Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Metallic Rouge
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Ulf Jarl
Posts: 4 |
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If another reviewer has been reviewing this series, the weekly reviews would have been a lot more negative from all the directing, pacing, and plot issues. Steve has been twisting into a pretzel to give this show a benefit of a doubt that it would somehow give us a solid payoff or have something interesting or groundbreaking to say even after the latest episode.
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KaidoYuji8Shinji
Posts: 118 Location: Manchester, NH |
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Honestly stopped watching. Maybe the show will come together? If it did, can binge it at that point
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Thesarum
Posts: 405 |
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Hah, the plot remains a batshit mishmash of half-baked ideas, and I don't care. spoiler[Fish people! Sure! Why not?!]. The minute to minute experience of the show remains a riot that I'd watch just for the music and Rogue's laugh.
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InfiniteNothingness
 Posts: 107 |
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I honestly forgot about that. How annoying... still, thanks for the check. By this point it's got even less to do with my feelings on the show and more impatience and the lack of info at all, lol. (I adore your Kurapika avatar by the way, he's so, so great.)
I really can't agree. I have a bunch of issues with this series, but it's not nearly as incoherent, lacking in interconnective tissue, or completely jumping from one idea to the next as the generative AI I've played around with. Design by committee is already there, even if I'm sooner inclined to just call it lacking in focus or whatnot. At any rate, this was my pick for the best yet but that still doesn't mean good altogether (even if my first 3.5 necessarily means "kind of above-average"). No surprise that it's further building up Rouge as the answer to it all (with Naomi/Eden/Ash providing support), even if in another, better show, I'd probably be excited to see how she clears away the veil and brings an end to bloodshed and war, especially since in this case the new guys are as indifferent to creating a slave race as anybody else except for apparently this singular girl. An end to that is, fundamentally, always "A nice idea," but you need so much more sauce to really make it work. I care as little about Ash as I did from the premiere, and the funeral for Noid 262 that hit like a plush teddy bear. Was also as signposted -- the way this show signposts such predictable things while being opaque or quasi-opaque in other ways is such a strange (if not necessarily exciting) formula -- as Naomi being on the side of the good folk... even if, uh, the advanced alien-robots being merfolk that communicate like dolphins was not on my bingo card. That almost made me laugh? I did also half-enjoy the Suzuki Norimitsu animated part halfway through... except unlike with the fight scene between Naomi and Opera, that had much more moving parts and felt like it was working in a more open space (despite both being plenty open) to the point of such energized movements only being compelling, as opposed to flip-flopping between fun and just kind of weird. A tokusatsu-inspired sci-fi romp that is ultimately about finding your way in a world that wants to exploit and use you from almost every end, is a thrust I can get down with. Every toku show I've seen has had so much more vibrancy on a moment-to-moment basis even outside of fight scenes (of which I have liked very few), though, and just like with toku this has been doing a good job of reminding me every other show or sort of show I would actually be able to groove with.
As down as I've been on this and have personally felt since like, episode 2 or 3, I'd still take that to Steve's episodic reviews mirroring my own, especially since I can at least generally follow his framework as much as I disagree with the whole or the bullet points or both. It's been increasingly easy to find stuff like that which I do agree with more frequently. Don't forget some weird editing cuts too, with abrupt cuts to the ED just being the easiest to point at. |
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Glordit
 Posts: 461 |
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Episode 9 is a HUGE information dumb. The story is somewhat starting to make sense but I could have done with this information back towards the start of the show.
I'm dumbing this down for my own sake. Please, correct me if I am wrong since I'm remembering other parts from previous episodes. 1. Aliens made Neans. 2. They also made Naomi as an intermediary. 3. Neans where made to work on Venus and make a Nean factory. To the benefit of them (Aliens) Neans and humanity. 4.A couple of doctors made the Proto-Neans AKA The "Immortal 9". 4.5 I am guessing they are "immortal" because those glass cores in them. 5. One of them made Rouge but made her with the EVE code, instead of the ASIMOV code. 6. Rouges' "Brother" took her in and tried to discover how she was different from the others. 7. More of the same aliens show up and now want to take control of the current aliens because they are not happy with status quo(?) 8. Instead of fighting each other, they both use Neans(?) 9. This is now a civil war. The immortal 9 (8 technically) are now working with the opposing side, are being controlled by the Usurpers due to the ASIMOV code? I still stand with my "too many cooks" statement. Completely understand this is written & created by one person (Yutaka Izubuchi) but it feels as if they have far too many ideas and are cutting them to fit the production constraints of 12 or so episodes. As a show which is being marketed as BONES 25th Anniversary project, I'm just not feeling it. |
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Hal14
 Posts: 667 Location: Heart of africa |
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Aside from your timeline being messy (I think the evil aliens arrived before the creation of the immortal nine) there are also some other things you might have gotten wrong: 1. Most Neans (Aside from the Naomi) were made by humans using the tech the aliens gave them. 2. None of the Nine have the Asimov code. Rouge is unique for having the EVE code. 3. The evil aliens are said to "just be evil" That they "evolved to be destructive". 4. The evil aliens didn't make Neans (that we know of). They did make robot weapons (those tripod looking things) 5. The Nine are not being controlled with the ASIMOV code (they don't have the code), they are apparently willingly helping the aliens as revenge against humans and the visitors. However, You are 100% correct about this being a HUGE information dum(b)p |
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Glordit
Posts: 461 |
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Okay! On the same page now, thanks! I think this all happened in a very short period of time too? I was remembering it in bits and pieces and trying to put it together. Also, what's with the really fluid animation when Naomi and Rouge where meeting back on the ship? It felt like a different Stuido animated that scene. BONES being in animation team C? |
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InfiniteNothingness
Posts: 107 |
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Dunno studio-wise, but that would be the work of this person I brought up here:
You can see the apparent similarities here pretty easy when put side-by-side. Except, a correction for myself, in that i just categorically like it now. It hits much harder than any of the action scenes that episode did, and indeed, most of them outside of Rouge's murder of Sarah and the second fight with Jaron, personally. So tastily energetic. |
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Thesarum
Posts: 405 |
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Yes, shorter than we first imagined I think. I'm not sure how long Neans live, but it's been established there are Neans alive that fought in the war. And if Rogue's "father" made all the Immortal 9, and we assume her "brother" is his biological son, then the Immortal 9 are actually going to be roughly the same age as Gene (give or take a decade maybe)... they've probably all been alive less than a single human lifespan. Their "immortality" is about something other than their longevity.
Pretty sure the benefit of Neans doesn't factor into this at all for either humans or X Noah. If anything, the X Noah are worse than humans for treating Neans purely as tools. They're colder about it... there's no hate or malice in their attitude, but the flip side is that there's no empathy either. |
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Hal14
Posts: 667 Location: Heart of africa |
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I guess my biggest issue with the most recent episode is that it tries to overcomplicate what was a fairly straightforward setting (and I mean that in a good way), but there are still parts that are painfully basic in its attempt at complexity. For instance:
Story: "The Equality-extremist androids are teaming up with evil aliens to lead a revolution for all androids and get revenge for their suffering under human abuse and tyranny !" Me: "What are the evil aliens' motivations?" Story: "They evolved to be EVIL !!!" To be fair, we might get a better motivation for the evil aliens (I'm not holding my breath), but wouldn't this have been the episode to give us that? |
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Glordit
Posts: 461 |
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Assume it will be; If the Neans become free from their constraints, they will bring chaos and disorder, because they've been dependent on those drugs and are treated badly. To be honest, I liked this more when it was Naomi and Rouge kicking ass, taking names and doing investigations on the Immortal 9. The ship cruise ship episode was really fun, more of that would have been great. |
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InfiniteNothingness
Posts: 107 |
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This show would definitely be a lot more fun, personally, were it less heady (or making vague inclinations towards the idea of heady concepts anyway), and far stupider and ridiculous and nonsensical. Or, I suppose, if it eschewed all of that in favor of a narrower more dramatic focus; not that I'm convinced all else equal that alternative would have much value either, since I'm still cringing from how weak and boilerplate episode 3 was. As it is now I wonder however many other concepts are going to get thrown at the wall, diluted, and smashed in before the semi-assumed 12th or 13th episode.
Even as someone that did wish With from Mercury had at least another cour (though still rated in relatively highly), in this case it really does feel like "lazy" writing though. Or at least, unfocused, and critically unable to congeal a majority of what it's throwing at the wall outside of "Naomi and Rouge kick ass," and "Naomi and Rouge get into cool fights," and, "Rouge finds her own sense of self-determination," which I do credit for being a consistent throughline (and not one I find uninteresting in itself). They move from one area to the next like a friend overeager to share this cool RPG, and I still don't actually care about a majority of the people within the myriad factions. I've been entertained, but far from impressed. Even the animation can carry it so far when they've rarely felt like they had room to breathe. Rouge's first on-screen killing, the second fight with Hell Giallon, and somewhat the killing of Phantom Verde come to mind for exceptions in how they mixed Rouge's growing sense of who she is and what she does without feeling as rushed, on top of my recollection of them as somewhat distinct in aesthetics. (Of course, Naomi vs Opera was quite fun, but that was only part of a greater action sequence that largely slid off of me.) Because geez, outside of the fights, does so much of the art just feel like it blends together. Still, we are on a seeming upswing, so hopefully at least something can stick some sort of landing. Which I do think it might, even if that's setpieces and Rouge saving everyone as it currently strikes me to be, since I've still watched through much worse and this isn't drudgery. Plus the gang being reformed and with a cute guy in tow (and also some oldie), should hopefully mean more of that cute, lightly barbed, back-and-forth. When it moves fast all in one or two fairly closed spaces like episode 6, instead of straining under the moving parts spread throughout, it's got a pleasant enough sense of rhythm that works with how this show never wants to stop. I can't help but idly wonder about what a theoretical sequel announcement might mean in a few weeks, though. |
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LadyUranus
Posts: 13 |
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If the question last week was “is this show stupid or waiting to reveal how brilliant it is” this episode definitely cemented “stupid.” I’d be okay if the alien nonsense wasn’t dumped all at once or at least hinted at before, but this is nonsense. The review is being far too kind.
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Glordit
Posts: 461 |
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AT-X lists episode 13 as the finale episode. Its timeslot for the week following episode 13 is taken up by Kaijuu no. 8.
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InfiniteNothingness
Posts: 107 |
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Excellent. So a concrete three more weeks.
You know, fair enough. Even if it followed logically -- and honestly, adorably -- on the heels of Cyan Bluestar hitching a ride because of wanting to play with her big sister (however much it felt like we skipped a few panels between this week and last so-to-speak), kind of wasn't in my cards. It fits though, following all of the chaos and confusion and secrets revealed recently. The long-term structuring and tonal pacing of this show is weird and almost charming, and that's the stuff that makes me wonder what this would be like with a longer runtime, alongside keeping me entertained at all. Also, I liked how weirdly round the faces in its first half were. I think this is the most I've enjoyed it since episode 6? Probably? Everything it does is expectedly and characteristically shallow, but it is hitting the same beats from early on that were simply fun to follow. Except now we've got more in tow for this gathering of uh... "buddies"? Kind of, sort of, not really but also in a sense? Honestly, the vibes-based flimsiness of their camaraderie works in this show's floaty and sort of opaque feelings. Just as it also works to learn that Cyan Bluestar, when fighting Rouge Redstar, was actually ordered to due to programming or suchlike (I didn't go back to check the exact verbiage). Far as the actual meat of this goes, I appreciate how it allowed the characters to actually breathe on their own terms relative to the nuttiness about to come, and sensibly built on being in this boat together. Definitely only so there -- I'll point to the low-hanging fruit of Ash getting two dead boys to add to his 1.25-note character, how eyeroll-inducing even if unsurprising -- but there was enough characterizing fun in the meantime. Such as, everything surrounding Naomi bullying girls far younger than her, and Rouge acting as a "real" older sister because of what I can only assume was Rouge having far less time outside of a "testing chamber" as it were. The side of the revolutionaries were far less interesting before the Puppetmaster popped up and got revealed to be a human. It had much of the same allyship-building beats that made up those for our heroes, but because they've had so much less screentime and are so so very much less interesting as characters, it was an active difficulty to care. Neither had particularly wowing animation but at least the dialogue for Naomi and Cyan Bluestar went down pretty easily, while so much of the non-flashback parts felt just aggressively wooden. Save for Giallon, personally, but I'd get him not being an exception for others lol. Plus like, however nice an aesthetic change of pace the flashback... it wasn't especially interesting, and I fail to see why I should be caring about them now. They're barely even people, in their own flashbacks they are talked to in reference. (Something to do with memory, I guess? Show hasn't earned that much goodwill for getting into the theorizing weeds once more for me though.) I also just find it incredibly dull and stupid that it had to go further and go, oh, let's make humans follow us instead. Naturally. Aes and Alice continue to be my favorite characters. While I wish more was done in terms of body posture (as far as memory serves their personalities come out mostly verbally), or in terms of little physical mannerisms, or so on, the fact that this show is so far actually being the rare show to be good about a plural system necessarily earns some credit with me. Their divergent viewpoints are incredibly relatable to what I've seen around me, and bring them up from something more than "Evil alter... Alter, working with the extremist to reverse-enslave humanity," since they are literally not just one or the other, but both and in between and in communication with each other. Otherwise, cautiously holding my breath about them, since this show seems to be wanting to have its cake and it eat too with violently dramatic face-offs that still don't end in tragedy for all involved. I still don't like the cliffhangers. They're just, bad. I cannot recall a time except for maybe 1-2, where they felt like they had room to breathe, never mind weren't cut short. It's annoying. |
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