Back to Silent_Scream's Profile Silent_Scream's Profile

Ergo Proxy. Wow. This one’s tough to review.

Ergo Proxy is not your typical cyberpunk anime. For more, it doesn’t rely on heavy gun-fighting action scenes to grasp viewers’ attentions instead it uses mind-break and a very intriguing strange and dark atmosphere in a post-apocalyptic world. Though a post-apocalyptic world is something that is not new or could even be said overused, Ergo Proxy’s is fluid and very well thought out.

Ergo Proxy stands out among other cyberpunk anime as this one is a truly original and is very unique as it takes on René Descartes’ very famous philosophical statement which is “cogito ergo sum” and ... views it on different perspectives. “Cogito ergo sum” means “I think, therefore I am” is basically the main theme of the anime. The whole world of Ergo Proxy itself is based on this theme while questioning and taunting the said philosophical statement. Everything was built along with those lines while the story revolves around the characters who were searching for self-actualization over the course of 23 episodes.

Ergo Proxy has a very fast pacing which could indeed get you hooked for about 10minutes into the show. It started off with Re-l Mayer investigating cases of “AutoReivs” (Android-like companions) being infected with a virus called “cogito.” This “cogito” virus is a dangerous virus for humans as this “AutoReivs” once infected with the virus comes to a realization that they too have a heart thus leading to human-like emotions which could in turn lead to trouble as they now tend to act on how they feel but not on how their masters command them to. After some investigations, while at home, Re-l saw a word written in blood that stated “awakening” and was approached by an entity called a “PROXY.” A lot of these intriguing scenarios will be shed light upon as the story progresses. Interesting right? See episode 2 as I’m sure you’ll instantly get hooked.

Ergo Proxy presents different but very realistic problems including politics, ways of life, beliefs, and the search for one’s true self. Treading along the anime, these issues will be faced with subtlety and precision without ever being dragging. Though its pacing is very fast, some might be surprised as at the middle of the anime, somewhere past around 13 episodes, it went to a complete halt as it now focused on the changes that are happening with the characters. We now see Pino’s journey for self-actualization, Vincent’s search for the truth, and Re-l’s changing feelings for the ones around her. These episodes are not entirely focused on the characters though; some contains bags of clues about the reality of Ergo Proxy while some are just placed there to add to the length or simply called fillers. Though these episodes might be fillers, you wouldn’t immediately recognize that they are, as these fillers have a knack of making your brain burst out leaving you thinking for hours about what really happened; but even if you’ve managed to solve what was the episode about, it wouldn’t change anything as these fillers were totally irrelevant to the main point of the story.

After some episodes that contain complete mindfuck which in turn made the story stagnant, Ergo Proxy now picks up on what it has left for the grand finale. If there was anything that I could really complain about Ergo Proxy, it would be the ending. For a total mind-breaking anime, I couldn’t ignore that some loose ends were still loose and some missing links were still missing. It actually felt like the anime was saying that it’s up to the viewers to figure out what happened about this or that; well for a total mindfuck anime, maybe it is really trying to do that. But still, it doesn’t hinder the thrilling rollercoaster ride I got from this anime.

What I absolutely find fascinating in Ergo Proxy is the gradual development of our three main characters. As I’ve said, Pino is in a journey of self-actualization and being infected by the cogito virus, this slowly transforms Pino from an emotionless companion-type AutoReiv to something that is more if not, realistically human. Vincent on the other hand, is in search for his true self as it was stated that he was brainwashed and is now on his way looking for answers. At first, I honestly thought that Vincent was a major wimpy guy, but he turned out to be one of the coolest male leading characters out there. As the story goes along, he gradually changes as the truth about him are unveiled. Lastly, Re-l is not your typical bad-ass girl who wields dual pistols and can shoot anyone with her eyes closed. No, she is your normal snobbish lady who gets scared, weak and is worth protecting; only thing is she’s really courageous or more like stubborn. After some realizations and some great revelations, you will notice her gradual change of heart regarding everyone around her. All of these traits make them look very real as humans which made me really admire Ergo Proxy as this is a hard one to pull off considering that the setting is in a post-apocalyptic world.

I believe that the production value of this anime is high as the animation was fluid and the backgrounds were simply amazing. From the desolated wastelands to the deserted cities, all were done with accuracy. Sometimes though, I think the lighting is somewhat of a bother as it tends to be too dark that you’ll have difficulty seeing what’s really happening. Character designs however were very human-like and if you’ve seen Witch Hunter Robin, it is very much the same. But there were also inconsistencies as sometimes, when looked from afar, the facial structure of the characters becomes distorted. Nevertheless, the animation was really good leaving you wanting for more.

Pino’s character design however was so adorable and lovely that no one could ever ignore her cuteness. Though this is not a comedy anime, sometimes you’ll find yourself smiling and even touched for the cute things she does. Often too that Pino’s character is matched with the dramatic scenes of this anime that you could even feel a small aching on your chest.

What made this successful was Pino’s seiyuu Akiko Yakima. She portrays her lines very well which fits the cute attitude of Pino. And I’m not saying that Pino has the only voice acting that was good, in fact all of the voices behind the characters were astounding. Not to mention that the opening and ending song were very good which weren’t J-pop but rather alternative English songs. The opening song (kiri) sets a thought-provoking environment while the ending song (PARANOID ANDROID) finishes what the opening has brought forth. The background music during scenes is good in setting the mood if it is meant to be thrilling or meant to be dramatic. And who could ignore the amazing use of background silence? Rarely could you see an anime that uses silence and be excellent with doing so.

Overall, Ergo Proxy is a very unique anime that could give you one hell of a ride all the way through. If it weren’t for the unneeded fillers and a much clearer explanation of things, then this would be something phenomenal. It is a true brain-twister that will leave you puzzled for hours just because of some certain events. If you’re into mentally challenging anime, then this is definitely for you. I certainly enjoyed it and much likely that you will too.

Just to summarize things:
Ergo Proxy = MINDFUCK.

Have you ever fallen in love?

I did. I still am.

White Album 2 is set after 10 years of the events that occurred in the original White Album. Despite the title being White Album 2, the story isn't a sequel but is pretty much a standalone or what you could say an alternate setting which has minimal relevance to its predecessor. The only apparent connection are the songs which were sung in the first anime and the people who wrote them, and that it is set in the same world. In simple words, you don't need to watch the first anime to understand this and ... I would not recommend in doing so since I find the first one to be the complete opposite of what this is - a true masterpiece.

The story of White Album 2 is pretty straightforward.

The entire story revolves around the three main characters namely Kitahara, Touma, and Ogisa. These three are so relatable that I'm pretty sure some of us could even picture themselves living and experiencing the different social dillemmas each character is facing - they're as real as it gets. At first they might look common, typical or plain but later on as the characters reveal more and more of their personalities and problems, they'll also grow on you. With the intent of being good friends, a simple admiration turned into something more but the intrusion of another led to a love triangle conflict without even realizing it. The story grows beyond from here but as much as I would like to tell more, I would rather have you watch it as it would only spoil all the fun.

People tend to do crazy things when in love.

As far as beyond what logic could measure, humans would do anything when it comes to love. Love is such an extraordinary phenomenon that people would do something they normally won't do. Trust, betrayal, and even sacrificing one's good for the sake of another - as long as love is present, there is so much an ordinary person could do yet there's so much to lose. That's what I find so great in this anime; it depicts real human emotions at its finest, and at its worst.

For a mature and a serious drama/romance anime, the animation is as fitting as it should be. The characters and the backgrounds are very well drawn, the movements are fluid, and the shadings too are very well applied. Not only is the animation good on its own but it also compliments the feel to its amazing music.

As one would expect from a musical anime, the music is really good. In fact the soundtracks are absolutely breathtaking from the first episode and it never did go any less up to the last. The lyrics of the songs completely fit the atmosphere adding up to the emotional feeling of the scenario they were on. The voice actors too did their roles very well, might it be just a simple conversation or was it through singing; you can really feel the emotions flowing.

At its shining moments, the drama intensifies and the confrontations would make your heart skip a beat. You'd even start to wonder why is it so wrong when it's supposed to feel right, or the opposite. But if you were a person in love, you would know why. After all has been said and done, I could understand why some would feel a bitter aftertaste but let's face it - because even in real life, not everything goes the way we want it to.

White Album 2 is such an emotional rollercoaster. At times you'll find yourself smiling along with the characters, and at some you'll find yourself crying. You'll be totally engrossed that you'll find yourself glued onto the screen wondering what would they do next then asking yourself if you would have done the same thing. But by then you won't have even realized that you're already teary-eyed because of how you care and sympathize for the characters that have already grown on you. It is just that good.

I'll be honest. I enjoyed every single bit of this anime. But I guess "enjoyed" is an understatement since I pretty much fell in love with this anime. And know what, people do crazy things when they're in love just like what White Album 2 made me do - to once again write a review in which I swore I would never ever do.

I know it's unjustifiable to give an 8 to an anime that has a GOD DAMN AWFUL FIRST EPISODE but before you hover that mouse pointer on top of the "Not Helpful" vote, please do take the time in actually reading this first.

Harem would probably be my least favored genre as this includes the generic moe/ecchi or whatever fanservice they could come up. I might also disfavor the said genre because of the fans which consists mainly of the typical perverted otaku who faps to his 2D waifu. Nonetheless, I still push myself to watch anime of the harem genre in hopes of finding something ... different. Though skeptical at first, I was amazed on how Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai turned to be.

First and foremost, Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai or simply OreTsuba, is nothing more of your typical harem. It is idiotic. It doesn’t make sense. It leaps from scene to scene. It is filled with generic tropes and stereotypes. It is overloaded with panty shots. It has a cast filled with idiots and perverts. It is absurd. Now most people would jump the gun and say it is nothing out of the generic harem and moe crap we see everyday and drop it at episode 1. That is undeniably true, given the first episode had a huge cast filled with cute girls or moe-blobs so to speak. However, OreTsuba is not one anime that presents its real facet in its premise. It needs a distinct amount of time for a viewer to understand what it’s all about. The outside generic harem appearance is only a means to fool the viewer to think that OreTsuba is one harem badly done but no, there is something much more to it.

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai is based off a visual novel which was developed by the company Navel. Having a visual novel as a source material would mean cute girls that could either range from lolis to the older sister type. Unlike other harem/ecchi anime that won’t mind the appearance of the characters as long as there are panty shots or the so called fanservice to render, OreTsuba is quite more attracting as it had its visuals done neatly and it probably is its selling point. The character designs were very appealing and the backgrounds were fluid. It somehow incorporates real-world scenes to the 2D world of OreTsuba making it have a 3D feel of the background which is quite nice. As for the production value of this anime, I believe it is quite high seeing that the characters and backgrounds were something much more than the usual; even the design of the school uniform was obviously done with effort.

Along with the clean and cutesy character designs would be the truckload of fanservice scenes. There would be no 5 minute that would pass by without a decent amount of panty shots. For having cute and adorable character designs, the fanservice were not as distracting as some might think, in fact it blends in pretty well. I know majority of those who’ve dropped this might be because of the ridiculous fanservice but by all means, try to give it one more chance and if you can see pass through that you’ll see the fruits of it afterwards. As for the pervs who continued watching this, I’m a 100% sure by now that you’ve realized that it actually has a worthwhile plot.

Though it may contain tons of it, this is not an anime about panty shots, it is the story of 3 young gentlemen namely: Takashi Haneda, Shuusuke Chitose and Hayato Narita. Having 3 male leads led to an ef - a tale of memories reminiscence and it is actually how the story goes; 3 young male characters paired with 3 young female characters only in OreTsuba, it is quite less serious, random and perverted.

First off, Takashi Haneda is paired with Asuka Watarai. Asuka is basically the typical campus crush who has no personality or whatsoever only that she acts like a respected princess. As for Takashi, he’s the typical school boy who actually has no personality too except that he’s a good boy and the somewhat cowardly lead. Basically they are cardboard cut-outs which is undoubtedly one of the weakest asset that OreTsuba could display affecting their chemistry which is rather poor.

One of the better couples would be Hayato Narita’s pair with Naru Ootori. Hayato Narita is a delinquent whose friends are gang members and the like. He works exclusively at night doing what other people would tell him to do. As for Naru, she’s the younger sister of a gang leader. She’s a somewhat shy little girl who took interest in Hayato after helping her in finding a lost bike. As the story goes, Hayato and Naru’s pair would look like the cutest with their cutesy and lovely interactions, with Hayato protecting Naru from other people although at the same time the weirdest of the bunch as it is a delinquent paired up with a loli.

The third pair and the best in my opinion would be the pair-up of Shuusuke Chitose and Hiyoko Tamaizumi. Shuusuke works as an article reviewer for a local magazine. He’s the typical boisterous and jolly happy-go-lucky pervert. Hiyoko on the other hand is the serious type of girl who writes novels. As for why they are the best; the anime focused more on their development and as well as for their relationship to enhance. Shuusuke helps Hiyoko achieve her dream of being a successful novelist while at the same time, the feelings of Hiyoko develop more and more for Shuusuke. Watching them both mature, though stupid and nonsensical at times, is really a treat.

Aside from the 3 pairs, there are a lot more characters in OreTsuba. However, not all are of importance as some only serve their roles as mere plot devices. Some if not plot devices serve as a part of the mindless comic relief the anime has. Although it has mindless comedy, that is only for itself, the comedy. As it is backed with stupidity and senselessness, it is deceiving. The plot is actually well thought out or so to say ingenious that needs well analyzing to place in the correct pieces.

As aforementioned, the story rotates around the 3 pairs. There is something much more and this something is very unusual for an anime of this type. As harems are very predictable, throw any expectations in the gutter as this isn’t. Aside from the genre tags which include: Drama, Ecchi, Romance, and Harem; it is missing one more, and this genre is Psychological. First impressions might conclude that it is very predictable. Wait until you’ve reached episode 4 which includes a sudden plot twist and you’ll know what you’re getting. However after that, seeing the first scene at episode 1, some will say that they already know where this is leading but I would suggest keeping your thoughts to yourself because I know the outcome of this anime will leave you in awe because of its unpredictability. It does well in disguising itself as a harem and an idiotic one at that to deceive its viewers in thinking that this is their run-of-the-mill rom-com.

Having started as maybe one of the stupidest anime I have seen, I’m amazed with how it turned the tables with a single deus ex machina done amazingly near the end making everything fall into place. With just one snap and then boom, everything was revealed, everything was answered, everything makes sense. It answered everything completely without any cliffhangers that would require millions of hypotheses to answer.

Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai might not be your generic harem but accompanying it is the somewhat generic music. Although generic, they are still highly likeable. The opening song entitled “Spread Wings” by Aki Misato which is cute and lovely which perfectly fits a harem setting. The first ending song entitled “PARANoiA” by the same songstress, accompanied by a video of knights, beasts and RPG-like adventure has quite an easy feel to it while the second ending song “NEVERLAND” is well, just the same as usual which is expected from a harem.

As for the voice actors, some sounded really annoying. Some sounded like someone who’s wearing a nose clip. Some were screechy. As for the remaining others, they were good which is somewhat above average or if not, just average. Along with the voices were the soundtracks. Well, for a loud and crazy anime, it is expected that the soundtracks used were loud and funky as well, which suits the lively and energetic atmosphere albeit sometimes as well as it had its fun moments, it also contains boring and “unfunny” scenes.

It had its dull moments, there are times when it tries too hard to be funny, and there are those times when it’s just plain downright stupid. Looking past through that, this light and fluffy feathery ride which is called Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai is one unique experience. Predictable and stupid as some might dub harem to be; stupid is true but predictable was nowhere near. A definite must watch for harem fans. Now they have something to brag about harem; that it’s not all about ecchi/moe or anything in between. And as for those who are not into harems (including me), I guess I could safely say that Oretachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai is a “Do not judge the book by its cover” or more like “Harems although of the same feather, do not always flock together… because some of them don’t have wings.” (Yeah it's that random)