Code:Breaker

About Code:Breaker

If you are hunting for a new action series, Code:Breaker (CØDE:BREAKER) deserves a look (2012). The setup goes like this. At its core: Riding the bus one day, Sakurakouji Sakura looks out the window to see people being burned alive with a blue fire and a boy her age who's unharmed and standing over the people. She comes back to the site the next day and there are no corpses or evidence of any kind of murder, just a small fire.

Along the way, she then goes to class to find there's a new transfer learner, Oogami Rei, who looks exactly like the boy she saw before and wears a black glove only on his left hand. Oogami is a Code Breaker, one who "does not exist". He is a seemingly cold-blooded killer who follows the principle of "an eye for an eye", to "use evil against evil".

In an action series like this, fight choreography, pacing and sound design carry much of the weight. Voice work is led by Nobuhiko Okamoto as Rei Oogami and Youko Hikasa as Sakura Sakurakouji. If you count yourself among viewers who like fast, high-impact fights, put it on your list. The run is 13 episodes in total, so you know what you are signing up for.

Production & Appeal

Kinema Citrus is the studio behind Code:Breaker, and its direction shapes everything from character design to motion. Within the action category, fight choreography, pacing and sound design carry much of the weight. Its 6.3/10 score suggests opinions are split, so it suits viewers who already like the genre. On the casting side, Nobuhiko Okamoto voicing Rei Oogami gives the lead role a recognizable voice. It aired in 2012, which makes it easy to place in the wider anime calendar.