In the futuristic city of Romdeau, humans have constructed a peaceful society populated by both humans and androids known as Autoreivs. Of course nothing is what it seems, and so there are some mysterious badasses who like to meet in dark places and talk about confusing evil plans. One such plan involves a “Proxy” (not unlike the dancer, Shirogane, from Speed Grapher); the strange being possesses extremely high power, speed, and flexibility and is able to escape the stereotypical secret lab. In other bad news, Autoreivs have been getting infected with Cogito, which causes them to awaken and throw off human control. Fortunately, there have been tons of brutal murders going on around the city at the same time… oh wait, I guess that’s not good news either.
Enter Real Mayar and her Autoreiv buddy Iggy. Real’s a pretty capable detective with a disdain for the party line. The duo checks out an infected Autoreiv that was taken down and gets some clues that lead them to a seedy building. Just when it looks like there’s nothing out of the ordinary going on, the escaped Proxy from the lab drops down on Real, and then leaps out the window before she can get a clear shot at it. Elsewhere, there’s lots of confusing stuff going on with Vincent Law maintaining various Autoreivs, including a very realistic looking Autoreiv child, and also the new director general, Raul Creed, who still seems to be in the dark about these Proxies. Speaking of Proxies, I’ve already solved the mystery: they’re the result of a hellish experiment involving too much Rogaine and yoga… pity them.
Real goes home for the day and Iggy drives off, but realizes something is wrong and rapidly pulls a U-turn back to Real’s place. As Real prepares to disrobe and cleanse herself, a fanboy Proxy who has been watching the whole strip scene through an online stream, drops down through her ceiling and gets all up close and personal with Real. Before they can finish crying on each other, however, fanboy number 2 (the lab Proxy) crashes in and they start to fight over who gets to be Real’s number one fan.
Well, that was the first episode of Ergo Proxy. A highly anticipated series, it certainly packed a punch in the style department. A lot of little details were carefully placed throughout the first episode, and the setting is very subtly pieced together, like with the buildings that fly by in Real’s car window. However, when it comes to storyline, this first episode was mad confusing. Not that this is bad, as it’s been a while since I’ve had to put the ole brain to use, and I’ve been starved for a dark, gritty storyline. If there’s anything that Ergo Proxy has in spades, it’s style and mystery. Between gramps’ invitation, the intelligence agency’s cover-ups , and the Proxies, we sure didn’t have to wait long to jump right into the tangled web.
As for Real, she was pretty damn cool, and not your stereotypical heroine. I found it amusing that even in the future people tote the equivalent of a sawed-off shotgun. I guess Real doesn’t worry too much about getting into long-distance firefights. I’m looking forward to more episodes of this series, and the announcements say that a manga version comes out in March.
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Did anyone else have trouble with the fact that Lir is the splitting image of the girl from evanescence?
It didn’t really bug me that much, but I did keep expecting her to burst into song…
No, but do you realize the nekomimi effect on the 5th screenshot?
The translation of the Michelagelo’s rhyme in the beginning of Ergo Proxy is 80% wrong.
A better and more literal translation (made by yours truly) ,would be:
«Caro m’è il sonno, e più l’esser di sasso,
«Dear to me is the sleep, and more to be stone
mentre che il danno, e la vergogna dura;
whilst the damage, and the shame endure;
non veder, non sentir, m’è gran ventura;
not to see, not to hear, it’s great venture to me
però non mi destar; deh, parla basso»
but don’t wake me; speak low»
To be more explicative:
«Dear to me is the sleep (i.e. to be asleep), and (even) more to be (literally “made of”) stone
while the damage, and the shame (both) endure (i.e. “go on”);
not to see, not to hear, it’s great venture to me (i.e. “a good fate”)
but don’t wake me; speak low» (meaning, quietly, in low “volume”)
For the curious:
Those (very bitter) words were written by Michelangelo, replying to the poet Giovan Battista Strozzi, that was commenting his statue in the church of San Lorenzo, in Florence, the tomb of “Giuliano di Nemours” – Strozzi said to Michelangelo that this statues were so beautiful that they could come to life (literally, they could “awake”). But Michelangelo, deeply saddened by the crumbling of the Republic of Florence, replied with the words above.
(photo here)
Under the figure of Giuliano Nemours (which is the upper statue, depicted as a warrior/commander) there are two allegoric figures, one representing day and the other representing night. The one representing night is particularly impressive in symbols (a diadem with a crescent moon, an owl (not exactly an owl, but almost: I don’t know the english word for it, the latin name of the bird is “Tyto alba”), a mask with no eyes (empty orbits), a boquet of papavers. This night statue has been polished so well that almost shines. The statue representing day has been deliberately left unfinished and quite shabby as a whole.
The symbols of day and night there, represent the destructive force of aging.
(Oh, and BTW, these statues of day and night are the ones depicted in the anime)
Ah, gomen, the photo links to the wrong tomb. The one in the photo above it’s the tomb of Lorenzo de’ Medici (there are two tombs in “De Medici” chapel in Florence, one in front of another, almost identical in the layout – one is the tomb of Lorenzo De’ Medici, the other is the one I was referring to, the tomb of Giuliano di Nemours) the right photo (Giuliano Nemours) is this one:
http://www.comune.fi.it/viverefirenze/itinerario2/foto/foto3/2-44.jpg
The year is 1515.
Awesome, Wyk72! Thanks for the added translation and links, especially since Ergo Proxy seems like one of those series where every little thing adds to a much bigger picture. I wonder what subtle details they’ll sneak into episode 2!
Domo ^_^ …. and about Ergo Proxy, I think this show kicks some serious butt. Two shows came to mind almost immediately while I was watching it: Blade Runner and Ghost In The Shell (of course there are some others, but these two were the first ones in my brain).Personally, I’m not very deep into cyber stuff, but I can enjoy a show so VERY well-made, that’s for sure. I like the grrrl (Lir) too, I believe her looks will spawn considerable amount of cosplayers in Japan, if the show gets popular (and I don’t see why it should not).
So is her name Lir or Ril? I realize that it’s “Riru,” so phonetically speaking, it could be either. It could also be Lil or Rir too… Ah, the beauty of katakanaizing someone’s name.
I have no clue, but it could really be either. Don’t forget it could also be Rir or Lil or Liru, etc. I might end up editing these posts, depending on if they come out with an official engrish version of her name.
Ah, and tonight I was thinking about the title “ergo proxy”. Maybe it’s been already noticed, but it’s a kind of “pun” about the famous Decartes phrase “Cogito, ergo sum” (= “I think, therefore I am” – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogito_ergo_sum ). Since the “virus” that “infects” androids is called “Cogito” (“I think”), I believe the title in its complete form would be something like “Cogito, ergo proxy”…
this is a great anime ,but , how little? information
i´m mexican and i don´t know write,
i hope did you mean or know this!!!
i´m stupid
sorry
i need more pictures? ¿is correct?
ok. so i like this history and is interesting this anime
bye…
Kaktus, I thought the exact same thing!! Total double… though she fits, so it’s all good.
Hery guys any clue as to how many episodes are they planning to release? I am just wondering if this is going to be one of those 50 episode series or something huge like GITS?
Best regards.
Cadmus: 23 eps, last I read on animenewsnetwork.com
As for Lir…. For a city that supposedly has emotionless citizens she seems a little feisty for me. I found it mad funny that some of the statues moved a tad as they “spoke”.
In episode 3 it clearly shows her name as Real Mayar on her ID card.
(See screenshot below)
http://xs72.xs.to/pics/06116/RealMayar.jpg
Hey i love this…Do you know when they release the whole serie??
Now that U mention it, she does bear a striking resemblnce to her. O_o
Seeing that radiohead is the the OP for this anime, maybe the next OP for this is gonna feature an evanescence song, perhaps?
Please no Evanescence, it would waste it all
I don’t know if this serie is available in english (subtitled version), but I’ve already seen up to ep#14 with french subtitles, so it should be easy to find it in english ^^
Lil (or R-el, real…) reminds me of the girl in Underworld, very sexy too :p
Many thanks to Wyk72 for this detailled description and nice translation!
PS: finalmente qualcuno che è capace di dare una traduzione giusta :p Grazie 1000!
Sybylle: you’re welcome!
P.S.
Ci sono anche delle versioni con sottotitoli in italiano fatte molto bene (in HDTV) ^_^ fino all’ep. 18 (incluso).
yeah, lir looks exactly like the evanescence girl in her album pic…
Yeah, when I first saw a picture of Lil, I thought she was Amy Lee! ( I have the cd named “Fallen”and this paralell is bothering me : ( Her hairstyle, eyes and…ah, well. Almost everything is the same! What a shame.At least Vincent is an excellent character! I was really happy about him! : )
Ergo Proxy has owned my attention since I saw the episode on the Dec. Newtype DVD. I am totally addicted now!
To add to the discussion on Real’s name:
I think I saw “Real” on the ID as well. The other spellings could be Japanese pronunciations, possibly. I wouldn’t completely say they are wrong.
To complicate things even more, when Real’s file was pulled up, I remember her name being written as “Re-L”! How crazy is that? I’m pretty dense, so I probably missed some sort of meaning there. Anyone care to clarify?
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5958/021eee5655gf.jpg
Need nothing to say about this.
Seems Japan didnt want to be very creative with this character, huh.
Yeah, seems like two nukes weren’t enough.
Yeah, I went on this one website, and it was spelt like this:Re-L. Yeah I loved this show ever since I saw the trailer.
I might be mistaken but i think that Re-L is more of a designation than a name. in the later episodes daedalus actually has another Re-L (real) made. with all of reals memories. kinda odd but meh. I havent finished the series yet so I dunno what is goin on…………..
like most of the guys/girls here im hooked on this depressing yet surprising great anime. i also agree that vincent is one cool character and will be the 1 to watch when he realises his ture potential
Regardé la Resemblance de Ergo Proxy & Evanescence
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=slDrfsils9E
I love this serious. and theres alot of confuson on her name its
Re-L Mayer.
omg, this whole show made me smile, cry, grip at my arm chair, and yell at the tv!!! Vincent Law/ Ergo Proxy, just love the character as a whole, he was adorable, shy, and everything inbetween!!! The last episode made me cry!!! Im definately buying the DvD set to this! ^_^
One the best animes ive come across, gahh this show made me so happy and made my day, i had to watch the whole season in one sitting i couldnt get out my seat, i had to know what was going to happen next!! IM so ready to watch the season over again, probably good few dozen times!!! i enjoyed it that much!