On a previous visit to Colorado, I mentioned that one way I spent my evenings was to watch anime on DVD. One of the first series that I collected, serial experiments: Lain, is regarded by many as one of the finest works of its kind: exquisitely animated, with a compelling (and deeply disturbing) story. Some of the same team then produced Haibane Renmei, which situated the same kind of transcendent visuals and intense narrative in a magical world reminiscent of Miyazaki’s work.
On this trip, I’m finally venturing into the world of Texhnolyze.
I actually bought the first two DVDs of this series more than a month ago, but I hesitated. Unlike the earlier works by this group, Texhnolyze is billed as being explicitly violent: set in “an experimental metropolis buried deep inside the Earth, ruled by gangs, where mayhem and retribution are a normal part of life.” Whew! And those that know me will confirm that I don’t tolerate violence. Indeed, I’ve walked out of films because the gratuitous violence made me feel sick.
This evening I watched the first 25 minute episode of Texhnolyze. Yes, there were three violent incidents, but the impression that I’m left with is of a chaotic kind of peace, not mayhem. It’s very reminiscent of Lain: you’re absolutely on your own, given no help in making sense of the world that you’re presented with, as lost and confused as the characters that emerge from the shadows. I’ve tried to ignore the back-story that was hinted at on the DVD case, and to simply let the film-makers tell their story. I think I’m hooked: theirs is a world worth exploring. More anon.