The show manages to have the most bleak, grim and tragic atmosphere i've ever seen. throughout this whole series, nothing good happens. or maybe the things that happen are good, but the way i interpret them is not good? the show explores multiple ideologies and beliefs and showcases how they clash together and at the end of the day, it doesn't try to sway you in one side or the other, it doesn't try to convince you "this is a good guy" and " this is a bad guy". it allows you to form your own opinions. it approaches fairly heavy topics like the meaning of life, faith, suffering, and what truly makes someone a human being. most of the "explanations" are delivered through the art and through showing you things and not explaining things in a clear way. the show has a fairly slow pace, which a lot of people do have a problem with but i personally found it to be really important for the latter parts to be meaningful. now to go into the more analytical ratings.
Story: 10/10. The story in texhnolyze is quite fascinating to me, and it's portrayed in a way that i absolutely adore. While we do have a main character, Ichise. the story focuses on many different people at the same time, switching between their perspectives on the city, on life, and the world as a whole. most of the story is based around the city of lux, and it's apparent downfall into chaos. as mentioned before, the way the story is portrayed is slightly different than in other shows, as you may be used to having narration or some kind of monologue explaining the world to you, most of the time that is missing in texhnolyze. the show just throws you into the middle of everything and tries to slowly reveal things to you through it's symbolism and art. While texhnolyze can be described in many ways, such as it's a story about gang wars, or a story about a futuristic world gone wrong, etc. i'd say the most accurate description of texhnolyze is that it's a study of how humans feel towards being human, how they feel towards death, towards living, what really is the meaning of living? is there a point? is the series nihilistic or is it a story about hope? these are all questions you might be asking yourself while watching through this show.
Characters: 10/10. I would say that the characters are what makes texhnolyze a masterpiece. to be able to present so many fundamentally different beliefs and opinions and still make the viewer not have a specific "antagonist" is quite amazing. every character has meaning, every character at the end of the day worked towards their beliefs and their ideals. The pain in this series feels real. the interactions feel real. The dialogue seems like something actual human beings would say to eachother. and the characters feel raw, their emotions are truly expressed in such a raw, unfiltered manner that you can't help but be attached to them or respect them even if you don't agree with how they view life. every character in this show had justifiable actions. all of them made sense. not a single time did i see something and think " what the fuck this is just stupid". it all just made sense. it genuinely just felt real.
Art and sound: 10/10. while the story and characters are both wonderful and perfect. they wouldn't be enough without the way they were portrayed through the art and soundtrack, as many of texhnolyze's episodes have little dialogue, most of the series uses it's soundtrack and art to portray things that the dialogue doesn't. the art is honestly perfect. The color of this anime feels so fitting as it has a largely grey, bleak feel to it. never truly changing, always reminding you of how grim and hopeless this world is. the soundtrack reflects the same thing. most of the tracks are dark and further amplify the feeling of melancholy you can never shake off throughout this series, the voice acting didn't fail at any time throughout the series, i'd say ichise's voice acting stands out as again, the amount of agony portrayed in just the first and second episode was enough to convince me that the voice actor is doing a good job. the opening is incredibly good, the ending is relaxing. there's genuinely no complaints, except just ONE instance of a soundtrack being way too loud and kind of just terrible in the last episode. but that was only around 4 minutes of pain, and that would be petty to deduct a point for.
Overall, I feel that i am not giving this series justice with my review because it's quite hard to express just how well it portrays human emotion. from the moment i saw the opening i knew that this was a show i'll give a 10. i went in with incredibly high expectations, and those were still surpassed. my only regret is how long it took me to actually watch this show, and actually ignoring it for so many years. but honestly. watching it now was not so bad, because it genuinely affected my views towards death and living. and made me view life in a different way. I absolutely love this show. and i highly recommend it to anyone that can stomach a rather painful story.
