The anime craze has hit America hard in recent years with hit action shows like "Dragon Ball Z," "Gundam Wing" and "Cowboy Bebop." "Texhnolyze" is a dark anime series based around a futuristic underground city where each person fights, takes other peoples' limbs and gets robotic limbs to replace them. It's kind of like "Highlander," but unfortunately not as cool.
The plot revolves around several characters. There is a fighter who has lost two of his limbs, a young girl who can predict the near future and a stranger from the surface world who has come for unknown reasons. There are also a bunch of gangs that fight for control of the city.
The plot is very hard to follow because of jumpy cuts and a lack of explanation. It is almost as if you are supposed to know the background story for this strange future. You get a brief idea from reading the box, but the show doesn't even start to make sense until the third or fourth episode featured on the DVD. Even by the end, you still aren't completely in the know, but you're close.
The worst part about "Texhnolyze" is that it's extremely slow in developing its convoluted storyline. It is hard to tell what is going on. As far as content, there is a great deal of plot build up instead of character development. There isn't much background on the characters at all. There is some cool fighting action, but it is few and far between.
Visually, the show is amazing. The animation is very nice, detailed and well thought out. But the fantastic animation is deeply wounded by the confusing plot and occasional use of lousy computer-generated animation. The music of the series is also quite interesting, going the way of "Cowboy Bebop" by employing jazz, plucky guitar songs and techno in an appropriate fashion throughout.
You have the option of watching "Texhnolyze" dubbed in English or the original Japanese version with English subtitles. The extra features of the DVD include an interview with character designer Yoshitoshi Abe.
Overall, "Texhnolyze" is for hardcore anime buffs who are willing to stick it out for an interesting sci-fi tale. The animation is beautiful but the story is very hard to
follow.
