Texhnolyze
a review by siddhant26
a review by siddhant26
Texhnolyze while not having a proactive fanbase has garnered a cult following, within the more niche side of the anime community. And there's no reason as to why it shouldn't. Texhnolyze is a grim dystopian anime, exploring the ideas and questions it poses in a very refined and relentless way. As in this anime doesn't give a single flying fuck about how the viewer feels watching the show nor is it concerned with making its narrative accessible or with providing the viewer some fanservice or comic relief that is found in most stories in general. It's this very raw and deliberately stagnating approach to its storytelling, that makes this show a difficult to follow anime, often having moments which are hard to follow. However this works in the favor of the show, as its tendency to not break from its shell is what allowed it to be so great and unmatched in the first place.
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PLOT
The early episodes of this anime are the epitome of the show not tell formula; entirely relying on visual storytelling conveyed through character actions and location. The first episode is the prime example, as it barely has any dialogue and is carried mostly by its atmosphere. Its roughly 1/3rd way through the anime where the whole deal starts to make sense and the general gist behind everything is made clear. This anime also has a mysterious feel to it, the story is told as in- it gives off a feeling, that it's slowly but surely culminating to something. Most episodes can divided by arcs/plotlines which don't align with each other right away, until the end where everything comes together to in a very satisfying and filling thematic closure. The Plot is slow placed and relies on the viewer being able to understand subtle character motivations and subtext, thus it can come off as being directionless or just boring. But as it goes on, it becomes clear that the show is definitely going in a solid direction and its going to hit all the right notes. As it does- with its final four episodes.
TLDR; The plot moves at a leisurely pace, exploring its themes and the world it is set in while slowly building up to a satisfying plot and thematic conclusion.
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CHARACTERS
It's difficult to talk about the cast of texhnolyze without entering the realm of spoiler territory. To make it concise and on to the point, the characters are extremely complex and feel like real human beings, with real motivations and reasons. The whole cast is very human and realistic; at times in a really twisted way. Character development is subtle and is not all too apparent at first, but all of the character arcs conclude in the most realistic way possible. Not to say, the characters in this world behave in a totally believable and plausible way, given the rather unique and unimaginably extreme circumstances they are put into. To think that the writers were able to communicate so much through character writing alone shows how much care was put into understanding human psyche, when put under certain circumstances and how differently people react to these situations. That being said though, Upon deeper reflection after finishing the show, Ichise comes off as being the silent star of the show, while Yoshi and Onishi shine a lot more, on the actual viewing experience and are understood way better after the show is finished.
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THEMES
I'm not the guy, when it comes to deep analysis of the shows, I'm the person who tries to understand something, than interpret it and write eloquent writeups; regardless I like to get my mind challenged and I really cherish it, when the writer's vision and ideas are explored in depth and come of as being compelling. That's something Texhnolyze manages to pull off. The premise is that, Humans can't naturally evolve anymore and most of them live in a degraded wasteland devoid of life and full of violence. Its a true existential nightmare. Too make it worse, to evolve they have to trade their humanity and possibly become something different altogether. Also the world around them is just blankly existing and it seems everybody is lacking in any sort of purpose or genuine will to live. Thus its the most nihilistic a nihilistic bleak fantasy could get. That being said, the show through my understanding is about finding hope in a world devoid of meaning, purpose, will and well hope. Examining humanity's relation to technology and progress. And the central theme/idea from my understanding is about exploring how humanity would act/live in the most extreme of the extreme conditions? would we perhaps better as a species, get worse or entirely devolve into mere carnal beasts, relying on our wild base instincts. The show also explores the idea of dystopian and utopian societies, conflict and peace's relation with humanity and to take a leap evolution. The idea of progressing and evolving at a cost, exploring of how truly difficult decisions in the face of imminent adversity are made. And the philosophical concept of (may come of as "thematic" spoiler)
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