Ergo Proxy
Manglobe, the creators of Samurai Champloo, have come out with a new sci-fi anime series, Ergo Proxy. So you can expect the action to be ultra slick and sexy. And it is. Ghost In The Shell-esque (which Jap sci-fi anime isn't?) and gothic-cool, its very lovely in aesthetic details and apparently tries to put in a lot of storyline details as well.
Watching the first two episodes, I'd use the word potential to describe it so far. You can see it could be really good but the story's really confusing at the start and its a bit of a struggle to follow. Still, it slowly reveals itself to be a sci-fi psychological thriller, AI themed story it was set out to be. With touches of religion, the general conspiracy theory mood and 1984 style state control, I get the feeling the general theme might be considered freedom, in particular freedom of existence itself. The title, I assume, is inspired by Descartes, Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am.
At the helm is a rather likeable lead, Real, who's a goth chick with blue eyeshadow! Wielding guns! I initially thought her hair was some kitten costume but its actually subtle ponytails if my current assumptions are correct. Naruto fans will think of her as the female Kankuro. I'm still waiting for the whole thing to unfold itself but I'm really hoping its gonna be real good. I mean, if the ending song is Radiohead's Paranoid Android, (shock & awe!) it can't be that bad right? The art is tight and chop socky, flowing and engaging altogether at once, I was instantly reminded of Champloo's first episode although the dreary palette and depressing climate really don't quite give the same punch.
And the reason why I found out about this? Cos my girlfriend thinks the lead was so pretty that she just had to watch it no matter what. That Manglobe Samurai Champloo connection was just the icing on the cake.
