The Genre: Sci-Fi

The Format: 6 DVD Box Set from Geneon

The plot: The domed city of Romd is an impenetrable would-be utopia where humans and robots coexist and everything is under complete government control - or so it appears.

While working on a mysterious murder case, Re-l Mayer, a female detective from the Civilian Intelligence Office, receives a foreboding message that something is going to "awaken." That night, she's attacked by a deformed super-being. What was this unidentified monster that attacked her, and who was the figure that came in between them?

As Re-l attempts to unlock this spiralling mystery, a metaphysical battle cry leads her to the unknown outside world...

The first thing that really strikes you about Ergo Proxy is the look.

The visual aesthetic is so strong that, combined with the very nice packaging, it virtually seeps out of the DVD boxes and makes a grungy mess all over your fingers as you put the DVDs in the machine. It really is a very strong and very striking style. It's also one I found very appealing.

This is followed up by what I thought was some pretty good animation.

I've read some reviews online that criticised the animation as being a little inconsistent and perhaps lacking some quality control, but I have to say that I didn't really find this to be an issue at all. I mean, there are certainly some areas where a little more time and cash could have been spent, but it's nothing to really write home about.

Something else that's absolutely top notch is the sound design. From the opening and ending themes to the music used throughout, the general use of sound in the series is great. If you've got access to a good 5.1 system I'd strongly recommend giving this a good listen. (Interestingly, the ending theme is actually part of OK Computer by Radiohead. Well, okay, maybe not interesting as such, but a factoid nonetheless.)

Character and mecha design is also great and the background art is some of the most beautiful I've seen in a long time.

Forgive me for resorting to one of the old stand-bys, but I'm afraid I'm going to compare it with Eva. Not because the shows really share anything in terms of plots or ideas, but because they're both trying to play the same sorts of tricks.

As I've mentioned before, Eva presents us with all sorts of ideas, like the Religious aspects and the whole Ego/Id/Super-Ego thing, or the much-discussed ending, but it does so both as a way of intriguing us and also distracting us. The core story of Eva is actually fairly simple and therefore quite satisfying. It's then left to us to work out all the other stuff, if we so desire.

But, and here's the key point, if I want to put my own particular interpretation on things in Eva, and you want to put a different interpretation on them, then that's perfectly fine, because the show itself isn't about providing concrete answers to those things.

Ergo Proxy tries to do the same thing, but doesn't quite achieve it. Again, the core story is quite simple and okay, but the other layers added to it lead you into paths and thoughts that, somehow, aren't really all that satisfying.

It's a bit like the difference between being a very well read teenager and a very experienced adult. The former can try to weave a web of intrigue and mystery, but they're always regurgitating what they've read. They might be very good at it, they might understand it intimately, but it's always the presentation of something they haven't lived.

The later is talking from experience. You may disagree with them, you may think what they are saying is stupid or wrong or biased, but it is presented with a depth that can only be achieved through living life.

I'll give you a specific example.

In one of the later episodes of Ergo Proxy, we're presented with what appears to be a game show broadcast. It's not built up to, or expected, it's just the episode is suddenly a game show.

Game shows involve questions and right and wrong answers, right? So our hero is asked questions and either guesses the answer or is given the answer. And of course, the Questions all relate to the actual story in some way.

Clever, right?

Well, yes, as a conceit it is clever, and it doesn't really fail in its execution, but there are some pretty big problems.

Firstly, we're sometimes blasted with so much information it's difficult to know quite what is going on. This pushes you to re-watch the episode several times, and who wants to watch the same episode of a game show over and over?

It also might have given you the impression that I didn't like Ergo Proxy, and that would be wrong. All I'm saying is that it's not quite a five-out-of-five series.

Perhaps the strongest thing Ergo Proxy has going for it is its characters. It's often easiest in fiction to present characters that are in some degree stereotypical. Or, if not quite as far as stereotypes, then certainly archetypes.

In other words, they are more or less easy to pigeon-hole. I mean, they may surprise you later on, and I'm not necessarily criticising this approach as it's often a useful means of short-hand for the viewer. I'm just emphasising the point that this isn't the case in Ergo Proxy.

In Ergo Proxy the characters seem very real. They can behave erratically; they can be selfish one moment and selfless the next. We get a real sense of depth that often isn't that common in anime. Our protagonists and antagonists are complex, three-dimensional beings, not two-dimensional caricatures.

And that at least make it worthy of a viewing, surely.

The Summary: Absolutely beautiful and very atmospheric... but not quite as deep or as satisfying as it should have been.

The Score: 4/5

The Pictures:

(click for larger versions)