Review of Texhnolyze

Texhnolyze is a hard anime to watch. The first episode sweeps you up into a world where everything starts out dark and seemingly mundane, and continues to be this way throughout the 22 episodes you watch. Everyone seems to be so tired and dead inside, like the city of Lux itself. With a minimalist style, not much is said, but does there really need to be words to describe what this show represents? Texhnolyze is an anime without excessive fight scenes, drama, or mostly anything that regularly pops up in current anime. Instead, it drags you along with Ichise slowly, almost painfully, having you experience andfind out what being human really means, or rather what human society could turn into when evolving is no longer an option. The characters in Texhnolyze also strive to show the viewer human nature, most of them being more like symbols for certain characteristics of humanity than actual people. Texhnolyze is a slow show, however, if you stick it out and watch till the end, there is nothing quite like the conclusion Texhnolyze finds.

Texhnolyze is not an anime for the characters. Instead, it uses the characters as a means to progress the story. This is why the characters can feel very far away, even when they've been in the show from start to finish. But that doesn't mean the characters themselves aren't well written. In fact, in my opinion, Texhnolyze uses it's characters so well that they seem human even when put to a distance.

The soundtrack is particularly beautiful. Although the anime sometimes chooses silence over sound, whenever the music starts up, it never ceases to impress me, with mixtures of piano and violin, or even an electric guitar solo.

Overall, Texhnolyze is not a pleasant watch. You can't watch this show and walk away happy and fulfilled. It instead tries to deliver a dark truth about humanity and what will happen when we are no longer able to evolve. It may not be fun or uplifting to watch, but it is certainly rewarding in the end. I personally loved every moment.