From Ergo Proxy to 'literary' and 'imagistic' anime

I finally finished watching Ergo Proxy (エルゴプラクシー) after many months of procrastination. I had a continuous feeling of  'did I miss something?' as I was watching it (and I suspect I am probably not the only one to feel this way). Ergo Proxy is what I would call an 'imagistic' anime - in the sense that it is strong in visual image but weak in storyline.

'Literary' and 'imagistic' are useful categories in describing anime. Some anime are not as strong in visual aspects but the forceful story or a single, unique idea embedded in the story just burns itself into a non-rewritable drive in your mind. Some anime are not as strong in literary aspects but a single, powerful image just likewise burns itself into a non-rewritable drive in your mind. In the case of Ergo Proxy, it is that scene where Vincent Law falls from the city of Romdeau. In fact, the whole story (as far as I could discern a story) all comes back to refer to his fall one way or other.

Few anime are happy possessors of both 'literary' and 'imagistic' qualities. I am sure you can all think of examples of 'literary' and 'imagistic' anime, even though such categorization may be entirely subjective. I would love to hear what you think are prime examples of each.

Comments

[Snoop']

I for one liked Ergo Proxy very much. Partly for the story, partly for the visuals/esthetic and the world, partly for the overall direction meticulousness, and mostly for Pino. :D
Hell, I even made a wallpaper for my desktop !
ttp://www.anime-kraze.org/smf/index.php?topic=10665.0

I admit that the story-telling is very (too much ?) obscure and that is a heavy pudding of philosophy whatnot. Still, if you watch, rewatch and re-rewatch the episodes carefully, you would see that there is a very carefully crafted background story, which is unveiled little by little in the seemingly unnecessary filler episodes where Vincent fights Proxies.
If you are very fluent in written Japanese, have some time to waste and don't mind headaches, you can check the following blog, where every episode is analysed. It helped me a lot understanding the series.
ttp://d.hatena.ne.jp/miyama_aruki/20060812/p1
(link points to the review of the last episode - long story short, EP is the story of the revenge of a Proxy (created to rebuild humanity) against its creators (the humans who fled Earth))
As usual, AnimeSuki's forum is of great help, too.

I will probably post back about literary/imagistic anime later - it seems that the pumpkin is cooked and it is high time I cooked the rice for dinner. :)

[Wabi Sabi]

Thanks for the links. I agree that Pino is a joy to watch. As for any meaning or philosophy behind the show... my personal opinion is that even if you dump a bunch of serious-sounding terms into a story, the terms in themselves do not necessarily build up to a unifying idea... I think Ergo Proxy pitches itself as an 'idea' show, but if I were asked what exactly is the 'idea' that the story tries to tell us, I would be hard-pressed to come up with an answer...

[Snoop']

I agree about the "even if you dump a bunch of serious-sounding terms into a story, the terms in themselves do not necessarily build up to a unifying idea". IMO the creators wanted something demanding for the viewer and off the beaten path, and in the end it turned out to be an unsound show, between solemn digressions about identity and Pino cuteness, between ever lasting dull journeys and fight scenes... I still easily rank the show among my top 10.

As for 'literary' and 'imagistic' anime, I wonder in what extent it is related with my substance / style classification...
You could say that Samurai Champloo is an imagistic anime, while Paranoia Agent is a literary anime.

[littlebird]

hello, just discovered this blog and just wanted to say it's a great reference! saves me from slogging through anime randomly, thanks for bringing it all together.

if you are curious, i think i stumbled upon this spot through the Seirei no Moribito sub-blog, while doing a Google search. yay, Google.

also, sorry to post this under Ergo Proxy (great series), i couldn't find a spot to place general comments.

[Wabisabi]

Snoop':

You know, I sometimes wonder if there is another category of anime that should be called... 'aural'. Samurai Champloo is an 'aural' anime to me in the sense that no individual image is burned into a non-writable drive in my mind per se, but the aura/spirit of the show is - the irreverent humour, the zen-like approach to life, etc. Sometimes, when I want to psyche myself into chilling out after being a typhoon of productivity all day long, I just mentally conjure up the spirit of Samurai Champloo (I kid you not).

littlebird:

Thank you for your kind comment. Please do come back often and leave me with your comments. ^-^

[Snoop']

In that case Mushishi would be the greatest of all "aura" series. You bath in nature, among the various mushi and the simple yet subtle stories which take place within.

Of course, the greatest "imagistic" anime is Gankutsuou. :)

[Wabisabi]

I agree about Mushishi. It's not imagistic per se and I can't recall what's so special about the stories of each mushi off the top of my head either, but the show does leave one with a permanent awe of nature.

[Billy Bob]

I also enjoyed Ergo Proxy. It was more so for direction design and Re-l though, (I loved pino too).

I think Literary and Imagistic fit Ergo Proxy. It's literary or SEEMS so to me due to the various large unwieldy sci-fi concepts they through around. The nature of the story is perfectly complemented by the ornate gritty design.

I find generally not many anime balance the too, normally because anime is too busy slavishly retreading design concepts to really fit the stories their telling.

[Wabisabi]

Hi there, Billy Bob. Long time no hear since I last saw you post about Toward the Terra!

To me, the parts of Ergo Proxy are worth more than its sum. There may be bits of profundity, but the bits add up to a lesser total than one would expect...

[Billy Bob]

Wow nice for someone to actually remember my screenname via a post! Yea, I have been off the radar in terms of posting.

I think the show is worth a rewatch, to see if I can really keep up with the plot this time. It had been a while scince I had seen a production like that. The only thing I could remember was watching Oshii's patlabor movies or GITS SAC, for shows that you really had to pay attention to.

Still I give it major props for not being another pandering work to fans (I like stuff like Geass sometimes but too much of that stuff is being made nowadays). Shukou Murase is a really cool director in my opinion, he has a lotta style, if he could just get the right script he could be one of the "IT" directors like Wantanabe or Kawajiri. Plus manglobe is establishing itself as easily one of the coolest studios around for finding something original in style.

Madhouse puts out some stuff like that, but theyre stuff is all over the place, same with sunrise. BONES, Gainax, IG and now manglobe are ones that I always keep an eye on.

[Wabisabi]

Billy Bob:

Every commentator is unique to me, and yes - I actually do make an effort to remember commentators and their likes and dislikes. I think it is the least I could do to show appreciation for people who take their time to respond to me. ^-^

To your list of studios, I would add Studio Ghibli (though I am less impressed with their stuff these days), Fruit.lab and Studio Rikka.