Anime Review: METALLIC ROUGE episode 9 blasts off to outer space

WARNING; SPOILERS FOR METALLIC ROUGE EPISODE 9 AHEAD!

Metallic Rouge Episode 9 recap “The Ones Who Visited” (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) 

Director: Masayuki Otsuki
Writer: Mitsuyasu Sakai, Toshiba Nemoto
Storyboard Artists: Masayuki Otsuki, Yasushi Muraki

After last week’s rough half hour of drama, “The Ones Who Visited” rights the good ship Metallic Rouge. Naomi is back in the game and back with Rouge. The Immortal Nine reveal their full plan for Nean liberation. Hint, it involves that business on Venus. Also someone finally explains that business on Venus.

The fight at Alethia headquarters rages on

The episode opens immediately where it left off last episode. All of the Immortal Nine now stand revealed, even if they’re divided. Rouge’s “sister” Cyan watches the Chaos. Investigator Ash mourns the death of Noid 262.  

Aes/Alice entered the fight last but in a surprise twist, they’re actually fighting with the other Immortal Nine members. However, they’re silent which might hint at why they tried to avoid Jill/Flash Silvia. It’s possible that their double personality allows for Silvia to control them but that will probably be handled down the line.

Jill and Eden start fighting each other with Jill pleading for him to join her. Of all the characters to have a backstory not filled in in any way or shape, Eden remains the most frustrating. This episode clues viewers in that the two either disagreed frequently or that they may have had a romantic entanglement. Either way, Eden continues to be Metallic Rouge’s biggest nothing of a character.

Jill though violently answers one of the questions posed last episode. She rips out Eden’s Id and he continues to function, though he’s clearly injured. It once again begs the question of what exactly an Id is and what function they have for the Neans, especially the Alters. The show is nine episodes deep and this is a question that should have been answered back when Ids were first mentioned.  

Now that Jill and Graufon have another Id, it’s time for them to escape. They kidnap Gene on their way out bargaining him for Rouge’s Id. Their escape involves a cloaked Usurper ship thus clueing the audience in that the Immortal Nine work for the Usurpers.

 

Rouge goes after Gene only to get blocked by Cyan ready to fight her sister. The fight between Rouge and Cyan is a stalemate because they’re essentially the same Nean. Naomi guides Rouge to victory but begrudgingly so.

Rouge, understandably so, still doesn’t trust her former partner. The relationship between the two characters continues to offer the most interesting drama in the show. Their friction allows their connection to take on different aspects; partners, siblings, and of course, student and mentor.  

Naomi stands revealed

Deciding Rouge deserves answers, Naomi takes her to meet the Visitors. The Visitors live in isolation onboard ships orbiting Earth. In order to interact with them, humans have to wear spacesuits. Naomi quickly takes her off once humans aren’t around to reveal that she’s a Nean.

Earlier recaps for this series theorized Naomi was possibly a Nean. Her intimate knowledge of Neans, and the Visitor/Usurper conflict were clues. Her being a high ranking member of Ochrona seemed to throw out that theory.

She’s also not just any Nean but the very First one. A Nean created to bridge communication between the man and the Visitors, hence her title as Divine Facilitator.

This reveal is the most important and honestly, it deepens the relationship between the two characters. Naomi isn’t just playing an older sister to Rouge. As the first, she’s linked to the younger model. It gives reason to all of the character’s plotting and maneuvering. Naomi’s American voice actor Cassie Ewulu gets to have a moment of fun when Naomi mock apologizes to Rouge.

And for the rest of the story…

Anyways, the Visitors reveal a whole lot to Rouge about the origins of Neans and what’s happening on Venus. Turns out, the Neans weren’t created to fight the war with the Usurpers.

Their purpose is to terraform Venus into a habitable world for their creators. The Usurpers are just a different branch of The Visitor’s species. They simply want to sow chaos and violence. 

The Visitors the audience sees are some of character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto’s best designs on the show so far. These aliens have a strange mermaid like quality to them. They hover in the air, ignorant of gravity. In order to talk to Rouge and Naomi, they have to put human mouths on their faces. Once again Metallic Rouge has fun indulging in pure science fiction imagery.

The conversation with the Visitors once again brings up the topic of whether or not the Neans are tools or individuals. For their creators, the Neans are means of creating a new habitat after years of search.

For viewers though, they’ve seen Neans as humans. They help one another. Some indulge in philosophy. One has sacrificed himself for another. Another intentionally went against the Asimov Code if it meant freedom.

As Rouge argues for Neans freedom from the Asimov Code, The Usurpers and the Immortal Nine begin an invasion of Venus. Turns out, they have most of Code Eve and with so many Neans on Venus, they also have a perfect army to attack Earth.

The Visitors beg Rouge to stay on their ship because she’s the final component to activate Code Eve. However, Rouge wants to fight for the Neans on Venus.

This moment of self determination is far more triumphant than last week’s declaration from Rouge. Rouge wanting to fight for the Neans makes far more sense given the time she’s spent with them.

She knows she’s been a tool used to fight the Immortal Nine, as a symbol for the Council for Free Neans, and a bargaining chip for Alethia. Here, she’s genuinely made a choice for herself even knowing the danger. And it’s incredibly satisfying. It’s time to go to Venus.

Final Verdict

Metallic Rouge episode 9 is a massive improvement from last week. The reveals have actual weight. The conflict feels ramped up and has stakes. Naomi and Rouge’s reunion and their reconciliation is earned.

While the show at this point no longer has self contained episodes, at least this one has an emotional arc to it. The show might go off the rails again but at least the audience had this respite. Next week, the Puppetmaster finally comes back.

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Metallic Rouge is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. New episodes air every Wednesday.

Catch up on The Beat’s Metallic Rouge reviews by clicking here.