Ergo Proxy - DVD

The domed city of Romdeau is a self-contained paradise — or so its citizens are encouraged to believe. Humans and AutoReivs, sophisticated android companions, coexist in carefully managed harmony under the absolute authority of the Regent and the Citizen Intelligence Office. Re-L Mayer is a CIO inspector — sharp, bored, and descended from the ruling family — who is assigned to investigate a series of murders committed by AutoReivs infected with the Cogito virus, which grants androids self-awareness and drives them to kill. Her investigation leads her to Vincent Law, an immigrant worker from the outer dome whose past is obscured and whose connection to a monstrous superhuman entity called a Proxy becomes increasingly apparent. When Romdeau's secrets begin to surface and Re-L and Vincent are both driven into the lawless world outside the dome with the self-aware AutoReiv Pino, the series transforms from a neo-noir detective procedural into something far stranger — a road trip through a dying world haunted by questions about consciousness, identity, and what it means to be god or human in a world that has outlived its purpose.

Ergo Proxy is a 23-episode cyberpunk psychological thriller produced by Manglobe — the studio behind Samurai Champloo — directed by Shūkō Murase and written by Dai Satō (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: SAC, Eureka Seven).

The series aired on WOWOW from February to August 2006 and draws heavily from Gnosticism, existentialism, and the writings of Descartes, Derrida, Lacan, and Husserl — embedding philosophical references throughout its episode titles and character names.

The ending theme is Radiohead's "Paranoid Android," licensed from the band directly.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Shūkō Murase (Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge character design, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie animator, Gundam Wing character design)
Screenplay: Dai Satō (Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Eureka Seven)
Character Design: Naoyuki Onda
Studio: Manglobe (Samurai Champloo, The World God Only Knows, Gangsta)
Music: Yoshihiro Ike (Kai Doh Maru, Arc the Lad, Kaiba, Freedom, Gungrave, Gravitation additional)
Opening Theme: "Kiri" by Monoral (from ep. 3)
Ending Theme: "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead (licensed directly from the band)

Japanese Cast:
• Kōji Yusa as Vincent Law / Ergo Proxy
• Akiko Yajima as Re-L Mayer (Tenchi in Tokyo, Steel Angel Kurumi, Haibane Renmei, Inuyasha Movie 2, Ergo Proxy)
• Houko Kuwashima as Pino (Gate Keepers 21, Ceres, Z.O.E. Dolores I, Noir, Kaiba, Claymore, Space Brothers, Canaan, Gundam SEED, Gilgamesh, xxxHOLiC)
• Sanae Kobayashi as Daedalus Yumeno (Elfen Lied — Lucy / Nyu, Freedom — Ao)
• Hikaru Hanada as Raul Creed

English Dub Cast (Geneon Entertainment — ADR Director: Taliesin Jaffe):
• Liam O'Brien as Vincent Law / Ergo Proxy 
• Rachel Hirschfeld as Re-L Mayer 
• Karen Thompson as Pino 
• Travis Willingham as Raul Creed (FMA 2003 & Brotherhood — Roy Mustang)

DVD Features (All Volumes)

• English Dolby Digital 5.1 / Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
• English Subtitles
• Geneon Entertainment Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: エルゴプラクシー (Erugo Purakushī / Ergo Proxy)
Runtime: ~575 Minutes (Complete Series, 23 Episodes, 6 Volumes)
Director: Shūkō Murase
DVD Release Year: 2006–2007
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): February 25 – August 12, 2006 (WOWOW)
Publisher: Geneon Entertainment USA (original); FUNimation Entertainment (reissues)
Rating: 16+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Cyberpunk, Mystery, Psychological, Science Fiction
Themes: Amnesia, Android Consciousness, Conspiracy, Domed City Dystopia, Gnostic Mythology, Post-Apocalyptic, Proxy Beings

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.