Ergo Proxy has been riddled with problems from the onset. Its story has never been made immediately clear; its characterisation has been withdrawn and difficult to empathise with; its production values have been nothing if inconsistent. In many ways, I wonder if this is how people felt after they watched Evangelion for the very first time, free from the speculation and analysis that built up in the ensuing aftermath.
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.
It's been hard for me to avoid making impoverished fangirlish pleas for episode fifteen's release here. Having seen the occasional episode title on Toshokan and recently discovering that the series has ended in Japan, trying to avoid spoilers has become a bit of a gauntlet. Plus, I love Ergo Proxy and having wait so long for a fix was causing numerous crack whore-like twitches in my special places. Still, we get a double whammy now and the sense of relief is palpable (especially in my pantsu). At least we can continue watching at a reasonable pace . . . assuming there's no more text-heavy episodes in the running. If I have to deal with another delay again I am going to be so pissed. Wicked pissed, in fact.
Episode fourteen opens with a particularly striking thought from our main girl Lil, 'When I was small, I thought the world would disappear if I died.' This resonated with memories of my own childish egotism and helped to suggest a time when Lil wasn't the callous bitch she is today. Of course, she readily dismisses this as childhood delusion and swiftly falls back into her Ice Queen persona, but it was a curiously sweet moment while it lasted. It also nicely sets tone for the coming twenty minutes, suitably existential and fraudulent as they are.
The episode opens with Donov and his multiple selves giving Iggy a lecture on his bond to Real. They emphasise his reason for existing (I refuse to use that phrase yet again) is to serve her, and without that he has none. This, as well as the episode in general, helps differentiate between autorave and Entourage and their respective relationships to humans. Plus, more importantly, Iggy finally gets his dues. The consequences being tragic as they may be.
With episode eleven we get Existential As Fuck, as it were. After having something a spirit journey of his own Vincent finally accepts his inner-Proxy and is free to finally find the truth about himself (because obviously be a god-like being of destruction just ain't enough). The way this resemblances Evangelion's final two TV episodes is uncanny. The way Vincent addresses his internal fears and confusion by speaking to familar people mirrors Shinji's quest for personal understanding as Instrumentality occurs. Is this a good thing you ask? Personally I really enjoyed Eva's TV endings, and Ergo Proxy doesn't have a diminishing budget to worry about - if anything it seems to have enough to throw away on fairly rubbish CG sequences involving books - so things turn out rather well this time. And hot damn, we get a few answers along the way! But only in the traditional tit-for-tat Ergo Proxy way.
Having spent a good few episodes with Vincent, Pino and cohorts, episode ten of Ergo Proxy is firmly a Romdeau affair following Raul and Daedalus as they bicker about the supposed murder of Real Mayer. Raul swiftly lays the blame on Daedalus's shoulders, who consequently has been relieved of his position as chief medical officer and placed under house-arrest. The reasons for this are murky with his involvement regarding Proxy and the cover-up being the main causes of blame. Lil's current situation is also only vaguely hinted at, with Daedalus somehow smugly unaffected even as he expresses his loss of a reason to live, his raison d'être, with her death.
The council and Regent Donov are privy to Raul's previous machinations, however, and openly state that what happened to Lil may his doing. Angered by this, Raul goes to confront Daedalus and lay all his cards on the deck. Daedalus, boy genius that he is, has a few tricks left himself and explains that perhaps Lil's situation isn't as definite as first believed. With this we see the driving force behind the episode as Raul and Daedalus flex their respective muscles and battle it out for dominance over the other. Many interesting things are hinted at during this conversation, with Daedalus's age and Lil's existence becoming all the more mysterious.
Daedalus refers to Lil as a specimen; one that he has devoted his life to taking care of. Whether this is merely Daedalus communicating in an oddly turgid medical way or him suggesting something more unconventional, it's hard to say. It at least elevates Lil from her strangely conventional role in the series, she being just too normal for such a central role. Of course some weird things have been happening to her and her connection to Proxy has always stuck out as very important. Ergo Proxy's contemplative view on identity is an important theme and with Vincent's constantly evolving role there's nothing to suggest Lil might go through a similar process.
After this we cut away to find a postcard-perfect scene of a neighbourhood, which is maintained entirely by robots. Lil stands amongst it, bemused by its lifelessness. Iggy appears beside her stating that he has found a power source suitable for use, explaining that despite the retro feel of the city their technology is modern. As Lil contemplates its peopleless existence, the camera pans outwards to reveal a sort of supplementary dome, much smaller in size to that of Romdeau. We discover both she and Iggy have escaped to the outside world with the intention of tracking down that elusive cad, Vincent Law.
In the mean time, Lil has something of a spirit journey as she meets a younger version of her self, who consequently helps her understand what must come next. This is interlaced with Raul and Daedalus's battle of wits, with each presenting their respective leverage and ending with Raul's shocking revelation that Lil's assassination attempt was ordered from higher parties. Donov-shaped parties. Raul comes out on top, having Daedulus work solely for his purposes and providing a new Proxy sample.
Daedalus drops a whole boatload of hints in how he behaves around this new Proxy, referring to it as Real, welcoming it home. Can anyone smell the parallels? Suggesting that Lil is in precisely the same boat as Vincent, albeit less further along, would make lots and lots of sense. It also undermines much of what we perceive to be Lil's current situation and, to extend, explains much of the strangeness to it. The idea that this episode's entire Lil section could be a hallucination wouldn't challenge Ergo Proxy's inclination to screw with its audience. The prospect of Lil being a Proxy also provides a rather juicy part of the jig-saw.
Where Ergo Proxy begins to falter is when we begin to attempt connecting people, places, and situations to each other. How does Donov factor into Lil's potential role as a Proxy? Surely as her grandfather he'd be aware of it? But then we know so little about the nature of the Proxies, so who's to say they don't have some kind of humanity before they awaken? Or perhaps Daedalus has kept it a secret from Donov, and Lil is more an adoptive grandchild to Donov rather than actual flesh and blood? But why would Donov make an attempt on Lil's life . . . or who's to say Raul is even telling the truth regarding that (and everything else)? And just how do Raul and Donov relate to eachother in terms of power and authority? The mind boggles over the burgeoning paths of thought, with each having a host of points/counter-points. I think the best method is to allow Ergo Proxy to gradually play its hand with each passing episode, which it seems to be doing with authority. Trying to work things out prematurely will only highten the confusion.
God, and this doesn't even consider the fact that Daedalus has developed some kind of method to destroy the Proxy cell that makes them invincible. Arrrghghh this show can be such a nightmare to blog effectively! But I love it for the challenge, at least <3
Conclusion
The showdown between Daedalus and Raul was particularly compelling this episode, with a much-welcomed return of Lil and Iggy - regardless of how suspicious it seems at the end of the episode. Lil's status of Curious Oddity is upgraded to Uber Important and we're offered a few more flecks of light on the developing picture. I was happy to get more time with Raul, too; he's always been something of a background, Machiavellian type up to now. Production values remain steady rather than mind-blowing, but they're certainly beyond most TV anime. I can understand the frustration of some who don't enjoy having to rewatch episodes to gain a clear understanding of the unfolding events, but personally I love it more with each viewing. The subtly of the pacing and development is pretty rare in anime and it reminds me why I enjoy the 'genre' so much when it's done right. Still one of my top shows from this season!
Director: Shukou Murase
Production: Geneon Entertainment, Inc.
Fansubs by Anime Jiyuu
We learnt a number of interesting plot points in this episode, but first and foremost we learn that Pino knows. I think this is the first time where I've really cared about Pino. She's provided the relief, the cute-factor and the occasional touching moment (Queen's death, for instance), but with episode nine she finally takes on a more definite role: the only genuine companion of the now-isolated, despondent Vincent. The final scene of Vince and Pino sailing on the Rabbit is really touching stuff, and for a series that enjoys isolating and confusing its audience it's all the more affective.
But let's take it from the top. The first part of the episode continues to foster the bewilderment created by the very bizarre episode eight. Vince wakes up in a foreign room with only the handgun given to him by the soldiers as a memento of what's happened previously. In his search for Pino he discovers a strange blond chap with healthy appetite for red wine and suspicious amounts of man-cleavage. After finding Pino, Vince and Man-Cleavage sit down to chat and lots of ambiguous prophetic statements are spouted everywhere. Pino shows a genuine dislike for Man-Clevage and for good reason, later discovering an army of the auto-rave knights that were wreaking so much destruction in the previous episode (as well as knowing truth, we later find). Vince confronts Man-Cleavage about this, handgun firmly holstered in his belt, and Man-Cleavage proceeds to provide countless explanations to their current situation. The female Proxy witnessed prior to Vince's collapse was called Senekis and his mate, and better yet Man-Cleavage wants to find a replacement in Vince, who he holds responsible for her death.
Obviously, Vince is very much about the WTF at this point and outright rejects Man-Cleavage, confused about his role in Senekis's death and how his connection to Proxy is more direct than originally thought. Offended by Vince's choice to discard his memories, Man-Cleavage forces Vince to confront the truth: he is a Proxy, and one of numerous. Man-Cleavage reveals his second form as Kazkis Proxy, emissary of Light, swearing vengeance on Vince. After a brutal pursuit where Vince takes a number of gunshots to the chest, unharmed, he 'awakens' and lets his inner-Proxy break free. Following a prolonged fight, in true frenetic Ergo Proxy style, Vince (now Ergo Proxy) kills Kazkis with the old arm-through-the-chest manure and finally accepts his true self: something not human and a harbinger of death. With this he discovers he is entirely alone with no home and no source of contact. Apart from Pino, of course. They board the Rabbit and set sail for Moscow.
Ergo Proxy maintains its trend of providing a few answers while simultaneously dumping twice as many questions on top. Still, some fractured insight to what exactly a Proxy is and Vince's role in all of this is given, and I'd be lying if I said the speculation wasn't one of the main draws of the show. From what Kazkis suggests there seems to be a number of Proxies, each an emissary for a various elemental aspect of life and each with curious religious pretensions. This backs up much of Daedalus' explanation to Lil on what Proxy (Ergo) is; a god-like being who evidently is going to spell the apocalypse for humanity. No wonder Vince was suppressing all this so desperately.
How this factors in Romdeau's involvement is completely uncertain. Will it be similar to Evangelion in exploring man's interference with 'heavenly' beings to avoid our ultimate destruction, or are the Proxies a man-made creation? Kazkis' brief but enlightening appearance suggests they exist independently of humanity, with other Proxies still sleeping. Another fascinating trail of thought is how Lil Mayer factors in all of this. Will she be Vince's Senekis? And is she even alive after episode seven's dramatic conclusion? Judging by the general Protagonists Never Die rule, it's fair to assume she's alive, though the show is taking its sweet time in giving us the answer.
Conclusion
Ergo Proxy is a mysterious little bugger, ain't it. Assuming it runs to the traditional twenty-six episodes, we've obviously only just tipped the top of the iceberg when it comes to the unexplained. This gives rise to some potentially damaging inconsistencies along the way and I'm curious to see how manglobe & co will manage the show's burgeoning collection of loose ends. Yet Ergo Proxy hasn't given us any reason to doubt that it is tightly scripted with a definite conclusion in sight. I've grown beyond the initial excitement of the show's ambiguities and mysteries onto a definite investment in its characters and story. If it were shown on TV I'd make special effort to sit down and watch it every week. And I haven't made a claim like that since Six Feet Under ended last year (may it RIP, hohoho . . .urgh, sorry).
Director: Shukou Murase
Production: Geneon Entertainment, Inc.
Fansubs by Anime Jiyuu
Director: Shukou Murase
Production: Geneon Entertainment, Inc.
Fansubs by Anime Jiyuu
Episode six of Ergo Proxy opens with similarly chilling undertones as episode five's concluding scene as Pino continues to search for the murdered Timothy. The commune discover the mythical Rabbit, some kind of discarded flying devise from Romdeau, and move forward with their plans to begin the pilgrimage. We discover the relevance of Fuudy's prized tin solider and subsequently get some interesting back-story (presumed as it is) before his abrupt exit. Raul comes to blows with the Regent Donov over how to deal with the commune's activities and their association with Vincent, reflecting a childish insolence and self-loathing in Raul's nature. We gain some history from a combination of Dedalus's home movies and hallucinations from a now deeply infected Lil. Queen offers Vincent a vaccine in exchange for his technical assistance on the voyage and suggests a worrying amount of premeditation over the current situation, suggesting Lil was baited out . Whether Vincent trusts Queen or decides to return to Romdeau with Lil is left ambiguous until the end of the episode, with both the Rabbit activating and setting sail and Lil's aircraft leaving for the Dome.
Neither are without their hindrances, however, as the Rabbit is assaulted with countless service drones resulting in many brutal deaths including a valiant Queen. Raul makes a point of keeping Lil waiting before providing medical assistance, only taking an interest when the potential of Vincent's accompaniment becomes clear. The big reveal comes in the form of Vincent's decision to remain on the Rabbit, with Fuudy taking his place escorting Lil back to Romdeau. Tragically, this spells his downfall as an attempted a suicide results in his execution from the service drones. Daedelus takes Lil into his care and Raul, now unable to pursue the Rabbit, petulantly commands the destruction of the commune.
Let's start with the technical aspects of the episode. Happily, quality is maintained and the show remains a beautiful piece of work. Even in the bleak environs of the outside world the colour palette sustains a muted lushness that never jars. The painterly backgrounds are gorgeous while working perfectly with the character design, presenting a robust and wonderfully realised world. Really, I keep repeating the same things in each review of Ergo Proxy for a reason and it's yet to truly disappoint me. The audio stays on a par with the visuals, the voice acting being decent and its music being appropriate. I'm not sure I can come to ever enjoy the opening theme, the Engrish Cheese Factor being so painfully high, but it's definitely more tolerable than before. I've come to fully appreciate the closing theme now and my copy of Ok Computer has been dusted off and gains an eminent position in iTunes.
The episode itself presented us with a reasonable amount of plot progression - to the point of it feeling rushed, almost. Fuudy's death needed a better explanation, or at least some clarity over his intentions to kill himself or it simply being apart of the execution. The process of setting up the Rabbit and launching it seemed to happen in a rather abbreviated amount of time, although this did little to undermine the traumatic attack launched upon it by Raul's service drones. Queen's death especially fostered one of the most touching scenes of the series so far with Pino coming to understand the concept of loneliness as she watches Queen die. Ergo Proxy definitely deserves kudos for being so emotionally affective with the deaths of two relatively incidental characters. It can't be denied that Ergo Proxy does have something of an awkward, cumbersome approach to the sentimental moments, but the sterilised tone suited the immediate brutality of these two scenes. My main concern now is that the show answers a number of questions raised in relation to both Queen and Fuudy, especially with Queen's suggested machinations relating to Vincent.
High points of the episode come from the shared reminiscence sequence between Daedelus and Lil, which provide a lot of fractured back-story on the pair. I've always been curious of their history and this gave some interesting insight, as well as reflecting a Lil of happier times. Pino proves to be comic and emotional relief of the show and episode six allows some time to demonstrate her continuing understanding of the human condition. How this relates to her infection of the Cogito is unclear, - if it will lead to actual sentience or it's Pino merely mimicking her surroundings again. Further explanation of the virus is one of the key draws for me and Ergo Proxy. It has the potential to be fantastic, with the religious elements being especially fascinating, but equally it could be trite and derivative. It's still early days so time will tell. My general affection for the show means I'm inclined to be optimistic, however!
Conclusion
Another solid, entertaining, shocking episode. Ergo Proxy's measured, rigid style somehow doesn't undermine its ability to be emotive and touching with great affect. Its characters demonstrate a considered amount of subtly, something that was especially evident in this intense episode, and I'm still completely impressed by the restraint the writers have shown with their development and the plot as a whole. Some more information on the larger mysteries of the show would have made this episode particularly great, but considering the abundance of events that took place it's understandable that things were omitted. My fondness for this show only gets stronger and stronger.
Director: Shukou Murase
Production: Geneon Entertainment, Inc.
Fansubs by Anime Jiyuu (4), Yoroshiku (5)
These two episodes concern themselves predominantly with Vincent and Pino as they experience life outside of Romdeau in a small settlement of extradited citizens called the commune. And, evidently, life outside of Romdeau ain't pretty; a barren wasteland with bleak, unchanging skies and the dregs of Romdeau's waste filling the landscape. Lil continues her stunted investigation into the mysteries of Proxy and its monster duple-ganger, with the level of confusing ambiguities in Ergo Proxy only being heightened when we find that Lil has discovered the dead body of Proxy, or so she believes. Raul, determining the location of Vincent on the outside after his run-in with a service drone, dispatches enforcements to deal with him and the commune. Preempting this, Lil flies out to meet Vincent and bring him back to Romdeau.
It's obvious that Ergo Proxy isn't a show that gets complacent, with this severe change in setting and tone being evidence of that. But generally it works; not at all hindered by a wry sense of humour and a number of endearing, uncharacteristically human moments. We get to spend some quality time with Vincent and Pino, both of whom are entirely likable for completely different reasons. The over-arching story continues, albeit just as bloody ambiguous as usual, and Lil takes a few more baby steps towards the truth. The small-scale politics of the settlement gets slightly tedious at times, with no one other than Queen showing any kind of intelligence, suggesting that her place as a recurring character perhaps. The tragedy she faces at the end of episode five only cements this notion by providing definite motivation in the form of a good old-fashioned vendetta and no loose ends. I'm quite happy about it, too, as she provides a nice jolt of common sense when it's needed. We'll just ignore her obvious placement as the tits-and-arse quota of the show. Some conventions are just inescapable, aren't they?
We gain some interesting information on Proxy from Fuudy (or Hude, depending on the fansub), the somewhat cantankerous leader of the commune with a more than suspect track record for telling the truth. He calls Proxy a conjurer; a being able to change his appearance at will, moving in and out of existence with ease. This description opened up a lot of speculation on the physical existence of Proxy for me. Judging by what we've seen thus far it would make more than enough sense to consider Proxy more a mental affliction rather a physical one, perhaps supporting the notion of a Freudian super-ego/id set-up when considering him with his monster counter-part. Of course this doesn't explain the havoc reeked by Proxy in the mall scene of episode two, but who is to say there hasn't been a split since then? It would be fitting with Ergo Proxy's cerebral nature, although a wee bit obvious too.
Technically speaking everything is maintained at a quality I have loads of respect for. Granted, the show still hasn't captured the splendor of its first episode, but there hasn't been the massively noticeable dip in animation as is often the case in anime. The action is still wonderfully fluid and the art style continues to hold up the stark, attractively noir visuals. The music keeps up the pace too, being appropriate and well utilised (especially in episode five's final bleak scene). Ergo Proxy is holding its place as a top-tier production and I'm loving its style.
Conclusion
There's always so much to talk about with Ergo Proxy and I think that goes a long way in explaining its attractiveness. Episodes four and five do something of a u-turn with the set-up of the show and it will likely be upheld for a number of episodes to come now Lil has been forcibly included. Even with this fairly drastic change of pace the quality is upheld with surprising authority. This isn't to say things are all peachy-keen, however, with Ergo Proxy still having a whole shed-load of unexplained continuity problems. The ratio of questions:answers is still massively imbalanced by the former, but again I continue to enjoy its teasing ambiguous nature. It was nice to have some humour from Pino and Timothy's exploits, too. A decent couple of episodes from a distinctly first-class anime!
