Ergo Proxy was a weird watch, where I would classify my watch in two phases. The first phase saw me finishing 13 episodes over the course of 4-5 months and the second phase saw me binging the rest of he series in one day. That could be the best way to summarize my watch of the series. Incredibly slow build-up, almost draining my patience with the series, followed by one of the most engaging and satisfying payoffs I have seen in recent memory. Themes of existentialism, theism and atheism permeate throughout the watch and drive in the central message of fate vs free will.

Before diving in, I would like to make it clear that I have no background whatsoever in philosophy, in fact consciously avoiding reading up on famous philosophers to avoid being influenced by their teachings. Most of my own experiences served as lessons to develop my own thought “personal” creed. It is with this limited knowledge that I intend to try and figure out what this work was about. Without further ado, let’s try to break this down.

Ergo Proxy is a dystopian sci-fi series set in the distant future. Mankind, a shadow of its former self, is reduced to living in sheltered areas, too decrepit and frightened to venture outside. And who would blame them. Life inside the dome is comfortable, especially if they belong to the upper strata of society. Humans also have the services of androids, called autoreivs, serving as managers and companions to their masters. Life is easy and controlled by a governing body which ensures that its business as usual. Things in this utopia start to change, with a murder, which starts to unravel this well-oiled city.

This would be an ideal point to introduce our characters. Real (I can’t spell her name to this day), is the headstrong female lead, who serves as the anchor to the others and also the audience. She is the voice of reason, despite being prone to emotional outbursts. Vincent is the male lead and is the vehicle for the thematic message of the anime to be realised. While not the most awe inspiring leads, he is nevertheless an interesting figure, whose self-doubt and paranoia is fun to watch. Raul Creed and Daedalus are opposite figures, in that they represent idealism and realism respectively. Their frequent verbal jousts serves as the fuel to fire the viewers grey matter. Last but not least, Pino, an autoreiv, whose purpose is to serve as the show’s mascot. And despite limited to this role, she does have her moments, which is quite enjoyable to watch.

Now that we got the basic premise and leading cast out of the way, let’s get to the other juicy parts. One thing that caught my attention from the start was the atmosphere of the work. It is one of the most atmospheric works I’ve seen in recent times, relying on the dull colors to drive in the desolate state of the planet. This contrasts with the bright colors of the city. That being said, the unnatural lighting (lots of white) only serves to show the pathetic nature of humanity. Venture outside, and they would be see their life burnout in the desolate landscape. Stay inside, and their actions and thoughts are controlled by the authorities. This atmosphere also enabled the anime to set the mood for different genres such as mystery, psychology, surreal comedy and so on. The anime juggled between them with aplomb and ease, much to my delight.

It is in this atmosphere, that the aforementioned themes are presented and explored. And damn the anime does a great job at that. The first half of the anime places these tiny nuggets of information, which are then fully revealed to us in their full glory in the second half. The content by itself isn’t the most complex one out there and just required the audience to pay attention to what is happening. It is the presentation which deserves applause. I was completely hooked by episode 14 and could not stop before I finished the entire thing. Episode 14-19 is the part where the staff went full bonkers and engaged in their creative best to have me at the edge of my seat, before settling down to give a solid finish. Another theme that the anime focuses on is that of effects of knowledge. Knowledge is power and yet ignorance is bliss. Many a character in the series strive to learn more, only to end up realising the futility of that knowledge and their own powerlessness. While some of them succumb to despair and pull others in, resulting in a destructive cycle, others choose to find to learn form that knowledge and forge a new path for themselves. And in this, the anime does a great job. Simple yet effective, just the way I like it.

The art is great and really gives a strong cyberpunk vibe, despite it not being the main focus of the anime. The character faces are detailed and stylistic to an extent, which only helps, given the nature of the anime. The music is effective at getting the job done, with the op and ed setting the right mood for watching the anime. At least, that’s what I’ve been told, since the episodes I had did not have any op or ed.

With all these great things, it is important to talk about the flaws of the anime. The first that might dissuade potential viewers from trying out this anime is the incredibly slow pace of the anime, to which I do agree. It’s honestly a surprise that I did not drop the anime when I could. But I sure am glad that I didn’t and stuck with it to the end. I do hear the tag of “pretentiousness” with this anime. To that, I can only say that this was a very simple concept, with a very unique way of presentation. Paying close attention to what is happening is more than enough to get what is happening, with the theme only serving to enable the viewer to start thinking about these issues. Even the mundane episodes, while seemingly meandering, were incredibly entertaining to watch, allowing for other strengths of the anime come to the forefront. The characters are not exactly the strongest that once might see, but they are ultimately meant to drive in the themes. A personal gripe for me would be that the anime could have offered more world building, cause I like my worldbuilding. But that’s more personal to be fair.

To summarise this review in a few sentences, Ergo Proxy is like a rollercoaster ride. Incredibly slow to reach the top. But once you do reach that point, you are in for a hell of a ride. The themes keep you at the edge of your seat and the great atmosphere ensures that this one will stay in your mind for a long time.

Enjoyment:7.8
Plot:9
Character:6
Significance:7
Overall:7.45