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Bokura No has pretty unique way of telling it's story with it's 15 "main" characters. Basically every one of the 15 get an episode or two dedicated to them and them alone during which their personal story is fleshed out and they get their turn in the spot light. During these short story form character arcs the show will tackle a number of heavy topics, all the meanwhile the primary overarching plot is slowly fleshed out and the "mainer" characters (of the 15 "main" characters a couple are more centric and focused on harder) go through a bit more growth. It's an interesting concept and ... whether or not you like it will depend largely on your personal tastes.

Personally I found it hard to grow attached to many of the characters given how little time the show spends on each one of them individually. It tends to be very episodic and you get very little time to get to attached to each character during their brief spotlight time. Again it all depends on how you connect to it. The show does to a pretty good job of characterizing and fleshing out these characters in the short time they get and has very good 'short story' form backgrounds for them. So if that sounds appealing to you, then you'll probably get a lot out of this show. Another huge complaint I have is the action/fight sequences. They basically don't exist. A couple of them have neat gimmicks or cool moments attached to them, but as a whole the fights are super short and bare bones. The overarching story is neat though.

Overall I'd recommend it to anyone who likes the concept of a collection of short backstories that explore a variety of heavy topics that all string together in an overarching story, but I'd warn anyone expecting good action sequences or long term character development that those things are largely absent here. It's certainly unique, I personally prefer long term character growth over this short story format and found it hard to care about most the characters because of it, but I appreciate the uniqueness and I still think it makes for an interesting watch.

Texhnolyze starts with very slow pace and a very confusing way of presenting itself so I'd warn people to be prepared for that and to try and stick with it because the show does pick up eventually. The slow and confusing opening works out in a unique way because it gives the viewer a lot of time to really see the world from an immersive stand point and see what's going on in that world as it unfolds. Once the show picks up I think it manages to tell a pretty good story that unfolds in a memorable way.

My biggest complaint is that the main ... character feels very uninvolved, he feels like he has less lines than most side characters do. That's probably a stylistic choice, but I found it made it hard to understand him and his motives throughout the series. The final act is also a bit confusing with few clues as to what the details of it are, but there is enough explanation in the show that you should at least kind of understand what's happening and the specifics don't super matter anyways.

Overall it's a bit rough around the edges, it tells an intriguing story that unfolds nicely and has a number of really memorable moments. It's worth watching if you've got the patience for it.

Ergo Proxy tells a well crafted story rich with foreshadowing and twists. It's of course got all those themes and symbolism that people like to discuss, but I found that the themes, and especially the symbolism, were all very secondary to the story. Ergo Proxy is the kind of show where you can watch it a second time and see all this stuff that just slipped by on the first viewing. As far as the these 'pretentious' and 'deep' early 2000s anime series go, Ergo Proxy differs itself because it focuses first and foremost on telling a complete story rather than being solely about pushing ... themes and messages. That is not to say it doesn't have plenty of those as well, but it doesn't forgo being a story driven narrative in favor of those things.

My strongest complaints are that some episodes feel very fillery with how disjointed they are from the episodes surrounding them (no lead in from the last episodes and no lead into the next one) and with how little they progress any plot points. That is a very minor thing and I didn't find it particularly annoying. Not to mention most of the those episodes at least have some character development or foreshadowing in them to justify their existence. The show also does get a bit confusing near the end to the point that some viewers may need to read a synopsis or something to figure out what happened, but honestly if you caught on to enough foreshadowing you might just figure stuff out naturally.

Really solid series with great twists, use of foreshadowing, themes, and symbolism. I wouldn't call it a total masterpiece like some people like to, but it's a good show that I think almost anyone interested could enjoy. Easy recommend.

Elfen Lied is far from perfect, but what it does it does quite well. Basically it's psychological thriller meets harem slice of life, but it actually works out pretty well. It switches between innocent calm fluffy slice of life stuff and graphic violence. It creates this heavy tension and suspense because everything could go horribly wrong at any second. It uses these fluffier scenes to get you attached to the characters and try to lull you into a sense of security, but there's a huge impending sense of doom and anxiety in the background constantly. It's such a weird and unique dichotomy but it works ... so well at building tension and suspense. It's mood switching and suspense are what make it good in my opinion, and I believe it does that really well. It also has some of the most gut-wrenching and visceral scenes of any show I've watched and those alone really stick with me. It hits hard.

As for it's short comings, there are quite a few. It is very over the top with the violence content. That is sort of the point and it serves it's purpose in the context of the show (creating a looming threat and sense of unease), but regardless it can come off as a bit much. It's also very fan servicey with all the nudity (lots of boobs, and I mean lots) and pervy situations. I personally could've done without the fanservice and the fanservice is the one part of the show I don't really want to defend since I do feel it was largely unnecessary. The themes, plot, and characters are all decent, but not amazing. I found the characters likeable, the themes enjoyable, and the plot intriguing, but none of it is really stand out amazing and some of it is even quite cliché. What makes Elfen Lied unique is it's tonal shifting and the way in which it creates such a powerful sense of unease. In that sense, it is an amazing thriller that can keep it's audience on the edge of their seat throughout.

It's very person dependent though, I've seen quite a few people who failed to connect to the show at all and just thought it was gorey and moody and pervy for no real pay off. I don't experience that myself, but I can see where that comes from. So really it's very hit or miss and varies from person to person. But if it works, it works. It has some of the best and most intense suspense of anything I've ever watched and has some of the most memorable and hard to watch scenes I've ever seen as well. If you connect with it, it's quite the ride.

NGE has amazing presentation. it's animation, sound design, and general mood all set the tone and feel of the show perfectly. The beautifully detailed old school animation of it is what initially had me enamored with it. Then there's the action sequences, which are well choregraphed and visceral, really riveting and intense (the good ones anyways, there are some action sequences that are just meh). It's themes, if you can even decipher them that is, are really poignant and powerful ones but sadly I feel NGE sort of butchers it's own themes in execution since half the people I know who watched this show didn't ... understand the themes without reading wiki articles. It's plot could be interesting if the show cared at all about it's plot, but the show seems entirely uninterested in it's own plot and fails to ever explain it in a way that makes much sense to the average viewer. Again most people I've talked to who watched NGE had to read wiki articles to understand what the plot was.

Basically put, NGE has great presentation and riveting action, but it's themes and plot, while potentially quite good and meaningful, are hard to follow and you'll likely be left confused by the show and end up reading some wiki articles or forum posts trying to make heads or tails of what you just watched. If NGE spent anytime at all trying to present it's plot and themes more coherently then it would be an amazing 10/10, but instead it chooses to be obtuse and mysterious in the weirdest ways possible. I think the epitome of my gripes with this show is how they just drop random proper nouns with no context and then never even try to clue the audience in on what they mean. Like some character will just be like "At long last the Book of Fleembis, the key to Glungo's Dominion" and then never explain or even give any clues as to what Fleembis or Glungo are ever. Obviously I made up my own nonsense words, but they literally do stuff like that and it's pretty annoying.

NGE is hard to recommend for those reasons. Overall I think it's a unique and worthwhile watch even if it's kind of half baked, or rather overdone, in many aspects. Just be prepared to be a little lost and don't feel ashamed to google stuff you still don't understand when all is said and done. What is does well, it does really well and if you meet it halfway it does have a lot to it once you start to unpack it. It's one of my personal favorites even if it is very far from perfect.

Berserk is to me a perfect balance of everything a good show should have. It's deep, but not pretentious. It's graphic and violent, but it's meaningful. It's emotional, but it's not sappy. Berserk near perfectly hits all the right notes for me. It weaves deep philosophical themes, disturbing content, good character growth/arcs, and an intriguing story together in a well crafted and seamless way. it's meaningful and shocking, it sticks with you in all the right ways. The cherry on top is that it keeps it relatively simple. You can just watch it and understand it. Too often shows give you these over the top ... complex plots with a jumble of themes and messages mixed it and you need a whole wiki to understand any of it, but Berserk tells a simple and straight forward story with simple and well intergraded themes that anyone watching should be able to follow along with.