For starters, the basic of basic summaries is that this man called Vincent Law is in search of his past memories which might help explain why he turns into this really awesome looking form 'monster' called Proxy. Real Mayer is in search of the truth behind Proxy. Guess what happens next. More to like, please stop being lazy and Google. Oh look, copy pasta'd Wikipedia.
The story begins in a futuristic domed city called Romdeau, built to protect its citizens after a global ecological disaster thousands of years prior. In this utopia, humans and AutoReivs (androids) coexist peacefully under a total management system. A series of murders committed by robots and AutoReivs infected with the Cogito virus (which causes them to become self-aware) begins to threaten the delicate balance of Romdeau's social order. Behind the scenes, the government has been conducting secret experiments on a mysterious humanoid life form called a "Proxy". The Proxy beings (described as God-like and Immortal) are believed to hold the key to the survival of mankind.
Re-l (pronounced /riːˈɛl/ or "Ree-EL"; also represented by the spelling "REAL" in the Romdeau citizen database) Mayer is assigned to investigate some of the murders with her AutoReiv partner, Iggy. She encounters a Cogito virus-infected AutoReiv and a fast and flexible monster. She later learns that the monster was a Proxy. The other central character, an immigrant named Vincent Law, is revealed to be connected in some ways with this Proxy. After being hunted down, Vincent lives for a while in a commune on the outside of the dome. During the massacre of the commune by Raul Creed of the security bureau, Vincent leaves the area for Moscow, his birthplace, in an attempt to recover his memories. Re-l later rejoins him to try to discover the truth behind the Proxies and the domes. It is revealed among other things that domes are all created by Proxies as well as the people inhabiting them who are created in special incubators.In the Romdeau arcology, the government is divided between several entities: the Intelligence Bureau, the Health & Welfare Bureau, and the Security Bureau, are named in the series, all under the control of an Administrator who is referred to as the grandfather of "REAL".
The primary AutoReiv types are referred to as either 'Companion' or 'Entourage', depending on their role. There are others designed for leisure or combat functions; AutoReivs seem to be constructed of varying degrees of cybernetic complexity, as witnessed by AutoReivs on occasion producing blood splatter when shot and killed.The humans in the city are grown in artificial wombs but are still related to their ancestors. Numerous times throughout the series it is stated that the humans living in the domes have no capacity to reproduce naturally, or at least that's what they have been told. Likewise, when a new person is grown, they are done so to fulfill a specific purpose, thus ensuring that person's future place in society through a "raison d'être" (i.e., a "reason for being").
It started off pretty slow. And seemed pretty pointless until Real joins Vincent on his journey with Pino. And seems pointless again after that. Might make viewers think "What am I supposed to be watching?". Proxies don't fight much; Vincent sits/stands around being laid back while Real gets pissy/bitchy at him; Raul Creed's obsession with killing Vincent Ergo Proxy; Iggy dies pretty early; and ooh! Viva la Cogito virus! Yes, I made it sound like a pretty damn pointless simple show. Wait till you watch it yourself and feel the real information dump.
In truth, every single episode held their meaning. It's in all honesty, a show heavy on symbolism. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's downright obvious. Thank you Shinsen-Subs for explaining in detail. I really liked them before they disbanded. Everything has an impact on the story. A few episodes seemed pretty random, such as a sudden game show episode or an episode with strong resemblance to American cartoons- they DID hold their meanings. The game show covered on the reason why people are living in domes, the history and so on. The cartoon episode... stated that Proxies are going to die regardless if they kill each other or not in time(?).
I felt pretty bothered by the story jumps in between episodes. In the previous episode, Vincent was dreaming about being betrayed by Real upon returning to Romdeau and his current consciousness has been reduced to being an alter-ego created by Real to deal with the fact that she had betrayed Vincent. And the 'real' Ergo Proxy has become a lab rat. This is all ultimately a delusion provided by another Proxy, which is actually fine. But what happens in the next episode is that suddenly, Romdeau is no longer peaceful as people started destroying Autoraves by following an example set by Vincent. What the fuck? Mind you, in the previous episode, they were only REACHING Romdeau. In the next episode, TWO days had already passed and there's chaos. I honestly thought that I skipped an episode. The only saving grace in the later episode was that there was a tease between Ergo Proxy and Real.
I've no idea what Yusa Kouji Vincent saw in Real. He escaped from Romdeau thinking that Real had betrayed him to the authorities when she actually didn't. He probably liked her for her beauty, because hell yeah she does actually look hot. But she's absurdly pissy. Even a yandere Autorave couldn't stand her. Vincent actually loves and trusts her to the point where he returns the gun capable of completely destroying him back to Real. I'm only speaking from the point of before she started travelling with him. The time spent together before that is so... ... negligible... and yet he manages to fall that hard for her. Perhaps he feels that she's the only person who does care about his existence. There's Pino but she's a 'child' and well, initially, all he sees in her is an Autorave before he does get attached to her like a brother/father does.
Going back to the symbolism, Ergo Proxy is actually quite a deep show. Probably why my bird brains couldn't process the show entirely. It's quite intellectual at some points, frustrating at few. Okay, maybe not really intellectual, but there's a whole shitload of information dump waiting for unsuspecting viewers. If I were to watch this on actual idiot box channels, I would drop this show on the spot. Missing even a single line of their explanation can leave one completely dumbfounded, lost etc. Not that it's dead weight heavy, it's just that... I didn't understand their intentions. Maybe if the few episodes are rewatched carefully, their intentions can be completely understood. The Proxy part was not quite clear in my opinion. So they're technically gods of their own created domes, ie Monad- Mosque, Ergo- Romdeau... The Bookstore episode also added a whole load of confusion. Pressed the question of "WHAT ARE YOU, VINCENT!?". A follow up in the last episode simply said something along the lines of "Nahh, you didn't actually exist. I CREATED YOU HAHAHA! THAT'S Y U NO MEMORY! 8D 8D 8D". Fucking Proxies. Reading through TvTropes helps. A LOT. Proxies are ultimately the creation of stupid humans before they fled the planet just because the planet's dying. The Proxies are left to be 'Gods' by creating their own (clone) population in domes but some rebelled by deliberately destroying it. And by the end of it, (the full recovery of Earth happens), the Proxies will just... die to UV light. Who wouldn't be pissed? Stupid humans. I'm not gonna even start on the Cogito virus.
I'll leave this post to dangle, because my thoughts just aren't flowing right now. I'd write a longer post if my head was working fine. But I must say, I ultimately liked Vincent and Iggy a lot. Couldn't really hate anyone in the series, everyone had their own reasoning. I had issues with Vincent's clothes right to the end but when he turns into Ergo, I am pacified. The crowning moment of awesome: Ergo ripping off his arm and growing another one right after that. But I like the scene that happened before that best. Or any scene that's Vincent
This kinda reminds me of Chrome Shelled Regios. But this came out BEFORE Regios (ithinklololol). Zuellni = Proxy. Domes = Domes.
