Ergo Proxy

After watching Ergo Proxy completely and thoroughly, I must say that this is one of the most enjoyable series I've watched yet. The story is so complex and can at times be very agonizing because you are just so clueless as to what is going on. Then, usually, by the end of the episode or by the next episode all of your questions and doubts about what is going on will be answered.

Why did I enjoy this series so much? First, this series is a real psychological mind boggling experience. I haven't see too many series that make me question what is going on or ... going to happen until the very end, yet Ergo Proxy did it. Even during the last episode, I was still asking myself the same question as I had been throughout the entire series, "what the hell is going on?!" This kind of experience kept me wanting more and left me trying to fill holes myself, which is exactly the kind of thing that I enjoy. Something that makes me think for myself and makes me WANT to figure out whats going on or say, "Hmm, I wonder what that meant..."

The setting of the story is another thing that made me enjoy this so much, a post apocalyptic world where everyone is being kept in the dark and left wondering whats just beyond their grasp. Theres not much that I can say about this plus for me, it's just something that I enjoy. If you enjoy stories set in this kind of environment, you'll like this aspect of Ergo Proxy.

Ergo Proxy makes use of a lot of different aspects of psychology and history, which is a good thing. I believe it was only the first fourteen episodes, but at the end of each respective episode there would be about two minutes when they would reflect back on things throughout what you had just seen. It was a very nice touch that I felt was something more series should do. It basically would tell you things that the author of the series/story used as a reference or what something that occurred in the episode was based on. I thoroughly enjoy history and psychology so this aspect of Ergo Proxy really appealed to me.

The character development didn't fall short of my expectations either. It was done quite nicely. I wish I could go into further detail about it, but apparently I'm not supposed to say anything to spoil the series and I'm not quite sure how to go about this aspect without doing just that.

The animation was extremely well done. The way some of the faces are drawn may look a little odd at first, but I didn't mind it at all. It matches the show quite well and really compliments everything around it. Everything that was done in this series, animation wise, was completely believable. Sure, there are somethings that you just know can't be true/made from something real, but it just feels true/real with everything else about the series combined.

Oh, don't let me forget Real Mayer. She's one sexy woman. Not sexy in the stereotypical way with an out of proportion body and an annoying voice. She is more real (pun intended), she's not overdeveloped, her voice isn't annoying, she doesn't have any super human powers, she isn't a amazing when it comes to combat, and her feelings/emotions are that of a real woman/girl. It just makes her character so much more believable and real, which is why I love her so.

Overall, Ergo Proxy is the complete package in terms of story, animation, sound, character development, THE characters, and the enjoyment of everything put together. If you don't enjoy this show, then you either aren't human, don't like anime or are too stupid to understand the story.

I hope you enjoyed my review, this is the first one I've ever written. If you like it, then please leave an comment letting me know so I'll be more encouraged to write more. See ya kiddies.

Ergo Proxy is a highly experimental show, and just like all shows of that kind it always divides the viewers into two camps: while the ones enjoy its complex story and thought-provoking symbolism, the others fiercely criticize it for "pretentiousness" or simply scratch their heads in perplexity, wondering what this whole thing is supposed to mean.
As for me, I firmly believe this is an amazing series with no exaggeration about it, and with this review I'll try to explain you why. Since the anime has a site description you can always read, allow me to skip further introductions and get straight to business.

STORY
Obviously, ... the most contentious part of Ergo Proxy. The story and the method of storytelling this anime employs are highly unusual, and that is by far the main reason why quite a number of people dislike it. However, I think this story does not "pretend" to be clever - it is clever indeed. Moreover, it makes Ergo Proxy one of the most clever series I've ever watched.
First of all, the story at the core is a journey of self-discovery, hence the main idea is pretty simple yet great, at least as I comprehend it: you should find your own way instead of being somebody's follower or lower-rank copy ("proxy"); for that you should realize who you are, what you live for and how the real world looks. The anime certainly makes you ask important questions and reflect on your own life, and that always counts as a great quality in my book.
Second, Ergo Proxy is a highly experimental show as it presents a diverse mix of genres: cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, action, mystery, drama, psychological mindf*ck, road movie and even a bit of comedy, romance and slice of life. Consequently, it results in a very unorthodox narrative full of plot twists & genre switches that many viewers disliked as they felt trolled and confused while watching. Well, I do understand those complaints: it is indeed very unusual, confusing at times and probably not to everybody's liking. Besides, one may argue that the anime goes a little too far with experiments in episodes 15 and 19 which makes them too different from the rest in their style. Perhaps, the show could've done better without those two, as it would've also made the 2nd half of the series more compact to provide better pacing and better build-up for the ending.
Aside from that fairly tolerable issue, the plot is very well-written & coherent despite its complexity, and the credit for that goes to Dai Sato - the author of the original story and one of the best Japanese scriptwriters who also participated in writing scripts for Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. In fact, it still makes me wonder how he and his team managed to weave all those genres and events into one logical & continuous plot. So, not only those swings & changes are very interesting and uncommon but they also don't exist there just for the sake of it - instead, they actually form the story, with each episode adding something brand new to the plot & character development, and that's amazing indeed.
However, the main reason why this anime seems unintelligible to so many people probably lies in its third peculiarity which is the astounding number of symbols & allegories employed: almost every single name & situation is allegoric and requires your interpretation to get the whole story. Moreover, not only those allegories turn out relevant & contributing to the plot but also extremely diverse, referring to Greek mythology, Descartes' philosophy and Shakespeare's plays among other things. No doubt, the high degree of symbolism is what makes the series quite a riddle at times; yet it is in fact a very entertaining and well-thought-out riddle where every element serves its purpose to convey the show's message, and I personally had lots of fun deciphering it.
With all those complex aspects the story never turns into pretentious nonsense or something really incomprehensible because it actually answers most questions, though often in roundabout and not obvious ways. That means it just demands a little more attention than in your average series, and if you pay it, you get it. Well, I don't consider myself an intellectual and yet I understood almost everything from the first viewing. There were a couple of moments I didn't grasp but it took me 3 minutes (!) to use google, click the first link and read an insightful explanation that satisfied me.
And even if you don't get something it's not a reason to dislike the show - it is actually a great motivation for you because this anime is highly rewatchable, and during every viewing there will be new discoveries that will enrich you.

ANIMATION & SOUND
Ergo Proxy's art style is easily recognizable for its omnipresent dark colors and realistic yet unusual character designs that give the series a westernized & very artistic look. The animation quality is great except for a considerable inconsistency in character drawing, and the style fits like a glove although some viewers may need time to get used to its murky appearance.
The music is a number of ambient tracks by Ike Yoshihiro, a U2-esque opening theme by Monoral and an ending song by Radiohead. All the tracks are nicely composed to create the engrossing and mysterious atmosphere of the series, and even those who dislike the show agree that the soundtrack is simply amazing.
The voice-acting is also very well-done as the voices perfectly fit the characters, and the seiyus did a very good job at conveying emotions.
To sum up, the production values are impressive indeed, and the style is memorable & totally appropriate for the show.

CHARACTERS
Well, Ergo Proxy is an anime about self-discovery, hence its primary focus lies on the characters and their development. The main difference from other shows of this kind is that the story for the most part doesn't emerge from characters' actions & choices - rather, the characters are put into an already crafted plot full of twists & symbols mirroring their inner conflicts, and they receive development while going through this labyrinthine plot & unraveling its mystery step by step. As a result, you get a story-driven series with strong emphasis on the characters, which looks paradoxical on paper yet works surprisingly well in reality, being one of the most original aspects of the show.
The other interesting aspect is how the characters don't feel overblown in any way. Unlike many other series that endow each character with one or two exaggerated features (extreme cuteness, extreme coolness etc.), often at the cost of everything else, Ergo Proxy successfully avoids that common pattern by presenting a trio of very well-balanced protagonists in Re-l Mayer, Vincent Law and Pino:
- Re-l is a confident, no-nonsense investigator with very good analytical and shooting skills which, however, don't exceed the capabilities of a trained person and thus don't make her an invincible action hero or an omniscient genius. At first, she acts rather cold towards others (Vincent in particular) because she's a bit spoiled by her social position and because the circumstances demand her to be on guard all the time. However, as the show goes on Re-l changes quite a bit, and it becomes evident that she's a perfectly normal girl with normal human emotions. Also, she's very attractive but not oversexualized which is indeed an extreme rarity for this medium;
- Vincent lost his memories and a huge part of his identity with them, so he feels an obvious lack of confidence... and yet he knows how to repair things, how to hold a weapon and shoot, and despite acting very shy at the beginning he embarks on a dangerous & often bewildering journey of self-discovery and gradually develops into a completely different person by the end of the series. So, he ain't some useless angsty teenager typical for anime - rather, he is a very kind and helpful guy who wants to learn the truth about himself. His angst never feels overblown to the point where it gets annoying, and his development throughout the story is truly one of the most fundamental I've ever seen;
- as for Pino, she's an autoreiv that accompanies Re-l & Vincent, providing some nice examples of man & machine interaction as well as some lightheartedness to compensate for the grim & serious setting. She is an awesome & very lovable character who at the same time never gets sickeningly moe because she acts like a normal girl of her age and not some typical loli you often see in anime.
Also, the show has one more protagonist i.e. Ergo Proxy, but the identity & role of that guy is a huge spoiler so I can't tell you anything about him - you'll have to learn it yourself.
Overall, I would say that the right balance in characterization and the natural step-by-step development is what makes the protagonists very realistic, and while there may be people who don't like it because they find the characters "boring" (or not extreme enough in comparison to other series) I really enjoy this approach. What I enjoy no less is that the supporting cast receive a great share of development as well, with Raul Creed, Daedalus, Hoody and Iggy being the most outstanding examples.
So, in general the characterization is great, and even if you don't find the cast that interesting at first, just give them some time and see it for yourself.

OVERALL
Perhaps, the story could do better without a couple of questionable episodes, and the character drawings could be more consistent. Therefore, I can't really call this show a flawless masterpiece. However, I will easily give it an excellent rating and with lots of pleasure take it to my personal top-10.
My final advice for possible newcomers is simple: if you look for some lighthearted entertainment with J-pop, sugoi, ganbatte, tomodachi, squealing voices and bright haircolors, stay away from this anime as you will only waste your time. The same is if you look for an action-driven series because action is not the focal point of Ergo Proxy.
However, if you look for a compelling story, if you are not afraid of a certain intellectual challenge, if you are open-minded and able to keep attention for 23 episodes, I highly encourage you to watch this show. Of course, I can't guarantee you will like it as much as I do, but I'm pretty sure you at least won't regret it.

"In a world where humans and robots live together..."

Sounds generic, no? This opening line to the description of the anime is rather misleading. I strongly advise you to take a second look at this before dismissing it out of hand as unoriginal.

Ergo Proxy stands out from among other stereotypical anime shows because of its ability of *not* resorting to these oft used plotlines. What this anime focuses on is the development of a few main characters in a world erupting into chaos. While the viewpoint of the show does not originally show it, a great deal of Ergo Proxy is centered around a ... young man's self discovery and acceptance of who he is, learning to interact with others, and to remain true to himself.

This show reminded me most of all of the anime Evangelion. If you, the reader, have ever seen Eva, you may recall the rather deep scenes near the end, wherein the main character attempts to resolve numerous internal conflicts, ultimately resulting in a moment of revelation. Now, as far as I understand it, the director of Ergo Proxy did *not* have a nervous breakdown like the director of Eva, but the depth of the introspective episodes were very similar.

As for the anime itself, I enjoyed the radical variance in the story of each episode. While the settings of the story remain very similar - a city, a shanty-town, and a wasteland are the preeminent landscapes – the actions in the episodes defy prediction. Whereas in some animes’ episodes you seemingly have a cycle of events that repeat over and over again, Ergo Proxy remains unique every time.

On a slightly less approving note, I will say that some of the scenes were truly very, very random, and only upon serious retrospection will you note that they have anything to do with the core plot at all. No spoilers here, however.

Also, while in some episodes you will be given background history about the show in a natural, conversational manner, there are points where the show simply comes out and presents the information to you. The impact of this is that at those moments it seems less that you are watching a naturally unfolding story than that you are reading a fact sheet about the show.

Despite these few setbacks however, the anime still stands at a strong ‘9’ on my list. I enjoyed the viewing of the anime all the way to the end, which continues the suspense and unpredictability. The plot is written wonderfully here at the finish as well, leaving the future unresolved and unexplained, leaving it up to the viewer to imagine what happens.

I will invite everyone who enjoys a thrilling, action-packed, and very emotionally and psychologically deep story to watch “Ergo Proxy.”

Rating: 9/10

Note: Spoilers for Ergo Proxy. Written for people who have watched the show and want an analytical review. You have been warned.

An echo, a heartbeat pounding in the eye of the storm, Centzontotochtin sails over the earth, and the pulse of the awakening signals the beginning of the end.

Ergo Proxy aired over ten years ago and to this day remains an enigma to many. Its creative thought experiments and questions about our purpose in life have been just as mesmerizing as they have been easily dismissed. But whether it’s thoughtfully ambiguous or frustratingly obtuse, what’s consistent is Ergo Proxy’s mystique beneath its decrepit and artificial ... landscape, a captivating blend of the real and the surreal that reveals how easy it has become for us to mistake the double for the authentic.

Throughout, we are presented with illusions, smoke and mirrors, dream worlds, and nightmares, where reality and truth has been distorted by the agents of a lost civilization. Think of supple fingers curved in Shakespearean fashion or a bookstore of forgotten memories. As the Proxies roam their respective domed cities, searching endlessly to satisfy their raison d’etre, what tethers us to reality are Vincent and Re-L. They are equally confounded by the mysteries they confront in their quest for answers about the Proxies.

We are led to believe that outside the dilapidated dome cities and noxious caves, aboard Centzontotochtin in a vast swath of desert and frozen seas is the real world in the aftermath of some environmental catastrophe. Here is where Re-L spends her time logging her experiences, taking dutiful care of personal hygiene, and complaining about an upright toilet seat. It’s where Vincent and the AutoReiv companion Pino play in the snow and act unsuspectingly of the dangers ahead. Here, in the supposed real world, with nothing but dead landscape and a chilling wind on the horizon, is where our characters can introspect and consider the world as it is.

Yet, for all their artificial and mundane characteristics, the domes appear much closer to a tangible description of human reality. Be it Romdeau and its aristocratic bureaucracy, the empty residential fields populated by outdated AutoReivs still performing their quotidian responsibilities, or a commercial shopping mall home to a mad doppelganger, many of these domes symbolize and, more importantly, simulate some element of human culture. It is necessary to note that these are all images of what Earth used to look like, which systemically break apart without order. Still, these last vestiges of a biologically engineered society engender that moment in time; it precedes the reality of the outside world. The artificial, in other words, has become the real, and to the good citizens of Ergo Proxy, indistinguishable from reality. The outside world has become in, Jean Baudrillard’s words, “the desert of the real itself.”

In The Precession of a Simulacra, Baudrillard also references Jorge Luis Borges’s “On Exactitude in Science.” An empire, so attuned with the art of cartography, produces a map of exact size and scale of itself. Succeeding generations, less enthusiastic of the map, discards it to the west, where it now lays in tatters. In similar fashion, the Proxy Project begins with a mass engineering of a worldwide experiment, which recreates pockets of human civilization in its old image. Inevitably, however, the very creators of the domes, many of them unsatisfied or driven by madness and self-loathing, discard their own works, where they now decay against the harsh winds of the wasteland. And thus, much like Borges ingrains in our memory not the empire, but rather the bizarre and ruined map of its territory, the domes of Ergo Proxy in all their systemic imperfections occupy our understanding of the end of civilization. They are, quite literally, proxies for reality.

There are two things to draw from this interaction of the real and the double. The first is to see how Ergo Proxy merges conceptions of dreams and reality to one meaningful abstraction. The second is to see how this relationship drives the show’s search for purpose and existence.

There is a pervasive motif about dreams or dreamlike sequences, where characters are ensnared by a Proxy’s powers. Many of the dreams feel real, and their contents often translate to the real world, as seen by the books in Anamnesis aboard the Centzontotochtin and the dome holding the animated characters from Pino’s dream. On one hand, Ergo Proxy uses these dreams to elucidate the consciousness of the characters. For Vincent, it’s his ontological question of who he is and if he exists in the world. For Pino, it’s whether she possesses a soul and a capacity for morality. For Re-L, it’s her timidity to approach the truth, in fear that it will upset the balance of her orderly existence.

On the other hand, these sequences attempt to break down the characters’ tenuous relationship with reality. The experiences of their dreams can overcome the experiences of the real. Vincent’s admission of his identity as a Proxy is only cemented after his ethereal travels through the misty City Lights Bookstore. Pino’s intuition from her dream overrides her companions’ needs to stop for supplies. In both cases, these dreams, initiated by Proxies, have merged the surreal with the real to become a new sort of reality. Many within the world of the Ergo Proxy do not see any meaningful distinction between reality and a simulation of it precisely because the two have become one.

An exception to this is Re-L, who identifies her own dream as such. In Ophelia, Vincent is in a seemingly never ending cycle with a Proxy taking on every appearance but its own. Vincent is grateful that in the end, Re-L is capable of telling apart the impostor from himself. However, he quickly discovers that Re-L manages to differentiate Vincent from his double because she identifies that the impostor does not possess a shadow. For Vincent, however, this lack of distinction highlights his inability to come to terms with his identity. This slippery grasp of reality is a central conflict in Vincent's mind and is culminated in the final dream of the series, where Vincent is able to identify a fake world from the real, thus confirming his existence and place on Earth.

This dynamic between the bizarre and the normal, the dream and the real, and how they merge and separate is what gives Ergo Proxy’s search for a raison d’etre such a powerful poignancy. The reason is because inevitably we discover each of our main characters are themselves doubles of an original. Vincent and Re-L are copies of Proxy One and Monad, respectively. Pino is an alternative for a child. In addition, all three are failures of their original intention. Vincent never lives up to his potential as a model citizen, Re-L rejects the boring order of her grandfather’s city and is cast aside for another clone of herself, while Pino is replaced by a newborn child.

Even so, each character transcends his or her original place and assumes an agency over their own destinies, which allows them to overcome the destruction of Romdeau. They reject the artificiality of the order, and in doing so, also reject the simulated reality forced upon them thousands of years ago, when the desert of the real first came into being.

It is therefore fitting that those who survive to face the progenitors of Old Earth are dysfunctional copies, never meant to survive in the original system of waste and good citizenry. In a world completely artificial, here we have three souls: an amnesiac, a clone of a goddess, and an orphaned child, all of whom abandon their original duties to discover their reason for existence.

The word ergo is Latin for “therefore,” while proxy refers to one who may stand to represent something. As the dark clouds recede from the heavens, and the light of a never before seen sun scorches Daedaelus’s crafted wings, Vincent Law looks up and remarks that “this is the world that faces us, a world called ‘reality.'” He declares himself Ergo Proxy, an Agent of Death, and therefore, a representative for a new humanity.

Ergo Proxy, it's a darker show that makes you think. Don't fall asleep for a second watching this show or you'll miss something important. Every little detail matters in some way. You know what... I LOVE THIS SHOW! I will do my best to keep my fanboy attitude towards this show aside to make for a more professional review.

STORY:
Ergo Proxy takes place in a post apocalyptic setting where mankind must live inside domed cities. They are all assisted in their everyday lives by AuroReivs which are autonomous robots. In the city of Romdo there is a virus infecting the AutoReivs that cause them to become ... aware of their own existence. It is called the Cogito Virus. Re-l Mayer is the lead investigator of the infected AutoReivs. During her investigation she encounters a monster called a Proxy. Also in Romdo, a man named Vincent Law is running about and is suspected of having a connection with the Proxy. Re-l and Vincent then though a series of events begin to travel in in the outside world searching for answers.

Sound confusing? Good you should be confused, but it is also a great setup for a story. Right off the bat you are introduced to a new world, and in that world you see problems that need to be solved. The plot starts off right from the get go which I like. It grabs your attention; however, sometimes the pacing can get slowed down, but the amount of things you are learning about the world makes it seem like the writers aren't just writing filler even though that's exactly what it is. This story is a work of art. Ergo Proxy is the example of how to setup a world and maximize the potential that is in said world. It was also depressing as hell at sometimes and made me want to sit in my room and be sad. Now I mentioned confusing at the beginning, and it's true the story can be confusing, but I never felt lost during the show which is good and there was a reason for me not being lost...

CHARACTERS:
Our main Protagonists are Re-l Mayer, a police detective/inspector and Vincent Law, an immigrant/nobody. Oh and Pino who is an AutoReiv infected with the Cogito Virus. The characters are what make this show's story less of a nightmare to understand. They ask all the questions that you want to ask. Personally I think that Re-l is by far the best character in the whole show. Her world has be turned upside-down and she has to tag along to find answers with Vincent. Vincent to be honest has a crap life, he can't remember who he is and was run out of Romdo. He is searching for who he is. The chemistry between these two is what really makes them stand out as characters. They aren't all buddy buddy like many shows. Re-l didn't trust Vincent at all at the beginning and Vincent wanted to just be around Re-l. Pino is hard to talk about without spoiling some plot but her purpose to me is making the viewer ask "What does it mean to truly be alive?"

ART:
The art is good. Nothing that just blows you out of the water but it does a very good job at bringing you into the atmosphere of the show. I loved the character designs in this show too. Their aren't very many action scenes in the show but when their are they are done very well. I have no complaints about the animation.

SOUND:
OHHH MY GOD THAT OPENING!!!! "Kiri" by Monoral is absolutly PERFECT for this shows opening! I've bought that song and no joke I listen to it every single day it is that good! I loved it. I'm also a fan of Radiohead so I liked the ending. The music during the show I actually didn't notice at all.... that's kinda bad but I also never remember the show being silent so that's good. The dub for this show is outstanding. I have no idea how Megan Hollingshead doesn't have more lead roles. She did an outstanding job as Re-l. Liam O'Brien also deserve high praise as well for his job as Vincent. At the beginning I actually thought he was Sam Riegel, but then Vincent got mad an I thought "Yep that's Liam." His angry voice is very good as is his regular voice. I actually thought that Pino was voiced by a child, but nope it was Rachel Hirschfeld... yea never heard of her but DAMN is she good! I mean seriously GIVE HER MORE ROLES!!! This dub is one of the best I have ever heard, on par with that of Death Note.

ENDING:
If you've seen my reviews you know what I do here. Does Ergo Proxy seal the deal at the end? Or does it leave massive plot holes? Nope. It ends perfectly in my opinion, I was very satisfied with the ending because it left the viewer with an idea of what the characters will do after the series, but it also makes sure to wrap everything up nicely. It ends well which is what I like to see anime do.

OVERALL:
Ergo Proxy as of December 27, 2013, is the greatest anime that I have ever watched. If you have not seen Ergo Proxy, you have to see this anime. It truly is a masterpiece, a modern classic. Ergo Proxy is a show that can not be missed no matter what your preferred genre of anime is. Ergo Proxy is one of a kind. I give it a 100% recommendation. Ergo Proxy is a work of art.

Ergo Proxy is basically another puzzling, post-apocalyptic view of the future, which had the potential of being a superb show but there was way too much talk in this dreary show.

The first couple of episodes have a "Ghost in the Shell" feel to them, where only the setting is explained and not much is given away, forcing you to figure it out yourself. This show does a terrible job in it's explanations as it force feeds the viewer with so much jargon and it's only the illegal fansub version that will help it all make sense, with their notes.

Beyond this problem there is a brilliant ... story that focuses on three main characters: Vincent (an immigrant with a hazy past and something special about him), Re-l (a detective in search of the truth) and Pino (an infected auto-rave). It isn't long before these three superb characters are thrown into a journey of self discovery and the stuff they discover is interesting and does a great job in revealing the link between Vincent and the title of this show "Ergo Proxy". In the midst of all this there are some spectacular action sequences however this occurs so rare that the show tends to get boring.

The production quality of the anime is way above average with animation so great you wouldn't want to blink. The artistry is amazing having a mix of 2D animation, 3D modeling and CG that go so well together. The action sequences are what show the full effect of the amazing animation where so much detail is put into every frame and what makes it even better is the slow motion effect. The only issue can be crowds, as the character models tend to degrade in quality when dealing with a lot of people.

The music is basically a compilation of alternative music that goes well with the eerie, moody atmosphere. For people who are fans of bands like Linkin Park will definitely like the opening and ending theme that will get you involuntarily humming the tune.

Overall this was a great show which had so much potential but with the lack of action, the superb animation does feel a bit wasted, plus there's all the winding talk. The 1st half of the show was done well but it did go downhill a bit in the 2nd half, where times when it's hard to tell if something is real or some kind of dream. There were also some incredibly stupid and weird episodes that attempts to be original but fails miserably. The show ends with some very confusing three episodes, which require a lot of thought to make any sense. So this anime is really just for people smart enough to understand its very obscure story and doesn't expect much from the action department.

^_^

Ergo Proxy. Wow. This one’s tough to review.

Ergo Proxy is not your typical cyberpunk anime. For more, it doesn’t rely on heavy gun-fighting action scenes to grasp viewers’ attentions instead it uses mind-break and a very intriguing strange and dark atmosphere in a post-apocalyptic world. Though a post-apocalyptic world is something that is not new or could even be said overused, Ergo Proxy’s is fluid and very well thought out.

Ergo Proxy stands out among other cyberpunk anime as this one is a truly original and is very unique as it takes on René Descartes’ very famous philosophical statement which is “cogito ergo sum” and ... views it on different perspectives. “Cogito ergo sum” means “I think, therefore I am” is basically the main theme of the anime. The whole world of Ergo Proxy itself is based on this theme while questioning and taunting the said philosophical statement. Everything was built along with those lines while the story revolves around the characters who were searching for self-actualization over the course of 23 episodes.

Ergo Proxy has a very fast pacing which could indeed get you hooked for about 10minutes into the show. It started off with Re-l Mayer investigating cases of “AutoReivs” (Android-like companions) being infected with a virus called “cogito.” This “cogito” virus is a dangerous virus for humans as this “AutoReivs” once infected with the virus comes to a realization that they too have a heart thus leading to human-like emotions which could in turn lead to trouble as they now tend to act on how they feel but not on how their masters command them to. After some investigations, while at home, Re-l saw a word written in blood that stated “awakening” and was approached by an entity called a “PROXY.” A lot of these intriguing scenarios will be shed light upon as the story progresses. Interesting right? See episode 2 as I’m sure you’ll instantly get hooked.

Ergo Proxy presents different but very realistic problems including politics, ways of life, beliefs, and the search for one’s true self. Treading along the anime, these issues will be faced with subtlety and precision without ever being dragging. Though its pacing is very fast, some might be surprised as at the middle of the anime, somewhere past around 13 episodes, it went to a complete halt as it now focused on the changes that are happening with the characters. We now see Pino’s journey for self-actualization, Vincent’s search for the truth, and Re-l’s changing feelings for the ones around her. These episodes are not entirely focused on the characters though; some contains bags of clues about the reality of Ergo Proxy while some are just placed there to add to the length or simply called fillers. Though these episodes might be fillers, you wouldn’t immediately recognize that they are, as these fillers have a knack of making your brain burst out leaving you thinking for hours about what really happened; but even if you’ve managed to solve what was the episode about, it wouldn’t change anything as these fillers were totally irrelevant to the main point of the story.

After some episodes that contain complete mindfuck which in turn made the story stagnant, Ergo Proxy now picks up on what it has left for the grand finale. If there was anything that I could really complain about Ergo Proxy, it would be the ending. For a total mind-breaking anime, I couldn’t ignore that some loose ends were still loose and some missing links were still missing. It actually felt like the anime was saying that it’s up to the viewers to figure out what happened about this or that; well for a total mindfuck anime, maybe it is really trying to do that. But still, it doesn’t hinder the thrilling rollercoaster ride I got from this anime.

What I absolutely find fascinating in Ergo Proxy is the gradual development of our three main characters. As I’ve said, Pino is in a journey of self-actualization and being infected by the cogito virus, this slowly transforms Pino from an emotionless companion-type AutoReiv to something that is more if not, realistically human. Vincent on the other hand, is in search for his true self as it was stated that he was brainwashed and is now on his way looking for answers. At first, I honestly thought that Vincent was a major wimpy guy, but he turned out to be one of the coolest male leading characters out there. As the story goes along, he gradually changes as the truth about him are unveiled. Lastly, Re-l is not your typical bad-ass girl who wields dual pistols and can shoot anyone with her eyes closed. No, she is your normal snobbish lady who gets scared, weak and is worth protecting; only thing is she’s really courageous or more like stubborn. After some realizations and some great revelations, you will notice her gradual change of heart regarding everyone around her. All of these traits make them look very real as humans which made me really admire Ergo Proxy as this is a hard one to pull off considering that the setting is in a post-apocalyptic world.

I believe that the production value of this anime is high as the animation was fluid and the backgrounds were simply amazing. From the desolated wastelands to the deserted cities, all were done with accuracy. Sometimes though, I think the lighting is somewhat of a bother as it tends to be too dark that you’ll have difficulty seeing what’s really happening. Character designs however were very human-like and if you’ve seen Witch Hunter Robin, it is very much the same. But there were also inconsistencies as sometimes, when looked from afar, the facial structure of the characters becomes distorted. Nevertheless, the animation was really good leaving you wanting for more.

Pino’s character design however was so adorable and lovely that no one could ever ignore her cuteness. Though this is not a comedy anime, sometimes you’ll find yourself smiling and even touched for the cute things she does. Often too that Pino’s character is matched with the dramatic scenes of this anime that you could even feel a small aching on your chest.

What made this successful was Pino’s seiyuu Akiko Yakima. She portrays her lines very well which fits the cute attitude of Pino. And I’m not saying that Pino has the only voice acting that was good, in fact all of the voices behind the characters were astounding. Not to mention that the opening and ending song were very good which weren’t J-pop but rather alternative English songs. The opening song (kiri) sets a thought-provoking environment while the ending song (PARANOID ANDROID) finishes what the opening has brought forth. The background music during scenes is good in setting the mood if it is meant to be thrilling or meant to be dramatic. And who could ignore the amazing use of background silence? Rarely could you see an anime that uses silence and be excellent with doing so.

Overall, Ergo Proxy is a very unique anime that could give you one hell of a ride all the way through. If it weren’t for the unneeded fillers and a much clearer explanation of things, then this would be something phenomenal. It is a true brain-twister that will leave you puzzled for hours just because of some certain events. If you’re into mentally challenging anime, then this is definitely for you. I certainly enjoyed it and much likely that you will too.

Just to summarize things:
Ergo Proxy = MINDFUCK.

Title: Ergo Proxy

Manga, Anime: Ergo Proxy does have a two-volume spinoff illustrated by Yumiko Harao, the final volume of which was released on February 19th, 2007. What it's about, I'm not sure, as there's not a lot of information about it. It has yet to be licensed Stateside.

Ergo Proxy is a 23-episode series that was created by Studio Manglobe (also famous for their work on Samurai Champloo) and directed by Shukuo Murase (famous for his work on Witch Hunter Robin). It ran on Japanese TV from February 26th to August 12th, 2006. Ergo Proxy has been licensed Stateside by Geneon (now ... defunct), and its sixth and final volume was released Stateside on September 25th, 2007.

Story: This is going to be a doozie.

Ergo Proxy kicks off in the domed city of Romdeau (possibly Engrish for London?), a city-state whose citizens are under a system of complete micromanagement, focusing on Re-L (or Lil, or Real, it depends on who you talk to, really) Mayar, an inspector for the government, and her Autoreiv (more or less robot) partner, Iggy. Re-L is tasked with investigating murder cases that have to do with the Autoreiv virus Cogito (which more or less makes them self-aware and has varying effects), which leads her to recent immigrant Vincent Law, and Pino, a companion-type Autoreiv. At about the same time, she is attacked by an unknown, monstrous, humanoid-like creature called a Proxy, after she finds the word "Awakening" written in red on her bathroom wall. All of this combines to draw her further into the case and further into the mysteries of Romdeau and the outside world.

...Honestly, it's hard to write a review for this show. I finished it at the end of last month, and I've been holding off on reviewing it, mainly because I've been struggling to find the right things to say about it.

The story started out good. The characters were intriguing and tolerable (except in the case of Re-L, who was something of a bitch, but still, you could stand her), and Pino was the cutest damn thing I've ever seen, and you wanted to see what was up with them. There were mysteries and they were intriguing, and you kept watching to find out what the hell was going on, and things were revealed that only begat more mysteries that were intriguing that you wanted to know more about. And it was all good and well.

Then, after the halfway point, Ergo Proxy began to fall apart.

Before this point, the writers decided to have many episodes take place in peoples' heads, so that you couldn't tell whether the entire episode had actually happened or not, or whether or not it actually had any bearing on what was going on. I thought this was just a phase, but that turned out to not be the case. You really couldn't tell what was going on during these episodes -- I had a friend who was, shall we say, not sober watching this with me, and even he couldn't figure out what the hell was going on (up till then, he had been able to do it). It really frustrated me, because this felt like a waste of the show's amazing potential.

Meanwhile, the show did what I always fear might happen in this situation, and pulled a Rozen Maiden, refusing to address any of the mysteries it had spent so much time building up, and kept on building up more and more mysteries.

And the story was depressing enough already, but then it took turns into just plain creepy, and that didn't help its case at all.

By the end of it all, it rivaled Rozen Maiden for the things it left untouched, and Nishi no Yoki Majo: Astraea Testament for the way it rather clumsily concluded things.

Overall, the second half of the show left a really bitter taste in my mouth. And it hurts to say that, because this show had SO much potential, and came so highly recommended to me by people on here who I really respect, and mainly for the story, too.

Looking at my favorite episodes for this series is really telling, as of the eight that I really liked in this series, seven of them came before the halfway point (about episode fourteen or fifteen), and only one came from after that.

However, it does win some points back for its use of obscure references to literature and mythology and several other things. And for Pino, who is the cutest damn thing ever, without being annoying.

Art: The art for this series is absofuckinglutely beautiful. The animation is amazingly smooth, and the 2D merges beautifully with the 3D, to the point where it's difficult to differentiate between the two. The character designs are absolutely amazingly and beautifully done, especially (and for the record, I maintain that Re-L's design is based off of Amy Lee of Evanesence). There's overwhelmingly darker, bleaker tones used here, but it works really well with the story.

Also, props for them getting the style right in a later episode, which is more or less a parody of Disney, and closely mimicks Disney's animation techniques.

No problems here.

Music: I honestly didn't notice the background music for this series. I'm currently in the process of finding the two OSTs, so I may update this later.

However, I'm really happy with the OP and ED. The OP was done by a Japanese rock group, sung in all English, and really good English, too. The ED is Radiohead's "Paranoid Android". If you don't know this song, you are a failure to the human race and need to go and find it and listen to it. NOW.

Seiyuu: Sanae Kobayashi (Eleanor Campbell in Victorian Romance Emma and Lucy/Nyuu in Elfen Lied) has a role in this, which was really nice. Otherwise, no other voices that I recognize, and good acting, all around.

Length: I honestly think that Ergo Proxy could've done to cut out maybe four or five episodes. Perhaps some of the mind-fucks that didn't really serve to do anything besides screw with your head. Either that, or rework those episodes so that they at least take care of some of the mysteries.

Any longer and I probably would've dropped it.

Overall: An amazing story that starts out good, but falls apart by the time the end comes around, whose length probably could've been toyed with, but, to its credit, has beautiful animation, solid seiyuu and a good OP/ED.

Story: 7
Art: 10
Music: 8
Seiyuu: 9
Length: 7

Overall: 41/50; 82% (B )

Ergo proxy, for me, started off as a completely unknown story which I came across while randomly searching for interesting anime to watch. The anime remained on my PTW list for a while until someone mentioned how cool it was and they definitely would recommend watching it soon. So, of course, I had to check it out. My only thought when I began was, “the girl with the blue eyeshadow,” but after watching the first episode, I was very intrigued, especially with the entrance of two strange beings known as Proxies.

Story: 8/10
Like many anime, they throw you into the main story, introducing the main characters ... like the female inspector, Re-l Mayer, who is the granddaughter of the Regent, and Vincent Law, an immigrant from another city who is trying to gain citizenship in the “paradise” city, Romdeau. The people of Romdeau may strike you as strange but only because they are made to become ideal citizens and function by the city’s schedule. The city exists within a dome, isolated from the outside world, a harsh world which was destroyed many years ago by a large scale chemical disaster. Within the city, a virus known as the cogito virus becomes an escalating problem. It is capable of infecting their personal robot assistants, Auto-Reivs, causing them to gain human-like traits and thought patterns. This becomes a problem as they begin rebelling against their masters, and in some cases, kill them. The being known as a Proxy, is shrouded in mystery as their exact purpose is kept hidden from society until one day, Re-l is attacked in her apartment by a masked Proxy. From then on, she develops a strange attraction and curiosity towards the Proxy and decides to investigate their reason for existence.

At the same time, the immigrant, Vincent Law, is accused of being involved with cogito virus after being attacked by another Proxy which has a strange attraction to him. He flees after being targeted by the Security Bureau of Romdeau and escapes from the dome and along with an infected child-like Auto-Reiv named Pino. Together, they discover that the outside world is not as desolate as they were led to believe… Anymore and this may just become spoilers.

This story may not be for those who prefer simple and straight forward shounen. It is not about the ‘power to protect’ or ‘loyalty to nakama’. As it is a seinen anime (though not mentioned on MAL), it is much more serious and complex. The series is extremely psychological to a point where the thoughts of the main characters begin affect their reality and it requires the viewer to be capable of certain level of understanding. Once you understand it though, the story is amazing to watch unfold.

Art: 8/10
The art can only be described as dark. Anything other than gray tones and deep, dark colours would detract from the story’s theme. The world itself, in the story, is somewhat dark so the anime’s art fits it perfectly. One note is that at some points, the facial features of the characters seem weirdly distorted. It make not affect the story but can but somewhat distracting.

Sound: 8/10
The opening theme used for the entire series was "Kiri" by MONORAL. In my opinion, I would say that it was well suited to the story. It created a mood which I still can’t describe but nonetheless kept my interest in the anime. "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead was the ending. Both the instrumental and actual song was used to good effect also. The OSTs were neither corny nor overdramatic and helped set the mood for the anime’s events.

Character: 9/10
I have to say that the main characters, who all seem so different, actually mesh well once they begin to interact. Each of them is very relatable in terms of how they deal with various events in the anime. Their abilities and personalities are not unrealistic to a point where they are so strong, that no one can stop them. Also, their designs do not scream 'fanservice' since anything of the sort would just ruin the show.

First off, there’s Re-l Mayer, the strict, military-minded investigator. To her grandfather, as well as the Security Bureau, she is seen as a rebel. She goes out of her way to investigate anything she deems suspicious, even against advice of others. She considers Romdeau as a “boring paradise” until she is confronted by a Proxy. When she discovers the outside world, she becomes a bit obsessed with idea of people surviving outside the dome. At times, her vulnerability is evident but generally, she creates a wall between herself and those she interacts with. She comes off as a spoilt brat for most of the first part of series due to the fact that she is sort of royalty in Romdeau, with her grandfather being the Regent. After meeting and traveling with Vincent and Pino, her personality takes a turn for the better.

Vincent Law, the immigrant from another dome city, met with Re-l to get assistance on becoming a citizen of Romdeau. Their personalities clashed immediately. He, unlike Re-l, is caring and worries most of the time. This is due to the fact that he has amnesia and often finds himself in situations which he cannot explain. He is also infatuated by Re-l and seems kind of stalker like. Through his thoughtfulness, he is able to befriend others like Pino and eventually, Re-l. Most of his part in the show revolves around his journey to recover his memories.

Pino is a Companion-type Auto-Reiv designed to assist with household activities and was given to a rich family in Romdeau. After crossing paths with a Proxy who was in pursuit of Vincent, she became infected by the cogito virus. She developed an attraction to Vincent and followed him outside the city’s dome. Just like her appearance, her personality after being infected, is that of a child. Initially, she acts by mimicking others around her. Later on, she does learn to think for herself and becomes more of an individual. She provides support to Vincent on his journey to his home city. Her actions intrigued Re-l when they meet and she spent much of her time observing Pino. Pino is usually the one who would instigate comedic moment within the story, causing Vincent to become involved, and Re-l to be annoyed.

Other characters include Re-l’s personal “entourage,” the Auto-Reiv, Iggy, who takes care of her everyday needs but is also used to observe her actions when she goes on investigations. There is the young scientist, Daedalus Yumeno, who seems slightly obsessed with Re-l but is still her friend; Raul Creed, who is the appointed Director of Romdeau and the Regent, who is Re-l’s grandfather and the man controlling Romdeau from behind the scenes.

There are also the Proxies of which little is known. They are strong beings and are associated with spreading the cogito virus.

Enjoyment: 9/10
This series became one of my definite favourites after completing it. Every aspect of the show had me interested. I watched this anime out in two days despite having exams. Yes, I know I should have been studying but it was that good. If you enjoy shows that tax the brain, then this is for you.

Overall: 8/10
Being one of my favourites, I give this a 8/10. I definitely recommend it as it has a bit of everything within the plot. It’s a great ride with a satisfying ending though by the end, you’ll be wishing there was a second season. Yes, there are many who would say that the anime’s creators were trying too hard to come up with something unique and are pretentious. Others might have dropped the series because of its complex plot. To those, all I can say is that they may not have the ability to recognize a great story and are just out there to criticize anything unknown to them. Hopefully, this review will get you interested so that you will go watch it and become a fan like I did. And if you liked my review, you can always stop by my profile and drop a comment to let me know. Thanks for taking the time to read this review.

Overview:

Have you ever seen an art house film? Perhaps a film by David Lynch or Cronenberg? Perhaps you have heard of the film Solaris by Tarkovsky (not that garbage remake)? Solaris combines an interesting science fiction plot with realistic characters, existentialist themes, and of course mind bending WTF moments. What if you brought Tarkovsky back from the dead, flew his ass to Japan, and made him direct an anime? The result would be Ergo Proxy!

Story: 9/10

The story takes place in what appears at first to be a utopian future, but soon we see the truth is somewhat darker. Everyone is born with a given purpose. ... People are artificially grown and have long lost the ability to reproduce naturally through sex. People are ruled very closely by a council of intelligent super computers and their decisions are made for them. Androids act as servants for mankind, but are beginning to gain artificial intelligence due to the "cognito" computer virus and starting to rebel. The Earth's environment has been so completely destroyed that people are forced to live in domed cities, that they are born in and will almost certainly die in without ever knowing what's outside. It is unknown in the main city how many other domed cities are left out there, but it is said that a war took place a few years before the start of the story between 2 of them. The most mysterious creatures of this world are the Proxy, which have immortality like Gods due to having cells with no Hayflick limit that can divide infinitely without telomere shortening or other problems. The Proxy also have superhuman strength, speed, and powers, but little is known about them. Most denizens of the dome called Romdeau are unaware that Proxy even exist. A police investigator named Re-L pronounced "real" (did I mention this was an existentialist series), is sent to investigate a mysterious murder and encounters 2 Proxies. She then meets an unusual man named Vincent Law who claims to have come from another dome city, but has lost much of his memory. Together the 2 must find the secrets of this twisted world and most importantly, what are the proxies and why do they exist?

Characters: 9/10

Re-L is a no nonsense, strong female protagonist and a highly competent detective. Although she can act spoiled at times, and can be quite unintentionally funny. Re-L seems cold and heartless at first, but she learns to care for Vincent and the adorable Pinako and does actually have a strong sense of justice. Vincent is about the 5,000th anime main character to suffer from amnesia, but we will cut him a bit of slack. He is actually a fairly interesting character the more we learn about him and his past. Pinako is an android in the form of a little girl. She provides much the comedy in this series and pretty much all of the awww how adorable moments. I'm surprised Rena from Higurashi didn't invade out of left screen and run off carrying Pinako. There are other characters too including the fabulously gay Raoul, and the ever creepy scientist Daedalus. Is Daedalus a man or a woman? I'm not sure we will ever know. Even Freeza was less gender ambiguous.

Art: 8/10

Ergo Proxy looks great in its character designs, backgrounds, and animation. The often haunting and surreal visuals are a huge part of this series.

Music: 9/10

Radiohead FTW!

Enjoyment: 8/10

Remember in the overview when I compared it to Solaris? That was a movie where the director intentionally made the first 20 minutes as boring as possible so in his own words: "all the stupid people will leave the theater". Ergo Proxy is kind of like that. It has some VERY slow portions and you will also HATE this series if you demand everything make sense right away. Ergo Proxy loves above all else to fuck with the viewer's mind. Your brain will probably explode at least a dozen times watching Ergo Proxy, so I am not sure if its healthy to watch in one binge. This anime has more mind fuck moments than any anime I have ever seen. It makes Eraser Head look like a normal everyday popcorn flick.

Overall: 9/10

This is a VERY different and unique series that I would highly recommend checking out. I mentioned in my Mushishi review that Ergo Proxy is more similar to Mushishi than anything else I have seen, but distinctly different at the same time. Mushishi doesn't want to mess with your mind so badly and each episode actually makes sense the first time you watch it. However, the artsy, serious, somber, and philosophical nature of both shows so far removed from fan service, harems, and other anime cliche's are quite similar. I personally liked Ergo Proxy more than Mushishi, but I am aware that I am in the minority on that one. Ergo Proxy doesn't have any characters quite as charismatic and popular as Ginko. What it does have is more of plot with a lot more to tease your brain and make you think.

PS. you can also play the Ergo Proxy drinking game. Every time someone name drops a famous philosopher take a drink. Every time a scene references a famous movie take a drink. (take 3 vodka shots if its Battleship Potemkin). Every time Raoul appears on screen dressed fabulous take a sip. (you don't want to die of cirrhosis). Every time you here someone scream VINCENTO RAW take a sip. Every time something bizarre and totally random happens take a drink. You thought the "Withnail and I" drinking game was bad? You haven't played this one.

So, the first thing that comes to my mind when asked to describe Ergo Proxy: ABSOLUTE MIND F*CK. But don't let that scare you away from this wonderful and though-provoking series--this is an anime definitely worth checking out for the more mature audiences out there.

I guess the genre I'd put Ergo under would be scifi psychological thriller (oops, that's more like three genres, isn't it? -.-;). It's definitely a treat for those who want a break from the mainstream, with outstanding original story and character development that seems to be rarely seen in most popular series. Ergo certainly takes the normal robot-living-beside-human-turned-crisis to a whole ... new level and turns it on its head with a unique plot full of more than enough plot twists.

However, it is the plot that should make you wary of what you're getting yourself into when you decide to sit down with this series; it certainly is a lot to grasp, and more often than not you find your head swimming not only with questions at the end of an episode, but also with a general "WTF?!" kind of feeling. To be honest, I was still feeling something to that effect even after the series concluded. Many episodes have a fragmented, lost tone to them, which fits the mood of the series but still gets tiring towards the end--and in the end, while most answers are given, there are still more than enough left for you yourself to discern.

The story and the characters of the series are amazing, though, and make up for the at times wayward plot. Taking much-done ideas--in this case, robots with a conscious, a post-apocalyptic world, a disillusioned, totalitarian civilization--and making them bad ass and fantastically fresh is no ordinary feat. Yet, the creators of Ergo Proxy seemed to have done it with ease. The story, revolving around the human psyche, the sin of god-like creatures, and purpose of life itself, delves deep and keeps you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know and learn more the further into the series you get. The characters themselves all have their own charm about them, and only add to the story with the intense character development that hits each and every one of the characters seriously introduced. It would take a whole other review to go into the topic of and praise the characters and character development used in Ergo.

And of course, the art and music in this series are just as good as everything else--wouldn't want to distract from the already overwhelming plot, right? ;) Anyways, the fight scenes between the Proxies are amazing, as well as Vincent's transformations themselves, along with the battle scenes. While not for the extremely weak of heart, they are certainly not anything like Elfen Lied are something, so no worries. The opening and ending themes of the series are also noteworthy, and two of my favorites out of all the other anime opening and endings out there--the music used is haunting, yet befitting. And I could sing along because they're in English. :)

Another thing worthy of mention is the extensive Greek philosophy references, among other philosophical references, used throughout the series. I didn't feel all to guilty about devoted hours to watching this series, because I got some edumacation out of it too.

All-in-all, I give Ergo Proxy two thumbs WAAAY up. Definitely on my favorite anime list now if it's not at the top, and I can't BELIEVE I hadn't watched it sooner...

:D

Ergo Proxy
An anime that makes sense but at the same time it doesn't, even when answers are given in the last three eps. i was thinking of the things that are not answered and there are supernatural elements, a lot and Deus Ex explanations but still manages to be entertaining.

Story
This anime has a very good story, since the beginning the story is thrown for ten episodes straight, fast paced with complexity, until when it takes a break to put filler episodes which were really good and had little pieces of the plot, especially the ''who wants to be a proxy'' episode where i was constantly ... interacting saying the answers just like Vincent, but how did they get there in the first place? ; The ''Disney World'' episode is another example, it was a filler but a really touching one, Pino became my favorite character of the anime with that episode, (dethroning Vincent from the first place) she is a hero; Every episode has a jump time, and with an annoying Re-i (really, she was bitchy) you never know how they reached some locations, like in ep. 21 where all of a sudden they are back, what, is this a dream?, i thought it was, because the anime in those filler eps. is constantly playing between reality and dreams, is cool because i was fooled on this ep. thinking ''plot twist, is a dream'' but no. There is lack of coherent explanation as to why this gaps between eps. or how some events happened. The ending is good but unsatisfaying for some reason, it has a conclusion but at the same time open for another story, i have a lot of thing to complain storywise but this is not a complaint thread, at the end Pino still is a Hero and she is an AuotoReiv with more emotions than Re-i.

Art & Animation
I was expecting something darker for this kind of setting, a much dense atmosphere, that way would be better for me, but for what we got is very good, sometimes feels lazy with some shots at the faces and lookig at how they suffer from strabismus, it was hilarious, almost always with Re-i, i don't like the constant changing on the faces while moving from one angle to another and i'm saying every 1 cm move is a different face, despite this inconveniences it was very good for that year.

Sound
Maybe the best element from the anime, the music is great when is played after the silent parts, it sets a great atmosphere, it fits the theme, the OP is really great, the video clip reminded me of the 90's movies and TV series (like Buffy, Angel and specially to Charmed and the song a lot to Smallville) it was great, better than those series too, more emotion in just four words ''Come and save me'' while Vincent is screamig, just great and the ED is ok i guess, Radiohead, you get it. The VA is great as well, really enjoyable even when Re-i acted like a spoiled Brat, that voice was fitting, so good portraying that personality.

Character
The characters were pretty entertaining with the combination of really great voice acting, personalities and back stories for the characters, Re-i is the exception, she needed more background to get to know her more but she was ok.
-Vincent Law is great, he suffers a transition from a nerdy looking shy guy who likes Re-i to a good-normal looking shy guy looking for his identity who still likes Re-i and cares and protects for Pino, he is a badass too, you'll see.
-Re-I, Lilu or Real is a gal who can be emotionless at times, she acts like a brat later, really spoiled and that's because her AutoReiv does almost everything for her (love the part where he was ''arguing'' with her in the snow, the truth was spoken) but she kind of grows and even feels something for Vincent, she gets better, but not enough.
-Pino is the best character, she's simple the best, the one that makes you laugh in every situation, she is adorable, naive, she even has more emotions than Re-i or every human and is impressive because she's an AutoReiv, she is a hero, she saves people believe it or not, the best character, i was thinking if something bad happened to her (in those eps. that could go bad) i was going to give this a bad score just because of that, wouldn't be the same without her.
The support characters are great too, Raul, Daedalus, Iggy, they all are great, there are a lot more that are interesting too. In general the characters were great.

Enjoyment
I really had a very good enjoyment from this anime, i was expecting more tho, after everyone saying Ergo Proxy was better than Texhnolyzed, i was expecting something more darker and heavier, but i didn't felt that, maybe a little dense just at the last three eps. but i see that this has better art style and character development and has a ''happy'' ending while Tex. has a tragic one and has no filler eps. and is more slow paced but for me both are equally entertaining, both are must watch.

Ergo Proxy was a terrific disappointment to me; from the initial episode, as well as promotional material, the how I expected and the show I received were on two completely different wavelengths. Rather than a post-apocalyptic science fiction thriller, I was instead given a very slow paced, dialogue heavy series that approached a genre one could call psychological or philosophical, and did so in a way that kept your interest, as well as avoided the pretentious nature of similarly designed shows such as Evangelion. It is also noteworthy that this series develops in a bizarre way, one which cannot be compared to any other series ... I've ever seen.

Story; 10. The overarching plot of Ergo Proxy is surprisingly thin. A very great portion of the series, in fact, develops this plot in little to no way; it's pretty much outlined at the beginning, thrown aside, and only touched back upon at the series very end. Much like your typical slice of life series, it survives only off of the character interactions and episodic adventures more often than not, drawn out conversations, monologues, and soliloquies. When I previously mentioned a heavy dosage of spoken word in Ergo Proxy, I may not have properly elaborated as to the extent of it; It would be no great exaggeration to say that at least 3/4 of the series is spent in conversation, possibly a bit more. However, the dialogue is rich in a way I won't bother to explain, but it all manages to flow and intertwine in a way that almost just keeps you watching. Each episode somehow ends with a renewed anticipation to see the next until it's suddenly over. Also, sparing as many spoilers as possible, this series undoubtedly has one of the most well executed and satisfyingly cool ending sequences I have ever seen. I didn't see it coming at all, not how they did it anyways, and I was rather pleased with it when all was said and done.

Art; 8. Not much to say here. I personally loved the dark, muddy color pallet; the domed city and it's barren outskirts were made ten times more believably by this. There were too frequently, however, poorly/quickly drawn characters, usually Re-L, I noticed. Just sloppy, but the art that was handled well was excellent, especially the designs for the proxies. The art played a huge role in making the journey in this series seem believable, and in a good way at times, drawn out. I can't really explain it, but it was definitely a good thing.

Sound; 8. The opening theme and closing theme both are stellar songs; I've known of them prior to viewing this, however they both fit perfectly with the shows atmosphere and content, and were nice additions to the soundtrack undoubtedly. The shows tracks themselves, were few and far between. The ones that were included, however, fit very well; numerous battle themes and eerie sound clips were some of the best I've ever heard; but, like I said, I rarely heard them. It's a shame to see them create a soundtrack that I would happily give a ten...if they only used it as much as they should have.

Character; 10. This cast really grew on me, and from characters I didn't really care about to ones I even hated, each character was developed as in depth as possible; I've only ever seen one show with characters I was more in touch with than this, and that is a huge compliment. I have had many series ruined for me by characters I couldn't stand, and Ergo Proxy was the great, positive opposite. Each character is fleshed out at whatever point, and this is usually done through interactions with other characters, story and otherwise. This was another high point in characterization, a seemingly small step that really took the series miles in terms of it's overall impact; episodic characters. You know the crew they tossed into a single episode arc and killed at it's end of "show x," never fleshing them out past names and expecting you to care when they died? But, you didn't, and who the hell would? We only knew their names. Ergo Proxy even gave the proper amount of depth to it's episodic cast members, so there was always a clincher even for those many stand alone arcs. This alone, while working with everything else, allowed them to cover pretty much every issue and thought process humanly possible, which in turn allowed the series to reach a philosophical high ground no other show has achieved without becoming an annoying mess. Stellar job here.

Enjoyment/Overall; 9. In it's own way, Ergo Proxy succeeds where it should fail; Slow, slow pacing, and pointlessness, that feeling of nothing happening. Instead that is the beauty of it. Because half the time, nothing at all really is happening. In fact there was an entire episode devoted to Re-L's observance of all the nothing she was experiencing. And that was one of my favorite episodes. All in all, Ergo Proxy is a very bizarre bird, a specific show that a select group of fans will enjoy monumentally. But my advice is to give this a try, and see it through; even if you can't really dig the molasses-paced plot, the ending twist is so next and well executed that you'll be glad you watched just that.

OK, I’ll admit I’ve looked at this series for quite some time before actually picking it up. The reason being I didn’t feel quite comfortable with the apparent darkness the pictures of it seemed. Also the plot didn’t seem to interest me, as it appeared at first glance by wiki to be a bit bland. Then something changed, I prodded myself to go try it. And then,…I became trapped in the dark and phantastical post-apocalyptic world of Ergo Proxy, where anything might happen. And you could not trust anyone, anywhere.

-Animation-

Ergo Proxy has some of the best animation that I’ve seen in an anime. It sets ... the tone right away in the beginning for being dark and absolutely suspenseful. From the very first beginning where you are immediately shown an apparent medical containment lab where a “monster” is being restrained. However, it awakens. This sort of beginning sort of reminded me of Elfen Lied, however for those of you who have seen Elfen Lied, there is not quite near the amount of gore in Ergo Proxy. The animators did a splendid job of controlling the lighting; it was absolutely perfect when it switches between the sorrowful, painful, post-apocalyptic backgrounds of the “outside world” and the somehow even more sinister “ecological domes” in which most of the populace resides. There is very little frame reuse, no repeated mecha equipment cut scenes; this anime is meant to be dramatic and dark, and its animation does its purpose amazingly.

-Story-

Caveat emptor. Let me warn you first. Ergo Proxy isn’t meant to be seen as a side show. It’s not meant to be watched when you need to lighten up. It’s story is dark and convoluted and it’ll take those brain cells of ours to puzzle it out, even after the directors puts almost all the pieces in place. The story begins in a futuristic domed city called Romdo, built to protect its citizens after a global ecological disaster. In this utopia, humans and androids (AutoReivs) coexist with each other peacefully under a total management system. A series of murders committed by berserk robots (infected with the Cogito virus which enables them to have a conscious mind) starts to jeopardize the delicate balance of the social order. Behind the scenes, the government is conducting secret experiments on a mysterious humanoid lifeform called Proxy, which is believed to hold the key to the survival of mankind or maybe its destruction.

Re-l Mayer is assigned to investigate some of the murders with her AutoReiv partner Iggy. She encounters a Cogito-infected AutoReiv and a fast and flexible monster. She later learns that the monster was a Proxy, the mysterious humanoid lifeform only the top bureaucratic officials even know the existence of. Here is where an immigrant by the name of Vincent Law is introduced. Having mysterious connections to the Proxies, Vincent is on the run from authorities after failing his citizen test. After being hunted down, Vincent leaves Romdo, and Re-l tags along to discover the truth behind the Proxies and the domes.

This series has a nicely developed fully fleshed out plot, not too fast, nor too slow, but the major dialogues are important to understanding the story as it goes on.

-Music and Sound-

The in-series music is good enough for this type of series, but nothing really sticks out that much, unlike Heroic Age and series it. But since this series focuses mainly on a story and characters, it doesn’t really matter really. However, the OP threw me off guard, it suited the series in a weird ironic dark way. The song is performed by a Japanese, however, he speaks fluent English. See for yourself and you’ll know what I mean.

-Characters-

This is the gluing point of the series. In addition to its complex plot, its characters suit the series extremely well. All the characters develop emotionally through the course of the series and since this isn’t technically an action series, Ergo Proxy focuses on the psychological mentality of its protagonists. The main character, Re-I Mayer is an enigma. Her personality and demeanor suggests of a haughty princess, but she is acutely observational and analytical and amazingly intriguing. Introduced as a selfish character in the beginning with little regard to other beings including her own autoreiv Iggy and her later partner Vincent, Re-I Mayer (Lil) poses a curious change as the series goes on. Vincent too, introduced, as a bit timid and cowardly in the beginning changes into a true man as Ergo Proxy goes on.

Not just them, but the other characters, the Proxies, the Security Bureau’s chief, the different autoreivs, and the host of other characters, mainly supporting, are painstakingly portrayed and realistically displayed. Plainly put, it’s a series that will draw you in with its characters and plot alike.

-Enjoyment-

Well, can’t really say much about it. I can’t say I was left happy by it. But I can say I enjoyed it. It’s not something I would like to rewatch, however, and most likely it’ll stay on my list as one of the most brooding series ever created.

This is damn well near perfect, and one of my favorite anime.

It's quite ambitious as an "abstract" anime, and for the most part pulls it off thanks to well developed and likeable characters.

The premise is superficially simple, the remnants of humanity live in domed cities where their entire lives are orchestrated, carefully regulated, controlled, scrutinized, and more or less worthless. They are a remnant of those who fled the planet after a massive disaster rendered it mostly uninhabitable and live on in a wretched purgatory of an existence where they aren't even considered alive. They are tended to by humanoid robots called Autoraves, who have ... slowly begun to grow self-aware and unpredictable by a mysterious Cogito virus. Less known, and more central to the show are mysterious deities, Proxies, that serve as guardians, shadow gods of each dome city--and like all gods are both a creator and construct of humanity, the two being unable to live without each other.

The anime focuses on three odd characters--each a representative of the life remaining on the earth. This is set both to a backdrop similar of the Epic of Gilgamesh/the Great Flood where wanderers search a devastated world, frozen in time, on an ark (or in this case a beat up wind skiff), finding domes where reality has been twisted by the hand of the godlike proxies into strange perversions of pop psychology.

There are three main characters, something which makes the anime move smoothly along. Re-L Mayer, privileged daughter of an administrator of her dome, Romdo, who encounters a Proxy face to face and awakens from the dream of the other dome dwellers to follow a strange immigrant Vincent Law who was implicated in a recent string of murders and seeks to escape this artificial world. She is conflicted by the stark nature of the life outside and the comfort yet stagnation within.

Vincent Law is goofy, innocent, calculating. He is the slovenly foil to Re-L's fastiduousness, often driving her insane as she is both frustrated and fascinated by him. He is the motivating force for her running away from Romdo and travel the wastelands and witness the last moments of humanity. His outward singlemindedness hides something far darker and more evil inside...

Pino is an Autorave that became infected with the Cogito virus. Instead of becoming unpredictable and homicidal, she slowly assumes the personality and mannerisms of a child--becoming increasingly human, despite her outside perspective.

The fate of humanity, the purpose of the Autoraves and Proxies is told in an episodic fashion as the three travel the domes. The experiences range from corporeal--mindless destruction bestowed upon man by gods, to absurd: a dream world clearly meant to parody Disney's vision, to a Millionaire style game show, to literally a mirror world.

Over time the Proxies have grown tired, warped, lonely--lost in their own purpose and created their own worlds, many of which are a hell for the humans that remain. A sleeping, disturbed world awating for the return of the "creators:" humans who set all of this in motion who are awating for the Earth to live again, unaware or uncaring of the farce they left behind.

All of this is witnessed by the three travelers, who have their own take on events, each becoming more and more human in their own way...

The anime remains fresh by not dwelling on any theme or story arc for too long, has a scant few characters that it develops and presents quite well and actually makes us care about them, and only falls short in its lofty ambitions to embrace too many psychological and religious themes--but this is offset by the fact that ultimately it refuses to take itself too seriously.

And, hey, it has Paranoid Android as the ED.

When a show is touted as deep or intelligent, I often fear what makes a good story will be neglected. Maybe it’s no secret a show can be praised solely for its profundity while failing in storytelling. But hey, ‘intelligence’ is good armor for a show to have. Why bother with authentic storytelling when a show can show-off its psychology knowledge?

But instead of ranting, let’s look at Ergo Proxy.

The future, probably. Technology has advanced to where it’s created AutoReivs, androids who act as servants to people. But in the city of Romdo, a bug called the Cogito Virus is spreading through the AutoReivs. They gain ... a will of their own, often to destructive results. Detective Re-l Mayer is tasked with investigating the Cogito Virus, but is attacked by a monster called a Proxy.

The Proxy had escaped from a research lab under Daedalus’ watch, and is strangely drawn to the immigrant Vincent Law. After another incident, Security Bureau Chief Raul Creed tries to capture Vincent and the Proxy. But the former, joined by the child-like AutoReiv Pino, escapes Romdo out to the wasteland world. And thus begins Re-l’s mission to discover what the Proxy is, Vincent’s journey in the wasteland, and the proverbial chess game between Daedalus and Raul.

For Daedalus, it’s his reason for living at stake. He has strong feelings for Re-l, willing to use his authority to let her break rules when she needs to. Or assist her in killing the Proxy despite Raul’s mission to capture it. A smooth talker and an even smoother schemer, Daedalus is defined by his feelings for Re-l without much else to his person. He’s an empty man, whose reason for living touches on a crucial point for Romdo’s citizens. And that point ups the urgency for Raul to capture Vincent and the Proxy alive.

Raul himself starts as the antagonist—antagonist, not villain—for all the characters. But as he learns more about the Proxy and Vincent, the more he questions why they must be captured alive. His character arc deals with authority, and how far someone will follow orders without question. Early scenes also make a connection between Raul and Pino, to hint at another side to him. Unfortunately, this connection and that other side aren’t explored until the final act. It’s too bad, because fully realized, the connection between Raul and Pino would round out the former.

Pino is the classic tale of an innocent child learning about the real world, but tainted by unnerving implications from her ‘age’ and the Cogito Virus. From her lack of grasping death to adventurous curiosity, it’s unclear whether her actions are more from her programming or her ‘will.’ She’s supposed to be infected, but doesn’t show the destructive actions as other AutoReivs do. Then again, she’s a child at heart. And regardless of why she learns about the world, what matters is she does. Her empathy grows with her fondness toward Vincent, and her tact sharpens under Re-l’s demeanor.

This is because Re-l ends up joining Vincent. She pursues him to bring him back to Romdo, but decides to join his journey after certain events, to learn more about the Proxy. Re-l herself is the picture of professional, maintaining her gun’s aim the way she maintains her eyeliner; perfectly. Because for how cold she can be on the job, she’s also a bit frivolous. She apparently spends every morning fixing her make-up, shows fear against the Proxy, and gets angry when things don’t go as planned. My goodness, it’s like she’s lived a sheltered life as the granddaughter of Romdo’s leader.

Correction: she IS the sheltered granddaughter of Romdo’s leader. Re-l is often in over her head despite her demeanor, like she was mismatched to her job. This isn’t unbelievable though, as early on much of her work is done through her AutoReiv Iggy. But after certain events, her character arc becomes one of growing independence, and knowing when to relax in the company of others. Re-l might be hard to like—though Vincent would disagree—but at least she’s compelling to watch.

As for Vincent, his journey is a quest of self-discovery. He’s an immigrant from the city of Mosque, but the threat from the Proxy and Raul forces him to escape. But, he realizes he has no memory of his time in Mosque. So he decides to travel there, hoping to find the answers to his memory. Vincent himself often thinks about who he is, almost to the point where it’s all that defines him (and because of his role in the story, can’t get away with it like Daedalus).

Thankfully, it’s not. Vincent’s journey changes him bit by bit, going from a boy depressed by events and hesitant to face the truth, to a man who can smile despite the odds and can deal with the wind being taken out of his sails (metaphorically, and...literally). Unfortunately, his progress cracks in the final act, when it moves at near breakneck speed to advance the story. The story itself moves brisk and quick during the first and final acts, but it’s the middle act that can be a problem.

The better part of the show’s middle act is punishingly slow, doing nearly nothing to advance the story. People expecting a quick trip to the final act should exercise patience, and take time to admire the setting and characters along the way. Because unlike some shows where a five minute event takes five episodes to unfold, Ergo Proxy moves along a time span of weeks and maybe months. It’s a long journey, but it always has something to show for it.

Sometimes it peeks into a future for Romdo, like the abandoned city occupied by a single man whose circumstances mirror Vincent’s. Or the closed-off amusement park that subscribes to ignorance and bliss before its eventual downfall. At other times, it’s a character study to test the bonds between Re-l, Vincent, and Pino. From trusting each other with food and water supplies, to saving each other from new and familiar faces, to placing their fates in each other’s hands (literally and metaphorically).

Going further, one episode strongly hints to the answer of Vincent’s memory, while another episode explores consciousness where there normally isn’t consciousness. It also looks into some of the minor characters. There’s one person whose sense of want and duty blur together as he feels emotions he’s never felt, while a military unit fights against destructive AutoReivs.

Oops, I stayed on the road of storytelling but it went into a jungle of existential and societal metaphors anyway. Whether stated or implied, the show is filled with the kind of intelligence I described earlier, but doesn’t hinge itself on profundity thanks to its compelling characters. They’re rounded enough to make the psychology a part of them instead of the other way around. The show is a story first, a display—display, not show-off—of psychology second, and that’s the way it should be. Save for the awful episode 15 that says nothing new, the show is great about being meaningful without crossing the line into nonsense.

But to give episode 15 credit, it displays the show’s perfectly fitting morbid sense of humor. It’s hard not to gawk at someone who’s literally making a game gravely serious despite his cheerfulness. Another episode shows two people who joke about their own uselessness. And another person threatens Re-l to no effect, as the camera goes back and forth between his increasingly scared face and her unmoving scowl.

The camera work is otherwise unremarkable, standard, except when it decides to throw in Re-l fanservice when it’s not needed. Because a glance of her naked body covered by two towels as she’s stretchered away, doesn’t have the weight of a slow look at her body that mirrors Vincent’s attraction to her when they’re close together. But hey, at least the visuals have the decency to give Re-l unassuming white underwear instead of an accentuating black.

The visuals themselves give the world a bleak look, from the unnaturally spotless Romdo, to the crack-lined, rust-littered structures of the wasteland world. Special mention goes to the character designs, particularly the AutoReivs. Save for Pino, every AutoReiv is identified by mask-like faces where glowing red eyes are the only hint of any expression. Most close-ups of the AutoReivs don’t reveal anything, but it adds tension in guessing whether they’re destructive or not.

But when they ARE destructive, there’s sometimes a firefight following close behind, like when a military group goes against them. Yes, I’m surprised the show has action scenes too. They move fluidly but without crazy choreography, which would look ridiculous in this fairly grounded show anyway. Except for the Proxy. The Proxy’s fights move with supernatural grace, but aren’t louder than the normal action scenes.

Because even in the action scenes, most of the music tracks are atmospheric ambiance instead of distinct pieces; the only noticeable track being the operatic ‘Fellow Citizens.’ The overall score works where it’s used, setting the mood but never distracting from the dialog. And there’s a lot of it. Nearly every moment of the show is charged with talking or thinking, and it demands a certain amount of attention.

Which brings me to another point.

Ergo Proxy isn’t an easy show to watch. There’s action, but people who watch it for the action can quickly get bored. The first and final acts are fast, but the middle act will drive away the impatient even faster. It’s held together by compelling characters, but ‘compelling’ isn’t ‘likable.’ It does most things right, but demands patience. So while the destination is far away, the journey is always here.

** This review was my first and it certainly did not include all the elements of the show cuz I really didn't get them all back when I wrote it. I also screwed pretty badly on describing character development too. If you feel like reading this, go ahead, but it is not well polished and the points are NOT all current. I'm working on the reversion.**

This anime is kinda hard to review. It was probably a bad idea to make this my very first review. it's pretty complicated and opinions can vary greatly from person to person. I guess I'll just briefly talk about it ... and hopefully it helps :) Suggestions and Criticism are welcomed and appreciated.

There are two types of animes, one goes from point A to point B straightforward, (fate series) another goes randomly so that it's okay to watch episode 12 before episode 11. (darker than black).

Ergo proxy belongs to neither category, which makes it very controversial.
On one hand, it is a journey, a journey to find the meaning of living. on the other hand, random episodes pop out once in a while, though look like fillers, they actually contribute to the thesis and the story.

STORY (8/10)

I'm not going to talk about the concept since I think it's better for you to feel yourself. And don't be fooled by the first line of the description, it has nothing to do with the thesis of the show.

The story of the show is rather interesting. To be honest, I put my progress on hold after watching the first four episodes. Not that they were bad, but they are just way too confusing. However, in the middle of the series, the story opens out the goals and ideas begin to come together. As the story progress further, it becomes random and confusing again, but this time with background information, the confusing plot becomes slightly more understandable.

I really don't know how to describe it better. The story proposes many philosophical questions regarding what it means to be human. Which is really my piece of cake since these questions make me think. If you are not a thinker, I suppose you would not like the story as much since nothing shocking or exciting or engaging happen until the very end.

For some reasons I had a strong motivation of going to the next episode without knowing exactly why. There really aren't any cliffhanger, they are simply good episodes that makes you wonder what will happen next. By the way, the ending is good.

All in all, I personally like the story A LOT. Though I do appreciate the new approach the artists attempted, to put it objectively, the story is not that well executed.

CHARACTERS (10/10)

There are three main characters. Vincent Law, Re-L and Pino.

Vincent, for a lack of better reference, is a sci-fi, future, overpowered version of Hamlet. He narrates his thoughts 99% of the time when he is on the screen. He thinks a lot. Over time, he slowly but surely discovered his past and realized the purpose of his existence. I like this character, it has decent development and many interesting aspects. The story also does a great job showing his personality and background.

Re-L. My favorite female character ever. She is strong, independent (well her robot servant would probably disagree with me..), fit, clever and good looking (come on, am I the only one finding her make up amazing?). I really don't want to spoil her too much, but she did change greatly from the beginning of the show to the end. If Vincent is the protagonist, she would be the observer or interpreter/helper of Vincent's final determination.

Pino. Cute. Too cute. She is childish, but not stupid. She acts as the clear eye when both Re-L and Vincent can't find their way. She gets lost all the time, but it is her discoveries that helped Vincent to find his answers. She also acts as the plot relief when sh*t gets real and audience are terrified or nervous. Damn she's just too cute to dislike.

All the supporting characters received decent background and development. With good screen time, they all serve their purpose well.

I loved these characters. I think they are very well designed and really I can't find a way to make them better. (Unless you are easily annoyed by their dialogues...)

ART (4/5) ANIMATION (4/5) OVERALL (8/10)

The art in this anime is beautiful. Despite the fact that most of the sceneries are shot in wasteland and plain colors of dark, white grey, it appeals to the eye and fits the environment perfectly.

People's face and body proportions are very close to the real life humans'. Except Pino. Well she is a Robot.

My only problem with the art is that when characters are far away from the camera, they become blurry. The outlines get very thick and the shapes are deformed. I suppose that's old technology's limit.

The animation is good. There are very little action scenes, but when there are, they are great. The objects and characters move little. Maybe the objects are also very symbolic and the people think too much? But the animation does it job, tho could be much better.

SOUND (9/10)

The opening is an excellent song. Although I personally would not listen to it in the car. It fits the entire series with dark and gloom feel yet still expressive. The ending is fairly generic.

The OST tho, are not memorable. By that I mean I do not recognize and OST by itself. They don't stand on their own. Now it's difficult to say if it's a good thing of a bad thing, because the OST should not stand out too much to a point where it becomes a distraction. It blends in the anime awesomely. I don't have any complaint. They are great they way they fit in the series, but when I try to listen to the OST on its own, they are... meh.

I watched Dub. I'd say the dub is very good. Vincent has its concerns, Re-L has the feel of mature and Pino is, well just being pino. It is one of the better dubs I've heard, so I would actually recommend it. The setting is not in Japan anyways.

Enjoyment (10/10)

I love stories that makes me think. It has an engaging and unique plot, interesting and likable characters, decent sound and art. Nothing much to talk about here, I enjoy it very much.

Overall (9/10)

Despite the fact that I love this series to a point that I want to rate it a masterpiece, it certainly has its problems. These problems can be seen differently by different people. If you want to watch this show, you need to commit about 6 or 7 episodes in cuz that's where I got hooked on. If you feel frustrated after that, well, 2deep4you.

Peace.

The future of humanity is an aspect that has always been pondered about in many epoch's and mediums, especially as of late with the ever-growing available technology. However, with the destructive and greedy nature of mankind, the annihilation of it is certainly an aspect to consider. This is the essence of a dystopian setting, which concerns in this specific case Ergo Proxy. It is a well crafted anime which provides viewers with a variety of themes throughout its duration, such as the coexistence between AI and society, or the acceptance of oneself, through the setting. With that being said, there where some issues that ultimately ... did hinder the immersion in its story and characters, leading to a less enjoyable experience.

~Story~

The story of Ergo Proxy revolves around Re-I Meyer, the granddaughter of the regent of an isolated city dome, which protects its citizens from the inhospitable planet Earth has become. This society is in fact considered a Utopia, with the inclusion of highly intelligent robots called "AutoRaves", which of late seemingly are getting infected with the Cogito virus that drives these mad. It is up to inspector Meyer to investigate this occurrences, which somehow seem related with the immigrant Vincent Law - in addition to her coming in contact with the "monsters" called "Proxy". Curiosity awoken with such encounter, they set out on a journey to reveal this elusive subject.

The anime manages to encompass the scope of what is the barren and monotonous city its habitants live in, conveying what is wrong with that specific Utopia. It shows the viewer the disadvantages of having a desired, near to "perfect" lifestyle; it could be said that bad things are necessary to fully appreciate the good, a compensation process. This is combined with satisfactory world building, which is subtly relaid to the viewer through numerous events that occur in conjunction with story progression. Speaking of which, the pacing can feel "off" at times; this mainly concerns the intermission between the introductory events and the conclusion. These were sometimes a bit too slow-paced, whereas the conclusion was the exact opposite, and thus a what slower progression would have been desirable to fully grasp the information that is relaid.

As mentioned earlier, Ergo Proxy touches upon several themes, one of the most intriguing ones the meaning of being human, or indirectly, the possession of a soul. This done through the representation of the AutoReivs and humanity - both of which contrast human emotions, the former seemingly more human than the latter, as these are basically stripped from feelings to be able to maintain the peace of the city. In addition, the anime displays to the audience the acceptance of oneself throughout the course of the story by representing the relationships and hardships the cast undergoes. However, in several occasions the show went around circles with some of its themes, several events being unnecessarily convoluted that didn't really add anything significant to the comprehension of the story.

Another to thing to note is that information about the world and its underlying mysteries are subtly shown to audiences through either the character's personalities and their interactions, besides its respective art style. There are however several problems at times with the approach on it, as viewers are suddenly introduced in situations without any prior knowledge on how or why the characters are there. The positive aspect to note is the fact that a great deal of information is relaid to the viewer, instead of infodumping through a simple narration. The problem in this lies that it breaks with the immersion in the narrative, and felt that could have been done in another manner. Surely enough, it helps to magnify the mystery surrounding the "Proxy's" and their respective actions and motives. This mainly affects two episodes in the anime, the quiz and smile episodes being of importance; thus I'd recommend paying attention to these instead. What was however lacking in my eyes, was ultimately the conclusion on the explanation of Proxy's and their origination, which was a thing I was eager to discover, assuming it was something somewhat plausible.

~Characters~

Concerning its cast of characters, these were by no means vast, yet sufficient to properly convey the story. These were for the major part well presented, yet some characters either suffered shortcomings or were simply poorly done. There is the main protagonist Re-I Meyer, who basically represents how human nature has evolved - or devolved for the matter - being basically an emotionless being. Surely enough, the different situations she encounters herself in manages to change and reveal her "humanity" as story progresses. However, although some change is appreciated throughout the story, her character remains basically the same, as opposed as the viewer might expect. She remains the arrogant, egoistic person, yet with some human touch to it; as a whole, I found her to be uninteresting and boring as a character.

Other character of interest is Vincent, a seemingly helpless and clumsy man always followed by bad luck; the fact that he has some sort of amnesia isn't helping either. In addition, he undergoes significant character development whilst discovering and exploring himself in his journey for the search of the truth, the Proxy. Naturally, anyone may ponder why these two main characters are together considering said personalities - said issues are mainly alleviated with their common goal and individual problems they face, in addition to the other character of importance, Pino. She, or "that", is an autoreiv who acts surprisingly human, contrasting with human society itself. Through her the anime manages to represents diverse themes Ergo Proxy has to offer, such as the meaning of being human. However, this character is ultimately a plot device, consequently not being of interest to the eyes of some.

As for the secondary characters, these were in general rather dull, yet often befitting of the narrative, especially in the case of the government officials. One character that stood out in this whole affair was Raul Creed, where audiences observe his struggles and changes in character due to the different mysteries he is exposed with because of his position. This could not be said of the other secondary character Daedalus, whose only purpose was so justify several flow of events; after those, he had no real relevance in the story. Naturally, other aspect to consider are the Proxy's themselves. These are crucial, and the motives behind these are well relaid to the viewer by contrasting the personalities of these with the world and humanity; furthermore, although not immediately apparent, it gives viewers insight in the story behind the devastation and their origins. However, I might point out that the power these possess is very dubious, which affects a bit the conclusion of the story - nevertheless, as centrepoints of the story, these are well executed and intriguing.

~Animation and sound~

The animation of Ergo Proxy is well executed, especially in some instances; yet as a whole, it was inconsistent. Audiences observe at times some stunning backgrounds with great animation, whereas in other cases it had poor animation quality, in addition to some of its backgrounds. Other thing to note are the character designs; these are varied, yet felt at times "off" in some occasions, especially when viewed in different angles. I might want to add the bunny costume of Pino felt unnecessary, not befitting of its setting. In addition, the anime was at times too dark, where there was little to no contrast with all the different things in it, which hindered the viewing experience. However, it must be said that the colour palette used for the art style fits magnificently in the atmosphere the anime is trying to portray.

As for the music score, all the different compositions used in matched wonderfully with the atmosphere of the anime, utilizing a great variety of these for each different situation; it is simply outstanding. It manages to pull in and immerse audiences in the story and its setting magnificently, each depending on the tone the series tries to employ at a given time. As for the voice actors, these performed their roles well (both japanese and english), matching with the different personalities, especially in the case of Pino. The opening and ending themes were well done, with Radiohead and their song "Paranoid Android" as the ending theme, which was very much to my liking.

~Enjoyment~

Ergo Proxy was overall a good anime, with a fascinating premise, its themes, and soundtrack; what however made me not fully enjoy this work were all the little gripes that I had with it. There were several times when the anime was more convoluted than necessary, the conclusion was a bit lacking considering the high quality of the beginning of the show; also some of the characters were not interesting at a personal level, which further minimized my enjoyment. This is not to say that it is overall lacking; no, for some the earlier mentioned points could be easily ignored and thus not regarded as "issues". I might want to mention that it is necessary to pay attention to the little details the show offers through its setting, characters and story, as these are not spoon-fed to the audience. So do I recommend Ergo Proxy? I certainly do, yet be warned, attention is necessary to fully appreciate this piece.

Thank you for reading.

I know I should be modest about the ratings but I won\'t hold back in this review. Ergo Proxy is absolutely fantastic!
The characters are superbly detailed, each having completely different personalities which you keep on discovering throughout the episodes. The soundtrack and art are amazing, though it is a very dark show. You\'ll find yourself painstakingly searching for the right angle to look at your screen so that you get what\'s going on, and jump back, blinded, when those few rare moments of light come sneaking through...
The plotline is splendid. You start out in a post apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear war. Most humans have ... fled to other planets, though a few survivors stayed on Earth and are now living in cities widely spread out in Domes, which are a sort of protective sheild against the now dangerous outer atmosphere. The main city is Romdeau and is ruled by a strict dictatorial regime. Also, humans now have auto raves, which are machines that become personal companions. Real Mayar, a detective, is one night attacked by a creature who is neither human nor machine, and she finds out about the mysterious "Awakening". Throughout the episodes, Real will delve deeper into the mystery of these beings and find only one man can help reveal it: Vincent Law.
Surprising twists and turns leave you dying for more, and the show has good comic touches. In fact you don\'t really know what\'s hapening AT ALL until the last episode!!

If to be great is to be misunderstood, then Ergo Proxy is truly one of the greatest anime ever. It’s second only to Future Diary in how everyone misinterprets it, both the fans and the haters. Some of what you heard is true. It’s experimental, bizarre and sometimes a little too vague. Yet no one talks about how it’s not experimental in the conventional, silly way. No one mentions how human the story is, or how traditional it is at the same time.

Somewhere at its heart is a very traditional story. It starts off with a mystery and later becomes a journey of self-discovery, a ... wild adventure with stand-alone set-pieces. Being experimental isn’t denying common structures but creating your own. The weirdest anime have a familiar side. They distort common tropes and structures and build something new out of them.

The anime makes its intentions very clear at the beginning. You know this is a deep sci-fi story because there’s no info dumps. Techno-babble is common in sci-fi and its antithesis. Sci-fi is about exploring the implications of technologies and possibles futures. How exactly a technology will work is work for scientists. The purpose of storytellers is to try to predict how it will effect us psychologically and philosophically.

Human relying on intelligent robots is familiar, but the anime is more focused on what it means. Machines are just advanced tools. Humanoid robots aren’t meant to be actual humans, but serve various factions. How far does a tool advance before it stops being a tool? The companion model is important. Tools are supposed to solve technical problems – they help us build, repair and cook. Yet here’s a tool whose purpose is to address a psychological problem.

Psychological problems are bigger than technical problems. The toaster is either broken or fixed and, in general, doesn’t have a will of its own. Psychology leads to wants and needs. Psychology is dynamic and is constantly changing. A tool that cannot solve a psychological problem without having long-term effects.

Intelligence is also important for the development of psychology. The more complex the problem, the more complex the tool has to be. Eventually we develop intelligent tools, but intelligence leads to psychology, to asking questions. But the AutoReives don’t have to ask too much. The main philosophical question – why live? – has been answered inside their programming. The designer of the tool decides its purpose. It designs the tool for a specific problem.

In a way, this is the argument for the non-existence of a God or for an indifferent God. Human beings don’t have their reasons of existence written in their code. The only humans who do are humans born in artificial wombs. Vincent is the prime example of the Absurd Man. If you’re confused over what happens to him, that’s okay. He’s just as confused like most people are. Unlike the AutoReives, he has to put conscious effort, to break out of his comfort zones to find meaning.

Even the pre-programmed people aren’t safe from the nature of reality. Intelligence is only useful if it’s able to develop on its own. An intelligent tool has to continue to learn, or else it’s not intelligent at all and can’t deal with the most complex problems. Either reality shifts and make us question our purpose, or our intelligence develops and leads us to these questions. That’s what the Cogito virus really is, isn’t it? That’s Pino’s arc. She starts off pre-programmed with a clear purpose. As she gathers experience, she develops a worldview, wants and needs. The line isn’t between men and machine. It’s between men and tools.

Ergo Proxy is mostly about the search for meaning. It’s appropriate because the anime sometimes can’t hold on to that. The conclusion it reaches is a familiar one, but I don’t think anyone has yet to supply a better answer. We cannot stop the search. Romdeau may be sealed and ordered, but the Cogito virus still exploded. People still wondered what’s going on, and Lil Mayar found a purpose of her own besides merely existing. Human connection is also important. When everything falls, there are still people to hold on to.

The anime mirrors the characters and humanity in general. It bumbles from style to style. The atmosphere is fairly consistent with the anime mainly borrowing from genres rather than jumping into them. Still, the theme is either pushed too upfront with name-dropping of philosophers or hidden in episodes that don’t relate to this. That’s why being aware of traditional storytelling is useful. Merely rejecting them is silly when they’re a useful crutch.

In general, falling back on tropes is a bad sign. Cliches without verve are offensively boring. Ergo Proxy‘s case isn’t giving up. Rather, it focuses on having a surface as attractive as its depths. There’s no reason to cover up a deep story with a boring surface, anyway. The mystery and the adventure are just as intriguing. While the tonal shifts aren’t huge with few moments of lighthearted fun, there’s variety in the set-pieces. It especially improves when the anime slides into its adventure arc. The set-pieces are varied and often bizarre. Episodes are told in different ways, and are often self-contained.

Sometimes it feels like you missed episodes, but only because the focus is on making the episode an individual creation. The connection to past events is made later. The focus is more on the story. That’s another thing people miss about the anime. For all its talk about philosophy, Ergo Proxy isn’t a collection of weird images and stoic phases. It’s heavy on storytelling, on characters interacting and things happening. It rarely, if ever, stops to inform the audience on its philosophical nature. When the AutoReives cry for their ‘raison d’etre’, it’s more because this term is common in the world rather than trying to impress the viewer with jargon.

Its only flaw is its messy nature, but that’s forgivable. Any time that explores its themes so well, that plays both the philosophical angle and the storytelling angle is bound to be messy. It’s not even lying big themes on a traditional story. Ergo Proxy constantly breaks, constantly bounces from one thing to the next. The verve is engrossing, but the anime is also confused. Since it’s not a complete experimental work and not an adventure with psychological portait, it should be in the middle. A anime that’s at once traditional and experimental should be brilliant, but that’s too much to ask for. Still, it doesn’t matter if Icarus burned when he flew to the sun. The wings still worked.

There’s no reason to pass off on this anime. It’s bizarre, messy, intelligent, emotionally engrossing and accessible. It’s far-out, so I can imagine plenty disliking this. Still, this isn’t the impenetrable Texhnolyze or Serial Experiments Lain. In fact, its awareness of traditions actually makes it more bizarre. It’s truly unusual in a way that few fictional works are. If I have to present anime to an outsider, this is one of the first I’ll think of.

4.5 autoraves out of 5