Texhnolyze

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Texhnolyze


caption =
ja_name = テクノライズ
ja_name_trans = Tekunoraizu
genre = Cyberpunk, Crime fictionInfobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Hirotsugu Hamazaki
studio = Madhouse
network = Fuji Television
network_other = flagicon|United States Encore Action
flagicon|Canada G4techTV Canada
flagicon|Germany Vox
flagicon|KOR
flagicon|MAS Animax
first = April 16, 2003
last = September 24, 2003
episodes = 22

Nihongo|"Texhnolyze"|テクノライズ|Tekunoraizu is a Japanese animated television series directed by Hirotsugu Hamazaki, from a screenplay by Chiaki Konaka, and produced by Yasuyuki Ueda. Original character design by Yoshitoshi ABe.

The events takes place in the underground city of Lux. Denizens of Lux have come to call it "The City" and treat it as a sentient force. Three factions vie for control of the city: the Organo, a conglomerate with ties to the criminal underworld in the prosthetics business ("Texhnolyze"); the Union, a populist group interfering with Organo's affairs; and Racan, a marauding group of Texhnolyzed youths. The series follows Ichise, a prize fighter who loses a leg and an arm to satisfy an enraged promoter. As he struggles to accept his new robotic limbs and find a place where he belongs, he witnesses the major changes the city goes through.

"Texhnolyze" aired on Fuji Television from April 16, 2003 to September 24 of the same year, totaling twenty episodes. Two "secret" episodes were included in the DVD release.

Plot

In the beginning of the story, Lux is the battleground of three factions: the Organo, the Union, and the Racan. The Organo is a mafia-like organization that is linked to the manufacture and sale of Texhnolyze prosthetics. Its leader, Onishi, can "hear the voice of the city", and is credited with the current peace in Lux. The Union is a populist or luddite-type group whose primary motivation is to interfere with Texhnolyze, which they think "destroys both the body and the mind". They view the Organo as esurient and parasitic. The Racan are a marauding and violent group of Texhnolyzed youths, bound only by their "freedom". There is also the "Class", privileged individuals living in an adjacent sealed city, who are the intermediaries between Lux and the surface, and "Gabe", a village where the historic leaders of Lux live, worshiping Ran, a young prophetess who can see the future.

Ichise, a prize fighter, rejects his promoter's girlfriend when she plugs her fingernail in his eye during sex. Angry, the promoter mutilates him, a common punishment. Left to die, he is saved by "Doc", a member of the Class who lives in Lux to conduct research on "texhnolyze", that is, prosthetics. As Ichise rejects his new limbs, she tells him that she used his dead mother's cell to build them. Ichise escapes, but Doc uses her influence on Onishi both to find him and have him protected from the Organo.

Characters

;IchiseIchise is a street fighter who participates in underground fight clubs for money. He suffers the amputation of an arm and a leg after he refuses to subject to the sadistic demands of his patron's woman. A "stray dog" struggling to survive, he's spared from death by Doc who rescues him and practices a texhnolyze procedure on his arm and leg. He initially hates his new limbs; it will take him a long time to finally accept them.

;RanRan is a flower girl from the village of Gabe chosen as her generation's Seer. Ran's gift of foresight grants her insight into Lux's dark future even though she'd happily give it up as it pains her to see a future she's unable to change. She is often seen wearing a white fox mask.

;DocDoc is skilled in the science behind Texhnolyzation. She comes from the Class, and she designs methods to not only replace, but improve human limbs, for what she believes, is the next step in human evolution. She gives to Ichise a prosthetic leg and arm of her own design, which continue to function even after the obelisk shutdown. She refers to the design of Shapes as "junk".

;Keigo OnishiOnishi is the head of the Organo. Because of his quick rise to power, other members are distrustful of Onishi. He claims to hear the Voice of the City. He eventually takes Ichise under his protection.

;ShinjiShinji is a founding leader of the Racan. He often gets involved in the city's gang wars. He has a texhnolyzed right index finger on his right hand.

;Kazuho YoshiiYoshii is a visitor from the surface world. His purpose is to upset the uneasy balance of power in the underground city.

Shapes

Shapes are people who have been completely texhnolyzed. They have had most of their bodies replaced with cyborg components, leaving only their heads and internal organs intact. The Shapes quickly grow into an army which threatens to conquer Lux once and for all.

External links

anime-links
ann = 2304
imdb = 0409630
tvcom = 27070
** [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/texhnolyze/dvd-1 ANN review of disk 1]
* [http://somehow-someday.com/Texhnolyze/index.php Coverage and analysis] of Texhnolyze by the fansubbers