Ergo Proxy Review

      

"The world is so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways we are, in some ways we're not. We are ruled by the forces of chance and coincidence." -Paul Aster

     Ergo Proxy is a strange beast. Released in early 2006, the anime has aged remarkably well both visually and thematically due to its innovative and exclusive style. The anime itself is specifically stylized in both of these aspects in order to convey its own meanings and philosophies regarding life, love, humanity, and even religion. Conceived from the minds over at Manglobe, Ergo Proxy provides an intellectual, philosophical, and overall thought provoking series that hits home time after time.

            Specifically regarding the story, it takes place in the seemingly distant future after a great apocalyptic fallout that doomed all of the planet and reduced civilization to living solely in giant domed cities (seeing as the outside world has infected air and little to no vegetation). In the specific domed city that the majority of the story takes place, Romdeau, the people called “Fellow Citizens”

The mysterious Proxy's are powerful
beings, held to mythical standards
by Romdeau's citizens

live in a utopian dystopia in which all those considered “Citizens” are assisted by robots named AutoRevs, whom attend to any unpleasant or dull task they wish to be accompanied with. All of the people in the city are governed by the Regent, a man that says little and has his philosophical and logically sound statues speak and think for him. Likewise, those that are not considered “Fellow Citizens” are named “Immigrants” and are given the worst paying, most dangerous jobs in the city. Like I said earlier, this self-perceived utopia covers up the ugly bottom side that forces it into being a brutal dystopia. A “virus” inside of specific AutoRevs named the “Cogito Virus” creates “souls” amongst these robotic beings and grants them free will. Likewise, the looming threat of a being named a “Proxy” blankets the Security Bureau of the domed city, which is experiencing homicides as a result of this “Proxy”.

An affluent member of society,
Re-l seeks answers in a harsh world

            In this city live the two protagonists: Vincent Law, the amnesic immigrant that has forgotten the majority of his past and works at disposing of infected AutoRevs, and Re-l (pronounced “Ray-Ru, albeit the Japanese pronunciation of "Real") Mayer, the granddaughter of the Regent and rebellious member of the Investigation Bureau. During her work, Re-l comes across the “Proxy” and is immediately reprimanded by her 

Vincent Law, an immigrant with
a mysterious past and a warrant on
his head.

Bureau and grandfather for poking into the matter (which only provokes her more). Later that day, Re-l is ambushed by that same Proxy while preparing to take a shower, however she is not harmed. Instead, the Proxy merely looks into her eyes, touches her lips, and cries. Immediately following this the peaceful Proxy is attacked by yet another one, the one that is later revealed to be the murderer of all those citizens. At the same time, Vincent Law soon finds himself being hunted and attacked by members of the Security Bureau for no apparent reason. Assisted by Re-l (who is looking for him for
her own private investigation) and a Cogito infected AutoRev named Pino Vincent manages to escape the city and is thrusted into the dead and barren outside world.

The Cogito infected Pino serves as the
main highlight of the theme "What
makes a human, and what makes
a soul?"

            I can’t explicitly say much more, seeing as the show is more of an experience rather than something I can just explain and cover generically. Instead, Ergo Proxy is a show where everyone

gets their own ideas from it. To cover it simply, the rest of the story follows the journey of Vincent, Pino, and Re-l as they seek to uncover the secrets of the Proxy and uncover the truth behind Romdeau itself. This journey is told by a series of encounters in real life as well as ethereally, in which the protagonists all undergo spiritual and mental trials that teach them more about the world and themselves. Each of these “experiences” are incredibly abstract and fairly hard to follow (as is much of the story), which takes away from the narrative to a slight extent, however the plot manages to repair itself and make sense of the artistically abstract story that touts itself that specific way.

            To be frank, there were only two real things I didn’t care for in the series, the first of these being the abstract and nigh impossible to follow (at times) story. As mentioned prior, it’s told primarily through abstract experiences that seem random, generally occurring in the character in question’s mind although seeming legitimate and real. Because of this format, most information is simply implied and the roundabout way of explaining helps contribute to this loss of understanding. Although it always straightens itself at the end, the way Manglobe goes about it reduces the amount of information you process from the experience and ends up twisting in on itself a strong majority of the time. Regardless, this style of storytelling enables the animators to go berserk on their work, making a beautifully destroyed world with exceptional qualities to it.

The beautiful and utopian
Romdeau (above)serves as a
stark contrast to the
bleak outside world (below)

The second point in this counterargument is the shows soundtrack- or lack thereof. To be frank, I can probably count on my two hands how many times I actually heard any music in the

series. Once again, I recognize that this was an artistic decision on the producer’s part in an act to convey a more realistic tone to an otherwise insane world by creating little to no music, and the only music present is generally ambient tones. Although done exceptionally well in tense situations, in others it just felt hollow without anything musical in the background (yes, I realize this was the point of the decision).

As noted previously, the art style in this show is magnificent. From deserted ‘60’s style towns to barren wastelands, from utopias to remnants of such, Ergo Proxy covers the contrasts in the world amazingly with its diverse color pallet that changes significantly after and during the exploration of the outer world. Likewise, during action scenes the art style remains constant, differing from several other shows that fall short of expectations and revert to simpler animation during fast paced scenes. This type of dedication and hard work is commendable, as is much of Ergo Proxy in its smashing of the generic anime genre many have come to attribute to the industry as a whole.

Finally, we come to the most critical and beautiful aspect of the series: Its themes. Possessing many thematic statements delivered both subtly and arrantly, Ergo Proxy makes itself obviously raison d'etre, or reason for existence. Commented on and spoken on through the repeated quote “I think, therefor I am.”, Ergo Proxy seeks to explain and understand what makes humans continue living, existing, surviving. By drawing abstract analogies and commenting on the actions of humans and robots alike, the series explains this beautiful concept in a remarkable way.

Just one of many abstract interactions in Ergo Proxy

known as a philosophical and outspokenly artistic series. The first theme introduced is the definition of being a human being, in comparison to robots with the Cogito virus, what constitutes a soul? Next comes the idea of proper governing, what makes a proper and justifiable governing body? Furthermore, there are the themes regarding religion (both implied and specifically spoken about) and the most important of them all: A human’s

Even with the presence of many dystopian shows and their mystery counterparts, Ergo Proxy stands firm ground as an unparalleled series all of its own. By attacking themes very dear and commonly overlooked in the human mental makeup, the series serves as a well needed wake up call to humanity and paints us a startling picture of what we have made ourselves and the world we live in today. Although hard to follow and bland in sensory, Ergo Proxy resolves its main flaws with immensely relevant thematic statements and provides a necessary root in philosophy in an industry mislabeled by bad examples even to this day.

Pros:

+Beautiful art

+Incredibly relevant themes

+Loveable and dynamic characters

Neutral:

+/- Abstract, Hard to follow

Cons:

-Lacks musical accompaniment

-Losses focus occasionally (intentionally or not)

Overall Rating: 8.25/10 ONLY GOOD FOR A MATURE VIEWER