Britannia has conquered Japan and stripped it of its name. An exiled prince, cast aside by his own father, gains a power that compels absolute obedience — and uses it to build a rebellion from behind a mask, while his closest friend rises through the enemy's ranks.
Plus 8 optional extras and 2 more titles.
2 titles · 50 episodes · ~20 hours
Watch the two TV series back to back — together they tell the complete original story, and nothing else is required. Everything after that is a branch: three films retell the story with changes that set up the newer sequels, and a five-part side story follows a different cast in Europe.
The starting point. Twenty-five episodes that introduce the world, the power at the centre of the story, and the double life the main character builds around it. Available on Crunchyroll and Netflix with an English dub.
Continues straight on from the first season and carries the story to its conclusion. Watch it immediately after — the two seasons were built as one work, and R2 assumes you remember the first.
The first of three films covering the first season through roughly episode 17, with new scenes and altered events. Treat it as a different version of the story rather than a recap, and watch it only if you intend to continue into the sequels.
⚠ The three films have no English dub. The North American Blu-ray release was subtitled only.
Covers the end of the first season and the first half of R2. The changes introduced in the previous film carry through here, so watch the three in sequence.
⚠ Subtitled only — no English dub exists for this film.
Covers the rest of R2 and ends on the version of events that the sequel film builds on. This is the film that makes the difference between the two continuities clear.
⚠ Subtitled only — no English dub exists for this film.
A sequel film set two years after the original ending. It follows the continuity established by the three films, so watching them first gives you the version of events it assumes. On Crunchyroll, with an English dub.
⚠ Coming straight from the TV series rather than the films still works, but a few setups will not match what you saw.
A twelve-episode sequel series from 2024 following two mercenary brothers in a northern Japan under new occupation. It runs on from Re;surrection, so watch that film first. On Hulu and Disney+, with an English dub.
⚠ Released in Japanese theatres as four films and internationally as twelve episodes. The content is the same.
The first of five hour-long chapters following a separate cast on the European front during the same war. It spoils nothing in the main story and requires nothing from you except knowing how the world works.
⚠ As of 2026 there is no streaming service carrying Akito the Exiled in the United States. The English dub exists on Blu-ray only. It streams on Crunchyroll in some other regions, including the UK.
The second chapter. The five parts were released between 2012 and 2016 but form one continuous story, so watch them in order and close together.
The third chapter, and the point where a familiar face from the main series becomes central to what is happening in Europe.
The fourth chapter. The side story's own conflict comes to a head here, ahead of the finale.
The final chapter, which closes out the side story completely. Nothing in the main series depends on how it ends.
Start with the two TV series and watch them back to back. R2 picks up directly from the first season, and the fifty episodes together form one complete story with a real ending. If you stop there, you have not missed anything essential.
The three films from 2017 and 2018 cover the same events, but they are not highlight reels. Scenes were added, several plot points were changed, and the result is a separate continuity rather than a condensed version of the show. Those changes are what the 2019 sequel film, Re;surrection, follows on from — which is why the films sit in the same block as the sequels here rather than being treated as a recap you can watch at any time. If the sequels interest you, take the three films first. If they do not, you can stop after R2 with a complete story behind you.
One practical warning about this block: the three films were never dubbed into English. Everything else in the list has a dub, so if you watch dubbed, this is the point where you will need subtitles.
Rozé of the Recapture, from 2024, follows on from Re;surrection with a new cast in a changed world. It comes last in this path.
Akito the Exiled is a five-part side story set in Europe with an entirely separate cast. It assumes you already know the world, so it belongs after the main story rather than inside it, and it spoils nothing either way. It is placed at the end here because it is the hardest part of the franchise to actually watch — there is currently no streaming option for it in the United States.
Code Geass has 2 seasons in the main run — 50 episodes altogether.
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion | TV Series | 25 episodes | October 2006 |
| Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 | TV Series | 25 episodes | April 2008 |
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion I – Initiation | Movie | October 2017 | |
| Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion II – Transgression | Movie | February 2018 | |
| Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion III – Glorification | Movie | May 2018 | |
| Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection | Movie | February 2019 | |
| Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture | ONA | 12 episodes | June 2024 |
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Code Geass: Akito the Exiled – The Wyvern Arrives | Movie | August 2012 | |
| Code Geass: Akito the Exiled – The Wyvern Divided | Movie | September 2013 | |
| Code Geass: Akito the Exiled – The Brightness Falls | Movie | May 2015 | |
| Code Geass: Akito the Exiled – Memories of Hatred | Movie | July 2015 | |
| Code Geass: Akito the Exiled – To Beloved Ones | Movie | February 2016 |
2 titles · 50 episodes · ~20 hours
Start with Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion from 2006, then watch R2 immediately after. Those two seasons are fifty episodes and about twenty hours, and they tell the whole original story with a proper ending. Everything else in the franchise is optional.
The two TV seasons are on Crunchyroll and Netflix. The three films and the sequel film Re;surrection are on Crunchyroll. Rozé of the Recapture is on Hulu and Disney+. Akito the Exiled is the exception — it has no US streaming home and is available on Blu-ray or on Crunchyroll in some other regions, including the UK.
Most of it does. Both TV seasons are dubbed and aired on Adult Swim. Re;surrection was dubbed with Johnny Yong Bosch as Lelouch, and Rozé of the Recapture was dubbed by NYAV Post for its 2024 release. The three compilation films are the gap — they were released subtitled only and have never been dubbed.
No. All fifty TV episodes are story episodes with nothing to skip. The only material you can safely leave out sits outside the TV run: the compilation films, the Europe side story, and the various picture drama shorts.
Only if you want to continue into the sequels. They retell the TV series with new scenes and changed events, which creates a separate continuity, and the 2019 sequel film follows that version rather than the TV one. If you have no interest in the sequels, you can skip all three without losing anything.
Yes. It runs five hour-long chapters with a completely separate cast on the European front, and the main story never depends on it. It also spoils nothing, so you can watch it whenever you like — the practical obstacle is availability rather than placement, since it currently has no US streaming option.
They are short side stories told with still artwork and voice acting rather than animation, released as bonuses on the Japanese discs. There are several sets across the franchise. None of them are needed, and there is no current legal English release, so this guide leaves them out.
Yes. A brand-new entry, Code Geass: Hoshi Oi no Aspar, was announced in December 2025 for the franchise's twentieth anniversary. It is an original story rather than a sequel, and no English title or release window has been confirmed yet, so it is not in the lists above.
