Metallic Rouge – Ep. 2

Giving Metallic Rouge another whirl. That said, I’m not sure if I’ll cover it all. We’ll see.

Episode 2 opens up with an inspector named Ash Stahl (Atsuhi Miyauchi) arriving to Mars with his Nean assistant, Noid 262 (Chiaki Kobayashi). The two are investigating a series of murders connected to Rouge. Ash notes that Aletheia, the organization that oversees Neans, is covering up the murders. Given what we know, it’s safe to assume that the victims are the two members of the Immortal Nine that Rouge killed prior to the beginning of the show. Oddly enough, Ash and Noid don’t show up again in this episode. I imagine they’ll play a bigger role later in the show but it is baffling for them to disappear from the plot after going through the trouble of introducing them and having them dump some lore on us.

The rest of the episode has Rouge and Naomi board a bus en route to Wellstown, where they’ll presumably find their next target. During the ride to Wellstown, Naomi explains to a pair of children about a war humanity had against an alien race known as the Usurpers and created Neans to combat them. It is a lengthy bout of exposition but I give Metallic Rouge credit for creating a diegetic justification for it. These kids are too young to know about the war beforehand so it makes sense for Naomi to explain it to them. An interesting tidbit dropped during Naomi’s exposition is that while Neans can have combative abilities, they are incapable of harming humans due to a protocol called the Asimov Code. Considering the Immortal Nine’s status as criminals, I wonder if they’re a group of Neans who aren’t bounded by this protocol. That would maybe explain why Rouge is hunting them down.

And yes, there’s still no confirmation in that regard. I admit that it’s proving to be frustrating. It’s hard to follow Rouge and Naomi’s journey, let alone root for them, when we don’t even know what exactly their goal is. We know they’re killing the Immortal Nine but other than that, we’re left to speculate on the details. The show does give us some fun moments involving these two. There’s a scene where a mercenary group known as the Son of Ares attacks the bus and attempts to capture Rouge and our leading duo injects some levity by making a bet about how quickly Rouge can defeat the intruders. Another scene has Naomi head off to find a part needed to repair the bus and she orders Rouge to stay put like she’s some of dog. Hilariously enough, Rouge actually barks back at her. I do find these scenes cute but that’s about it. They’re surface level attempts to endear the two main characters to us and that can only do so much for the show. At some point, we need much stronger material involving these two.

There are a couple of passengers that may be of importance in the show. The first is Jill Sturgeon (Yui Ogura), a journalist researching Nean’s place in human society and a post-war world. Next is Afdal Bashal (Kenjiro Tsuda), a doctor with knowledge on treatment for Neans. Finally, there’s this man named Eden Varok (Kazuyiki Okitsu), a more enigmatic character with an interest in Usurper technology. Considering that the show takes the time to introduce these characters, I’d be shocked if they don’t have a recurring role in the story. Their professions would certainly make them an interesting character for Rouge to interact with.

The big climatic scene frankly begins on a really dumb note. One of the kids, Emily, decides to take pictures of some Usurper war machines despite Eden’s warnings that any moment will provoke it. I know she’s a kid and she wants to prove herself to her big brother but that’s really reckless. Putting that aside, the fight/chase with the machines is really cool. I can’t directly compare this to the duel in Episode 1 but I do find this more enjoyable than that one. If nothing else, it looks like Metallic Rouge will be a showcase of how good Bones’ animation can get. I am a little concerned that this fight uses the same battle theme as Rouge’s duel against Viola. Surely, they recorded more than one song, right? At least this episode uses a different version of the theme.

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