Review of Texhnolyze

.Existentialism Hardcore. Texhnolyze is a very divisive show, that's very hard to recommend due to one particular flaw despite being great. First of all, Texhnolyze should be commended because amongst all the crapfest that surrounds much of anime nowadays, here's one of the few shows that commits itself with a precise focus in its presentation and visual storytelling and does not hold back to explain itself. It fully expects its audience to dig deep to get the full scope of what the show is trying to convey. Here's a show that gives a good example of showing, not telling, whilealso developing a fantastic story, especially in the second half of the show.
However, this ambitious classic is not without its troublesome flaws. You see, Texhnolyze, while having a great plot overall, feels a little disjointed or unfocused at times. I am not talking about the story which is difficult to follow due to its nature, that is a given going into the show, but more in the sense that its slow first half doesn't do enough in terms of plot and pacing to give way to the much more frantic and much more brilliant second half. It's feels as though the second half of the story wasn't laid out and planned when the studio started making Texhnolyze, it feels somewhat disconnected. When the story and pace of Texhnolyze ramps up, the transition feels jarring to say the least. But at the same time, that second half brings much needed excitement and gave a much needed jolt to its story and characters.

Let's start this with the first half which builds up an incredible top-notch atmosphere, up there with the very best, and has absolutely MINIMAL dialogue, exercising visual storytelling in a compelling manner. The introductory episodes are very intriguing. You become engrossed by the city of Lux and its FANTASTIC bleak, gloomy atmosphere. But then you find something else as the show goes on, you start noticing that the show is moving very slowly, I mean REALLY slowly. This is perhaps the biggest downside to Texhnolyze. The pacing. This is by far the slowest pacing I've experienced in a TV show bar the Castle invasion in HxH. It moves at a snail's pace, and it wouldn't have been a problem had it been like that for 5/6 episodes tops, but it stays that way for far too long, more than a dozen episodes, highly detracting from the overall enjoyment of the show. Don't get me wrong, I love that it tells part of its story through visuals, and not cramming exposition down your throat, it's a welcome change from everything else. But the problem is that the snail's pacing dulled the intrigue I had in this part of the story.

Another issue I have with the show is its characters, I know it's completely intentional and goes hand-in-hand with the setting/tone and themes of the show, but the characters are WAY too monotonous/dull for the audience to be invested in them, especially the two main leads, Ichise and Ran. Thinking about the characters overall leave me with mixed feelings, I believe that most of the characters are not developed as well as they could've been throughout the story, except for Eriko and Oonishi to an extent. It would've been great to see Yoshii get some development as well, but that would've required a change in story for the first half, but I think it would've made for a really intriguing plot in the first part of the story, having him as the lead for a couple of episodes and learning about his character, instead of the audience learning his character motivations later on. Still, he is a good enigmatic character.

I can't give the same praise to the main character, Ichise, as he stays mostly static in terms of personality throughout the whole story. We never know what's going on through his head, and he doesn't do much either, so he feels distant to the audience. It also doesn't help that he doesn't show any emotion or has a different look besides the flat/angry/uninterested face and we don't learn much about his backstory, so it's hard to be invested in a character when you're not given much reason to care besides his current predicament/misery. You're spectating him, but you're not getting invested in him. Admittedly, this was done on purpose, but it still doesn't make for a great watch. You can have a mostly silent main character and still have them be compelling, which is exactly what ABe succeeded at with the character of Lain in "Serial Experiments Lain", so I'm a bit boggled as to why I didn't get a feel for Ichise's character. I personally would've liked to see him develop more throughout the show, and/or watch a couple of episodes dedicated to what led him to his current situation. Ran is not as troublesome due to what her character is supposed to be and she's given much less screen time.
Texhnolyze is a show that's hard to cement my thoughts on. On one hand, I really love its themes and setting, its last few episodes are pure brilliance, especially the ending. Texhnolyze's ending is one that chills you to the very core, REALLY driving home the existentialism aspect of the show.

I believe the show could've been a masterpiece had its issues been addressed. It could've been a smoother ride pacing-wise if a couple of episodes were cut in the first half. I know this was the vision of the director for this show, but I can't shake how I feel about it overall, amazed and conflicted. If I ever decide to re-watch it, perhaps I'll feel better about the show overall. For now my rating hovers between a 7 and an 8.

Overall, Texhnolyze is definitely not for everyone, however, I'd consider this show a must watch if you like the topic of existentialism, and/or want to try something philosophically rich that will keep you pondering for a while, absolutely give this a try. I do have some reservations, but this is still a very good anime. Due to its pacing and ambiguous nature of Texhnolyze's story, many people are driven away from this gem, but if you can endure its pacing and overcome its flaws you'll find that you have a story worth experiencing.

[Final Score]: 7.5/10