Texhnolyze Vol-2: Spectacle (2003)
Animation Production: Madhouse
Released by: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 100 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

After watching the very mood-filled and visually driven tour-de-force that were the first four episodes of Texhnolyze I was quite impressed by this strangely unique show. In a time of cookie cutter programs driven by marketing forces and a need to sell merchandise this series was all about its characters and subtle story, which is told in one of the most minimalist fashions I’ve seen in quite some time.

I typically don’t enjoy these dark style shows, but something about Texhnolyze manages to capture your attention and not let go until it’s finished. With volume two I expected more of the same, but maybe some more plot development and insights into the underground world of Lukuss.

Story

"The underground city of Lukuss is ruled by gangs and religious fanatics who have all carved up their own piece of the city. Peace is held together by a very fragile balance. But now the city appears to be on the verge of chaos as that balance begins to fall apart. Four individual lives hold the city's fate in their hands: Onishi: the leader of the most powerful Gang in Lukuss, Yoshii a mysterious man from the surface world, Ran: a young girl who can see into the future and Ichise: a loner who has had his arm and leg replaced with the incredible science known as Texhnolyze. One of these four will try to destroy Lukuss while the others will either try to save the city or themselves from a terrible fate. But who will win?"-- DVD Box Description

Review

Volume two of Texhnolyze contains episodes five through eight in the series, which include:

Episode 5: Loiter
If Ichise is to survive he has to figure out how to use his new Texhnolyzed limbs. If he doesn’t he might die a lonely death in the sewers underneath the city. With a little help from a removed observer he just might be able to pull it off, but will he manage to pick up on the subtle clues?

Episode 6: Repetition
As he begins understanding how his new mechanical body parts work Ichise starts the process of mastering their use, however when Onishi puts a call out to his henchmen to capture the young man and bring him in alive he might be headed for a lot more trouble than he could possibly have anticipated.

Episode 7: Plot
With tensions at an all time high between the gangs in town all it would take to start a war is a small misunderstanding or even worse, someone willing to exploit each faction for his own benefit in secret. When the Union’s headquarters building is attacked will it mark the beginning of a new all out war!?

Episode 8: Crucible
Someone’s manipulating all the gangs in town, but will they figure it out before they kill each other?! Looks like we havea huge mess in our hands.!

Continuing right where we left off last time we meet up with Ichise, who has run away from the medical facilities where he was given his new Texhnolyzed parts. As he struggles through the streets the outsider we met last time, Yoshii, continues his travels within the city of Lukuss to carry out whatever his enigmatic agenda is. While it’s not quite clear yet where the plot might be headed or how all these characters are interconnected several steps are taken by everyone involved to get us one step closer to finding out.

Whereas volume one’s focus was more on establishing the universe of Texhnolyze (and to a degree that continues here), with these episodes we finally get some traction on the plot development areas and start the process of understanding why this world has ended up like this, why all these different groups are vying for power, the reason Lukuss was built in such an unforgiving location and who its citizens are. In addition, we also begin to dwell more into the characters and although this is a surprisingly slow process the writers do manage to give us some interesting insights into their personas and motivations.

Yoshii in particular is played with in some rather intriguing angles as far as characterization goes. So far he seemed to be a neutral player who traveled deep into the underground city of Lukuss to learn more about it and its people, although hints were dropped that there might be a lot more to him than that, such as his Texhnolyzed body, carefully guarded armament and subtle remarks/observations. As episodes five through eight progress he’s taken from what he was and turned into a high level trouble maker who is taking advantage of the current instability to put each of the groups fighting within the city limits in a position to wage violence against the others. In addition to that we learn through a conversation he has that he is actually reporting to someone on the surface, so it would seem like he is on some sort of a mission, but what that may be is yet unclear.

In fact, he serves as the catalyst for much of the plot advancement that takes place here as he seemingly manipulates everyone into play for a huge battle while he sits back and watches how humans can act when uninhibited by normal societal behavior. This in turn allowed the writing staff to give us a different perspective on some of the people we have already come to know such as Onishi, who heads up the largest mafia group (the older, more established one). Instead of seeing their cold blooded criminal side we now see their strategic mindset and the relationships inside the highest level of the group as they take an opposing stand to their leader in how to react to the sudden violent explosion that is engulfing the city.

Aside from this the other major plot/character advancement is Ichise’s adaptation to his new mechanical limbs. At first un-accepting of these attachments to the point where he almost destroys them he slowly begins to ease into them and using them to their potential. However, as things progress we begin to notice that Ichise is acting more and more irrationally at times, almost as if the Texhnolyzed attachments are driving him to unthinkable levels of anger and violence. There is something strange happening, but we’re not privy to it just yet.

On the production side we have pretty much the same level of quality as before. The show is visually intensive and relies heavily on the visuals to convey the mostly unspoken story of Texhnolyze. With several atmospheric pieces that tend to fall on the darker side of the palette scale this show sets a somber industrial mood for itself that is quite unique and strangely beautiful. The animation itself is nicely done with a rather realistic approach to the character designs and a healthy frame rate to depict movement. Visual effects are sprinkled throughout for realism and atmosphere enhancement.

The background music is as good a fit as the show’s producers probably hoped for with many atmospheric pieces that feel as mysterious as the story and characters themselves. The opening song is dance worthy and the closing theme is a surprisingly mellow and slower in pace than everything else that was recorded for the show making it seem out of place. The voice acting picks up in these episodes as the characters begin talking more and this really adds to the overall feeling that the story is growing and moving in new directions. The voice cast does a great job for the most part.

On the DVD front this one is another nice little package from Geneon. Included with this particular box was a limited edition 3D Lenticular Onsert, which is basically a color hologram card of the box’s front cover. In addition the DVD also includes dialogue outtakes, a clean copy of the opening and previews for other releases from the company. The video and audio transfer for this DVD were excellent and aside from some spots where it’s hard to tell what’s happening (because it's too dark) I have no complaints.

Final Thoughts

I find myself surprised at the fact that I am enjoying this show! On the surface it doesn’t look or feel like anything that I would typically enjoy, but this is one of those releases where the execution hooks you and the story and characters keep you locked in for the duration of it.

Very interesting show and definitely recommended to all anime fans, especially those looking for something more realistic and different in overall design direction from typical anime shows.

Jeffrey Couto