Ergo Proxy: Centzon Hitchers and Undertaker

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[SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THIS REVIEW! I'D RECOMMEND READING THE MANGA AND WATCHING THE SERIES (though watch the series first, of course) BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW!]

Alriiiight. Here we are with the review of the Ergo Proxy side-manga like I promised I would do...sorry for not finishing it sooner, been just kind of slogging along because of...Fortnite, yeah, I'm not kidding. But that's pretty much done now and I've finished this manga, so let's get to it!


Ergo Proxy: Centzon Hitchers and Undertaker:

The Narrative:

So, Centzon Hitchers and Undertaker is a side-story or rather what I'd call a companion piece to the anime since it takes place between Episodes ... 3 & 4 of the anime after Vincent and Pino escape from Romdeau and are with Hoody and everyone in the Commune and is a past tale told from Hoody to Pino about a story that happens within the past with a very special kind of Autoreiv. That's the summary I'm giving cause I'm not trying to violate the Review Guidelines any further. So, the story is fairly simple starting out, but I'd say much like the series it grows in scale as it progresses and it works pretty well in its favor. We're even given some foreshadowing to things that happen in the series itself (which you won't get if you don't watch and finish the entire anime first before reading this), which is pretty neat for someone like me who finished watching the series not that long ago. It's well-paced for a pretty short ten-chapter-long manga and I think they do a good job expanding on the lore of the universe while also giving us a glimpse into what life was like back before the series took place (which frankly isn't all THAT different, but there's certainly more people seen outside of Romdeau and the domes compared to the anime.) I think its length is pretty good and they don't waste the reader's time by padding it out with anything unnecessary the story is pretty straight to the point once you realize by the end what it's going for (an origin story things like the Commune and the Centzon Vince and everyone else rides during the anime.) A- overall, if only for things SOMETIMES seemingly just kinda...happening out of nowhere at times.

The Characters:

Well, the Ergo Proxy anime has some PHENOMENAL characters, both in their visual design and writing, so how does THIS manga stack up to its bigger brother anime? Well...it's...pretty good! Not as good as the anime's cast, for sure, but far from bad. The characters who AREN'T Vincent, Pino, and Hoody are all original and they all fit pretty well into the universe. Once the main characters are rounded up you've got Leon, an astronomer, Heart, a mercenary, and Dorothy, the 'special' autoreiv that is easily the most iconic thing about this manga, so it's a nice diverse cast. Once they're together they honestly work like a family much like Vincent, Re-l, and Pino did in THEIR own time together, so I guess Leon's 'Three Amigos' are in a way predecessors to them. The characters are likable, albeit a little bit more wise-cracking than anyone from the anime (there's some gags and stuff in this manga that just straight-up don't exist in the anime, and it both benefits and hurts this manga in its tone if I'm to be frank.) I enjoyed watching how they all overcame everything that was thrown at them and seeing Leon especially go from being an absolute jerk to Dorothy to genuinely caring about her almost like a child was quite sweet to see. This section's honestly probably the best part about this manga and probably where I'll have the most to say about anything here, so A-, only for some instances where the characters feel a little too cartoonish at times and it hurts the tone of the story.

The Visuals:

Probably the section I don't have all that much to talk about, frankly. The environments are nicely drawn and look how you'd expect an Ergo Proxy manga to look. Characters both original and from the anime also look pretty on-point and really only Dorothy I would say is the outlier because she's made to be the main character in a way, though it's only because of her outfit. The parts where they show stars were probably my favorite parts visually of the manga since they contrast so much with everything else and it's the only time where I personally feel the manga pops outside of some parts towards the end with some admittedly nice-looking pages and panels. I personally wish we could've gotten at least a glimpse at Romdeau, though I suppose they didn't want to end up having to write more stuff, especially since they'd probably have to include Raul Creed and Kristeva, which makes me wonder what they would've even done with them or Re-l here, so maybe that's why. Anywho, it's a solid A effort for a single mangaka who did BOTH the writing AND art.

The Conclusion:

Overall, as a companion piece to Ergo Proxy, an already obscure anime, it's no surprise that nobody's really reviewed this or anything, it's good for what it is and serves as extra material for fans to dive into if they loved Ergo Proxy and wanted a little more of it (like me.) If you can find an English Translation of it somewhere or can somehow track a physical copy of somehow out in the wild, I'd give it a read if you enjoyed the anime. That's all I've really got to say at this time, honestly. With such a straight-to-the-point manga that's small like this, I guess you can't expect me to have much to say on it, it's just a decent side-manga for a pretty peak underrated series.

Post-Review Ramble (MAL Exclusive):

Alright, well...I decided to keep my post-review rambles since I'm not exactly sure if people are gonna go to my profile's comments section and read what I've got planned. Anyway, with this manga done, I'm gonna be focusing back on another anime again. I've got an now of the next two anime I'm gonna watch, but for now I'm just letting you all in on the next one I'm watching. The next anime I'll be watching is Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. I'm a big fan of the Scott Pilgrim franchise and it's short, it's a no-brainer! Gonna try and also finish Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition hopefully before this year ends too, so that may be taking up some of my time for watching/reading stuff and writing reviews, but I'll try my best to keep some consistency. Living situation's fine for now, nothing bad's happened and I've been on better terms with family, so I should be fine til we all mutually plan on moving out at some point.

Stay tuned for my review on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and take care!

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Well, this sure was the rarest piece of media I've consumed. Which is great because I can be the first one to review it!

Before anything, I suggest you to finish the Ergo Proxy anime before reading, as this is a side story that takes place between episodes 3 and 4 while Vincent is mostly bedridden after leaving Romdeau. While that is pretty early on, it has nods to events that will fly over your head until you receive the proper backstory for said events.

That being said, can you still have fun reading a short, obscure story piece of an already short, obscure ... anime? While I am very biased with EP being one of my favorite animes of all time, I think it's possible to find out

Story: While yes, Pino,Vincent, Quinn and Hoody all make cameos in the story, the plot is centered around Dorothy and Leon and their goal to watch the stars in the could obscured sky of their planet and the misadventures that come along their way. Although it mirrors Vincent's journey to look for his true identity in the anime, it doesnt feel like a retread in the slightest, as the story builds on new characters and further explores the themes in the story such as the morality of robotics and the spread of the cogito right before the Pulse Of Awakening. Additionally, it also gives backstory on who owned the "Rabbit" Vehicle found outside of Mosk, seen as Dorothy of Garland (Not to be confused with the Autoreiv owned by Vincent in Romdeau who's also named Dorothy) makes sure to write the story being read in the final chapter. A nice addition to the worldbuilding that meets the untapped potential of the original story. In a way it feels more like Cowboy Bebop than Ergo Proxy, seen as how every chapter focus on episodic plotlines with elements involving trauma, memory loss and intentity theft, moreso than focusing on a grand mystery with several babysteps towards a grand finale.

Art: Arguably the weakest part of the experience, the art is not bad per se,there is nothing wow-worthy of any interesting use of paneling throughout the story aside from a few good compositions on the final chapter. Also since the characters tend to have similar clothing seeing as they all wear eskimo inspired attire, there were a few times where I mixed up major characters with background ones, which should tell you how uninspired their designs are...

Characters:This is where Centzon Hitchers really shines. Dorothy, similarly to Pino, has a happy,go lucky attitude that contrasts marvelously to EP's gritty, nihilistic setting, her infection with the cogito virus makes her forgetful of her true role as a robot, only having the title of The Wandering Nurse to acompany her, helping both humans and Autoreivs heal to their best condition, or care for them during their last moments. She has a cute relationship with the ship's owner Leon, a loner astronomist who's trying to get over the death of his comrades while accompanied by another woman named Heart, who joins then later during out of story to overcome her prejudice of Autoreivs. My only complaint with them is that, just like the cast in the anime, we dont getmany interactions with them nearly as much as we could have, their interactions are very interesting to see but their relationship is cut short by the 10 chapter-long runtime, which is a shame since it could have gone for a lot longer.

Overall: As short as it was, I enjoyed my time with the manga, and I'd reccommend it to anyone who's a fan of the anime, good luck finding a copy/scanlation of it though cause the accessibility of it is it's greatest problem