No Spoilers Here
Suitable for 18 and under.
Initial
Impressions: Initially Ergo Proxy seemed like a rather dark Anime and
it certainly did not disappoint by staying a dark Anime all the way through to the
end. Ergo Proxy takes itself very
seriously and that is made apparently obvious from the beginning as death and
violence seem to stalk the main characters wherever they go. Do not be fooled by the initial violence
though as this Anime has a depth that sets it apart from its counterparts that
will leave any Sci-Fi mystery fan glued to their seat and wondering about what
it really means to be alive.
Main Characters
Re-l Mayer: Voiced by Rie Saito (Japanese) and
Karen Thompson (English), Re-l Mayer is a force to be reckoned with even at the
young age of 19. She is an inspector for
the Citizen Intelligence Bureau and at the start of the Anime is in charge of
investigating a series of rather brutal murders committed by alleged ‘infected’
AutoReivs. She also happens to be the daughter
of the Donov Mayer who is currently the acting Regent for the city of Romdo,
the last bastion of civilization in the wasteland that Ergo Proxy inhabits. What will become of Re-l as she tries to
uncover the mysteries of the Cogito Virus will soon involve far more people
than just herself and could very well define the future of the domed city known
as Romdo.
Vincent Law: Voiced by Koji Yusa (Japanese) and
Liam O’ Brien (English), Vincent Law is an immigrant from Mosk who works for
Romdo’s AutoReiv Control Division within the cities Temporary Immigrant Sector
FG. His purpose is to hunt down infected
AutoReivs so that for the betterment of society so that he can one day achieve
his dream of becoming a full-fledged citizen.
Despite this rather dangerous role Vincent is actually a rather clumsy
and unconfident individual who seems to function quite well with his eyes
closed almost all the time for reasons unknown.
Unfortunately for him Vincent will soon be dragged into a conspiracy
that will force him to come to terms with his own shortcomings and make him
decide what sort of person he wishes to become in a future that is becoming
less and less certain.
Pino: Voiced by Akiko Yajima (Japanese) and Rachel
Hirschfeld (English), Pino is an AutoReiv who is under the employ of the newly
appointed Director-General Raul Creed, who is second only to the acting Regent
of Romdo Donov Mayer, and his wife Samantha.
Built to be a companion type AutoReiv she has the body of a child as
well as the ability to display human facial expressions. While she performs her role as a surrogate
child with machine like precision, an unexpected encounter will soon lead her
on a path that runs parallel to the other main characters who must decide how
to deal with this unusual addition.
Recurring Characters
Iggy: Voiced by Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi (Japanese) and
Travis Willingham (English), Iggy is an entourage type AutoReiv whose sole
purpose is to serve Re-l and assist her with her investigation in any way
possible. While he will obey any order
given to him by his owner he still maintains an uplink to the city’s main
database which means that he is also the unofficial eyes and ears of Re-l’s
grandfather whenever he wishes to keep tabs on her.
Raul Creed: Voiced by Hikaru Hanade (Japanese) and
Patrick Seitz (English), Raul is the newly appointed Director-General of the
Citizen Security Bureau and report directly to the Regent himself. Also the owner of the companion type AutoReiv
Pino, along with his wife, he is a product of the system who will do what is
necessary to achieve the results he desire.
Kristeva: Voiced by Hoko Kuwashima (Japanese) and
Kirsten Potter (English) Kristeva serves the role of an entourage AutoReiv as
Raul’s assistant. She is completely
loyal to her superior and the Regent of Romdo and is always prepared to perform
in Raul’s stead should he be called away for other matters.
Daedalus Yumeno: Voiced by Sanae Kobayashi
(Japanese) and Yuri Lowenthal (English) Daedalus is the Chief physician who
leads the Proxy Research Team and Director of the Division of Health and
Welfare. He is also Re-l Mayer’s
personal physician and cares for her not only as a physician but as a longtime
friend as well. Although he has a strong
sense of duty to the welfare of Romdo and its future well-being, Daedalus is
always willing to assist Re-l in whatever way necessary even if he must
sometimes skirt the bounds of a professional relationship.
Donov Mayer: Voiced by Yu Shimaka (Japanese), Doug
Stone (English), Yoko Somi (Japanese), Melodee Spevack (English), Hidekatsu
Shibata (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English), Atsuko Tanaka (Japanese) and
Barara Goodson (English) Donov is the embodiment of law in order in Romdo. Speaking through his 4 entourages who are in
the forms of Michelangelo’s statues from the Medici Chapel, he rules as Regent
and unofficial dictator in Romdo and seeks only to maintain order and
stability. He also routinely keeps an eye on
his granddaughter Re-l Mayer through the eyes of her entourage AutoReiv Iggy
and will do anything and everything in his power to ensure the continued
survival of the city of Romdo.
Story: Taking
place in a futuristic world on the verge of environmental collapse will tend to
create a rather dark and dreary atmosphere no matter how cheerful you might try
to make everything else appear. The
story follows the dual protagonists Lil Mayor and Vincent Law on an incredible
journey through a futuristic world where “infected” automatons or AutoReivs run
amok and the smell of a greater conspiracy fills the air with a stench worse
than anything you can imagine. These
AutoReivs are ‘infected’ with what is known as the Cogito Virus and shortly
after exposure they start to show a sense of self-awareness and run amok. This leads them to be in direct conflict with
the order loving authorities and causes the main characters of the anime to
become involved in their capture and destruction. Also, even though the story starts in a
densely populated area, the characters spend a lot of time in isolation and this
leads, at least in my mind, to even greater development of their personalities
and lends a great deal to the anime’s overall depth and appeal. With this said however there is one tiny point where it does stumble a bit and that is the ending. The ending of the series seems to suffer a little as the writers attempt to answer every single plot point when some things would have probably been better left unsaid which caused a lot of unnecessary confusion which could turn some away. Even with this though the story is still definitely Ergo Proxy’s strongest
point and it certainly does not disappoint so don't let that deter you.
Artwork: As
expected from the stories description the artwork is rather dark and
gritty. This further lends credence to
the fact that the world Romdo inhabits is a very sickly and dangerous one which
will snatch up anyone who is not strong enough to persevere through it. Most of the settings are portrayed as being
very dark and depressing and overall the artwork does nothing but enhance the
fact that Romdo and its inhabitants exist in a world teetering on the brink of
collapse.
Voice
Acting: Unfortunately I can only speak from the perspective of the Japanese
voice actors but at least from that perspective I can say I was rather
impressed. The cast is quite solid and
none of the lines in the anime seem overly forced. All of the characters go through a great deal
of changes as the story progresses and the voice actors do an excellent job of portraying
the anger and frustration that comes with dealing with the trials that the
world of Ergo Proxy has in store for them.
Music: As
expected from such a dark and dangerous environment the music in Ergo Proxy
filled me primarily with a sense of isolation and confusion. The tracks were all around solid but my favorite
track by far was the one that played right in the beginning for the anime’s opening:
Ergo Proxy Opening Track 'Kiri' Overall the music does its job as well as any other anime of its kind and
enhances the story of this world to even further heights.
Final
thoughts: While I will not go so far as to say that everyone will like this
Anime I will say that everyone should definitely give it a chance to show what
it is capable of. With its chilling
artwork and quality voice acting to assist it Ergo Proxy spins quite an
interesting tale that has many parallels to our own world which even today
struggles to come to terms with where we are and where we are going. If you like Sci-Fi or mystery tales and are
not afraid to be engrossed in a story that will take you into the depths of the
human soul and ask the question ‘what does it mean to be human?’ then this is
definitely the Anime for you. However, with all that said Ergo Proxy is an Anime which I feel has been seriously underrated considering what it has to offer. This review is primarily the result of this hopeless fans attempt to help it reach the people for whom it was meant to be seen and I hope some of you will enjoy it as it is definitely a strong series in its own right.
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