Ergo Proxy - Box Set (DVD, 2009, Viridian Collection)

Don't let the title fool you. Ergo Proxy is definately worth checking out; just don't come in with high expectations.

Ergo Proxy takes place in a post-apoctoliptic world, where the air is poisned, forcing the remaining humans to live in giant domed cities. In one of these cities, a young female detective named Re-L Mayer is asigned to a case to investigate a man named Vincent Law , where she discovers something she wasn't supposed to; a monster. Oddly, the government who assigned her to the case covers up her tracks, and denies the existence of the monster. What is the creature Re-L disscovered, and how is it related to Vincent?

Despite the convincing sounding story, it becomes a let down. The first several episodes contain heart pounding excitement, as well as mysterious feel that will keep you watching. Unfortunately, every thing starts to slow down, and it becomes boring and bland. Ergo Proxy contains the same type of psycological illutions and mental break downs that are in Evangelion and Erueka 7. The only difference is that the psycological stuff in Evangelion had an important message behind the mumbo-jumo, while in Ergo Proxy, the message isn't intriguing in the least, and becomes boring. By the time plot twists come into action, the story reveals itself to be not as intresting as it could have been, and is paced poorly, leaving the viewer with eyes rolling. Ergo Proxy also lacks an amount of characters as well as character devlepment, leaving the unique characters looming in shallowness. The worst problem is, that the viewer will develope MANY questions, and very few of them will ever be answered, which is extremely frustrating. Ergo proxy is a story that could have been exillerating, but due to poor planning the story does the show a disservice.

While the story is bad, ergo proxy still has strong points, which make the show a unique anime. The one thing that kept myself watching the show, is the style presented in the show. Other than bland backgrounds, the visuals are beutiful, in a way. Re-L is one of the best looking characters I've seen in anime, and the "monsters" are very unique looking. The shows appearance is very sci-fi like, but doesn't seem to copy off any other movie, or show. The only complaint that i have about the visuals are the somewhat blank backgrounds and environments that last throughout the middle portion of the show. The details and moody atmosphere are the most attractives elements within Ergo Proxy.

Ergo Proxy is a show with much portential, but it fails to deliver the punch I was expecting. The first few episodes was filled with mystery and excitment but they become non-existent by the time you reach the second disk. The few rememberable characters in Ergo Proxy start out to be very interesting, but because of the little character developement, you will lose interest in them. In the begining, you will enjoy pondering the show and start to develope questions, but when your questions are never answered, you will become frustrated. Be good to your wallet and buy the first volume of Ergo Proxy, but find some other place to watch the remainder of the show. The fist five or so episodes are great, but the rest is dissapointing to say the least. Ergo Proxy has so much potential, but lets itself down. Maybe someday they will do a re-make.