Ergo Proxy: A Post Apocalyptic Masterpiece
Anime is undeniably one of the biggest and most impactful cultures to make its way overseas from Japan.
There is an anime for any type of person; action-packed, ongoing titles like One Piece, Children's titles fully enjoyable as adults like Doraemon, or timeless classics like Astro Boy. While all of these titles and genres are fully enjoyable and have had a great influence on the thousands of other manga and anime which exist today, there is a certain type, a certain genre of anime that we at Sabukaru, and most likely many of you reading this like.
The dark, mysterious anime/manga, the ones that really make you contemplate the way of life are what we are talking about. Titles like Berserk, Serial Experiments Lain, and Evangelion are just a few of the well-known titles which fall under this category. One of our favorites, an anime that gets attention, but definitely not as much as it should, is Ergo Proxy.
The second original anime series produced by Manglobe following Samurai Champloo, Ergo Proxy is set in a dystopian future, where an ecological catastrophe forced civilization to migrate to dome-like cities. Within them, humans live in peace with androids called AutoReivs. Protagonist Re-l Mayer and her AutoReiv partner Iggy are told to investigate a series of murders within Romdeau city, caused by Cogito virus-infected AutoReivs. The virus makes AutoReivs become self-knowledged, and a threat to the city's social order. During their investigation, they encounter humanoids never seen before, which they later find out are Proxies. Another central character, Vincent Law, ends up being connected to these Proxies, and Re-l & Iggy follow him to try and uncover the secrets of Proxies & the dome-cities they live in.
Ergo Proxy might not be the easiest anime to interpret due to its psychological & philosophical story. Most of the characters are even named after famed philosophers.
The main theme is even Paranoid Android by Radiohead. No other anime features a Radiohead track, the fact alone should be a reason to watch it.
