Another Bad Title (Ergo Proxy)

So this one's another example of a good show with a bad name. "Ergo Proxy" or エルゴプラクシ (Erugo Purakushi) is a pair of English words generally understood by the creator but which don't work out so well in English because that's not how they work. "Proxy" (I looked this up) means "someone or something that does something in the place of someone or something else". So say Tanaka wants money but can't get off his can to shake down someone who owes him, and he sends me instead. That makes me his proxy. "Ergo" is a Latin word that means "therefore". Like, "I think therefore I am," as I keep telling Celty. Except "therefore proxy" doesn't make a lot of sense, especially as it's a character's name: "I am Ergo Proxy, the agent of death" he says.

Whatever. I think the point is that he's the inevitable result of all the things that happen before he shows up. In that sense, it's cool.

So what's it about then?

God, I don't know. It's pretty abstract.

So it's the future, and humanity's screwed everything up. Folks like Re-l Mayer (pronounced "ray-el") and Vincent Law (pronounced "vincent law") and a few other named characters live in a domed city called Romdo. Domed because the outside kills you, pretty much. It sucks like 1984. Everybody's got a creepy android helper with a creepy face and a lack of self-interest, and things are falling apart because there's a virus called "cogito" (I looked it up: "cogito ergo sum" is "I think therefore I am", so "cogito" is "I think") which gives these androids, called AutoReivs, free will. And most of them, upon achieving free will, go on senseless killing sprees.

Creepy as hell, right? You want that thing around while you're sleeping? I didn't think so.

I think one of the main themes of the show is that free will can really suck if you don't know what to do with it. That comes up a lot.

Anyway, there's a creepy shadow government run by Re-l's grandfather, who's so old he might as well be dead, and some creepy floating statues who speak for him.

Hold on, I'll get pictures.

Hello, Re-l? It's me, skepticism.

Creepy shadow government (floating statues on either side)

The four statues are called Berkeley, Husserl, Lacan, and Derrida.

Derrida the talking statue, and Derrida the, uh, well whatever he was. Not sure I see the resemblance.

Right. So the plot is that this guy, Vincenct Law --

-- a refugee from another dome that got destroyed, and generally dull young man who works the cleanup crew in Romdo, runs into this little girl AutoReiv --

-- who's infected with cogito but who doesn't want to kill anybody, and they run away from Romdo and don't die, while first Re-l, and then later this guy --

-- Raul Creed, Director-General of the Citizen Security Bureau (read: shady secret police), try to chase them down. In the meantime, there's a mystery unraveling about these creatures called Proxies who seem pretty good at killing people (and each other) and not a whole hell of a lot else. And they're interested in Vincent and Re-l, too.

It's a post-apocalyptic science fiction mystery with philosophical underpinnings about the nature and purpose of free will, with a remarkably high body count and a very dark aesthetic.

No, seriously dark. You'll need to watch it in a dark room to see half the action.

It's interesting and a little meta at times, and overall a really good watch. It takes a little patience to get into, and you have to accept that it's done with a 90s goth aesthetic in 2006 (so raccoon-eye makeup is big), but give it a chance and it'll pleasantly surprise you.

Plus, as I've mentioned before, if you like alt-rock, it's got one of the better theme songs, by Monoral.

I'll give it four out of five.