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read our reviews of Ergo Proxy:
volume 1 | volume 2 | volume 3
| March 2008 | SITE MAP SEARCH |
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Ergo Proxy - volume four voice cast: Liam O'Brien, Megan Hollingshead, Rachel Hirschfield, and Travis Willingham director: Shukou Mirase 100 minutes (12) 2006 MVM DVD Region 2 retail RATING: 8/10 reviewed by Alasdair Stuart |
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The fourth volume of this unusual, and increasingly eccentric anime is a real treat for fans,
and features surely the oddest recap episode of any series in years. These episodes follow
Vincent, Rei-I, Pino and Iggy as they continue their journey, but turn the series on its head
in some very unusual ways. Iggy's story in particular is heartrending, throwing a very different
light on the Cogito virus and its effects, especially in how he relates to Rei-I. It's all too
easy, even now, for American voice actors and translations to remove all the subtlety from a
script but this is one of the most beautifully realised and horrible sequences any series has
seen in years. However, the real star here is the third episode, Who Wants To Be In Jeopardy?, which puts our heroes in the centre of a nightmarish game show where, if they win, they'll live and the show will be destroyed. If they lose, well, it's less good... A wonderfully constructed episode that plays like something from The Prisoner, it follows Vincent as he's forced to play a game which in turn forces him to confront everything that's happened up to now. It's a nightmarish episode executed with absolute clarity and more than a little malicious glee and is easily one of the best of the series. Ergo Proxy isn't a normal anime series by any stretch of the imagination and it's wilfully difficult to follow in places and wilfully slow in others, with another episode here exploring how relations between our heroes break down when they're becalmed, and Rei-I becomes increasingly bored and irritable. But even these shine a light on the characters from a different angle and illuminate a world that is unique, fractured and entrancing. Intelligent, difficult and engrossing, this is something very special indeed.
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