Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy (23 episodes, 2006)

Synopsis

Fast-forward some unknown number of years into the future. A pretty bleak future, at that. The world has all but been completely destroyed, leaving humans, accompanied by robotic servants called AutoReivs, to live in domed cities protected from the harsh conditions of the outside world. This is the general setting of Ergo Proxy.

Re-l Mayer, daughter of Romdo City's Regent, Donov Mayer, is an inspector of the Citizen Intelligence Bureau, assigned with the task of investigating a series of murders committed by AutoReivs infected with what's known as the "Cogito virus." Re-l feels rather bored with her life, and the city, until one day when she encounters a strange monster running loose in the city, and discovers a top secret project being conducted by the government.

Vincent Law, an immigrant from Mosko, now living in Romdo, works for the AutoReiv Control Division, searching for infected AutoReivs and disposing of them. Vincent strongly desires to be a Model Citizen in Romdo, but fails to do so when he finds himself hunted by the Security Bureau, for reasons unknown to him. In a desperate attempt to escape, he leaves Romdo. However, in doing so, Vincent discovers the truth of his past, and becomes entangled in the mystery of the beings known as "Proxies."

Characters (click names for images)

Main Characters

• Re-l Mayer: Re-l is an investigator of the Citizen Intelligence Bureau, as well as the daughter of the Regent of Romdo, Donov Mayer. Re-l becomes involved in the affairs of the beings known as Proxies after being assaulted by one and then searching for the truth that is concealed by the Romdo government. In her search, she finds herself following Vincent Law, who seems to be connected to the events somehow.


• Vincent Law: Vincent is a submissive citizen of Romdo, originally from the Mosko Dome, giving him the label of an immigrant. In spite of the persecution he receives as an immigrant, Vincent strives to become a Model Citizen. He works for the AutoReiv Control Division, keeping a check on AutoReivs infected with the Cogito virus. His casual life is disturbed, however, when he finds himself being targeted by some strange monster, and then by the Citizen Security Bureau. With nowhere else to run, Vincent abandons his goal of becoming a Model Citizen and leaves Romdo in search of salvation.

Other Recurring Characters

• Iggy: Iggy is Re-l's Entourage-type AutoReiv, designed to assist her with her job as a member of the Intelligence Bureau, protect her from harm, and also act as a companion.


• Pino: Pino is a Companion-type AutoReiv, originally belonging to the family of Raul Creed. However, Pino becomes infected with the Cogito virus and leaves the Creeds' home on her own accord. In her travels through the city, she encounters Vincent, and decides to follow him from that point onward.


• Raul Creed: Raul is the Director-General of the Citizen Security Bureau of Romdo. Raul reports directly to the Regent, and carries out his duties with much efficiency and loyalty. However, as he gradually discovers the truths hidden by the Romdo government, his loyalty begins to falter, as does his ego.


• Kristeva: Kristeva is Raul Creed's Entourage-type AutoReiv, assisting him with his duties in the Security Bureau, including his reports to the Regent.


• Daedalus Yumeno: Daedalus is given several roles. He is the Director of the Division of Health and Welfare, the Chief Physician of the Proxy Research Team, as well as Re-l's personal doctor. Although he is unaware of many details concerning the Proxies, he still knows much more than most others in the city, due to his role in the research of them.

Other Notes

• References: The series is loaded with references to mythology, philosophy, and other subjects. There is a direct reference to French philosopher René Descartes' "Cogito ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"), and the Cogito virus is also a reference to this. Each episode being referred to as a "meditatio" (meditation) is also a reference to Descartes. The "Turing application," referred to in the first episode, is a reference to Alan Turing, a British mathematician/logician/cryptanalyst/computer scientist. Donov's and Daedalus' Entourages are named after philosophers. (Furthermore, the statues that represent Donov's Entourages are based on works of Michelangelo.) Daedalus and a later event involving him are references to the Greek myth of Daedalus.
  Of course, there are several others, as well.


• Soundtrack: Divided into two discs (labeled as Opus 01 and Opus 02), the original soundtrack of Ergo Proxy mostly consists of dark, ambient music and electronica-/synth-based tracks. Given the setting of the show, this works very much in its favor, providing atmospheric background music throughout. Complimenting the cyberpunk theme of the series, the ending theme is Radiohead's "Paranoid Android."


• English Dub: If you ask me, the English dub for Ergo Proxy is practically flawless when it comes to the delivery of dialogue. The show's got a great cast of voice actors and actresses, including Megan Hollingshead (credited as Karen Thompson) as Re-l Mayer, Liam O'Brien as Vincent Law (an actor and role I'm especially fond of), Patrick Seitz as Raul Creed, and Yuri Lowenthal as Daedalus Yumeno. Kudos to the casting director.

Conclusion

Ergo Proxy is a great series with overall excellent production, and a bit of a cinematic feel to it. The story is rather deep -- to the point that I'm sure I'm still missing out on significances to this day -- and only continues to get more intriguing as the series continues. (Though, admittedly, episodes 16 and 19 are exceptions, since not much of significance occurs in them.) The art style is generally quite pleasing to the eye, accompanied by some well-animated scenes and an appropriate soundtrack to fit the themes of the show. It all compounds to form a masterfully delivered story of mystery and suspense, plus a slight psychological touch. Spanning 23 episodes, a pretty standard duration, Ergo Proxy is something I'd highly recommend to just about anyone, as it offers a fair balance of action and drama, with a handful of interesting characters, and it's a reasonable length.

Red Garden

Red Garden (22 episodes, 2006-2007)
OVA: Dead Girls (45 minutes, 2007)

Red Garden seems to be a rather unknown series. It's a nice little hidden gem, though, and apparently managed to catch the attention of ADV Films for a localized DVD release (though it's now distributed by FUNimation), as well. Horror doesn't seem to be a very common anime theme, so it's nice to have this change of pace in Red Garden, and the series does a pretty great job of getting that feeling of terror from the main characters across to the viewer. (Though the horror aspect is somewhat limited to earlier episodes.) Even putting the horror genre aside, Red Garden is a pretty unique series, which I think deserves more attention than it gets. With that said, I hope my review/introduction thing here can get some of you interested.

Synopsis

The story of Red Garden follows four girls who find themselves suddenly unable to recall anything that occurred the day before. Unaware of the reason for this, the girls all go about their usual lives. Their school discovers some terrible news, however, reporting to the students that a fellow attendee of the school, Lise, was found dead that morning. Upon announcing this unfortunate discovery, the students are sent home early. Later that night, the four girls find themselves unexplainably drawn together, after following some butterflies that suddenly appear before them. A woman then appears, alongside a man, and tells the girls that they died. They died, and are now using "borrowed lives," as she puts it. The girls are then pitted against some beast-like man in an alleyway, where the woman and man disappear, leaving the girls to fight for their lives.

These fights continue, as ordered by the mysterious woman, who claims that the girls must fight these men if they wish to continue living. However, the girls do not blindly follow this woman, and find themselves surrounded by questions. Why can none of them remember what happened that night? Are they really dead? What are these people they are fighting, and why must they fight them? Who exactly are this woman and man? Will the girls ever be able to return to their regular lives? In order to obtain answers to these questions, however, the girls must continue fighting, and extract whatever information they can from this woman in the process.

Main Characters (click names for images)

• Kate Ashley: Kate is a mild-mannered young girl, who is a member of the elite school group known as Grace, tasked with keeping the school's students in check with their attendance, dress code, and other matters. Perhaps the most open toward others, Kate tends to play the role of leader among the group of four, looking out for them, and trying to do what's best for the group.


• Rachel Benning: Rachel is a bit of a fashion diva, or at least acts like one. She's always dressed in fancy, expensive clothes, and found hanging out with her friends at late-night parties. However, the news of the girls' deaths has the greatest impact on her, leaving her with the feeling that their current "lives" are pointless. Because of their complicated situation, Rachel's social life suffers immensely, giving her even more drama to worry about than her situation already does.


• Claire Forrest: Claire is the rebel of the group, often skipping school or arriving late without a proper excuse. However, her tough attitude is required to get by in her life. Unlike the other girls, Claire lives independently, working a job that barely covers her rent. Claire is the most physically fit among the girls, and the least hesitant to fight when needed, but under her tough exterior, she is still a high school girl who is capable of the emotional suffering that the four girls all go through.


• Rose Sheedy: Rose is a shy girl who lives alone with her younger brother and sister, taking care of them while their mother is in the hospital. Rose was accepted into the school on Roosevelt Island by winning a contest, and lives off of money sent by her father, who disappeared one day. Out of the group of four, Rose is the most caring, but the most sensitive and least willing to fight, usually cowering in a corner, crying, while the others fight for their lives. Rose acknowledges her weakness, however, and wishes strongly not to be a burden on the others, so she tries to do what she can to improve herself for this purpose.


• Lise Harriette Meyer: Lise was the only connection the other four girls shared before her death. Seemingly easy to get along with just about anyone, Lise was friends with all four of the girls, despite their differences. The night that the girls all died, the car that was bringing Lise home was attacked, and she was taken away by the assailants. The next day, her body is found by the police, and her funeral was held shortly later.

Other Notes

• Art: For many people, the art style may be rather unique. Actually, to some, the character art may even be a bit unappealing. I think it's just a matter of taste... I suppose it could be described as a more realistic style, while still maintaining that anime feel. (Witch Hunter Robin's character art may be a good comparison.) The artists make a nifty move for characters' hair, applying gradients for their hair color, which seems pretty unique. Even more interesting is the clothes that characters wear. The main cast can be seen wearing several detailed outfits, and even in scenes with crowds of people, you may notice that practically every person on screen is wearing a completely unique outfit, which is something that is very rare to see in animated works. (Check: crowd screenshot.)


• Environment & Culture: Red Garden has a (presumably) modern-day setting, taking place on Roosevelt Island and other areas of New York City. The creators really go out of their way to accurately portray many aspects of the city, which is a great touch. Even details as small as phone numbers listed on buildings factor into this. (I forget what episode, what building, et cetera, but there is actually a real, and accurate, phone number on the door of a restaurant in a particular scene.) Some of the characters even go to Coney Island and eat the famous Coney dogs at a Nathan's Famous hot dog stand/restaurant. Heck, there's even a random reference to Seinfeld's Soup Nazi, that comes up in a discussion between Kate and Rose.
  
  On the other hand, some inaccuracies in the series, as pointed out on Wikipedia, are: "There is no car/bus access between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan as shown in Red Garden. Nor are there any high schools, public or private, on the island. There is, however, subway access to the island and bus access from the Queens side, which are not shown." (Source)


• Music: First of all, don't be misled by the opening theme for the show, "Jolly Jolly," by JiLL-Decoy. It's not particularly fitting. At all.
  While I can't really comment on the soundtrack otherwise (it hasn't particularly grabbed my attention), another music note I have to point out as being extremely awkward is that in a few particular scenes throughout the series, some of the characters will randomly break into song. As far as I can tell, it's meant as a sort of device for setting the mood, but much of the time, it's just plain strange. Thankfully, these scenes aren't too common outside of the first few episodes.


• English Dub?: Unfortunately, I haven't seen Red Garden dubbed, so I can't really comment on the performance. However, from the little bit I heard in the English trailer, I wasn't impressed. The Japanese cast, on the other hand, generally does a great job, especially in the more emotional scenes. (This plays a major role in getting that feeling of terror across to the viewer in earlier episodes.)


• Dead Girls OVA: While I would like to cover this in the review simply because it's the sequel to the anime series, I'm choosing to omit it. I'm sure many other fans share the feeling of wishing to forget the OVA. While it's not terrible on its own, it abandons many of the things that made the original series great, and opts for some awkward futuristic setting, with the girls being almost completely different (mostly in bad ways), and the general plot is... kind of stupid, to be blunt. If you watch the entire anime series, but would like to see what happens after, then the OVA may or may not be worth looking into, but I'd personally suggest avoiding it. Main series: Good. OVA: Not so good.

Conclusion

Well, to be honest, I think my additional notes above sum up most of what I would've included in this conclusion footer. Aside from those notes, I'll just point out that I don't think it'll rank in the upper tier of anyone's favorite series, but I think it should still be a worthwhile watch, providing many unique features for the viewer to enjoy.