Review of Texhnolyze

If I were to review Texhnolyze on its own merits, I can’t really say much other than, “OK, that just happened”. Or to put it more critically, it’s a big nothingburger. That’s because 1) the events in the show seem to be directionless and 2) the series likes to go out of its way to give you as little information as possible on what’s going on, in a “blink and you’ll miss it” fashion. As such, I don’t know what significance any of the payoffs in the series carry with respect to the series itself, if they can be considered payoffs at all, and thereis not enough information nor coherence within the context for me to even say that the events carry any significance through real world parallels. And so the most neutral thing I can say is that it does not do anything for me. If I were to be negative, I would say that the lack of meaning doubly means that the lack of compelling characters and slow plot progression cannot be excused, altogether amounting to a terrible viewing experience.

But that’s not the general consensus on Texhnolyze. Interestingly, the general consensus is positive, but for wildly different reasons. Some say Texhnolyze is good because it’s a good illustration of pure nihilism. Others say it’s good for the opposite reason; that it promotes finding meaning in the face of a meaningless world. Some say it illustrates how current trends will lead to societal collapse (e.g. BadRespawn’s video about Texhnolyze’s relation to the behavioral sink). Some people even find Ichise inspirational because of his supposed character development. Lastly, some advocate for something closer to what I took away, which is that Texhnolyze generally doesn’t push an idea in any one direction but is simply an illustration of how different people with different perspectives react to a doomed situation.

See, it’s not just me that had trouble figuring out what Texhnolyze was about. Even the people who liked it like it for wildly different reasons. Clearly, the series offers no clear authorial intent that I can use to evaluate it with respect to itself. And since I don’t think it accomplishes anything, in order to support my stance, I’d have to state why I disagree with all the perspectives that say that it does accomplish something.

Basically, I don't think Texhnolyze should be attributed meaning or thematic excellence because it supposedly shows how individuals assert themselves and their meanings in the face of of a meaningless, doomed world. The characters are too immoral to be held as inspirational or a good example of the triumph of humanity over apathy, and the motivations of the characters are too undetailed, nonsensical, and/or radical to be said to represent anything about humanity on the thematic side. The worldbuilding is similarly too thin for one to make any parallels with society, where society is headed, and the potential impact of technology on society. And Texhnolyze definitely does not successfully argue for or illustrate nihilism, because it's not clear that that is even what it is purporting to do.

However, owing to Texhnolyze's ambiguous nature, which allows room for many interpretations and thus many counter arguments, my arguments would take too long to cover in this review. You can visit my blog for my actual evidential arguments: https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=905870

Reviewing Texhnolyze as a piece of entertainment by itself, with my natural reaction and assumptions after watching the show, I found that there was no reason to care about or root for the characters because they almost were all violent, selfish criminals with few redeeming qualities. The direction and atmosphere are designed to immerse you into a bleak setting but it disengaged me because it simply made the show drab. The pacing is deliberately slow, which when combined with a lack of characters or plot points to hook me, and the fact that Ichise's animalistic behavior is agonizing to watch, made the viewing experience very unenjoyable. And well, the world and characters are written to self destruct by the ending, so there is not a lot of payoff to reward me sitting through those 22 episodes.