The story begins
in a futuristic domed city called Romdeau, built to protect its citizens after
a global ecological disaster thousands of years ago, in this futuristic utopia
humans and “AutoReivs” or androids coexist peacefully under a total management
system. However all is not well in paradise when a series of murders committed
by “AutoReivs” infected with the Cogito virus (which causes them to become
self-aware) begins to threaten the delicate balance of Romdeau's social order.
Behind the scenes, the government has been conducting secret experiments on a
mysterious humanoid life form called a "Proxy." The Proxy beings are
believed to hold the key to the survival of mankind and the story follows
“Re-L”, who is assigned to investigate some of the murders with her “AutoReiv”
partner, Iggy. After further investigation by Re-L and Iggy it is revealed that
at the core of all these murders is the Proxy, pulling the strings and causing
these crimes. The other central character, an immigrant named Vincent Law, is
revealed to be connected in some ways with this Proxy and works with Re-L to
understand why this is happening to the city of Romdeau.
Not too many
animes out there do what “Ergo Proxy” accomplishes and still keeps viewers
captivated through till the end, the show at its core hits home with underline
dedication to psychology, philosophy and even, in rare cases, religious thought
but doesn’t completely bore you to tears like a college style lecture. However
this isn’t to say that if you don’t like a show that’s going to make you think,
then you may want to look elsewhere as the show moves at a slow pace with
plenty of dialogue and many of the episodes that are used to build character,
ideas and plot twists. A key element in what makes the show so catchy is the
characterization that is so strong as a whole, the cast is relatively small for
the 24 episode series and all the major characters get a character arc that would
normally worsen a show but in this instance proves to connect and make the show
stronger. Even when being largely unlikeable, the majority of the cast prove to
be sympathetic and even a little empathetic and it is certainly a step up from
the usual motley casts that flounder around the realms of anime. Protagonists
and antagonist enjoy equal screen time and appeal, being characterized all
together very well each having something of their own that they bring to the
table. If a complaint could be made it would be the setting in which these
characters are placed in doesn’t provide for much diversity as many episodes
characters are surrounded but nothing but dingy buildings and crumpled homes.
While this makes sense considering there was a global catastrophe, it makes for
a fairly generic feel considering the unique cast of characters and the
technologies exist around them. And while not heavily action based, as the
shotgun wielding Re-L would have you believing it would be, people who have
watched shows like “Ghost in the Shell” will see similarities in the impression
“Ergo Proxy” gives off.
Good:
-Incredible
characters
-In depth
psychological, philosophical plot
-Intellectually
stimulating show
Bad:
-Not as much
action as you’d think
-Bland
environment for such a great cast of characters
Scully Rating: 9 out of 10