5/5 I'm Listening...
  by Little Dreamer (FL)
Texnholyze is, in short, a dark, allegorical tale that is intended only for the most patient of viewers. With character designs from Yoshitoshi ABe (Serial Experiments Lain, Haibane Renmei), producer Yasuyuki Ueda (Ergo Proxy, Hellsing), and screenplay from Chiaki J. Konaka (Serial Experiments Lain, RahXephon), Texhnolyze seems to garner some pretty high expectations for itself. In my opinion, it delivers, but I cannot speak for everyone. You will have to simply watch and see for yourself.

According to an online source, the series' plot can be summarized as follows: The series takes place in the underground city of Lux (or "Lukuss"). The citizens of Lux have come to call it "The City" and treat it as a sentient force. Three factions vie for control of the city: the Organo, a conglomerate with ties to the criminal underworld in the prosthetics business ("Texhnolyze"); the Union, a populist group interfering with Organo's affairs; and Racan, a marauding group of Texhnolyzed youths. There is also the "Class", privileged individuals living in an adjacent sealed city, who are the intermediaries between Lux and the surface, and "Gabe", a village where the historic leaders of Lux live, worshiping Ran, a young prophetess who can see the future. The series follows Ichise, a prize fighter who loses a leg and an arm to satisfy an enraged promoter. As he struggles to accept his new robotic limbs and find a place where he belongs, he witnesses the major changes the city goes through. Now, on to the review.

In terms of the series' animation, I doubt that there are many series that surpass Texhnolyze. The background art definitely does a fantastic job of conveying the dark atmosphere of Lux, and each of the main characters can easily be identified when in a crowd. Ran's character design especially stands out. One of the things that amazed me the most about the series' art was the fact that when one character is speaking, the other characters still blink, and, depending upon what is being said, their facial expressions change as well. Man, were the facial expressions handled well in this series. Ichise's outbursts of rage were especially well-done.

The English dub for this series is, in my opinion, nearly flawless. I have not yet viewed the series in Japanese, and so cannot comment on that. Patrick Seitz, Onishi's VA, is probably the VA with the most spoken lines in the entire series, with Carrie Savage as Ran having probably the fewest (I think she speaks for a total of less than ten minutes in the entire twenty-two episode series). Nonetheless, all of the characters sound like real people, with none of them sounding exaggerated or over-dramatic. No irritating bubbly females or brash, immature male leads in this series.

Texhnolyze has one of the best soundtracks that I have heard in quite some time. The opening theme, "Guardian Angel" by Juno Reactor, is a techno piece that I think reflects very well the series' violence, technological aspects, and insanity, while the closing theme, Gackt's "Tsuki No Uta" reflects the series' ever-present sadness. The closing theme used in the series' last episode, "Walking Through The Empty Age", is perfectly fitting, in both mood and lyric. The background music is appropriate as well, at some times melancholy, and others, haunting and full of energy. Anyone fond of Ergo Proxy's soundtrack is sure to love this one.

Many of the people who view Texhnolyze either complain about or at least comment on the series' pacing. I will admit that the pacing is slow, but as the series progresses, the story gains more momentum, the characters and their relationships with each other become more interesting, and overall, the series becomes more engrossing. As far as the characters go, some complain that Texhnolyze lacks character development, but I must disagree. While very few of the characters in Texhnolyze are given a backstory, you come to know each character's personality through watching how they react to the events that take place throughout the series, and as you watch the main characters come to develop relationships with each other, you come to care for almost all of them. I will admit that because Texhnolyze seems to resemble an allegory, as another reviewer has stated, some of the characters are not explored fully, and are merely there for the purpose of moving the story along.

Some of the themes that are explored in Texhnolyze include loneliness and fear, as well as finding one's place in the world and rejecting the circumstances that life has given to you. I believe that Texhnolyze's real story is one of finding a reason to go on living, regardless of situation, and in the end, Texhnolyze explores the question of what would happen to humanity once we reach our evolutionary end. The series may not be as much of a head-trip as Serial Experiments Lain, a previous series that a few of Texhnolyze's staff worked on, but the fact that it does explore the effects of the city of Lux on each character's mind should be enough to satisfy any potential viewer in search of a good psychologically-based series. I can only hope that future viewers are not turned off by the series' initial pacing.

5/5 One of my personal favorites
  by Red (Blue Ridge, Georgia United States)
Texhnolyze is for people who love great books and great movies that would like to check out anime. And I whole heartily agree with another reviewer that this series is exactly why we watch anime. Yes, the story starts out slow but that is part of the beauty of the series in that not everything is spelled out for you and you add your own thoughts and interpretations to give meaning to what you see on the screen. You never know for sure where the story is going or what the writers are trying to tell you but yet you never feel confused or unsatisfied. Some people have complained about the ending but personally I loved it and I though it served the series well. Not enough stars for this one and could not recommend it higher.

4/5 Quick Overview
  by Taryn East
Surreal but fascinating. Three sets of people are fighting in a sealed city. A corporation whose employees are augmented, a religious group who believe the augmentation is a terrible sin against humanity, and a rough street gang of free spirits.

But there's another power on the move... and who is that strange girl with the flowers?

4/5 Bought this one twice
  by Joshua J. Blair
What I thought was most endearing about Texhnolyze was it was realistic. It is not Naruto or Dragon ball Z where the characters have god like powers and stamina. The charecters in this series are very mortal, their were times in this series where I was shocked by how visceral the story got. By real, I would say this is unlike any anime I have ever seen, it reminds me of classic books and movies I have read, the pacing is slow, it is more of a drama anime, or one that centralizes a conflict. Like Hemmingways for whom the bell tolls or spieldburgs saving private ryan you get to see a shocking conclussion that embeds itself in your mind. In anime the closest I have seen to it in just pacing would be wolfs rain and lain. I reccomend it but only for hard core anime fans. The guys who watch anime for the eye candy and over done action probably won't like this one.

5/5 A hypnotic and strange series
  by Black Russian 1968 (USA)
This is one of those you can watch over and over and still (not know what's happening) find things to admire. Texhnolyze really isn't like any other anime out there, save for Lain (it's by the same people), though the social commentary at times reminds one of Shotoshi Kon's work. There's a lot going on in this one and if you let it work its magic on you, you'll be hooked.