Metallic Rouge Feels Like a Gorgeous Mix of Mecha and Carole & Tuesday

Studio Bones stands out as one of the greatest anime production companies in the industry, with the likes of My Hero Academia, Darker than Black, Ouran High School Host Club, Fullmetal Alchemist, and more behind it. It is now back for its 25th anniversary with a new original anime called Metallic Rouge.

In some ways, Metallic Rouge feels like a culmination of everything that came before it. It has elements of My Hero Academia and RahXephon in its mecha and super-powered vibes. It captures the futuristic Mars style of Carole & Tuesday, plus some of its musical elements. It even features character designs from Toshihiro Kawamoto, who shaped the look of Cowboy Bebop (though that isn’t from Bones itself).

I only had the chance to watch the first episode before its release, but it gripped me nonetheless. It takes place on Mars and has a sci-fi vibe, much like Carole & Tuesday, but with action and mature elements. The main character, Rouge, is a quiet but likable protagonist who loves to eat chocolate and surprisingly wears her heart on her sleeve at times.

The first episode begins with Rouge working with a famous singer named Sarah, who she helps out as an assistant. The crux of the actual show centers around nine seemingly villainous androids known as the Immortal Nine. I won’t go too much further into details about the first episode to avoid spoilers. That said, the world-building and lore is grand here.

There is a lot of history and lore surrounding the androids. For example, the syringe they must use on themselves every night and a mysterious mecha suit-wearing assassin. This episode leaves a lot of questions about some of the terms and ideas in it but doles out just enough info to intrigue me about where the plot goes from here.

It helps, too, that it handles pacing pretty well. Metallic Rouge introduces its core cast early on with just enough time with each person before jumping to the next beat. There is even some solid but brief action in the episode as well. The first episode has an intense fight between two mech-suit people towards the end with some gorgeous visual effects.

In fact, if there is anything I take away from this first episode, it is how stunning this anime looks. The moody cyberpunk-like environment of Mars City has such rich detail to it. The characters look terrific and have enough variation between them. The lighting, rainy weather, and everything pops in this anime.

I may have some annoyance about how little I understand some of the characters and world, but Metallic Rouge does just enough to be on my radar for an anime to watch in 2024. Metallic Rouge will start airing on Crunchyroll on January 11, 2024.