‘Metallic Rouge’ Anime Review: Is It Worth Watching?

As fans of the medium will know, anime series are usually adaptations of manga and/or light novel series, but from time to time, a major studio releases an original anime series that is not based on any work; in most cases, this original anime series later “produces” more derivative works but that is a completely different topic. Metallic Rouge is an original anime series produced by Bones, the studio that brought us hits such as Fullmetal Alchemist and My Hero Academia. Directed by Motonobu Hori, from scripts written by Yutaka Izubuchi and Toshizo Nemoto, Metallic Rouge premiered on January 11, 2024 and in this article, we are going to give you our honest impression of the series.

In terms of the plot, we have to state that Metallic Rouge starts off quite strong. The series is packed with content and new characters, which left very little space for proper character and world development, but we can hope that this was an intended move and that the tempo will slow down as the series progresses. You’ll probably stop to rethink some scenes and names, as the series simply bombards you with a plethora of enigmatic data, so you will have to work on your own to decipher it.

The focus is obviously going to be on the titular character called Rouge, and her ally, Naomi. They both seem to be working as spies, with Rouge having some special abilities as well, and are on the trail of the Immortal Nine, three of which die within the first 20 minutes of the show. The setting is a futuristic world from an unspecified date in the future, but it resembles New York in more ways than one. Although it is the future, technology is still not that advanced, and the world is not a complete technological marvel like in, for example, Psycho-Pass.

Aside from that, the series really doesn’t reveal much about its world and about its setting. The goal is only vaguely defined, and with so much information thrown at us in the first episode, without any proper context, we can only hope the narrative part will be better. So far, is it interesting, far from it, but we’ll have to see how the story evolves to be fully capable of evaluating this new series in more detail. What we do know is that the series definitely promises us an intriguing mystery.

But, while the mystery is something that will keep us wanting more, we have to warn you that the series is all over in terms of its style and the content that is referenced. The animation itself is quite good, nothing that is exceptionally good, but it is quite good, so you will enjoy it. Fans of Carol & Tuesday (another Bones show) will recognize the animation style immediately, but while it is the predominant style, it is not the only one. There’s a bit of everything here: a bit of Gundam, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Death Parada, Psycho-Pass, Trigun, and probably others that we’ve missed along the way. And while it is always nice to see an hommage, we have to admit that this decreases the value of the show, as it feels like something we’ve seen already but know we haven’t.

The music is great and varied, from futuristic, cyberpunk-inspired tones, to music we commonly hear in action anime series, so we had to praise this aspect definitely.

So, is Metallic Rouge worth watching? Well, if you’re into sci-fi anime series, we can confirm that Metallic Rouge is definitely something you’ll enjoy from the current anime slate. There aren’t too many similar shows that are still running at this time, so it is definitely worth it. Even more so because it is an original work, which – despite the at times clumsy execution – is definitely a point in our book. The visuals are great, we have a sold mystery ahead of us, two great female protagonists, and a series that definitely did not disappoint when it premieres.

The issue is that we cannot even foresee the future of the series. The series provided us with so much that we cannot really grab anything and hold onto it. This is why the series can go both ways, as far as we are concerned. Still, while not the most original and refreshing anime out there, Metallic Rouge is certainly a solid work that has yet to show its true potential, so if you want to stick around and see what it has to offer, we definitely recommend it.

Score: 7/10

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