Japan TV-character dead ringer for Amy

The word “utopia” means a place of utter perfection, but some utopias are simply a little bit of beauty stretched over a whole lot of ugly.Welcome to the limiting confines of a walled-up city called Romdeau, where people live in wayward bliss and toss away meaningless things like feelings or long-lasting relationships. Consumerism is running riot, and androids called “autoraves” are at humans’ every beck and call. This seeming paradise is thrown out of kilter when creatures known under the group moniker of “Proxy” start dismembering, slicing and dicing the people they encounter—which is decidedly not perfect.Hot on the chase of these killers is Real Mayar, the beautiful be-gothed detective (and dead ringer for Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee) and her autorave partner Iggy, but there’s more happening here than a spate of senseless killings—there’s the developing, disparate nature of the mysterious Proxy, Romdeau’s dark past, and the mystery of the world outside the city’s walls. War, conspiracies, murder, death, mayhem and what not are all par for the course in the troubling journey that is Ergo Proxy…

“It’s the image and the storyline, both of which are focused on psychological suspense, a nice slice of action, and an accompanying sense of wonder,” suggests producer Akio Matsuda. “For example, there are the Proxy characters—there are many, not just one—and their fighting styles are completely different. And the action isn’t just a physical confrontation; it’s a psychological one in which there remain many unanswered questions.”If “Ergo Proxy” isn’t one of your most hotly anticipated TV series of the year, you need to take a good look inside yourself and ask why not. It’s not only the newest show from Studio manglobe, whose last outing, “Samurai Champloo”, rocked both Japan and America. It’s not just directed by Shukou Murase, who helped conceive and direct “Champloo” and “Witch Hunter Robin”, whose titular character Ergo Proxy protagonist Real resembles (but more stylish and bad-ass). And it’s not even that the storyline, penned by the legendary Dai Sato—the man behind titles like “Wolf’s Rain”, “Eureka 7”, and much of “Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex”, not to mention the recent movie version of “Casshern”—is a killer.It’s that, like manglobe’s “Champloo”, “Ergo Proxy” is trying to break new ground in anime. This is an anime series unafraid to employ a wider plethora of the color palette, bordering at times on the overtly gothic and visually noir.“There are many reasons why the series is cool,” producer Akio Matsuda asserts. “There’s a solid, stoic central character, excellent animation and layout, the darker hues and contrasts, and one very, very superb plot.” There are claustrophobic interiors, gritty and nightmarish action sequences, and an artificial beauty that at times lights up the walled city—think a futuristic sci-fi locale distorted with a hardboiled/noir vision, reminiscent of classic flicks like “Blade Runner”.“The original production company, manglobe, suggested a collaborative plan when we had talks,” Matsuda adds. “When I saw the illustrations by [the director] Shukou Murase, I was extremely excited. I could feel the splendor of the imagery, the potential of this concept, and the way in which it’s so different from other anime. I was keen!”

Then there’s the innovative animation itself. “We put a lot of effort into the animation—not just the characters, but the layout, background art and the visual effects,” stresses Matsuda. This includes the music, which includes “Paranoid Android,” by renowned Grammy Award-winning British rockers Radiohead. as its closing theme. Since “Ergo Proxy” debuted this past February, the show has been broadcast in Japan in High Definition with 5.1 surround sound; it’s a level of sensory sophistication that’s new, unusual for anime and downright stunning.With all this going for it, it’s no surprise that Geneon USA was willing to help produce it—and plans to release the show in America this November. With so many great elements, “Ergo Proxy” seems in its own state of perfection.

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