Ergo Proxy

Earth is a wasteland. Ravaged by consumption, humans avoid the environment in domed utopian cities. In one such city, called Romdo, a series of murders committed by AutoReivs, androids, disrupts the delicate utopian balance. Re-I Mayer and her AutoReiv Iggy is assigned to investigate. A young immigrant named Vincent Law and a mysterious virus called Cogito seem to be behind the events. Re-I soon discovers something far more sinister than a simple virus driven murder linked to an immigrant without a memory: something called a Proxy.

Ergo Proxy is a gothic cyber-punk story laced with questions about the role of humanity. In the domed cities, every human has their place. Each is a gear in the grand machine of civilization. Ergo Proxy recalls works such as Orwell’s 1984. Re-I quickly finds the difficulties that result when the gear refuses to turn. Ergo Proxy follows Vincent Law’s efforts to return to his birth city in order to recover the memories he lost. Re-I leaves the safety of the dome to pursue him and the truth about Proxy that tugs at her.

The series also examines our relationship with machines and consumption. Every human in a city is assigned their own AutoReiv, which serves to keep them in their place within the grand system. Everyone is grown in artificial wombs to serve just a singular purpose in society. Consumption is encouraged to distract from any thoughts that may lead a person from their purpose. Over the course of the series, Re-I finds the webs behind the structure of civilization.

Characters

Re-l Mayer

Inspector Re-l Mayer of the Citizen Intelligence Bureau is in charge of investigating a series of brutal murders apparently committed by AutoReivs infected with the Cogito virus. She is also the granddaughter of Donov Mayer, the Regent of Romdo. Given her privileged status, she expects respect from people around her, and speaks as such. Re-l accompanies Vincent on his journey in order to learn more about the mysterious Proxies.

Vincent Law

An immigrant from Mosk working for Romdo’s AutoReiv Control Division within the Temporary Immigrant Sector FG , set up to hunt and dispose infected AutoReivs. Vincent appears driven to become a Model Citizen, but ultimately fails to suppress the burden of his traumatic past and flees from Romdo. He seems to have a deep connection to the second Proxy, having left his necklace at the scene of the first Proxy site.

Pino

An infected Companion type AutoReiv owned by Raul Creed and Samantha Ross, Pino served as a surrogate child to the couple. She was scheduled for decommissioning after the Creeds were granted a real baby son by the government, but the untimely deaths of Samantha and her new son prompted Pino to flee Romdo. She accompanies Vincent on his journey.

Ergo Proxy is darkly beautiful. It is futuristic goth with its feel. The creepy atmosphere and suspenseful story keeps the viewer enthralled. The story becomes a little confused at times. The animation is fluid and alive despite the washed out colors and dark atmosphere. The series is claustrophobic and intimate, adding to the suspense. The opening theme is hauntingly beautiful.The characters are likable and complex. It is gothic like a cathedral: darkly beautiful but also vibrantly lit by the sunlight of its characters. If you can ignore the garbled storyline.