Metallic Rouge Ep.4 Review: Versus Green Scarecrow

February 6, 2024Episode Review,  Mecha Discussion,  ,  
Despite receiving much expectation from anime fans, Metallic Rouge still has not shown anything remarkable. Right from the first episode, I had doubts about the quality of the anime but continued to watch to see what future episodes would hold. By the fourth episode, my suspicions were almost confirmed.

If this episode could be summed up in one word, it would be “wasted potential.” As I said in the previous episode review, episode three set up quite an interesting situation and characters. Still, in this episode, all of those things were handled in a sketchy way.

First, the situation at the end of episode three ultimately leads to a compilation of shocking scenes of the Neans in the Wellstown settlement being assaulted. Although these scenes are meant to be shocking, they don’t leave me with many emotions, simply because the anime has never comprehensively explained Nean’s situation in this world. In fact, no Nean has ever given viewers enough sympathy to feel sorry for these androids. Heck, even the number of bad-behaved Neans that have appeared since the beginning of the series until now is as many as the number of good-natured Neans.

Next is the character Dr. Afdal and his assistant, Rion. Regarding Rion, similar to other Neans in Wellstown, his betrayal and death did not evoke much emotion because he had just appeared in the previous episode, and viewers had not had much contact with him. Although Dr. Afdal, in my opinion, was a very potential character, he was quickly killed off in this episode. It’s hard to have any emotions for the reveal of Afdal’s true identity when this character was only introduced 2 episodes ago, and his personality is portrayed quite poorly. Besides, the fight between Phantom Verde and Rouge could have been better executed. Phantom Verde’s nerve gas was an excellent power to exploit Rouge’s inner self but was ultimately only brushed aside by Rouge with what appeared to be a burst of power without too much inner struggle.
Although the interpretation is not elaborate, Rouge’s inner changes can still be seen. Through the interrogation at the beginning of the episode and the encounter with Rion and Afdal, Rouge clearly demonstrates her bravery and will, especially through having to face the past, the Neans whose lives she took, and the guilt within herself. Besides, the music part of the episode is quite good – viewers can enjoy a piece of excellent electronic music while witnessing a police assault (quite PAYDAY, right?). On top of that, crazy Vash appears again and blesses the viewers with his crazy actions.

Episode four of Metallic Rouge is a prime example of “All show but no substance” – the plot moves too fast and throws away a lot of potential for character and plot development in exchange for a few weak shock elements. This is the worst episode of the series so far. The filmmaking team needs to step up their game in the following episodes.

Getter Andy
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