Welcome to Anime Rants. Before reviewing these episodes of Metallic Rouge, I will provide an explanation of the translation “controversy” surrounding this anime. It’s old news, but might still be interesting if you haven’t heard about it.
Some fans, particularly those who know Japanese, noticed that Crunchyroll was taking liberties with the translations of or organization names in Metallic Rouge. The organization that Rouge works for has been called Aletheia by this streaming site. In reality, the direct translation would be more like, “Ministry of Truth” or “Truth Bureau”. Similarly, what Crunchyroll calls Ochrona is actually the “Ministry of Protection” or the “Protection Bureau”.
Crunchyroll chose the terms Aletheia and Ochrona as creative stand-ins for the real translations. Those terms are not completely random, but are in some way connected to the purposes of the Ministries in the anime. Ochrona is a Polish word meaning “protection,” and Aletheia was the Greek Goddess of Truth. But as cool and creative as that may be, many argue that clarity should be prioritized in translations.
I personally lean toward the view that simple and literal translations are generally better than flowery, abstract ones. I think that if Crunchyroll makes this kind of choices with subtitled anime, they should, as a courtesy, include a note explaining the liberties they have taken. What do you think? Is it ok for large streaming sites to mess around with Japanese translations for more creativity? While you ponder the question, please enjoy my episode reviews.
Episode 6: Nameless Guest
The sixth episode of Metallic Rouge was a bit strange, but still entertaining and enjoyable overall. I have a lot of notes about it, beginning with a correction to my previous posts about the name of a certain murderous character. His name is pronounced by the Japanese VAs as “Jaron,” so that’s what I’ve called him until now. However, his actual name is Hell Giallon. He’s the yellow one of the Immortal Nine, and seems to be a very human-like who is able to kill humans.
We’ve known for a while now that Giallon is a hedonistic murderer, but he takes it to another level in this episode. He goes on a murderous rampage aboard a luxury spacecraft that’s essentially like a cruise vacation establishment. Giallon can make himself look like anyone he meets if he gets a good enough look at them. After murdering a crew member, he uses this ability to “become” the crew member and infiltrate the spacecraft. He then kills several guests, assuming a new form after each murder. It’s a bit like Among Us, but the Imposter can change color at will.
Eventually, with help from Detective Ash, Naomi and Rouge identify Giallon. He and Rouge then fight in their metallic suits. The fight was slightly more interesting than usual, with Giallon holding up well against Rouge until his own trick backfired on him. I’m fairly certain he died after being thrown out into open space missing his legs, but with anime, you never know. His core wasn’t retrieved, so Giallon could still be alive, floating around in orbit.
I’m not sure what Giallon thought would happen if he started a murder spree on the ship where Rouge was staying. He was bound to get caught and be defeated. It makes no sense why would start this at his own risk, but I don’t think Giallon cares about logic. He’s only interested in the pleasure and thrill of killing. Still, I thought it was a bit odd for him to basically dance right into Rouge’s hands. I also thought it was strange for this episode to be called “Nameless Guest” when we all know Giallon’s name.
This episode had a few funny scenes. For example, Naomi identified which Rouge was real and which was the imposter based on her inability to do quick mental math. The scene where Rouge punched each of the suspicious guests was also great. I especially loved when she added an extra kick to the old man after his sexist comment. The dog standing up and revealing itself as Giallon was extremely weird and uncanny; but as someone who loves absurd comedy, I couldn’t help smiling at it.
The ending of the episode showed Rouge being arrested by the “Artificial Life Inspection Department,” which is a subsection of Ochrona. It seems like Naomi reported Rouge after noticing that she was able to harm humans (e.g. punching the guests). It’s been obvious for a while to viewers, but now, Naomi also knows the truth. Rouge is some kind of hybrid Nean who is not subject to the Asimov Code. It looks like our titular protagonist has landed herself in trouble once again.
I’ve got two final notes. First, I wonder what will happen now that Rouge has completed her revenge. Giallon claimed that he was the one who killed Dr. Junghardt, the father of Rouge and Gene. Now Giallon has been defeated, so it’s possible Rouge won’t want to hunt down the last remnants of the Immortal Nine. Secondly, this episode introduced us to two new characters: Aes and Alice, a pair of young twins. Aes is a boy and Alice is a girl, or so I would guess from their speech mannerisms and pronouns. I don’t have any particular thoughts about them yet other than I like their character designs.
Episode 7: Appropriate Gear
The episode begins with Gene Junghardt playing piano and monologuing to himself about the Venus Project. It’s the biggest birthplace of Neans in the world – Neans used as slaves for terraforming. Visitor technology is being used, including mini blackholes. According to Gene, the real purpose of the Venus Project has not yet been revealed. There is no immediate need for a new planet with both Earth and Mars in use. At this point, I don’t have any theories about the secret purpose of the Venus Project.
The first major reveal of this episode is that Naomi is not who we thought she was all this time. I knew she wasn’t fully truthful, but I didn’t expect it to go this far. She is the “Divine Facilitator” of Ochrona (AKA the Ministry of Protection). She discovered Rouge was a “Proto-Nean” developed illegally by Aletheia (AKA the Ministry of Truth). Due to violating the law by using an unapproved artificial lifeform, Aletheia was stripped of its power and put under the control of Ochrona. They have Rouge in custody and the likely course of action will be to destroy her.
Detective Ash is apparently mostly recovered from being stabbed by Giallon in the previous episode. Since he now knows Rouge is the Red Gladiator he’s been following, he wants to see her. However, she’s held under lock and key, far above his authority in Ochrona. While Ash and Noid start developing a plan, Jill Sturgeon is one step ahead of them. She breaks into the facility, kills the human guards, and takes Rouge out of confinement. She also provides Nectar, as Rouge was about to shut down for lack of it.
Besides being hot as hell, Jill is also interesting for her views on humans and Neans. She is revealed to be one of the Immortal Nine – the silver one – making her a hybrid who can kill humans. She doesn’t hesitate to act on this, killing whenever the mission calls for it with no second thoughts. Jill views humans with disdain and wants to free all Neans from the curses humanity put on them, like the Asimov Code and the dependence on Nectar. Basically, Jill is a revolutionary who wants to recruit Rouge.
The fight scene – with the armored guards versus Jill and Rouge – was excellent. The choreography was simple but solid, the insert song was unique and interesting, and the animation used a blend of 2D and 3D in a way that wasn’t jarring to me. Silvia – Jill’s battle form – looks really cool. I also like the design for Aerkos, the orange one out of the Immortal Nine. Speaking of Aerkos, the person underneath is revealed to be Aes – AND Alice! I was wrong about them being twins. They are one and the same.
Aes falls into the trope of a character with multiple personalities, which some might find more annoying than anything. I actually tend to enjoy these trope characters, as I love exploring concepts of identity. But my enjoyment comes with the caveat that they seldom represent a realistic depiction of DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). Aes is probably not the best example of a person with this disorder. That being said, he/they are a lot better than what I normally see in anime. Let me explain.
Unfortunately, anime characters with multiple personalities are often violent criminals. A goofy example would be Toko Fukawa from Danganronpa, and a more serious example would be Kirito Kamui from Psycho Pass 2. But Aes is a very peaceable person and even his tougher alter, Alice, doesn’t enjoy fighting. It’s nice that this kid doesn’t fall into the pattern of “neurodivergent equals violent.”
It’s also neat how Aes mentions that Alice appeared to protect him and help him survive. That reflects the fact that, in reality, alters develop as a self-rotection method from severe trauma. As you can see, Aes is far from the worst example of a character who might have Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Before closing up this episode review, I also want to explain my take on the gender and sex of these characters, Aes and Alice. I honestly don’t care about biological sex, but if I had to name one, I’d say the body of Aes is AFAB (assigned female at birth). We saw them in a swimsuit and they had female anatomy (albeit a little androgynous).
In contrast to his AFAB body, Aes refers to himself as “boku,” a male pronoun, and uses Japanese speech patterns consistent with a boy. Thus, I think Aes is a trans boy. However, his alter seems to be a girl. Alice refers to herself as “watashi,” a typically neutral or feminine pronoun, and her name is definitely female. So, in this sense, I was correct in the previous episode review by stating that Aes is a boy and Alice is a girl.
Back to the episode at hand, I liked the conversation between Alice, Aes, and Rouge about who is a “good guy” and who is a “bad guy.” It shows Rouge is still very childlike in her thinking, but that she genuinely wants to be one of the good guys. She wants to do the right thing. This conflicts with her guilt over killing Sarah and, in a broader sense, blindly obeying her brother. I’m eager to see where Rouge goes from here as a character. Same with Naomi. That’s all for today.
~Thanks for reading~
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