May 29, 2004
Texhnolyze: DVD 1
Texhnolyze is one of those shows that makes you go "Huh?" And then rewatch the show just to make certain your not crazy...
The story takes place in an underground city called Lux. The city, created on the basis of experimentation, is enveloped in chaos. Violence, poverty, crime run rampant as the citizens try to eeke out some sort of exisitance. The Organo govern the city, keeping careful watch over the strict cast system that seems to play an important role in the society of Lux. However, the Organo is met with fierce opposition, and severe gang wars erupt all across the city on a regular basis.
A rare material called Raphia, which can only be harvested deep from within Lux, appears to be the key factor to the beginning of the civil unrest inside the city. This material allows for humans to become, Texhnolyzed, creating an broad interface inside the body with the use of prosthetic limbs. However, this operation is only given to those of the privleged class inside of Lux.
The story starts out with our main character, Ichise, a prizefighter, illustrating exactly how incredibly violent the city of Lux is. He is ultimatly a young man in the wrong place, and the wrong time, with the wrong people. As a result, he loses his arm, then a leg, is shot a couple times for good measure, then left to bleed to death in some dark ally.
Miraculously, he survives, dragging himself through town only to be found by a mysterious, ambitous young scientist who views him as a good specimin to experiment on. Ultimatly, he recieves his own set of "texhnolyzed" arms and limbs, but doesn't seem to pleased about his recovery.
Kazuho Yoshii is a mysterious stranger, who has traveled from the surface to see the city of Lux with his own eyes. However, his motivations appear to be more than just a "sight seeing vacation", as he becomes involved in a fire fight between the Organo and a rival gang faction. Kazuho directly shows that he is an accompished gun wielder, which leads us to believe that he is more than just an average tourist.
Kazuho's guide is a quirky, strangely silent girl named Ran. She rarely speaks and has an unnerving stare, often hiding her face behind a fox mask. We learn later that Ran has the ability to see the future. Her exact role in this series is left to be seen, but she appears to be one of the major players.
Honestly, I have to clue where this show is going as of yet. The first DVD compiles mystery upon mystery with heavy drama and disturbing violence. However, the intreague is addictive and compells me to see more of this amazingly, well illustrated tale.
The art work and animation is incredible, being a key to the setting of the tone of this story. Drab, nearly monochromatic, and dark, there is a dirty, oppressive feel to the city of Lux and it's people. Those familar with Yoshitoshi ABe understand how talented and insightful his designs are when it comes to illustrating the overall tone of a show. Once again, he's done a brilliant job.
This series won't appeal to those who usually enjoy the more mainstream type anime, but for those of us who like to extend our horizons beyond the obvious and linear, Texhnolyze won't disappoint. Watching this show requires thinking and a rather alert attention span. The first episode has quite possibly less than two minutes of dailogue and is utterly told through the animation alone. Nor is this a series I'd recommend for younger viewers, as many of the illustrations are quite disturbing and rather explicit.
I haven't decided if I actually like Texhnolyze or if I'm just so confused I have to see more of it to allieviate the itching questions I have in my brain after watching it. I love the animation, the music, and illustrations, but the story is incredibly complex. Not that complexity is an issue, it's just been my experience that shows like this often fail somewhere in the middle of the show, losing perpective the plot or theme, so perhaps that's made me a bit skeptical. As for now, I'll say that this series has the potential to be a masterpiece, if the creators can manage all the elements they've attributed to it. I certainly hope they can. In a day and age where humor and cutesy characters thrive, good, dramatic shows like Texhnolyze are hard to come by. I'll definitely continue watching for the time being.
Posted by Zoso at May 29, 2004 01:26 AM