes. Then the chorus kicks in and you’re just taken to that special place where you forget the world exists because right there, right at that moment, you are lost in the music. That slow, yet impactful beat, the chords of the guitars, the melody of Regina’s voice… all of it meshes together in a way that tantalizes all of your auditory sensors! The best part is, this song is set to drop on November 15 so you better believe that I will be heading over to CDJapan to grab a copy of this!
The ending theme is “twinkle” by Saori Hayami, who voices Cardia Beckford in the show. The ending, much like the opening, begins with a soothing piano and continues that way until the end. It’s a slow, melodic piece and Saori’s voice is a nice match for it. While I despise songs sung by the voice actors and actresses, there is always that small percentage of songs that break the mold and are a joy to listen to. This is one of those songs. It’s not a song that makes you want to punch through rock, but it’s soothing enough and has a great tone to serve as an ending theme and would make for a great song to listen to after a long, trying day.
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – There’s only two things Code:Realize has going for it right now: the opening theme and the fact that Cardia is voiced by Saori Hayami, who also did Shouko’s voice in Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice). Everything else is just falling extremely flat right now. Impey looks like his design and his persona were ripped right out of Adlet Mayer from Rokka no Yuusha while Arsene pulled off his best Tuxedo Mask cosplay when he kidnapped Cardia. While the premise of Code:Realize does show promise, it got off to a really slow start and it’ll have to do something bigger and better in the next couple of episodes if they want me to keep watching.
