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 division known as “W-O″, of which a young pilot named Akito Hyuuga is a member. Layla 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.

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 Layla 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.

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

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

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

Klaus Warrick
Klaus Warrick is Layla Malkal's lieutenant.

Sophie Randle
Sophie Randle, a civilian brain science expert.

Joe
Joe is an assistant researcher of Sophie.

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

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

Jean
Jean is a Britannian knight who works for Shin.

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 Hyuuga 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-O."

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.

Staff
Original: Sunrise, Ichirō Ōkouchi, Goro Taniguchi

Director: Kazuki Akane

Screenplay: Kazuki Akane, Yoshinari Asakawa

Configuration Cooperation: Shigeru Morita

Original Character Design: CLAMP

Character Design: Takahiro Kimura

Chief Animation Director: Shuichi Shimamura

Knightmare Draft Design: Akira Yasuda

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

CG Animation Director: Eiji Inomoto

Color Scheme: Kumiko Nakayama

Art Director: Takeshi Satou

Art Set: Kazushige Kanehira

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 Hyuuga

Maaya Sakamoto: Layla Malkal

Satoshi Hino: Ryo Sayama

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka: Yukiya Naruse

Yoko Hikasa: Ayana Kosaka

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.

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.