Ergo Proxy Ep. 20 Review

This episode was a good example of a trippy existential story done well. Much in the same way as episode nineteen it remained obtuse without being entirely confusing and hard to follow. The circumstances were strange and not particularly linear, but there was rarely a WTF moment without some kind of explanation. I'm not suggesting it was a bog-standard kill-the-Proxy episode, not at all (has there ever been one?), but it offered an enjoyable mindfuck that did the usual Ergo Proxy procedure of suggesting tiny hints of a broader picture within a more standalone story.

In a lot of ways I respect the route manglobe have taken with these Proxy show-downs. There's definitely been highs and lows with each, but they've avoided the whole monster-a-week scenario so common in anime. Obviously, this would be far more successful if the audience had a blind bit of understanding where and why these take place, but assumption is fun with something so pretentious. Be it a blessing or a curse, it also makes the anticipation/expectation for the conclusion all the more vital.

This episode's Proxy, guising herself as retcon'd member of Real's life in Romeadu, a mental health advisor ironically, attempts to persuade Vincent into killing Real by creating an entirely fictional situation where the trio have arrived at Romeadu and Real has betrayed Vince (now purely Ergo Proxy, restrained safely by Dedalus) and Pino (hidden away for her own protection, though viciously bitter about Real's betrayal) and created a new personality within herself, Normal Vince, out of guilt. Kinda like a dream within a dream, the episode paints a convincing picture of Real suffering from some kind of schizoid psychosis because of what she has done and Vincent, the only real aspect of the whole situation, is led to believe he's the only unreal aspect and must put a stop to it.

Pretty freaking confusing to explain, but surprisingly easy to grasp as everything is revealed when you watch. The Proxy's relationship to Vince/Ergo is briefly suggested to be romantic; Swan implying a degree of resentment towards Vince's genuine love for Real as she's discovered.

Pino's part to play is again really curious. She's not a key figure in the story but her expressions like 'Real-Real' immediately alert the viewer to possible deceptions. Pino is usually the pillar of stability when all this puzzling illusion stuff starts to happen, but this time she's also a victim of Swan's fabrication with her first appearance (when Real takes Swan to see her) seeming totally out of character. Later in the episode, when Vincent meets her, she seems her old self again, using her clue-giving phrases, but one disturbing thing about the latter encounter is her willingness to kill Real. It's hard to say if it's just another Swan deception to cement her will on Vince or Pino being genuine loyalty to Vince and his wishes. When the episode ends and reality is restored (we assume, urgh) Pino isn't present so it's difficult to say if she truly 'existed' at all in the fantasy. It's implied that the whole thing took place inside's Vince's head, so it's probably better assume she didn't at all. It was an entertainingly cheeky double-bluff, though.

Technically speaking things looked and sounded pretty solid. There were a number of occasions where the animation was a bit skewed with the usual awkward expressions and suchlike (especially with Pino), but it didn't greatly undermine what I thought to be a fairly beautiful episode.

Conclusion
I enjoyed this quite a lot, and I also respect its rewatch value (retrospect makes things much more conventionally enjoyable the second time). It's becoming more and more difficult to ignore the lack of grander explanations with the ending being so very close, but I'm not ready to dismiss Ergo Proxy as a total write-off just yet. The challenge it offers still holds a lot of value to me and aesthetically I really love its style. I won't deny the disappointment if it doesn't offer some tangible conclusions with the final episodes, but again I've enjoyed the ride enough to name Ergo Proxy as a fond favourite of the year. I'm also totally relieved the damn episode didn't live up to its distressing title. That was just mean, manglobe.

Comments

[Korovyov]

The last two episodes were actually fairly decent. 19 was about as perfect as EP has been: The empty pretentiousness was gone. I hate how they name everything after philosophical figures or terms.

[Hige]

Korovyov: I'm not against using philosophical stuff as long as it has some meaning to it, but I agree it seems pretty redundant with Ergo Proxy. And that doesn't help the rather self-satisfied image it presents. I guess Evangelion was just as guilty for doing it, but again that was pretty irritating.

[kalabu]

Now i can see what you wrote about ep 20 but when i have watched it now again i see it differently...I see it as taking place in vince's head completely and the whole fight was "ergo proxy" vs the personality we call vincent. It was like ergo proxy was trying to take back control of being in the world and tricking vincent into dieing so maybe the personality of vincent is gone then ergo proxy wins? As i also know now that ergo proxy was a fake version of vincent's proxy when in fact he is really proxy 1 the most powerful of all the proxies. So that is how i think of this episode.

[kalabu]

Now i can see what you wrote about ep 20 but when i have watched it now again i see it differently...I see it as taking place in vince's head completely and the whole fight was "ergo proxy" vs the personality we call vincent. It was like ergo proxy was trying to take back control of being in the world and tricking vincent into dieing so maybe the personality of vincent is gone then ergo proxy wins? As i also know now that ergo proxy was a fake version of vincent's proxy when in fact he is really proxy 1 the most powerful of all the proxies. So that is how i think of this episode.

[Utteriaexceft]

Srory pllease :(
Wrlgn catyegroy...

willo be careul

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