Code Geass: Akito the Exiled

Code Geass: Akito The Exiled (コードギアス 亡国のアキト) Code Geass Bōukoku no Akito (The Ruined Land of Akito) is an upcoming theatrical OVA. It was officially announced in the bonus materials of Code Geass: The Miraculous Birthday. The new series is directed by Kazuki Akane (Tenkuu no Escaflowne, Noein: Mou Hitori no Kimi e) and once again features original character designs by CLAMP.



Overview
The side story takes place in 2017 a.t.b., around the time Lelouch took on the alter-ego “Zero” and built up his “Black Knights” rebellion army. The setting is in Europe, where the Euro Universe (E.U.) allied nations are being invaded by the overwhelming forces of the Holy Britannian Empire. On the verge of defeat, the E.U. army forms a special unit known as “W-0″, of which a young pilot named Akito Hyuga is a member. Reila Malkal, a former Britannian Aristocrat comes to the E.U.'s aid, commanding the “Wyvern” Knightmare corps comprised of Japanese teenagers. They recklessly plunge into a battlefield, where the survival rate is extremely low, at about 5% only. They fight for their freedom and for a "home" to which they can return.

Chapter 1 Preview Summary
Chapter 1: "The Wyvern Has Landed" (翼竜は舞い降りた)

In 2010 a.t.b., the Holy Britannian Empire, while continuing its longstanding conflict with the E.U., suddenly invaded the eastern nation of Japan and renamed it Area 11. As a result of this, the Japanese in all other parts of the world were given the fate of exiles as Elevens as well.

After seven years, the continuously disadvantaged E.U. army gathers Elevens that are not formal citizens and establishes the “W-0” Unit for the sake of facing the enemy in dangerous operations with extremely low survival rates.

The E.U. Army’s 132nd Unit fails in recapturing St. Petersburg, and becomes surrounded by the Britannian Army in the city of Narva. The W-0 Unit is handed the order to undertake the Narva withdrawal operation for the sake of rescuing them. Akito Hyuuga also heads to the battlefield and pilots the W-0’s Knightmare Frame, the Alexander. Anou, the commander of the W-0, plans to protect the 132nd Unit by sacrificing Akito and the other Eleven soldiers. However, the mistake of that plan was clear to anyone’s eyes. At that time, Anou’s adjutant, Reila Malkal…And so, will Akito be able to survive on the cruel battlefield?

Characters
Akito Hyuuga has long blue hair, which is tied in a numerous amount of braids, and blue eyes, and is shown in promotional art wielding a katana with a white hilt and square guard. The other known main character thus far is a girl named Reila Malkal, who has very long, blonde hair and blue eyes.

Other Characters
Below are other characters that are believed to be part of the main cast.

Ryou Sayama
Ryou Sayama is the leader of a particular group that opposes the Mafia.

Yukiya Naruse
Yukiya Naruse is a boy who belongs to Ryou's group.

Ayano Kosaka
Ayano Kosaka is a girl who is also in Ryou's group.

Klaus Warwick
Klaus Warwick is Reila Malkal's lieutenant.

Sophie Randall
Sophie Randall, a civilian brain science expert.

Joe Wise
Joe Wise is an assistant researcher of Sophie Randall.

Anna Clement
Anna Clement is a genius scientist and the developer of the "Alexander."

Shin Hyūga Shaingu
Shin Hyūga Shaingu is a Euro knight that works for the Britannian Military.

Jean
Jean is a Britannian knight who works for Shin Hyūga Shaingu.

Oscar Hamel
Oscar Hamel is the vice captain of the Guard Troops.

Gene Smilas
Gene Smilas is a general of the Euro Universe.

Augusta Henry Highland
Augusta Henry Highland is the Britannian Archduke of Verance.

Michele Manfredi
Michele Manfredi is the Grand Master of the Knights of St. Michael.

Andrea Farnese
Andrea Farnese is the Grand Master of the Knights of St. Raphael

Knightmare Frame
The Alexander, a new Knightmare Frame, has the concept art of an unusual-looking Knightmare Frame, whose appearance suggests Sixth-Generation or later. The Knightmare Frame is piloted by Akito Hyuga and is a special operation unit that was originally developed in the E.U. by Anna. Akira Yasuda has returned to design the mechanical Knightmare units.

Other Knightmare Frames
Below are other Knightmare Frames that are confirmed to make an appearance in the OVA.

Alexander Type-02
The Alexander Type-02, a variation of the Alexander, is a mass produced Knightmare Frame used in the Special Forces Unit "W-0."

Sutherland
The Sutherland is a fifth generation Knightmare Frame, like the one from the original series, that was developed from the Glasgow with improved mobility.

Glasgow
The Glasgow is a combat type fourth generation Knightmare Frame, just like the Glasgow from the original series.

Gloucester
The Gloucester is a fifth-generation Knightmare Frame that was developed from the Sutherland.

Panzer-Hummel
The Panzer-Hummel is a mass produced Knightmare Frame used by the Euro Universe military.

Gardmare
The Gardmare is a Knightmare Frame produced by the Euro Universe.

Staff
Original Creator: Sunrise, Ichirō Ōkouchi, Goro Taniguchi

Director: Kazuki Akane

Screenplay: Kazuki Akane, Miya Asakawa

Series Composition Cooperation: Shigeru Morita

Original Character Design: CLAMP

Character Design: Takahiro Kimura

Chief Animation Director: Shuichi Shimamura

Knightmare Draft Design: Akira Yasuda

Mechanical Design: Kenji Teraoka, Takumi Sakura, Takashi Miyamoto, Astray's

3DCG Animation Director: Eiji Inomoto

3DCG: Orange

Color Design: Kumiko Nakayama

Art Director: Takeshi Satou

Art Set: Kazushige Kanehira

Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa

Music: Ichiko Hashimoto

Theme Song: "More Than Words" (Composition by Yoko Kanno, Lyrics by Yuho Iwasato, Song by Maaya Sakamoto)

Voice Actors/Actresses
Miyu Irino: Akito Hyuga

Maaya Sakamoto: Reila Malkal

Satoshi Hino: Ryou Sayama

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka: Yukiya Naruse

Yoko Hikasa: Ayano Kosaka

Keiji Fujiwara: Klaus Warwick

Yuko Kaida: Sophie Randall

Shinji Kawada:: Joe Wise

Ai Kayano: Anna Clement

Masaya Matsukaze: Shin Hyūga Shaingu

Unshou Ishizuka: Gene Smilas

Showtaro Morikubo: Oscar Hammel

Mikako Komatsu: Kate Novak

Asami Seto: Ferilli Paltrow

Nao Tōyama: Chloe Winkel

Saori Hayami: Hilda Fagan

Natsumi Takamori: Sara Danes

Mariya Ise: Olivier Lowell

Kenta Miyake: Michele Manfredi

Takehito Koyasu: Andrea Farnese

Release Dates
According to composer Ichiko Hashimoto, the theatrical screening events will take place every three months beginning this Summer and will precede each BD/DVD release. The format consists of four OVA chapters with a running time of about 50 minutes per episode. She also revealed that it will be a theatrical four-episode OVA release, similar to the release of Gundam Unicorn, before coming out on Blu-ray on a quarterly schedule starting this summer.

Hashimoto has also estimated that the official soundtrack will be released this Fall.

On April 27th 2012, it was announced that the first episode of the OVA will premiere in Japan on August 4th, 2012. The other three episodes will follow seasonally.

A special preview screening for the first episode will take place at Ikebukuro Cinema Sunshine and Shinjuku Wald 9 on July 16th 2012.

Sakamoto Maaya, the singer of the theme song, "More than Words," has announced that she will be releasing the theme song on July 25th 2012.

Trailer
BIGLOBE's Anime One portal site began streaming a 53-second promotional video for the Code Geass: Akito the Exiled anime project on Monday. The website is also streaming the project's previous promotional video that debuted in January. The spinoff anime's first installment will open in theaters in Japan on August 4.

thumb|300px|right|53 seconds Promotional Video of Code Geass: Akito the Exiled.

thumb|300px|left|Code Geass: Akito the Exiled Trailer.