Ergo Proxy (2006)

Now I have something not boring to say if someone asks my favorite anime. Before this it would have been Ghost in the Shell (1995). Ergo Proxy is not as well know as Ghost in the Shell but it still got dvd release in Finland. So it can't be that obscure.

Ergo Proxy follows inspector Re-l of futuristic domed city Romdeua. Her world changes when monster attacks her at her flat. Another main character is Vincent who is hunted by monster and is losing his grasp on reality. Child like android Piko starts to follow him. Series start like regular cyberpunk series. Main story seems to be robots and androids becoming self-aware and killing humans. Other theme being life in highly controlled society with refugees trying to be come citizens. Story takes turn to different direction after first few episodes.

Ergo Proxy is not easy to watch. There is on-going story but episodes can start weird places and you have to figure out what has happened since last episode and what is going on. In one of the best episodes literally nothing happens. It spends time showing how one of the main characters grow when they wait for something to happen. Some episodes feel like complete fillers until after you have finished watching the series you realize why those episodes were important showing what is going on in the world. There is one episode after half way point which don't seem to make any sense at all. But later you realize it actually told what had happened before.

Ergo Proxy doesn't tell everything. You have to figure it out yourself. I won't spoil the story. So I can't tell you what this is all about. It doesn't have clear good guys or bad guys except Piko who is child like android. Re-l is one of my favorite fictional characters. She had best moments and her character arc was most interesting. Vincent lacked personality. He didn't know what was going on. He just wanted to know what happened to him. Re-l and Piko carried his character. Re-l was ready sacrifice her career to know the truth. Vincent was more or less expecting someone to tell him the truth.

I can understand why someone might not like the series. It has lot of slow moments. It challenges its audience. There are many episodes which feel like fillers at first and too many dream sequences. Last episodes weren't as good as episodes before it. It felt bit like they ran out of time. I might have missed something which is why I didn't like the ending as much as the story leading to ending. It didn't ruin the series. I wanted to learn more what happened and why it happened. There was more story to be told.

It is hard to say why this was so good without spoilers. First it was mood and art work. Then it was characters. Romdeua was interesting place. I was disappointed when story went outside Romdeua but it only meant story went to different direction. Best moments happened outside Romdeua. I will watch this again. Another time probably reveal many things I missed first time. I almost missed few hints first time. I realized them later after I had seen the whole series.