Review of Ergo Proxy

I somehow managed to write this without any significant spoilers. Odd.

I finished watching Ergo Proxy this weekend.

Let's get the mundane bits out of the way first. Yes, Ergo Proxy is expensive to buy; It's produced by Geneon, whose always had a rather high price on their US sales. After watching EP, I'm starting to wonder if that's more due to the quality than trying to charge Japanese rates in a US market.* EP was a good buy for me, and it's probably going to be one of the earlier series I'll pick up on Blu-Ray when it becomes available.**

Artwork? Superb. Sterile environments look sterile. The very clean and safe appearance of Romdo dome public areas is simultaneously stifling and disturbing in its own way. Non-public-eye areas look gritty and dark.

Sound track? One of the absolute best ambient soundtracks I've heard. It supports the mood, but doesn't set it. It's also a massive pleasure to listen to on its own; There's very little in the middle or upper ranges, most of it is heard in the lower ranges, or felt, if you've got a subwoofer. If you listen carefully, you can pick up on the thematic melody common to several of the songs, the melody of the series itself, maybe.

Character development? Yes! The character development of Vincent Law feels staid and stagnant in a few ways, but they manage to explain that in the last two episodes. The character development of Re-l Mayer may seem slow, but that's primarily because there is an active component in the world holding her back, and when that component is removed, she begins to grow. Slowly at first, but then very quickly.

Theme? It has so many themes it's difficult to note all the important ones. I think there are at least three core themes to the show.

The question of the raison d'etre, the settings very literal interpretation of the meaning of life. Everyone in Romdo already knows their raison d'etre, their "truth", and it's knowing their raison d'etre that gives them a sense of place and duty. After all, if you know the meaning of life, why wouldn't you fullfill that meaning? One of the themes of Ergo Proxy is examining and questioning the importance of that raison d'etra, and even the importance of that questioning. If your mind isn't spinning, hold on.

The second core theme would have to be the question of reality. (mild spoiler) Several attacks against the core characters involve altering of perception, trying to break the characters' logic or emotions and to trick them into doing things that would be detrimental to them. Usually, the viewer themselves isn't even informed of this right away; We're left to be as lost, shocked, angered and confused as the main characters. If the character sees through everything, and avoids destroying themselves or the party, we find ourselves releived. We've just been through the same mindbender that the character was put through, and in some cases left to wonder if we would have made the same mistakes that the character made.

The third major theme is the question of the soul. What grants a soul? What are the consequences of having a soul? How might gaining a soul conflict with one's raison d'etra? In Ergo Proxy, having a soul is considered analogous to having emotion, or to having lost one's innocense. Much of the show revolves around the question of gaining a soul, be it human or AutoReiv, what one does when they lose their innocense, and the choices they makes as a result.

Even through all of that heavy thinking, there is a shining suggestion of hope. That it only takes very few benevolent individuals to save humanity, even if it takes them time to discover what that is.

I loved it. It wasn't "Awesome" in the Michael Bay sense. It wasn't awesome in the Incredible Suspects sense. It wasn't awesome in the Pixar sense. It was awesome in its own way.

* Anime in Japan tends to be incredibly expensive to buy on DVD.
**And it will; As long as someone is a licensed distributor in the US, some series will continue to be released in newer formats. After all, you can still get the African Queen on DVD. BD (or some other format that matches contemporary televisions) will be part of that cycle.