Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, Volume 1: Stage -0- Entrance

This book details the "prequel" type history of Lelouch and Suzaku's relationship seven or eight years before the anime series begins. It delves into some interesting material that we never see in the anime, i.e., Tohdoh's importance in Suzaku's early life, and the slow building of the friendship between Lelouch and Suzaku. I was moved by Suzaku's loneliness and isolation (Lelouch and Nunnally are his only friends growing up). Most significantly, we find out the real reason why Suzaku committed a certain heinous act... which was very enlightening. I actually found the writing to be of high quality, and more literary in nature than most "novelization" type books that are based on film or TV media. If you're a Code Geass fan, this novel will give you more background information on the story, on Lelouch, and especially on Suzaku.

Given the vast size of the Code Geass universe, it was inevitable that the anime couldn't contain all of the background stories of the characters. A lot of details about Lelouch, Suzaku, and Nunnally's childhood times are in the Code Geass novels. The novels are meant to supplement the anime, so people who haven't watched it would probably not enjoy the novels fully. This book is a very easy read. It's not trying to be Shakespearean-deep, but it does a good job of giving the reader more details on the events prior to Britannia's invasion of Japan, such as Lelouch's reactions at moving into Kururugi Shrine, why Tohdoh became Suzaku's sensei, how Nunnally had difficulties coping with her new life, and more. The narrator for the majority of the stories is revealed to be C.C., so it infers that she'd been monitoring Lelouch ever since he arrived in Japan. Since the book is a direct translation from Japanese, there isn't much in terms of complexity of language or passages that make you think critically. The book is best for a casual read; I breezed through the whole volume within an hour on a cross-Pacific flight. The accompanying black-and-white illustrations were pulled out of the magazine that the chapters were originally serialized in. I'm giving the book four stars because while it serves its purpose to augment the Code Geass universe, much of the information can be guessed from other sources and it's not the most stellar writing ever.