Code:Realize ~ Sousei no Himegimi Episode 1 [First Impression]

Eva’s First Impression

Oh my god I am so excited, I have been waiting for this the moment it has been announced! And it couldn’t have started off on a better note!

No dragged out introductions of the cast, just dive straight into the plot, and we’ll learn about the characters as we go along. This is how it should be! Although they have made some noticeable alternations or entirely skipped some events, at the very least it enabled them to squeeze the first part of the prologue into one episode. The fact that they chosen to have Victor part of the crew to begin with, and replaced the scene of how she meets Saint-Germain, with her accidentally killing the hounds when she went out after Sisi, gives me the indication that this is going to be one of those rare adaptions where they will be following the True Route, and give us a canon ending.

And that is, of course with none other than our dashing Gentleman Thief, Arsène Lupin.

This is great because to begin with, Lupin’s Route is what brings all of the routes together, which makes it the most practical way to deliver the story through an adaption. Furthermore, Code:Realize’s game is quite minimal in the romance department to begin with, and Lupin being the bachelor of the true route, has all the good stuff. In general, Code:Realize is far more plot-heavy than indulging in the romantic get-away. Rather, it is difficult to do that when everything the heroine touches, burns and dies, no thanks to the Horologium in her chest.

Our dear heroine Cardia, (Isaac Beckford’s daughter) has been living in isolation at Isaac’s mansion for as long as she can remember… which turns out, she only has the last two years of memories to work with.

Cardia hardly knows anything about herself, the Horologium (what purpose it serves, how it even got there, and why she possesses it), her dreams, her wishes, she never thought about any of it. She simply did as she was told, which was to stay put in the mansion and live in isolation. At the moment, she has a relatively quiet and stoic personality, not one to understand jokes or something with with her (completely gave Impey the cold shoulder when he tried to be a charmer), or a lady’s etiquette (opening her blouse to show Lupin the Horologium in her chest). But to those who fear Cardia will never get a personality, rest assure, SHE WILL. The only thing she does know are her father’s parting words and the instructions she must follow.

And let me discuss about that for a second. I was taken aback how they left out some of Issac’s message to her. They chose to stick with, “You mustn’t leave the mansion, remember you are a monster”, but they left out how he ‘loves her, how she is forbidden to love anyone else’ – or something along the lines, I can’t remember been like almost six months since I last played and finally completed Lupin’s Route. They even made the decision to leave out one of the major clues of the purpose she serves – which I will keep to myself since it will be addressed at some point. It’s not the end of the world that they left these things out this episode, but I think it could have delivered that extra punch.

Cardia’s character is one of my favourite things about Code:Realize’s game, because her character development is absolutely fantastic. The key to this is her drive to learn more about herself, the secrets of the world and her father’s intentions. And the best part about this is how we the viewers are going to watch her bloom into this lively iron flower, who learns how to treasure herself and forge her own identity.

So let’s just lay out what we learned about about the Horologium: It’s dangerous poison that will either kill you or brutally burn you/melt your skin upon bare contact. (This is why Cardia mustn’t touch anything or anyone with her bare skin. This is why she wears a special outfit with material specifically designed to resist the poison – luckily her hair doesn’t burn anything either.) Lupin has also mentioned is an eternally beating heart, that can  produce an infinity of energy. How that energy is to be used, we don’t know, but there are two major organizations who are currently pursuing it: Queen Victoria, and Twilight. However it’s safe to say for the time being, the Twilight’s organization is more troublesome of the two because supposedly they plan to use her for a deadly terrorist attack on Industrial London. To make matters worse, Isaac Beckford is said to be involved as well. This is how and why Lupin had tracked Cardia down. He needed to steal her away to ensure neither parties got a hold of her to pursue their dangerous agendas.

And speaking of the devil, Lupin is our mighty fine gentleman thief. It was quite fun to see Lupin’s tricks in action, though I got to say I was quite disappointed that we didn’t get to see him impersonate Leonhardt. I was looking forward to that scene, haha! I am curious to see how the adaption will depict him, especially since they are already giving us an insight of his past so early on. He is quiet fearless when it comes to Cardia, trusting her clothes is going to do the job of ensuring that she won’t burn him, so he isn’t reluctant to take her hand or pull her close. I guess you could say he’s the bold type.

One of the things I like about him though is how he empowers Cardia. He was the one to tell her today she should learn to value herself more, and offer to grant her one wish. When she couldn’t come up with one because she never thought about it, Lupin told her she could take her time to think about it. He is a fun character, and while he is not my #1 guy in this series, I do like him a lot.

If we are truly locked into Lupin’s route as it seems, I do wonder just how much screentime everyone else is going to get. I have to admit, I was shocked how brief Victor Frankenstein’s and Impey Barbicane’s introductions were. I suspect Van Helsing Abraham is going to have a more… dramatic debut next week.

But most importantly: WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAINT-GERMAIN?! HE HASN’T EVEN SHOWED UP YET!

I am not going to lie, this episode had me suffering from Saint-Germain withdrawals. Hopefully he will be introduced next week, but oh my heart – it’s gonna hurt like a bitch isn’t it. Spoiler Alert: Saint-Germain is my bias, AKA My #1.

Overall I would say this was a good way to kick off the series, possibly even better since they have minimized the characters’ introduction scenes. I’m all for that because as many of you know, I absolutely DREAD it when they use up an entire bloody episode just to introduce characters. The pace of the episode wasn’t too rushed, but I have to say it was pretty close to it.

The animation this episode was definitely better, A LOT better than what I have seen in some of the trailers, but among them, it looks like Impey is probably going to get the shortest end of the stick (poor guy, can never catch a break) in terms of adaption of the character designs. Cardia though, goodness – they really made her look like a doll, a beautiful one at that. Even Lupin, Victor and Van (based off the preview) are all drop dead gorgeous! With that being said, they are definitely making it look good so far. So I am hopeful of the overall animation quality we will be seeing in this adaption.

The ED song, or OP, (I’m not sure which is is yet) surprised me. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t the tune I was expecting. It’s not bad, just surprising, that’s all.

Possibility of Covering: GUARANTEED – I can’t tell you how long I have been waiting for adaption and how much I am kicking myself for not having the game reviews ready. Due to circumstances, I have to rewrite them all over again ; A ; so please be patient! I hope to have them all set and ready to be released near or by the end of the show!