Being a relative newcomer to anime, I have been lucky enough to be introduced to several new shows coming out on Crunchyroll. It can be incredibly overwhelming because there are so many different genres of anime, just like in gaming. It’s so crazy! You often just have to watch something to see what resonates with you. You can check out my last article here on what has caught my attention lately. Tune in to Couchsoup for our recommendations as we dig through some of the most incredible anime out there!
I can’t say that I have jumped into the land of mecha anime other than the fascination I had as a kid in the 80s with Voltron and Transformers. Damn, I loved those shows. I was given the chance to check out the new anime Metallic Rouge produced by Bones for the studio’s 25th anniversary. I’ll admit that it starts out a little slow initially, but holy crap, does it pick up in the end with the fantastic fight scene. The colors and animation styles are FREAKING GORGEOUS.
This show falls into the mecha realm because our main character, Rouge Redstar, is an android girl. These androids are called Neans, and they coexist with humans and follow Asimov’s laws of robotics. Rouge is on a mission to Mars with her investigative partner Naomi, and their mission is to hunt down and take out a group of Neans called “the Immortal Nine,” who have been rebelling against society and are hostile to the government. The difficulty these two are having with their mission is that while most androids are readily identifiable as androids, these Immortal Nine do not look like typical androids. They look human.
The fight scenes are amazing and have great music as background. Rouge, in a mech-suit, fights one of the Immortal Nine, also in a mech-suit. The transition to the mech-suits looks really cool. As they fight, Naomi helps analyze the suit used by the other android to determine the weaknesses so that Rouge can take them down. It’s a great sequence and made the slowness of the worldbuilding and investigation at the beginning worth it.
I am very curious about where this series is going as I have only seen the first episode, which aired on January 10th. There is so much mystery left. Why do these androids need an injection of something they call nectar? If they don’t get their injection, it looks excruciating as they essentially die and are discarded like trash. Are they repurposed? Do the androids feel pain? The android that didn’t get his nectar looked panicked. These are the questions I have, and I am looking forward to finding out who the rest of these Immortal Nine are and how and why they are planning to overthrow the government.
Why does Rouge only eat chocolate?
Who is she working for?
Is it this government or a group of Neans trying to keep the peace?
As you can tell, I have more questions than answers and plan on watching the next episode to hopefully get some of those questions answered and find out why Joker seemed absolutely batshit.
Stay tuned here to Couchsoup for your latest anime fun and make sure you check out Metallic Rouge on Crunchyroll!
What did you think of this episode? Does it have you hooked? Do you need to know more like me and are waiting to see what happens in the next episode?
