##Preface To start, Texhnolyze is definitely not for everyone. It is a slow paced anime filled with a lot of violence and heavy symbolism. I’d classify Texhnolyze as a dark, abstract action-drama-psychological series. It’s quite depressing if you take the time to think about what happened after each episode, and you have to focus and think about every part if you want to enjoy the full experience Texhnolyze has to offer. The show questions the extent to what humans will do and take to progress the human psyche and how they react to it, given a city loosely characteristic of organized crime.

##Story & Characters
Texhnolyze is divided into two arcs. Both involve a main antagonist trying to change the city of Luxuss that the story takes place in. While each arc is primarily driven by the respective antagonist’s goals and desires, the story of Texhnolyze as a whole does not seem to have any kind of overarching final destination. I would normally be okay with this, because a story does not have to follow a chronological timeline to be a story - it can focus on the many aspects of anything really, and with Texhnolyze, I had hoped it would have been a character study of Ichise and how the setting impacted him, but instead, Texhnolyze left me behind more with a sense of, “I watched something that achieved nothing.” Texhnolyze is markedly a psychological series, but not because of Ichise, which is why the story falls flat sometimes. Due to plot devices that occur within various times of the show, Ichise’s development is limited within the certain logical boundaries that the show has restricted itself to. Ichise aside though, many other characters are extremely interesting and definitely add to the quality of the show. Ran, joined by Doc and Haruhiko create prime examples for what Texhnolyze is able to achieve in regards to character depth and the psychological nature of the show (a feat in which Ichise was not able to accomplish). The rest of the supporting cast does a fine job with whatever roles they were assigned to and add to the positives of the show as a whole. The first antagonist is excellent as a character logically and creates some truly interesting scenarios within the first arc with great pacing. The second antagonist is average because the second arc introduces an abundance of new elements and does not provide ample time to fully explain all of them including leaving out enough time to explain the motives behind this antagonist. This left the second arc feeling rushed with an underdeveloped antagonist, which undermines the show a little since the show is driven by the goals of the antagonists, and not the protagonist. The main pitfall of the show ends up simply being a dialogue problem. In a possible attempt to make the show more abstract or place emphasis on the soundtrack, the show suffers from a lack of natural dialogue, and dialogue in general. Most characters just don’t say enough to make them realistic (with the exception of Haruhiko), and when they do, it seems very stilted. Thus it was hard to sympathize with any character while watching.

##Art & Animation
To watchers of only airing seasonal anime and anything recent, Texhnolyze art may be a big turn off. The style is “choppier” and more realistic to fit the darker undertones of the setting, so I ended up thinking the art complimented the story quite well. Backgrounds are not detailed, but it doesn’t matter for much of the settings in Luxuss because a flashier background would have taken away from the ongoing events. Animation was standard. The lack of detail in less important scenes versus the amazing detail in close up shots and important scenes was clearly evident, but this goes for most shows more or less. For a show as violent as Texholyze, a bigger budget for the actual action scenes would have definitely added more for the impact of the violence. I’m normally hugely affected by violence, but since these scenes of blood and gore weren’t exactly clear or not executed well, I could sit through watching the many, many body parts fly around in each episode and people getting stabbed and ripped apart constantly.

##Soundtrack
Since there’s a pretty evident lack of dialogue during the first arc of the show, you are forced to listen to the soundtrack. Nothing about the soundtrack was really memorable. It’s not bad, but nothing made me want to listen to it outside from the anime. The OP is my favorite part about the soundtrack. It sets you up to get energized before watching each episode, which is much needed as each episode seems to drag on and on without end. If the ED was slower and quieter, it would’ve suited the tone of the show much better, but it’s not terribly out of place.

#Final Conclusion
Would I recommend Texhnolyze to people? No.
I couldn’t really patch together what Texhnolyze was even trying to accomplish by the end of it, but I do seriously applaud it for making me think about it and making me want to write this first “complete review” of mine right after finishing it. If the goal was some kind of character or setting focus, they could’ve done a better job, but ‘twas a good effort. If it was anything else, then either they completely failed to convey this, or I’m totally missing out on something. Unless the person was a veteran anime watcher that liked to deeply analyze anime objectively and would have no qualms whatsoever regarding the age and art of this anime, I would NOT recommend this series.

##! The rest of this review contains my thoughts on certain aspects this anime did well on as well as did poorly on that require you to have watched the anime first so contains [SPOILERS]. Feel free to read at your own discretion to provide further thinking and discussion on Texhnolyze. !
__

• Other Shortcomings -

Ichise’s sudden personality flip from the first arc to the second arc was extremely unnatural. From the more reserved and quiet Ichise we are introduced to, he starts talking very frequently, which removes the tone of the show they had from the first arc. The second arc’s protagonist’s goals aren’t really evident until his last screen time (of the very few he even got), and it kind of ended up being more reflective on Luxuss and a whole versus adding anything to his character. A weak character in the end, but a necessary one I suppose.

• Other Highlights -

The setting in itself is very, very interesting. In the first half of the series, I was left to ponder the hinted “above ground” setting, and was happily pleased with what they decided to make this setting. The stark contrasts between Luxuss and above ground are evident in the art - Luxuss is dark and menacing, while above ground is light and peaceful. There is setting irony though in the fact that while above ground is supposedly the “better” place, it is where people go to die. How it is portrayed is amazing. I could believe such an initially unbelievable setting because there were “people” there following routine until they died. The speakers that tell the thoughts of the lives of the people there as they finally die was an impressive touch.
Ran’s character is very deep and introspective. We only receive bits and pieces of Ran in the first arc but we can tell that she is very important by the interactions of the first antagonist and her in that first arc. With her major involvements in the second arc, Ran becomes a vital character to the story. Think about the scenes in which Ran wears the mask and
The ending is very reflective and thought provoking. Loved it. The lead in with the dramatic irony provided by Ran about Ichise’s fate of destroying the city and everyone came true, and we are left to wonder the cruelty of the world in the anime and if the struggles of the people in Luxuss were worth it in the end. No one wins, but what has Texhnolyze proven to us and shown about the evolution of the human psyche and what humans are truly possible of? Is there so much more potential to humans that the violence of war is required to achieve it? I’m sure I missed quite a number of other symbols, but the most evident one was the rose, at the end, when Ichise’s broken Texhnolyze projects the image of the rose that made some other cameos throughout the series.

Completed Texhnolyze on 4/22/16 :3 !