Review of Texhnolyze

Texhnolyze is an incredibly bleak anime. It's dark, depressing, violent, and full of themes that many would rather not think about. With all of that said, the series works as a whole. It asks questions of life, immortality, and other philosophical topics. The story follows a young name, named Ichise, who lives in a world where people can get prosthetics, also known as Texhnolyze, for parts of the body that are broken, unusable, or weak. Ichise gets caught between a war with different factions who are out to get one another. Meanwhile, while this is going on, society as a whole seems to be onthe brink of collapse, or perhaps extinction. On his journey, Ichise meets an array of characters, including a young girl named Ran. Ran has the ability to see one outcome, out of many, in the future. Honestly, the story, while interesting, is really a boat for the themes and metaphors that Texhnolyze wants to show to the viewer. It's a way for the production team, and writers, to give the viewer a ton of questions that they themselves have to think about and answer (if they wish). Also, I should note that the series is very slow. I know the idea of factions and violence sounds like something that would be full of non stop action, but it really isn't. If you are the type of person that can't stand scenes of people not talking for minutes upon minutes, this might not be for you.

The animation here is not necessarily anything special, but it doesn't have to be. Most of the show is dark. It's a show covered in blacks and browns. Because of this, it doesn't need to took fantastic or brightly lit. The character designs are fitting and wonderfully animated. The character designer for Texhnolyze is Yoshitoshi ABe. I love his character designs. He knows how to make characters seem odd and distant from reality. In particular, his designs of young girls have always been masterful. Sure, like any guy, I enjoy occasionally seeing hot girls in anime with short skirts and tons of fanservice. But I also like the more "out there" type of female characters as well. Yoshitoshi knows how to do this well and continues his success here with Ran.

Just like the animation, the sounds here aren't special but don't have to be. For the most part, the anime has two types of music used - slow guitar and ambient music. They work well in creating the universe that the characters live in. The OP is quite good too. It's very techno-ish and pumps the viewer up for what is to come. When it comes to the ED, at first, I wasn't a fan. I didn't hate it, per se, but didn't care for it ether. As time went on, though, I grew to like it a lot. At the very end of the series, a new song comes into play during the credits. It's quite nice and fits the ending of the anime perfectly.

While there are a ton of characters scattered throughout the series, the main ones that I want to mention are Ichise and Ran. Ichise is a strong character who goes through a lot of suffering and trauma throughout the series. I was always rooting for him and wanting to see him succeed in every task he took on. I couldn't help but feel bad for him whenever negativity came his way. He's a different kind of hero than the ones that most of us are used to. He doesn't smile and looks more like a villain than a good guy, but that's kind of why I enjoy him so much in Texhnolyze. He's different. Ran is very fascinating as well. Since she has the ability to see one of many future outcomes, her worth to certain characters is enormous. I loved how mysterious she was in every single episode. Usually, I am more than interested in learning about characters and their backstories, but I didn't want or need to with Ran.

Texhnolyze is one of the best anime I've ever seen. Its topics of life and death are beyond fascinating. I also greatly appreciated how it dealt with philosophical ideas. Texhnolyze asks a lot of questions to the viewer and doesn't give any answers afterwards. It's up to the viewer to answer those questions on their own.