Ergo Proxy

the last few episodes were kinda ass, and it had some pacing issues, but overall it was pretty good.

A beautifully animated and expertly scored Anime that otherwise fails to maintain an engaging plot. Its biggest downfall must be the main characters. I found it hard to like them. The supporting characters fare a lot better. Character development often feels out of the blue or unearned. New scenarios and plot points are introduced on a whim, it seems, nothing ever gets time to breathe. On the flip side, its best episode probably was the one where the two mains were forced to take it slow.

Ergo Proxy tackles a plethora of different thematic ideas but narratively it's too disjointed and awkwardly paced to work. The plot is convoluted since the writing is full of lofty, and frankly, pretentious philosophical monologs that become increasingly meandering as the series goes on. It rarely decides to make an effort to properly develop the setting, instead it dwells on the philosophical concepts of self-identity in pretty ungratifying ways.

Pacing issues are the main problem with EP, but when it's on it's on (which is most of the time). It's very intelligent and I don't pretend to understand everything they are trying to say. The gimmick episodes near the end are hit and miss (talk show was a cool exposition dump, the Smile Land one was not great except for Pino). Nice dark atmosphere/animation, excellent music all around.

An intriguing start and some outstanding episodes don't quite manage to compensate for the way the entire storylines collapses into utter nonsense by the end. Nonetheless, the ride was fun even if the destination turned out to be B.S.