Metallic Rouge

Episode 7

At this point, I've accepted that Metallic Rouge's plot isn't going to make a lick of sense on the first pass. That's a feature, not a bug. In this episode alone, there are three separate instances of a previously introduced character revealing a new title, allegiance, or identity that shakes up the assumed status quo. It's a twist-to-minute ratio that would leave M. Night Shyamalan salivating over the script. And you know what? That's fine. You can either be frustrated or amused by this, and I'm choosing the latter because it's more fun that way.

To its credit, Metallic Rouge earns some leniency by continuing to introduce cool concepts and keeping the scene-to-scene momentum propulsive. While I couldn't tell you where it's going, it is undoubtedly going. That's partly due to the writing's good instincts for what it can and cannot cut. For instance, it's okay that Gene's demotion happens offscreen. Naomi easily communicates that in a single line of dialogue, and the later interrogation of Chief Chau is enough to show us the three-way power struggle between Aletheia, Ochrona, and Naomi. This gives both scenes more space to contrast Naomi's casual attitude with Gene against her official aura as Divine Facilitator. Now that it's clear she's playing several angles on the human, Nean, and alien fronts, I'm keen to see how she juggles those competing narratives. For the time being, it makes her the most interesting figure in this byzantine interplanetary scheme.

Ash and Noid really stepped up to the plate this week, too. The last time Rouge and Naomi separated, I lamented the lack of their onscreen chemistry, but this time, the detective and his assistant provided enough bickering and banter to sate me. It's classic buddy cop stuff. You've got the straight-laced one and the disheveled rule breaker, and they're both a lot more likable now that Ochrona has told them to buzz off. Their relationship writes itself, and frankly, Metallic Rouge relies on these cliches to counterbalance the consistent opaqueness of its core mysteries. These are the only rungs left on the ladder for the wider audience to hold on to. When Ash more or less tells Noid to explain dissociative identity disorder "in English, four-eyes," I laugh. I recognize these beats. I need that to ground me.

But I like the prologue about the Venus terraforming project if we're talking about the weirder components. While this has been alluded to before, it was done as an illustrative example of Nean slavery. This expanded look signals that it will play a more significant role in the narrative, and Metallic Rouge pairs that promise with cool super-science about artificial black holes and orbital relocation. I'm into sci-fi that takes wild stabs at big astrophysics, plausibility be damned. I also like our object example of the Asimov Code in action. The name led me to believe it was a program restraining a Nean's will, but it turns out that Neans can choose to violate its terms. It just kills them in retaliation. The swift brutality of that punishment is an effective reminder of the injustice at the center of this story.

The thematic backbone of this episode—or the one repeated the most, at any rate—is the idea of people as gears within a system. Gears can be replaced, but the system must never be allowed to fail. Disposability certainly comes to mind when we think of the plight of the Neans, many of whom are sent to Venus to die. The Immortals/Alters also don't fit into Aletheia's/Ochrona's plans, and Rouge is probably the wildest card of them all. It's difficult to say whether Naomi's preoccupation with this concept is because she has a master plan she needs everything to align towards or fears that she, too, is another replaceable gear in this grand cosmic narrative. Her role as Divine Facilitator seems to buy her power in the human sphere, but we still have little knowledge of the extraterrestrial factors at play. Of course, it's also worth noting that a sufficient quantity of discarded gears can come together to form their own machine. Or better yet, we can listen to Ash, who angrily argues that people aren't gears to begin with.

Rouge, meanwhile, is a reactive presence this week. She's carried from Naomi's custody to Jill's, then to Aes/Alice's, and finally to Ash's. She doesn't fight. She yells at Naomi and runs away, but it's not a complete break; she's confused about what her path forward should be. Alice calls her out on her simplistic way of looking at things, which echoes Rouge's prior friction at the Nean slums on Mars. It was nice to see her aim for independence back then, but now, sans Naomi and Gene, she has to commit to making her own decisions and bearing their consequences. While her arc has yet to turn compelling, it's still gesturing in a direction I like. It's not solely mysteries and puzzle boxes. There's a human element here. And Ash, with his colorful personality and strong sense of justice, might be the perfect catalyst for her.

You'd think that needing to write about this show weekly and intelligibly would dissuade me from this opinion, but I enjoy sifting through compounding tiers of opaque conspiratorial alien nonsense every time I watch an episode of Metallic Rouge. While I phrased that more humorously on Twitter, I'm being genuine. This is a fun show! A stylish sci-fi caper. Its construction is bizarre and needs a poignant finish to justify its labyrinthine presentation, lest it be forgotten as a disappointing pile of faff. But the ride hasn't let me down yet.

Rating:

Metallic Rouge is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Twitter while it lasts. He is not a biomechanical android in disguise. You can also catch him chatting about trash and treasure alike on This Week in Anime.