Romdo City: the Domed City and the last refuge of
Humanity. In a society slowly eating
itself alive, a series of Android malfunctions leads to murder and a new breed
of monster roams the streets: The Proxy.
Enter Re-L Mayer, a beautiful investigator assigned to the Proxy
cases. However, her investigation hits
wall after wall and questions lead to more questions. Re-L’s only lead is a young Immigrant named
Vincent Law. Together, they work to
uncover the secret of the Proxys.
However, it is a secret that could push the tepid peace in Romdo City
right over the edge and into utter chaos.
At first glance, Ergo Proxy looks like something that
should be right up my alley: a futuristic dystopia featuring a sexy
investigator who looks into matter involving Androids or Cyborgs with a hint of
deep existential examinations. As a life
long fan of Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell, I should be eating this kind
of scifi Anime up no problem. Buuuuut
Ergo Proxy isn’t the easiest show to get into in its first episode. And a big problem right away is one question:
WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON!!!??? Oh, I
don’t mean that from a “this plot makes no sense” standpoint (even though it
doesn’t). I mean that from a visual
standpoint. Ergo Proxy is so damn dark I
feel like you have to watch it with the lights out just to get the full
experience.
I’m all for avant garde style when it comes to
Anime. There are plenty of shows that
step away from the visual norm most associated with Anime and are better
remembered because of it: Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo; Puella Magi
Madoka Magica and FLCL come first to mind.
The difference is where those examples were vibrant and lively, Ergo
Proxy is cold and lacking in color. It’s
not totally devoid of it but its rarely seen, mostly in Re-L’s cute blue
eyeliner. Most of the action is blotted
out in total darkness and there are segments where Re-L is investigating a
crime scene and the tint is so great that squinting hardly does you any
favors. I get it, this is supposed to be
a dystopia, it’s hardly the most exciting place to be. But even basic storytelling dictates show
don’t tell and we’re hardly shown anything to visually associate with the heavy
handed exposition that means nothing because I hardly understand what’s going on,
much less can see it all.
Re-L herself has a sexy design when she’s standing in the
light and you can tell she’s got shades of Ghost in the Shell’s leading lady,
Major Motoko Kusinagi, inspiring her creation.
She’s a keen investigator, has a way with existential introspection, and
carries a shotgun she can wield with one hand.
Re-L even has her own Android companion, Iggy, who reminds me of K-2SO
from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, minus the snark. There’s an immediate mystery laid out for her
right away, mostly pertaining to her being related to one of Romdo City’s
ruling hierarchs and a constant need to keep key investigation details hidden
from her. But again, the darkness that visually compromises this series keeps
thing hidden from the viewer as well. So
as much that even if Re-L is quite cute to look at, I don’t think I wanna
strain myself to look at what that show wants to keep away for the sake of
being, idk artsy.
That’s a shame because I’ve had Ergo Proxy on my radar
for a while. However, this is probably
the first Anime i’ve ever watched where the visuals are the toughest thing to
deal with because you cant see squat.
For all the Blade Runner-isms, the Big-O esque setting and Re-L looking
good while solving mysteries, Studio Manglobe really screwed such promise with
such a risky visual approach. As Roy
Batty said in Blade Runner, “Ive seen things you people wouldn’t believe.”
Apparently so has Ergo Proxy but unlike Batty, it wants to tease us mercilessly
without so much of a hint as to those amazing things.
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