Reviews

Ergo Proxy is my favorite type of anime: serious, complex, and philosophical. From the opening scenes, which feel more like the introduction to a movie than a series and immediately suck you in, it is apparent that this is an ambitious undertaking, intended to be a legitimate addition to what might be termed the "intelligent" anime genre, alongside the likes of Ghost in the Shell and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Ergo Proxy offers a wonderfully compelling and layered post-apocalyptic story that is well-executed and -paced throughout the first half of the series. The attentive viewer will be extremely well-rewarded. While often criticized, the main characters are sufficiently complex and enjoyable. Re-l is serious and, in her own terms, often a "total selfish bitch;" Vincent is meek and relentlessly kind; and Pino is the adorable child AutoReiv who is always being cute, hilarious, or both. As seen in the aptly-named episode 16, "Busy Doing Nothing," (arguably the best episode in the series) their interactions are often a pleasure to watch. Production-wise, Ergo Proxy's animation is nice, the character designs (particularly the unforgettable Re-l) are generally original, and the soundtrack and voice actors are great.

But while such "intelligent" anime have the greatest potential to succeed, they are also the easiest to complicate. Ergo Proxy is very complex, and would undoubtedly suffer from debilitating obscurity were it not for episode 15, a filler that is anything but because it lays out critical facts regarding the apocalpytic event, the proxies, and the main antagonist. Although this is certainly appreciated, presenting these facts all at once in a random game show episode, instead of interspersed throughout earlier episodes, reflects an uncharacteristic laziness on the part of the series. Similarly problematic is the final episode, which implicitly admits its shortcomings through its title, "Deus Ex Machina," a literary term referring to an unrealistic or unexpected intervention that saves the protagonist or story through improbable means. While earlier episodes offer some hint of the events in the final episode, only the extremely attentive viewer will have foreseen its coming, and most will find the surprise to be the product of poor rather than clever writing.

In short, Ergo Proxy is a wonderful story and anime, if not somewhat poorly and lazily executed. Once the series moves beyond telling the immediate story of the events in Romdo and Re'l, Vincent, and Pino's journey, and begins to provide a larger historical backdrop and philosophical connotations, it fails to deliver in a clear and coherent fashion and could be a lot tighter. This by no means justifies passing up what is otherwise an immensely complex and engaging story, as well as an attractive and highly professional production. If you watch closely - and look for explanations or at the manga when you get lost or confused - Ergo Proxy ranks among the best.