Metallic Rouge Ep.3 Review: Freedom for tools and equipments

Throughout the first two episodes, Metallic Rouge gradually brings viewers to explore the main character, Rouge and the world around her while “showing off” the quality of its animation and audio. In episode three, the anime and viewers delve into Rouge’s inner self, the Neans’ situation, and set up the upcoming events.

Saying goodbye to the pristine desert, Rouge and Naomi arrived at Wellstown, a large city and home to the largest Nean settlement on Mars. Here, they were tasked with infiltrating this settlement and approaching Phantom Verde, one of the Immortal Nine. Still, before the mission progresses at all, the first argument in the series occurs between the two main characters: in an impulsive moment, Naomi called her partner a “tool” and “equipment”, which made Rouge angrily leave.

Action scenes give way to plot details in episode three. In this episode, we learn more about the mistreatment of the Neans, the Council of Free Neans, and Dr. Afdal. An interesting detail in this episode is that the people in Metallic Rouge have a slur for Nean, which is “Scar Head”, – because electric circuits appear on their faces and bodies. In addition, humans’ cruel treatment of Neans is carefully portrayed through many angles, from the discriminatory behaviour of the police to the miserable living conditions of the Neans in Wellstown and the life story of each Nean that Rouge meets.

In this episode, viewers also learn more about Rouge, especially her gentler side. When she and Naomi transferred Viola’s core, she expressed sadness, showing that Rouge was not an emotionless, cold-blooded murderer. Through episode two, the Red android gradually develops a concept of freedom, and that concept becomes even more intense after Naomi’s words. Above all, Rouge gets “real-life experience” of the miserable lives of her kind. It’s worth looking forward to seeing what changes these experiences will lead to within Rouge.
Besides, episode three also sets up quite interesting details and mysteries. The mysteries surrounding the role of Dr. Afdal, the Council of Free Neans, Phantom Verde, and Yuval’s assassination really make me curious about what will happen next. “Who is Phantom Verde hiding as?” is the biggest question viewers want answered after watching this episode.
Although continuing the series’ “tell more, explain less” narrative, Metallic Rouge‘s third episode sets up an interesting situation for the next episode. It reveals more about the series’ characters and setting. Let’s wait and see what happens to Rouge in the next episode.

Getter Andy
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