The domed city of Romdeau is supposed to be a paradise. There humans live in peace with robots known as AutoReivs under the watchful eye of Regent Donov Mayer. Re-L Mayer is the granddaughter of the Regent and she lives a somewhat pampered lifestyle in a world where humans are designed and born in a mechanical womb. They aren't too different from the AutoReivs that serve them. They are designed with one purpose and nothing more.

That isn't Re-L's only major problem, though. After being attacked by a creature called a Proxy and then being rescued by another Proxy it seems that not only has her life completely changed, but she's also about to learn the terrifying secrets of Romdeau.
The world outside of Romdeau is desolate, but if Re-L wants to know the truth she will have to journey outside with the mysterious Vincent Law... a man that just might be the Proxy that rescued her.

After watching an episode where much of the background information was dumped on us in a game show-style format and then watching the episode where the Walt Disney-type creator of an amusement park named SmileLand happens to also be a Proxy himself, I couldn't help but wonder how the hell this series could be so universally acclaimed.

The gritty cyberpunk themes from the beginning were dropped like a hot rock and everything became so fantastical that I no longer knew what anime I was supposed to be watching. And even if the ending had been on point I don't think I can forgive the excessive filler in an anime that wasn't even based off a manga to begin with. Are we seriously tying in information from the game show episodes into the conclusion? The game show episode was kind of cool while it was happening since it was just for kicks but to include it in the actual plot and to make it mandatory watching? I dunno. Sounds like they were just trying to take a pile of shit and tie a ribbon on it.
In a lot of way this anime recalls The Big O, actually. Both series have to deal with domed cities with mysterious backgrounds where long ago "something" happened that caused the world to be the way it is. In The Big O the issue was that an entire city had no memory of anything from 40 years ago and then there was the existence of giant robots, but in Ergo Proxy the entire issue is about the existence of Proxies and the Cogito Virus.

Yet all of it was just thrown together too quickly and the excellent atmosphere established by the earlier episodes was tossed aside in favor of some needless experimentation. When you aren't on your toes you will be bored to tears and that is the major downside of this anime.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed this anime despite all of its oddities. There's a ton to like. But... this was a frustrating series for me because it had sooo much more potential to tap. I just don't understand the 8.1 rating on IMDB or MyAnimeList.net and 8.7 on TV.com. A better paced delivery would have been able to warrant those ratings, but as it is that isn't the case. Watching this made me feel like I ordered a 22 oz Porterhouse medium well and only received a 12 oz Sirloin well done. Sure, it's still good and I still can consume it, but it isn't what I ordered.
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