Secret Santa Half-Review — Ergo Proxy

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So, I suck. I wasn’t able to finish my Secret Santa in time this year. My choices this year were Ergo Proxy, Kaiji, or Brigadoon. I was most interested in Brigadoon, but I decided to watch Ergo Proxy since my last three Secret Santas had also recommended it, and it’s widely hailed to be one of the classics by stupid gaijin, along with Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Tehxnolyze, Kino’s Journey, etc., all of which I hate.

Anyway, my goal going in was to prevent anyone from ever recommending Ergo Proxy to me ever again. This was the fourth time I attempted to watch Ergo Proxy, and the first time I got past the first episode. The main reason is because the color scheme is awful. It’s so dark. I can barely see anything. Why would anyone do this to a show?

But… once I got past the first episode… I actually kind of like the show.

The color scheme is still painful to look at. But it has some interesting ideas. And the whole thing is wrapped up in Gnostic mythology. As everyone knows, I really dig that shit. I haven’t entirely figured out what’s going on yet, but there’s already a big emphasis on the quest for truth, and there are some clear demiurge type characters. Plus it’s also a post-apocalyptic dystopia with cool robots, which also gives it bonus points. It has a great deal of originality, and there hasn’t been much like it since.

Another aspect I enjoy is the politicking in the city. The squabbles between the Regent and the spymaster and the doctor who I thought was a girl the first eleven episodes are very interesting.

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It does drag a bit. Some episodes could have been half an episode. And I heard rumors this gets much worse in the second half. The pace feels especially slow for the episodes which focus on Vincent and Pino away from the city. Definitely not as interesting as the other parts. Also, Pino is annoying.

I’ll write a review of the entire thing once I finish it. Thanks to my Secret Santa for the recommendation (and also the three previous Secret Santas who recommended this), you guys were right, I was wrong, Ergo Proxy is pretty good and I never would have watched it without you.

Also check out my secret santa Charles’ review of Mouryou no Hako!

7 thoughts on “Secret Santa Half-Review — Ergo Proxy

  1. This show is weird, I picked it up with a reddit anime club, but fell behind cause of my notes, and if I watched half the show with notes it’s hard to keep going sans notes, though I should.

    But yeah, it’s a widely hailed “classic”, but which rarely gets mentioned. But when it’s mentioned, it’s hailed. People do need some help with picking it up.

    And “slow” is very much this show’s second name.

    1. Yeah, I needed a lot of help… It’s not one of my favorites by any stretch of the imagination, but it is pretty good.

  2. “Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Tehxnolyze, Kino’s Journey, etc., all of which I hate”

    All of these shows are million times better then Ergo Proxy tbh. I quite liked the show starting out, but it does bog itself down with irrelevant ideas tossed in because it seemed cool to do so. Shit needed to be edited down.
    But hey, Radiohead man.

  3. Glad to hear you’ve picked up this anime. I look forward to your review as it will decide whether I watch the anime immediately after or a few months later.
    Hopefully you will enjoy it.
    Merry Christmas~!

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