With the Yoshii story arc having firmly concluded in the last volume, one would be forgiven for thinking Texhnolyze had drawn to a premature end. This entire series though is about "the end"; the end of Yoshii, the end of Organo, the end of the world! Each setback is merely another injured step towards Lukuss' inevitable destruction.

All the infighting at Lukuss has forced Onishii (he can no longer hear the voice of the city) into visiting the superstitious natives of Gabe in search of answers; who is attacking his men, and why?

At the same time, people are said to be vanishing from the city. Rumours of ghosts and strange distant figures pervade public word and it all links to "the Class"; the mysterious people who sit above Lukuss and consume its resources.

The wheels are now moving into motion and driving ahead the second half of Texhnolyze. We are left to watch a battle unfold between two distinct ideologies; the crazy villain from the Class is bent on brining peace to Lukuss by basically erasing its people’s individuality, striping humans of their limbs and replacing them with fully Texhnolyzed bodies. He advocates a hive mind, after all if there is only one mind, all the wars, all the crimes and all the deceit will cease; but with it goes free will; the very essence of human nature.

On the other side there are the people (like Ichise, Onishii) who refuse his advances to join the "collective", but are basically fighting a nigh-on impossible battle anyway. In a struggle between humans and machines, there is only ever going to be one winner.

As is ever the case with Texhnolyze, volume 4 provides us with yet more downbeat atmospherics and slowly compelling characterization. This is a series so mired within grungy, gritty aesthetics and if the plot had been confusing you at first, it’s now becoming clearer, if only ever so slightly.

No fooling though, Texhnolyze is still hardcore science fiction with little to no attention paid to character padding and random visits to the beach for romantic hi-jinks. It's all about mood and atmosphere and provided you are willing to give yourself away to this series for a couple of hours, you should be snagged within its thought provoking, ultimately doomed story of lost hope and shattered dreams.

The animation and soundtrack continue to be a real draw, especially the industrial, poignant soundtrack which thoroughly immerses you within the cold, electronic pit of Ichise's struggle through life.

In Summary

Yet another consistently immersive, compelling and thought provoking visit to the doomed city of Lukuss, volume 4 is basically the beginning of the end for Texhnolyze and we now wait in inevitable anticipation of its climatic destruction. Between such compelling ideas based well within the realms of science fiction and some fantastic animation and music, I dearly recommend this as a series that is as depressing and sad as it is compelling and addictive.