Metallic Rouge Ep.8 Review: Going Rogue

After episode 7, we have all the necessary exposition to understand the core story. and now Bones is trying to rush the series to completion, which indicates that this will only be 12 to 13 episodes. Unfortunately, there was little time for the audience to take in what just happened in the previous episode. And with this one we are thrown into all out war.

Ask mentioned before, the biggest issue with Metallic Rouge is the pacing. Characters just come and go wherever they please without any feel of the passage of time. I understand that those are unnecessary to progress with the story but a little bit of immersion will definitely help. The fact that Ash and Noid just straight up comes to the Jung estate with Rouge like it’s nobody’s business cannot take us out of the story. Furthermore the fact that Jean was unaware of this secret basement underneath his estate is a hard pill to swallow. Jean was introduced as a mastermind type of character, a villain with a past. However these previous two episodes show that he might just be a very simple minded character after all.

While it is interesting to look into Professor Roy and Rouge memories, we can’t help but feel that everything is too convenient. But I get that they are strapped for time and they need to develop Rouge quick and easy. As the key to the code Eve, Rouge Redstar is essential. and what’s essential for her is the current moral compass. She needs to gain her own directions and the ability to decide for herself. This is present through a lot of Bones works such as Star Driver or Captain Earth, But Indo series those choices resonate with us, And in this one, It just fell cheap and rushed.

The amount of information that they spoon-fed during episode seven and episode eight is comparable to the Witch from Mercury‘s pacing, but at least in WFM, the plot is actually engaging and made sense thanks to the world building and the previous prologue. In Metallic Rouge, the story has been progressing in a very confusing way with too many characters being introduced and taken out at the writer’s whim. Like in this episode Noid was taken out with absolutely zero emotion behind this aside from some cheap thrills so that we can sympathise with Detective Ash.

While Rouge’s inner conflict is certainly essential and can be a pivotal moment in the anime, the Immortal Nine motivation is vague and arbitrary. Some of them just decide to go to war with humans, some of them just want to live their own quiet life, and some just wanted to watch everything burns. These Proto Neans have zero background aside from the fact that they were created by Roy and Eva, which it would be much more interesting if we can see what happened in their past to guide them to their own way of life.

And of course Studio Bones is rushing the story as fast as they can by throwing everyone into the fray and eliminate everyone at once. We are introduced to a new immortal nines Grauphon, with the Super Imba abilities of gravitational spheres. They also just throw in Cyan Ask Rouge Sister Willy-Nilly without any regard to her own establishment. The fact that everyone just looked when she attacked Rouge and didn’t even look surprised at all is very very weird. Her encounter with Rouge seems like a plot device to simply kick the plot along and be an opportunity for Rouge to affirm her determination. With the way the story is going, I can pretty much tell what we’re going to get by the end.

The highlight of this episode is once again Jet Black Noir. Dude just showed up and started blasting. His design is super cool and his demeanour is both intimidating and carefree. He gave us the impression that no matter what he won’t be beaten. However with the way they’re killing off people one by one, I fear for his safety, not that I cannot say the same to both Jill and Grauphon. That also applied to Alice and Aes. Pretty much the immortal Nines are finished, either killed by Rouge or by their own kind.

Metallic Rouge is heading towards an abrupt end with a predictable conclusion and unsatisfying climax. We cannot feel the highs and lows of the anime, instead there are certain spikes of excitement when Rouge transform and fight. While the OST is very good in certain moments, it is not enough to make a good series. Metallic Rouge every week feels like a chore where the episodes don’t really line up right and the story is jumbled up, although there are some predefined here and there. We have only praise for the animation team and we haven’t discussed much about the animation because it is pretty much perfect. The only issue is with the pacing and the script. As an anniversary project, Studio Bones really dropped the ball on this one which is a shame. Nevertheless we will keep watching and see if Studio Bones can pull off a reversal.

Aaron

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