Ergo Proxy
Alternate Titles: None
Original Japanese Release Date: 2006
Episode Length/Run-time: 23
Summary:
The world has been ravaged by years of war and the environment has long since been reduced to little more than desert and mud. In this post-apocalyptic world an Eden rises from the despair in the form of a city-state known as Romdo. However to remain here all personal sovereignty and feelings must be sacrificed to the will of the whole and specifically the government. Re-l Mayer (Pronounced ReAl) is the daughter of one of these politicians and part of the Citizen Information Bureau. As mysterious murders break out she is sent to investigate with her autorev (android servants to the humans) partner Iggy. Re-l discovers a mysterious affliction in the autorevs known as cognito which is prompting them to gain free-will. Adding to the mystery and confusion a strange creature attacks her, known as a Proxy, which is neither human nor android.
Review:
If the summary didn’t give it away this anime is jam-packed with mysteries, symbolism, half-truths, and misleading information. The problem is it ends up trying to do too much at once. As the viewer you need a road map, a translation guide, and a manual to follow this series. You’ll find yourself being confused if something is representative of another thing, purely symbolic, or literal. As a result you end up getting confused about key progression. There were a few points where I re-watched the dialogue about four times to get a vague idea of what they were talking about. Some episodes give way too much information all at once, and other episodes seem to be borderline filler.
The psychological aspects aside the world is very nice. Sometimes the animation does seem a little too dark (literally). But, it adds to the overall gritty feeling of the world and the dark despair.
Overall it’s something which you have to be in the mood for to really sit down and watch. And, even then, you may not get anything. That being said, I don’t think you should have to have a PHD to understand an anime. And even if it is that sophisticated they should offer better explanations for the intellectual and non-intellectual viewer.
[starrater]
June 29, 2011 @ 12:24 am
I think this anime tried to be an anime of the Evangelion genre. Besides the fact that most of the ideology, philosophy and themes of the series is Cartesian in nature, this series succeeded in highlighting character evolution. Yes, this series is heavy with information, probably too much for the average viewer, but it’s extremely refreshing to find a series like this. One of my friends is a philosophy major, and it’s a huge pleasure sitting down with him and watching stuff like this. Even if I can’t understand the series completely, the mental stimulation you get from discussing the finer points of it is exhilarating. Considering how much anime out there is pure fanservice, this anime was a huge breathe of fresh air.
As for the fact that a person has to watch this series over and over again, I think that’s a point in its favor. You learn something new every time you watch the series. Philosophy aside, the series has been the closest I know to actually being biologically possible. As a biology major, finding something in anime that is actually feasible is a huge surprise. Now are we actually going to create human hybrids? Unlikely, due to the ethical debate on it. Regardless of ones moral standing, it IS scientifically possible.
I think that, while the series is much more heady than conventional anime, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A solid 4 out of 5 is what this series deserved. Not a 2.5