Forum - View topicANN Book Club: Texhnolyze.
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goofball
 Posts: 13 |
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Like this?
Do we learn how Oshii grows up later on in the show? I've seen through episode 8.
I'm interested.
I referred here by someone from MAL as I was dissatisfied with the discussion there. This place definitely got it going on! 
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Bonham
 Posts: 419 Location: NYC |
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There's not much given about Oshii's early life, except for some brief details given in the middle of the series (which ties into a brief flashback of him as a child/teenager that happens early on, IIRC). A lot of what happens to some of the key players in terms of their development is implied, but there's enough info given for the audience to fill in the gaps.
I think a big reason why this series work so well is because it takes a lot of ideological ideas to their logical (and horrifying) extremes, but it doesn't have the arrogance to provide a definitive answer on how to solve such issues. (If it did, we probably wouldn't have so many tragic and unending problems in the world.)
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goofball
Posts: 13 |
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http://myanimelist.net/profile/Yanqui Getting better at quoting? Is this discussion on episodes 1-2 10 pages long? 
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KitsGravity
 Posts: 2 |
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I am a big fan of seinen animes like Monster, Mushi-Shi, Darker than Black, Wolf's Rain, Berserk, Hellsing Ultimate, Paranoia Agent, etc. So, I was thinking of watching Texhnolyze.
1. Tell me, is it good? 2. And also, what are other seinen animes that you guys would recommend? Thank you. |
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varmintx
 Posts: 1210 Location: Covington, KY |
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Texhnolyze is very slow, confusing and almost feels like it's deliberately trying to get you to stop watching at the start, but if you have patience, it's certainly worth it.
Last edited by varmintx on Fri May 24, 2013 2:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18247 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I've pasted KitsGravity's question into this thread, since it's the most prominent thread to deal specifically with the series.
To answer the question: The series is a relentlessly dark and pessimistic series which requires a lot of patience, and I seriously questioned at the end whether or not it was ultimately worth my time and money. (I bought the whole series on singles as it came out but I've never rewatched it.) If you do get it, be sure to watch the "outtakes" for the English dub, which appropriately skewer the content. |
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Yeah. It's definitely a grim show that beats you up pretty constantly throughout. I've never watched it again -- not sure I could bear it a second time -- but I definitely felt it was a great show, and it is certainly thought-provoking. Still, it's not everyone's cup of tea, and it's not the sort of show that should be watched casually, either.
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Bonham
Posts: 419 Location: NYC |
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Texhnolyze is the closest any anime has gotten to something like The Wire.
Or, if you're a film aficianado, Texhnolyze is what would result if Andrei Tarkovsky and David Cronenberg collaborated on remaking The Godfather after reading up on Buddhism and German philosophy. I can understand why a lot of people don't care for it: the average shot length is much longer than is typical for anime (or any kind of animated or live-action production); there is little dialogue in the first few episodes, it's very, very grim; it's very demanding on its audience to pay attention; and, for as issue that some anime fans may have, there's only one character who isn't an adult, and she is an ambiguous character in terms of her own goals. It also gets a little crazy and esoteric with a few plot points towards the end, requiring the audience to fill in more ellipses than I think is needed (even if this discussion thread offers some good interpretation). But it's also one of the most aesthetically accomplished anime—television or film—ever made. On the visual and aural level it's nearly peerless. Hiroshi Hamasaki has an incredible eye for composition that is honestly lacking for a lot of anime directors. The green and brown hues that define the series, as well as its darker tones give it a kind of look that no other anime has (outside of Hamasaki's other work). The cinematography is just stunning—you know the staff's ambitions are high when they visually quote Edward Hopper and Frank Lloyd Wright later on in the series. It really looks closer to an actual film more than nearly any other anime series I've seen. The sound design is also fairly impressive, partially due to Hamasaki understanding the value of silence in terms of creating a mood—the first episode makes this very clear. And I personally love the soundtrack. Hajime Mizoguchi (Jin-Roh is a great composer, and he delivers a wide range of pieces that fits any given scene. There's a piece that plays in episode 20, during a very dreamlike scene that cross-cuts between the two characters, that just kills me every time I hear it. Then there's the final ending theme, with really beautiful lyrics by Chris Mosdell (who also wrote lyrics to a song in Wolf's Rain and the ending theme to Spice and Wolf). I know some people disparage the slow pacing—at least for the first few episodes of the series—but even the very first episode delivers a lot of information that would take most other anime multiple episodes to deliver. It's one of the reasons why I consider it to be the most narratively efficient anime ever made: most anime take the first episode (or longer!) to even get off the ground, but numerous details about the characters, the relationship of one faction to another, and the state of the city are all delivered in an almost purely visual way within the first episode (many of which are detailed earlier in this thread). There are hardly any scenes that I would call filler or dead space, as there is always something progressing, always moving forward, which is incredibly important in screenwriting. And unlike other artistic anime out there, I feel that the intellectual bent the series has is actually sufficiently backed up. A lot of anime goes through teenage angst posturing as intelligence, or allusions to real-world issues or philosophical ideas without exploring them, or just very general questions that everyone should have asked themselves multiple times already. Texhnolyze isn't just about one particular theme or idea—that's partially where my comparison to Andrei Tarkovsky comes in, considering his negative opinion of symbolism—but, from my view, manages to thread otherwise disparate layers by examining how strict devotion to ideology undermines our actions, goals, relationships and even ourselves. It's very dialectical, seeing how different viewpoints and interpretations collide. (The only other anime series I can compare this to is Serial Experiments Lain, which is also written by Chiaki J. Konaka.) As a result the characters tend towards archetypes, representing larger ideas that also inform their own characterization and action. But all of this wouldn't mean much if I didn't give a shit about the characters or story. Texhnolyze thankfully isn't just an aesthetic and intellectual exercise, but for many viewer it's an emotional rollercoaster. It explores some very fundamental issues and, as much as anything else, is about following its main character, Ichise, change as a human being. It may never be a tear-jerker of a melodrama, but there's a dark (yet arguably optimistic) beauty in watching Ichise grow and interact with others around him. And the visual quotes of Edward Hopper towards the end of the series adds a particularly poignant, heartbreaking touch, along with the final ending theme, which more or less spells out the real focus of the story. I find it as emotionally compelling as Haibane Renmei, Mushishi and Only Yesterday. Of course, this is all my opinion, so take it as you will. But I will stand by my argument that this is essentially anime's equivalent of The Wire—not just for its large cast of characters and factions moving against each other in a very dark, self-destructive city, but for its ambition. I really cannot see something like Texhnolyze being made nowadays, and perhaps not for a good long while in anime. You may not like—although judging from other anime series you like, you probably will—but it's absolutely unlike anything else ever made. It's incredibly ambitious, and for fans of world cinema or anything challenging, it's an absolute must-see. |
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