I've seen some of Haibane Renmei in my college's anime club I few years back. I didn't get to see all the episodes, but I know (at least I think I know) about the ending. Without getting too spoilerfic, I'll ask this: is it as depressing as it sounds?

Sailor Star Dust wrote:I've seen some of Haibane Renmei in my college's anime club I few years back. I didn't get to see all the episodes, but I know (at least I think I know) about the ending. Without getting too spoilerfic, I'll ask this: is it as depressing as it sounds?

nope.

It's probably as (non)depressing as Kino's Journey or Mushishi. All 3 are very similar.

Sailor Star Dust wrote:I've seen some of Haibane Renmei in my college's anime club I few years back. I didn't get to see all the episodes, but I know (at least I think I know) about the ending. Without getting too spoilerfic, I'll ask this: is it as depressing as it sounds?

I actually thought the ending was very positive and somewhat uplifting.

Not that anyone's interested, but I just bought Lain, Haibane Renmei and Boogiepop Phantom on Amazon. They should be here soon. My full review of Texhnolyze should be up on Amazon soon. If anyone cares I'll post a link to it when available...

Well, I got interested, and torrented the entire series (yarr harr). I've watched up to episode 6. I love it already. Ichise makes Ed Elric look like a pussy in comparison. It's slow, yes, but incredibly compelling.

For those who care, my complete review:

Texhnolyze Review

*No, I'm not Suzanne, somehow I got stuck using that username... Don't ask

Walking Through the Empty Age
*****
THE STORY:

The underground city of Lukuss: A dark dystopian city where there is a delicate balance of peace between its three main factions. The Organo is a strong, buisiness-like corporation that manufactures the texhnolyze technology. Texhnolyze replaces lost limbs with advanced, robotic-like prosthetics that interact with a persons brain and nerves so that the person has full control over them. The Organo is run by a committe of mostly power hungry men. They're headed by the confident, quiet, but strong Onishi, who claims he can hear "the voice of The City". The Union is headed by the imposing Kimata. The Union opposes the Organo and their use of texhnolyzation on humans. The Racan is a young street gang who have yet to interfere in the fight between the Organo and the Union. Instead they have remained satisfied with dominating the other street gangs in turf wars and reigning over their piece of the city. The Racan is lead by the brash Shinji.

Outside these three main factions are four other forces that will influence the events in Texhnolyze. Ichise, a dark, mysterious loner (often referred to as a "stray dog"), is a prizefighter at night in Lukuss. Ichise has his arm and leg cut off, and is taken in by Doc - a female scientist who works for the Organo - who gives him texhnolyzed limbs. Yoshii is a man who comes from the surface world to the city of Lukuss. His initial intentions are unknown, as he simply seems to be observing the affairs in Lukuss. He meets both the Chief of Gabe and Ran, who leads him to The City. Gabe is a desolate city outside of Lukuss, where a few people still dwell. It's Chief, and the others who live there, abide by the visions that the young girl named Ran, whom they call 'The Seer" sees. They believe these are visions of an inevitable future. Beyond both Lukuss and Gabe sits the enigmatic group called The Class. Little is known about them, except they seem to prefer influencing the events in Lukuss with an invisible touch. Their ultimate goal remains a mystery.

With the three main factions inside Lukuss (The Organo, The Union, The Racan), and the four forces outside of Lukuss (Ichise, Yoshii, Ran & the people of Gabe, and The Class), the pieces of the puzzle are set. The cogs in the machine begin to turn toward a conclusion that perhaps nobody inside, or outside of Lukuss is prepared for.

REVIEW:

Words almost fail me when trying to review Texhnolyze. Maybe I'm too used to reviewing music and film to know how to critique a work that more accurately resembles other forms of visual art. But that's what Texhnolyze is: a work of stunning visual art.

The first episode, for example, has less than 10 lines of dialogue in it. You don't hear the first word spoken until 10+ minutes in. Immediately this forces your attention to the striking visuals. When I say Texhnolyze is "visually stunning", I'm not talking about "big flashing lights with guns and robot battles and lotsa movement and slick animation". I'm talking about REAL cinematic visuals here, even though the animation itself IS strikingly beautiful. The direction throughout the series - in how every scene and shot unfolds - is incredibly meticulous. It's almost exhausting when you notice how much acute detail went into the visuals. This forces you to carefully pay attention to every shot and change to follow the visual storytelling. The visuals themselves create the dark, gritty world that is Lukuss. Lukuss almost has its own lifeforce in this series; creating an air that's completely oppressive and full of despair. The visuals mirror that in every aspect, creating a world full of somber, dusky colors that create an incredibly melancholy tone.

What will turn most casual anime fans off to this series is its pacing, as it's extremely slow. But it's elegantly slow - like a largo in a beautiful Romantic Symphony. The narrative is very methodical in how it unfolds. Many of the first several episodes serve only to introduce us to the many characters, and familiarize us with the intricate relationships within Lukuss. Because the pacing is slower than most anime series, you have to allow the hypnotic rhythm of the series to pull you in, or else many of these episodes will become boring rather than engrossing. The series really picks up about 3/4 of the way through. Those who've allowed the first 3/4 to pull them into its dark, beautiful world will be duly rewarded during the finale. Even though the pace never reaches a true boiling point, it remains carefully measured and intense throughout. It actually reminds me of The Godfather in how it's able to build suspense through intensely quiet moments. This serves to make the carefully orchestrated violence all the more effective.

The one flaw I can possibly find with the series are with its characters. Even with the wealth of time given that allows the narrative to unfold, we never really get to know any of the characters in depth. This is where I give a series such as Evangelion the edge, as it gave us an extremely deep look inside the personalities of its characters. In Texhnolyze's defense though, its focus is more on the relationships between the characters and their part to play in the grand scheme of the narrative. Many may have trouble relating and sympathizing with the characters. This, combined with a slow pacing, will surely turn away all but the most dedicated viewers. However, if you view Texhnolyze mostly as an allegorical series, and the characters as mere extensions of that, it helps you focus on the narrative rather than the characters' personalities.

I've already mentioned that Texhnolyze is an allegorical series, but 'an allegory for what?' is the question. Texhnolyze is like many works that use a deluge of varying symbolism to tell its "story inside a story". This symbolism, like most works of art, is highly interpretable and many will have to draw their own conclusions. Analyzing the symbols while keeping in mind how they relate to the main narrative is an important process in analyzing symbolic works. Repeat viewings will also help you pick up on its more subtle aspects. I have many theories of my own, but they're too lengthy to go into here. I'll just say that you need to keep in mind that it's among the most basic, primal, human philosophical ideas driving this series: The search for meaning in life, the search for a higher state of being, the question of man's being here, and the question of what happens when we reach our evolutionary summit.

The music throughout the series is outstanding. It reminds me of Radiohead's OK Computer in its struggle between technology (electronica, trance, techno) and humanity (acoustic guitars, strings, piano). The struggle between technology and humanity in the music mirrors the same theme in the series perfectly. Overall. the application of music throughout the series is brilliant. I have to mention a few standout tracks: The beautiful closing song ("Tsuki no Uta" - Poem/Song of the Moon), and the heartbreaking finale song (Walking Through the Empty Age) are the two true standouts. The opener, Guardian Angel, is a really cool piece of techno. Two other great musical pieces are "Black Magic Mushroom (a cool, rockish guitar freakout) and Pure Edge & Sentiment (an atmospheric, building guitar piece).

I have to take time to mention the ending. So as not to give it away, I'll just say that it's one of THE most powerful endings to any work of fiction I've ever experienced. The final image will burn itself into your mind and leave an indelible mark. The series as a whole is haunting as hell, and leaves you feeling like you've really been through something afterwards. It will stay with you long after the final credits role. It's like a ghost that came into your life, said something extremely meaningful, and quietly went away, leaving only a fading memory.

Texhnolyze is simply an utterly beautiful and timeless work of art. This is a series that DEMANDS your full attention to its wondrous details. The visuals tell a story all their own, and if your mind wanders, you will miss out. This is not a series for those with short attention spans and not a series for those who need excitement in every episode. Its a long, gorgeous, mostly quiet, but very mature and complex work. To those who are willing to be sucked in by Texhnolyze's hypnotic beauty, you will be rewarded by witnessing a most profound series that is definitely one of anime's greatest achievements.

Trigger's Elysium wrote:Well, I got interested, and torrented the entire series (yarr harr). I've watched up to episode 6. I love it already. Ichise makes Ed Elric look like a pussy in comparison. It's slow, yes, but incredibly compelling.

excuse me I'm about to jump on the bandwagon h'okay?

Heheh, what have I started here? :twisted:

expect me to add my thoughts on the series in the next few days.

I saw the first episode with my sister tonight. I liked the style, but I was more than ready for some substance by the time the closing sequence came. Still, its got my expectations high.

slothen wrote:
I saw the first episode with my sister tonight. I liked the style, but I was more than ready for some substance by the time the closing sequence came. Still, its got my expectations high.

I'm rewatching right now. I think I've realized that you REALLY have to look at Texhnolyze as almost a 7-8 hour film opposed to a 22 piece episodic series. The "episodes" themselves seem to begin and end arbitrarily and are really just extentions of the what came before it. If you view it as a long, singular piece of work it makes more sense as it seems to have been created that way.

After watching the first 4 episodes last night I realized that very little (action/plot wise) happens for the first 1.5 hours. So you have to think of this as merely just the first 5th of one long piece (the same as you'd view the first 20 minutes of a regular film).

Any thoughts yet? I imagine a few of you have finished it by now. I just finished it again last night.

I don't think I realized how much I missed the first time around (reminds me of NGE in that way). It drops about a million tons of information on your head during the last few episodes and it's hard to sort it all out. Especially the Kano/Theoria stuff and the history of Lukuss and Raffia.

I swear though that ep. 19 and 20 (Heavenward, Hades) have to be two of the most surreal but amazing things I've ever seen in my life. It's almost like David Lynch doing What Dreams May Come (for those who haven't seen that stupid movie, it's about this guy that dies and is living in paradise afterward in a painting). The stark contrast between these two episodes and the rest of the series further demonstrates the brilliance behind the visuals in this series.

Eva Yojimbo wrote:Any thoughts yet? I imagine a few of you have finished it by now. I just finished it again last night.

I don't think I realized how much I missed the first time around (reminds me of NGE in that way). It drops about a million tons of information on your head during the last few episodes and it's hard to sort it all out. Especially the Kano/Theoria stuff and the history of Lukuss and Raffia.

I swear though that ep. 19 and 20 (Heavenward, Hades) have to be two of the most surreal but amazing things I've ever seen in my life. It's almost like David Lynch doing What Dreams May Come (for those who haven't seen that stupid movie, it's about this guy that dies and is living in paradise afterward in a painting). The stark contrast between these two episodes and the rest of the series further demonstrates the brilliance behind the visuals in this series.

I've just started. I've been going through RahXephon and wasn't sure whether to finish it first or just start with Texhnolyze. 2/3s the way through Ep#1 I get aggitated and decide not to continue. After the end, I watched Ep#2. I'm just about to go to Ep#3.

At the moment I'm actually giving a shit about Ran, Yoshii and Ichise. I also like how, despite knowing he gets prosphetic limbs, it's taking a while to get there. I think I'll enjoy this.

Szmitten wrote:
I've just started. I've been going through RahXephon and wasn't sure whether to finish it first or just start with Texhnolyze. 2/3s the way through Ep#1 I get aggitated and decide not to continue. After the end, I watched Ep#2. I'm just about to go to Ep#3.

I personally hated RahXephon. To me, it was all flash but very little substance. All the fans hate the fact that it gets compared to NGE - but that's just tough. When you watch the two back to back the similarities are so noticable it's unbelievable. Rah though, is like NGE stripped of almost everything that made it worthwhile IMO.

I actually think the only interesting thing about Rah was its infusion of music of art in the series. Under the right circumstances it could've been something special, but I think it just ended up a jumbled mess.

Szmitten wrote:
At the moment I'm actually giving a shit about Ran, Yoshii and Ichise. I also like how, despite knowing he gets prosphetic limbs, it's taking a while to get there. I think I'll enjoy this.

Most series like these have some mysterious girl who seems to know stuff. NGE had Rei, Rah had Quon, Texh has Ran.

Ran was utterly intriguing to me. It's easy for these type of characters to get on your nerves if you don't feel that there's a reason they're so mysterious all the time. I think the thing about Ran was her eyes - which are absolutely piercing (the fox mask she wears fits her to a "T"). Her VA did a superb job with her too. There's this perfect hint of sadness behind everything she says that makes you care for her.

Ichise is such a difficult character. His emotions and motivations are nearly always told through the visuals. For the central character he's given an extremely minimal amount of dialogue in the series. In reality, I actually think he's the most symbolic character. But if you take into acount all he represents, and his journey throughout, I think it makes him much more sympathetic.

I think Yoshii, while intriguing, only becomes understandable near the end. Since you're only up to ep. 3 I won't discuss him in depth. :)

im watching this series really slowly. like one episode every 2-3 days. I just finished episode 4 and it was amazing. My biggest non-spoiler question is this: whats the deal with the one city being underground? how is it different than the other cities?

slothen wrote:
My biggest non-spoiler question is this: whats the deal with the one city being underground? how is it different than the other cities?

If you want the answer I can PM it to you, but the answer to that is revealed near the end of the series (along with a great many other things).

A word of warning though: The last few episodes, pay VERY close attention to what's being said. In fact, if something is said that seems significant, either rewind it, or finish the episode and watch that part again. The second time around I realized how much I'd missed the first time, so it may take a few viewings to piece things together.

Also, the "big revelation", even when said, may register with you or not. It was only on my post 2nd viewing ruminations that it truly dawned on me. It does take a little while for some of this series to sink in...

I love being cofused , I love Questioning everything .. And i love Complex Matters .

As far as what i've watched ( I Don't have time , Studying most of the time or Swimming or Art or Music or anything ) :P :-

( FLCL * More of a Drama in a touch of comedy frame genre to me , Than Plain Comedy , IT's confusing too* ( I Bought the Ultimate edition thingy for 50$ from amazon , The best thing about it is the small book that comes with the whole package (Explains a lot) )

( Neon Genesis Evangelion : The platinum Collection + The 2 pack movies ( Got them from amazon for 130$ or something ) ( I cannot review my most favourite visual work of art in 2 or three words .. heck i cant review it in 1 page or 2 or 3 .. )

And much much more ..

I well add Tehx to my wish list .
Thanks for telling us about it .

FLCL was quite ingenious. The real ideas expressed through almost entirely comedic means with just a touch of drama topped off with a ton of references and play on the Japanese language just struck a perfect note. It's another work that can be judged on many different levels, and even though I don't think it's as "deep" as some give it credit for, it's still a truly wonderful anime.

I finally got around to finishing the series tonight.

Eva Yojimbo wrote: The final image will burn itself into your mind and leave an indelible mark.

ehh. Not too much so.

Also the closing song ruined the ending. I was enjoying how the last episode played out, then suddenly this heavily accented voice in English came out and I skipped all the way to the credits after about a minute.

Loved the visuals and cinematography. I particularly liked how the creators were unafraid to be gruesome.

Overall I didn't enjoy the series particularly much. I can appreciate it on an allegorical level, its not quite the style of storytelling I revel in.

But take it with a grain of salt, this is all just my opinion.

Fair enough. But the closing song is what did it for me. I love it, even though it is heavily accented. But I guess it just didn't bother me. The lyrics pretty much nail the feeling of the series (and especially the finale).

It style IS very unique. And I guess you'll either dig it or not. It's really more of a cerebral type series, though I think the finale finally injected some real emotion into it. It's very interesting when you start to dissect how many levels the story works on. It kind of walks the line between allegory and allusions a lot, and much like NGE its narrative is pretty dense - though clearer in its delivery.

I've seen it twice now, and I really think it's going to be one of those that just gets better and better with repeat viewings. I enjoyed it much more the 2nd time around (well, "enjoyed" is kind of the wrong word - appreciated may be it) which is always a good sign. But, on the not enjoying it thing: It's not really the kind of series/film you sit down and go "This is fun and exciting, I'm really enjoying this!". It's more one of those you kinda sit down and engage yourself intellectually, especially after it's over.

Anyway, I'd like to hear what others have to say too...

Bump for new discussion:

Xard wrote:I got to agree with Mr. Tines here.

Mr. Tines wrote:it definitely doesn't help with the "Who are these people and why should I care?" test, that's for sure.

All of the other characters fill more interesting roles and are more distinctly characterized. What makes Ichise so interesting is precisely his lack of a role, a place, a function, a personality. He's practically a non-entity wandering through the world and in a way I almost think he's metaphoric of the entire series. He's a blank canvass; a "stray dog" just running on instincts. I don't think he's a good character in the traditional sense but I think he works marvelously in the context of the series. Luckily, I've never been really hung up on the "who are these people, why should we care" mode of thinking when other elements are handled so superbly. Texhnolyze is a series that makes it very clear from the first ep. that there's more going on than anything we're going to get from the surface characters and somewhat minimal story.

Xard wrote:Add that together with absolutely disastrous pacing of first 7 eps or so I really can't blame anyone dropping the show.

What disastrous pacing? Tex is about the most brilliantly paced anime in existence; certainly the most originally so.

Xard wrote:Ending was eartshattering trainwreck of gigantic proportions and in every possible meaning of words.

"Every possible meaning" could either mean awesome or terrible or awesomely terrible...

Xard wrote: by the time final scene came about I had already long gone into "oh boy, well ain't that nice " mode and watched what happened with absurd bemusement.

I was pretty much riveted during the entire runtime... I mean, I think it's somewhat obvious that nothing good is going to come out of this, and yet that ending was still incredibly haunting to me.

Xard wrote:It would be be a lot easier to judge if I didn't have to go through oozes of fanwank generated by single line in final episode (you know what I'm talking about)

The one about Lukuss all being a conjuration of Kano's mind?

Xard wrote:The hilariously engrishy pronouncing kept me distracted well enough through that scene...talk about mood ruiner.

You're not the first I've heard say that but I guess it just didn't bother me. The poignant sadness and beauty of the music combined with the series more than made up for any questionable pronunciations. FWIW I have both OSTs and the last time I listened to that song I was a puddle of tears even then. It should be about the emotion behind the lyrics and music, not about the bad pronunciations of the words.