Texhnolyze
Texhnolyze is a complicated show to talk about. It’s a weird series, with deeply flawed characters (personality-wise) and many story points. The series ended, and I found myself lost for words completely. Once you come across a series that you can deeply resonate with, you go into that mentally vegetative state where you’re unsure how to talk about it. Though, I must say that I have mustered up enough words that I think I can do the series the justice it deserves with this review.
Before I start writing about the complexity of this series, I’m just going to say that there will be zero spoilers here because I want everyone who reads this to go in blind. Texhnolyze is a cyberpunk-themed science fiction with a ton of violence, dark and brooding concepts and visuals, and terrifying story moments. That’s all I will tell you about this series’ story, though I’ll explain why I loved it so much.
Texhnolyze’s narrative power is unprecedented and extremely hard to find in an anime. This story is not fast-paced, taking a lot of time to develop the characters and the world around them. It deeply explores the world of Lux and its complexities, its inhabitants, and their general motivations as much as the external forces that this city has to deal with all on its own.
This helps us get immersed in the world of the series much more and become fond of these characters and the motivations for which they fight.
It’s a series that follows the popular filmmaking philosophy of “show, don’t tell.” People were probably expecting a ton of fast-paced, high-octane action, but the way this series moves is the best way it could’ve been executed, and it fits the dark setting of this world.
You get no information spoon-fed to you, yet all of it is conveyed to you slowly and gradually. It reminded me of another great masterpiece, Attack on Titan. The multilayered nature of this story, bringing a ton of conflicting views about the thematic relevancy of religion, art, literature, and technology, are powerful messages that are further enhanced by just how beautiful the execution is. The variation present here is insane, from traditional cyberpunk themes to more philosophy-bound concepts being not just introduced but thoroughly explored.
The characters in this series are incredibly flawed, which is part of the story and why it works so well. I didn’t get emotionally attached to the characters until I reached the halfway point, after which everything changed.
I fell deeply in love with every one of these characters; this is made even better with the gradual development they constantly keep getting. Their motivations, philosophies, concepts, and ideals are all understood, and they have a lot of relevance to the plot. Whether it’s a character whose main objectives are to make man and machine the same thing, a character that holds themselves together as everything around them falls apart, or a character without empathy. Each one is designed and written to be unique and authentic.
The art here is impeccable; there’s nothing that I can say about the art of Texhnolyze that would be anything but admiration for the artists. Every single frame has relevance. Each close-up of a character’s face, each scenic image, and every single background is wallpaper material. There aren’t many series out there that add relevancy to each shot, but Texhnolyze is one of them.
Whether you see the world through the artist’s perspective or as a viewer, the haunting detail present in Texhnolyze makes the visceral nature of the series that much more terrifying to witness. The blood, the gore, and the contrast between the rich and poor are depicted decisively, enhanced through a monotonous use of color and coordination from the artists. Each frame feels handpicked.
Texhnolyze’s use of color is awe-inspiring. It keeps you at the edge of the seat, simply through the imagery. The city of Lux is wholly drenched in browns, greys, and blacks, but the lighting is where it draws variations with powerful contrasting colors such as dark reds, blues, and even bright whites. This only gives the artists more time to work on the animation.
The fluidity of the animation is impressive here. While it does get jagged, and the series repeats some frames here and there, it doesn’t do it to a fault and retains the quality it intends to showcase. The cover art is misleading, but that’s not even a necessary aspect and takes nothing away from it.
The opening song is a hardcore, fast-paced song, which misleads us into thinking that this is more of an action-oriented anime, but it’s anything but that. It’s a fantastic song just by itself, though I don’t think it works that well in the show’s confines. The ending song of the show, on the other hand, fits perfectly and fits the moodiness and the pace of the show much better.
Texhnolyze is not for everyone. It is a dark series with a dark set of characters in a dark and lonely world. The series’ depressing story only paves forward the way for its themes of hopelessness and suffering.
Underneath all this agonizing content, you’ll find a mature story of personal growth about a cast of characters that cross the hurdles put in front of them.
While it doesn’t lead to much avail for them by the end, it still sets an example for writers of post-dystopian society anime. It’s a deeply misunderstood series, in my opinion, and one that should be seen by every adult that watches anime.
