Anime Review: Ergo Proxy, Complete Series

prox·y (prŏk’sÄ“) n., pl. -ies. :
n.
1. A person authorized to act for another; an agent or substitute.
2. The authority to act for another.
3. The written authorization to act in place of another.

Wouldn’t it be nice if life was like a dictionary? Having the ability to look up definitions in context for abstract concepts at a moment’s whim would be so handy that its inventor would slap down Bill Gates as top billionaire tyrant. For example: Johnny gets dumped by the love of his life and it’s the first time something like this happens, a quick flip and viola:

Break· up (brāk ŭp) n., v., pl. -s. :
n.
1. The after product of getting your heart ripped out and handed to you. (get over it)
v.
1. The act of ripping out your lover’s heart and handing it to them. (do it quick and get it over with)

It’s the simple things in life that make it worth living. And it’s the simplified things that make life easier. Ergo Proxy wasn’t simple, oh no, but the studio tried to simplify it. And since this was an anime that tried to convey abstract concepts in simple ways, it gets an “A” for effort from me.

Ergo Proxy starts off with the all too familiar theme of futuristic dome life: Life underneath the Romdo Dome is good if you’re able to get there. Life under the Romdo is great if you’re a full citizen and life under the Romdo is paradise if you’re the Granddaughter of the Regent of the City.

Plot Summary

Real Mayar is the granddaughter of the city’s Regent and her life is a pampered one; all her needs and wants are met the minute they arise. Real is also an agent with the Citizen Intelligence Bureau, helping to keep the balance between the human citizens of Romodo and the robotic Autoraves who serve them.

A virus has been spreading among the Autoraves, infecting them with human emotions. Autoraves infected with this Cogito virus fall to their knees and appear to pray to Heaven. Afterwards, their new human emotions spur them to mad acts, such as murder and escape from the Dome. Real and her Entourage (a highly specialized type of Autorave) Iggy, are on the hunt for infected Autoraves and the root source of the virus itself.

Aside from hunting down the virus, Real’s duties as a CIB agent include interviewing witnesses and experts on Autoraves. One of these is the newcomer Vincent Law, who appears to have taken an intense liking to Real. The meeting leaves an impression with Iggy, but Real’s arrogance brushes the matter aside and she forgets the encounter within minutes. Iggy and Real then resume their duty of eliminating infected Autoraves.

After Real and Iggy uncover evidence of something more sinister than the Cogito virus, they find their investigation hampered and halted by the high council of Romodo. Incensed that she can’t fulfill her duty, Real strikes out on her own and falls prey to a mysterious “attack” by two monsters who crash through her apartment.

The attack has a profound impact on Real and she can’t shake the feeling that the immigrant Vincent Law is somehow involved. Vincent, in the mean time, has his own problems with monsters, as one has been hunting him down ever since he came to Romodo.

Vincent had been trying to lie low in Romodo and blend in like a good citizen, but an easy life just isn’t in the cards for ‘ol Vince. As an immigrant he’s discriminated against and as a man, he’s ignored. He lives his life trying to please everyone around him and loses his identity in the process. Then, one day, he finds himself being pursued by an impossible creature that slays everything in its path. He blacks out after the thing corners him and wakes up aboard a subway train with no idea of how he got there.

Things quickly spiral out of control for Vincent and Real is facing trouble herself. When the two converge to problem solve together, Vincent is once again cornered, but this time it’s the Citizen Security Bureau that wants him. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Vince makes a tough decision and with the help of a Cogito infected child Autorave, he leaves (actually that’s putting it nicely) the dome.

The rest of Ergo Proxy centers on Real, Vincent, and the child Autorave, Pino and their journey to uncover the mystery of the Proxies.

The idea for Ergo Proxy is vaguely reminiscent of Evangelion and a few other popular sci-fi anime. The flavor of these previous anime is present but not the overall story, which makes Ergo Proxy slightly influenced but still very original.

In terms of concepts, Ergo Proxy takes nothing for granted. In trying to help the viewer understand what they’re seeing, Ergo Proxy has a “lesson” at the end of each anime explaining foreign terms and the contextual use of various psychological, historical, physiological, and mythological concepts. Aside from being difficult to read at times, these lessons can fall short at explaining the more pressing questions viewers may have.

So it’s great that I’m learning new Inca mythology (Whoo-hoo, mythology ROCKS!!!) but I’m still confused as why X happened and what the hell Incas had to do with it. This schooling reminded me of a math teacher I once had. He would get so excited over a new lesson and keep tapping the chalkboard with the chalk and saying “C’mon you can get this! See, it’s not so hard, you can so understand this!” Well no, I never did understand because cheery, motivating enthusiasm doesn’t make up for the inability to teach. That’s what Ergo Proxy’s school of understanding was: cheery enthusiasm without the ability to impart the necessary knowledge. But good try.

I liked the character designs with their feel of “This could be what you’re wearing at the end of days.” The Autoraves were designed humanoid but with enough technology showing to impart that they weren’t human; just meant to serve humans. The domes were also designed speculatively. I like my sci-fi that way: This could happen so pay attention! The proxies could actually have been a bit more inventive. They fit the speculative tone but I like a little outlandishness in my monsters.

The colors gave the designs sobriety. Everything was shades of gray or brown with red splashed up to give interest. The only happy colors were worn by the adorable Autorave, Pino and some of the crazy proxies. No happiness in the future I guess.

There were some, what I call, “off” shots dotted through out the anime. They would happen when a character was at an odd angle. The animation looked like it became derailed for a few secs then would hop back on the Quality Train. Weird. Other than that, the animation was well done.

I coulda sworn that U2 did the song for the incredibly long opening. It felt like the opening went on 4EVA. Monoral is the band/ man that performed the opening theme “Kiri”and it really is a good song, just long for an opening, IMO. The score, however, wasn’t outstanding in the series. I really didn’t even notice it at all aside from the opening and closing songs. It was one of those scores that blended away and made no impact on the story.

Japanese is the ONLY way to go with this anime. The Japanese voice actors really conveyed the intense emotions the characters were experiencing. That was some quality voice work right there so don’t miss out on it.

Ergo Proxy did a good job pulling me into the anime. I know I’m in the anime when characters start to elicit my sympathy or anger. I felt sorry for Vincent. He couldn’t seem to catch a break and the one person who loved him for himself was Pino, the Autorave. Real was a spoiled, self centered shrew who thought only about how other people could be use of use to her. She changed, but too slowly for me to ever warm up to her.

I had serious doubts as to whether this anime would keep my attention and have a decent ending, but it did and it had, although there were some rough patches along the way. By rough patches, I mean a handful of episodes that made me want to hit fast forward with a vengeance. I stuck in there, though, and if you do to, you may be surprised at how good Ergo Proxy can be.

Ergo Proxy gets outta four gummies.