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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Monday, 12 November 2007 17:00 |
 Re-l learns that not everything she’s been taught as a truth is actually true, while Vincent learns to believe that his mere presence is a death sentence for those around him. Taking his future in his own hands, he decides to head for his hometown – the ruined domed city of Mosk – but misfortune seems to follow him, even into the wastelands far away from Romdo...
5 - Tasogare / Recall
Hoody causes problems for Vincent by playing him up as the "Chosen One" - the "revolutionary warrior" who will protect the Commune when Romdo inevitably falls. It's all in the name of preventing the other Commune members from turning against him, but in Vincent's mind the ends don't exactly outweigh the means. Others in the Commune aren't so sure about Hoody's honesty or motives, though, and begin to move against him. When a flyer arrives from the city, Hoody gets the chance to claim that their doubts are misplaced - but the flyer's pilot is more interested in Vincent than in negotiating with Hoody...
6 - Domecoming / Return Home
Re-l's awoken after her illness - although according to Hoody, her chances of survival still aren't good - and her immediate priority is to once again try and persuade Vincent to return to Romdo with her. She doesn't have much time, either - the surviving members of the Commune have discovered a transport - the Rabbit - that they hope will take them somewhere safer, and Vincent's planning on leaving with them once the Rabbit's operational. His feelings for Re-l are the one thing that's holding him back, though - so when he's offered a chance to fully cure Re-l, he may just take it, even if it means taking her further away from Romdo...
7 - RE-L124C41+
The Rabbit's been heading towards Mosk for several days now, moving further and further away from Romdo, and in the time they've been on the move, the wasteland has been unchanging. Unending cold, no sign of food, and not a trace of another living creature - have Vincent and the others made the right choice? Back in Romdo, Re-l's still undergoing treatment for her infection, and she's making progress at a remarkable rate. Raul's been asking questions about why his superiors allowed her to return - an unprecedented decision - but he's not being given any answers. Re-l, meanwhile, it coming to terms with just how much of the "truth" she thought she knew is a lie, and coming to a decision on what to do next...
8 - Shining Sign / Light Beam
Onward Vincent travels, towards his hometown, Mosk. Eventually he runs out of food, and expects that his end will be near - but against all the odds, he finds there are others alive out here, holed up in a tower and fighting a war against an army of AutoReivs. They're welcoming enough, giving Vincent an opportunity to eat & rest, but there's a price for him to pay, as he finds himself roped into their war, with his sailboat refitted as a military ship. There are only 43 humans left out here, and they're losing their fight - Vincent's got no intention of being destroyed with them, but his chances of escaping are reduced when he's accused of a series of vicious killings that began after his arrival. Who is really responsible for the killings, and will he & Pino be able to excape before the killer reaches them..?
The first two episodes on this disc cover Re-l’s time outside in the Commune, and her efforts to persuade Vincent to come back to Romdo. These episodes also focus on Hoody quite heavily, and his efforts to hold the Commune together when most of its residents simply want to go back to the city – with only a death sentence waiting for them should they try that, Hoody’s maintaining his control by claiming to be in touch with the city’s authorities and negotiating for their return, but Re-l’s arrival mark the beginning of the Commune’s end.
You can’t fault Re-l’s determination, either – even once she’s back in Romdo, she’s almost got a fixation on Vincent that she won’t let go. There are other issues inside the city, though, that are outside her control – and when she gets caught up in them, a completely unexpected plot twist sees her quest brought to an apparently permanent premature end.
It’s the final episode that’s the most curious, though, as Vincent heads across the wasteland towards Mosk. A lot of the time in anime, you see locations that are described as wastelands, but that don’t really “feel” that way when you see them on-screen. In Ergo Proxy, when they say “wasteland” they mean it, and the feeling of desolation and isolation is captured so well by the animation that it’s positively spooky. The negative feelings that you get just watching those scenes are reinforced by Vincent’s voiceover, describing his own feelings about the journey – it’s a hugely atmospheric set of scenes that are very successful at getting a feeling of real despair across to the viewer. Finding a small outpost of humanity breaks the gloom for just a moment, but as the story progresses it becomes clear that Vincent’s gone from the frying-pan into the fire as a series of events, including the appearance of the Proxy itself, threatens to prove Vincent’s conviction that death is following him wherever he goes.
Ergo Proxy is heavy on the style & atmosphere at the best of times, but the final episode here just takes it to a whole new level. I was hooked by the series before then – now I’m almost ready to call it the best example of its type out there. Early comparisons with Ghost in the Shell can be put to one side, as well, as further revelations about how Romdo is governed and survives further develop the show’s setting into something much more its own.
Criticisms? A few – information on the true nature of the Proxy is still scarce, and for a creature that seemed to be such a key part of the show in the early episodes it’s been surprisingly scarce on this volume. Pacing of the show could also be a little better in places, but overall this release has really impressed me.
Ergo Proxy hooks you with its presentation and atmosphere, and the story gets you later – while it’s not the fastest-moving plot of all time, it’s intriguing and has enough of the unusual and unknown in it to keep you wanting more. This volume has a few surprises in that leave the next step in the story a complete unknown – and I, for one, can’t wait to see how it unfolds.
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