Tekunoraizu

"Texhnolyze" (pronounced "Techno-lyze") is a compelling and pretty hard-to-follow Anime' series. The plot is very indirect and slow-moving; it's obvious that a lot of thought went into building its story and characters. The first episode is pretty unique because over 10 minutes go by before a single word is uttered by anyone.

In the presumably distant post-apocalyptic future, years have passed since an unnamed calamity forced much of the human population to abandon Earth's surface and settle into the underground city of Lux. Many humans have undergone "Texhnolyzation" - exchanging organic body parts for prosthetic ones. Lux, meanwhile, is the center of a three-way power struggle by those looking for ultimate control of the city: the Organos, led by Onishi, who all appear to be Technolyzed in some way or another, more or less; the fanatical populist movement the Salvation Union, who are radically opposed to Texhnolyzation; and the Racans, a gang of adolescent street punks.

Thrown into the chaos is Ichise, a prize fighter who is brutally dismembered - his unwise provocation of a ruthless fight promoter's wrath costs him an arm and leg, quite literally - and he is put back together again like the Six-Million-Dollar Man by the beautiful mad scientist Doc. Another wrinkle comes from Ran, a young girl who has the ability to see the future of anyone she comes into contact with. Needless to say, her prophetic warnings to Ichise about his future have horrifying implications not just for him, but for everyone in Lux.

This is an extremely difficult and frustrating Anime' series to try to wrap your head around. I'm not even going to try to decipher what the Japanese artists were trying to convey with this series. Maybe it was mankind's insatiable quest for power? The obsessive need for human perfection by exchanging organic limbs for artificial ones? I have no idea. I do know that this is an unusual science fiction series - definitely not one for the kids, if any are around, since there is plenty of graphic bloody violence, nudity, and some colorful language.

There is also an atmospheric score and soundtrack by Keishi Urata and Hajime Mizoguchi, with songs by Juno Reactor, Gackt, and Yoko Ishida.

Sit back and prepare to be mind-boggled by "Texhnolyze."

10/10

If you are the type of viewer who enjoys fast-paced action, bubbly and/or quirky characters, romance, cool depictions of violence or just a happy ending, then Texhnolyze is not for you. This anime does exactly the contrary to everything listed before: is cold, slow, realistic, challenging and the ending may leave you with an empty or bittersweet feeling.

Personally the first time I watched it, it left me confused and to be fair, I didn't payed the attention I should have and even a year later, it left a huge impression on me. After the second watch everything is more comprehensible so I can say a couple of things to be considered if you decide to give it an opportunity.

Even if the first episodes seem slow or too abstract, none of them are fillers, events that will have an impact at the end, start from the very beginning but the anime doesn't care to explain to you how or why.

This story is rewarding if you reach the ending, the message is clear and it doesn't leave you with an ambiguous interpretation, but it's your work as a viewer to pay attention, because the exposition is not spoon-fed to to you, but don't misunderstand me, it is not hard to understand it either, the dialogue chooses to be poetic or figurative at times.

I may say that the story of Texhnolyze is focused on the search for the meaning of life on an individual and collective scale, you should watch it if that's something that sounds interesting to you.

Yeah seriously, I hadn't a notion what the damn hell was going on but man, the soundtrack to the whole series was so damn upbeat including the opening song and the fighting scenes were brilliantly intense. The art may be old for an early 2000's anime but it still has its charm of producing such fantastic scenes and the fact it was produced by Madhouse, makes it 10x better.

Definitely check out this anime folks if you want to have a mixture of emotions and hear a lit soundtrack!

Having really enjoyed Haibane Renmei I was interested to see another film from its creators. While this series is very different; it is slower moving, much darker in tone, violent and has a much bleaker look to it, however the animation is of an equal standard and the backgrounds are very detailed. The series is set in a bleak underground city were various groups are in conflict. As the story begins it is hard to tell who the protagonist will be; there is Kazuho Yoshii a visitor to the city who at first appears to be a tourist but soon starts to stir up trouble, then there is Ichise a young man who is violently attacked in the opening episode and ends up having his severed arm and leg replaced by cybernetic parts, and finally there is Ran a mysterious girl who is frequently seen around the others. As the series progresses we gradually learn more about these characters and others while the situation for them and the other people of the city gets more dangerous. As to the title; Texhnolyzation refers to the process where some people have body parts replaced by cybernetic parts; some people just have one or two parts others are almost entirely mechanical.

For the first few episodes I wasn't sure what to make of this series; there was very little dialogue and what there was didn't make it that clear what was happening; some viewers might find it boring but I found it gradually drawing me in to the lives of the characters. The animation looked good if a little bleak; the bleakness was increased as several scenes the picture contained static like you would find on a television with less than perfect reception. The regular bloody violence means that this series isn't suitable for younger viewers although I suspect the slow pace would put children off watching anyway.

My first review on IMDb, Hiroshi Hamasaki's Technolyze has been so far (in my viewing experience) the most effective way to understand moral ambiguities of the human spirit. Juxtaposing art, architecture, science, psychology and a fair bit of body horror rendered in surreal animation, this series is everything an entire generation of storytellers could want to tell, perhaps, without being able to.

The first episode has exactly five lines of dialogues, the most provocative sound design and surreal animation that can either put you off it or make you bend your knees in awe. From there on, the world of Lukuss takes over, in vivid and astonishing detail.

The denouement is especially haunting and much will depend on your own perceptions. Unless you decide to hanker over the internet trying to find a singular meaning. Which will not be very satisfying. Re-watching this series is going to be my gamble.

I believe Texnolyze is more of an impression. An evolving thought in the minds of Konaka and Hamasaki. And therefore it has movement and fallibility. Sometimes, that is exactly what defines true expression.

Watch it only if you are patient. Or you enjoy art.