Compared to something like fantasy or isekai, the science fiction genre is much more rare in anime. The original sci-fi anime Metallic Rouge completed its run with its final episode on April 3rd, 2024. Despite some issues with narrative, I believe this show is worth checking out for its references to classic sci-fi concepts, such as Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. The two female protagonists are also fairly interesting and likeable, in my humble opinion. With that in mind, I present my review for Metallic Rouge episode 13.
Part 1: Episode Recap
The Puppeteer, AKA Dr. Junghardt, has been the one in charge the whole time, orchestrating events thus far. More specifically, he designed each of the Immortal Nine with certain dispositions, so they would almost certainly act in the ways he planned. For example, he claims that he programmed Jill and the others to turn against the humans. Junghardt is also able to exert some amount of control over the Immortal Nine in the present – making Jill trip up and kneel to him, for instance, or causing pain and exhaustion in Noir.
When attacked by his angry creations, Junghardt leaps agilely out of range. An old human couldn’t possibly move like that. Jung reveals that he’s a Nean with the consciousness of the original Junghardt. He made a copy of himself and transplanted his memories into it. Then he allowed his original self to be killed on the space cruise. The new Jung is essentially immortal as long as his id stays in tact.
Note: According to Jill, she ordered Giallon to kill Junghardt on the space cruise. However, Giallon didn’t follow through. He wasn’t the one who killed the old man. Junghardt actually killed himself, entrusting the future to his Nean copy.
After being told that none of her major decisions were truly her own, Jill responds violently. She stabs and kills Junghardt’s Nean body. I doubt this was his optimal plan, but he did have something in place to handle the event that Jill tried to kill him. Another copy of his consciousness was hidden inside the core of Cyan. So basically, Cyan is now possessed by Junghardt. This is a terrible turn of events because Cyan is the strongest combat type – stronger than all of the Immortal Nine and even Rouge herself.
Cyan/Jung immediately launches a vicious attack on Jill. In mere seconds, Jill’s arm is ripped off, and her id core is taken from her body and crushed. She dies trying to tell Rouge to free the Neans in her place. Then it’s Rouge’s turn to fight. But Cyan is stronger than ever, rapidly beating Rouge to a pulp. Normally, the two of them would be roughly evenly matched in combat skills. However, Rouge currently has the id of Naomi inside her, limiting her capabilities. Things don’t look good for Rouge.
This is when Naomi steps up to the plate. She asks Rouge to focus her energy and concentration on the id that’s inside her. Rouge trusts her and does so. Suddenly, she finds that her inner consciousness is no longer alone. Naomi moved her mind from her Nean body to her id. She now shares a “soul” with Rouge. Working together in one body, Rouge and Naomi morph into a new fighting form: one even more powerful than Cyan.
As the fight continues between the two advanced Neans, Cyan’s “little sister” personality starts resisting and rejecting Junghardt’s control. In the end, Cyan held back and allowed herself to be killed by Rouge. This was supposedly the only way to destroy Junghardt. As Cyan lay dying, she is her old self again – the cute and ditzy little girl. Rouge tearfully tells Cyan that she’s truly her little sister. Cyan looks happy and peaceful as she passes away.
As the fight continues between the two advanced Neans, Cyan’s “little sister” personality starts resisting and rejecting Junghardt’s control. In the end, Cyan held back and allowed herself to be killed by Rouge. This was supposedly the only way to destroy Junghardt. It worked. Junghardt died feeling alone and rejected by his creations. His consciousness then fades, giving way to Cyan’s true self – a cute and ditzy little girl. Rouge tearfully tells Cyan that she’s truly her little sister. Cyan looks peaceful as she passes away.
With Junghardt dead, Rouge decides to release Code Eve. She activates the program. All Neans are suddenly freed from Asimov’s Laws. There is another quick and arguably pointless plot twist here, wherein the Neans all had a virus that made them obedient to the Junoids and violent against humans. However, Gene and Eden had discovered the virus earlier when examining Code Eve. They were able to install a countermeasure. So, the Neans conquered the virus and finally became free.
Despite the fact that they failed to enslave the Neans with the mind-control virus, the Junoids are still hell-bent on making war once again. The episode ends with a scene of Opera and an army of Junoid war machines fighting against Rouge/Naomi, whose minds are permanently linked in the same body. Though the world is plunged into chaos again, Rouge is certain that they can create a better world for humans and Neans alike. That concludes the story of Metallic Rouge.
Part 2: Episode Discussion
I’ve got several complaints about the final episode of Metallic Rouge, but they boil down to three main issues. 1) The episode was way too rushed, with no time to appreciate anything that happened. 2) There were too many random plot twists with no real significance. For example, what was the point of the virus that took hold of the Neans for only a few seconds? 3) There are several loose ends left unaddressed. A few examples are below.
Many questions remain unanswered about how ids work and what happened with Rouge and Naomi. Shouldn’t Rouge be able to reinstall her own id and give Naomi’s id back as planned? It was poorly explained. The war with the Junoids is another issue. Isn’t humanity in big trouble now? Also, what about Giallon? We don’t know if he survived. He got some semi-interesting character development in episode 12 and then dropped off the map of the narrative. Clearly, there’s a lot of loose ends.
There were also two specific issues I wanted to mention. First, Cyan’s death was poorly executed. It was incredibly forced and didn’t feel sad at all. The animation of Rouge crying and calling Cyan her little sister was well done, but something was still missing. Maybe it’s the idea that Rouge just killed her “sister” without much argument? Or maybe it’s just that I never cared about Cyan in the first place. She was a rushed and forced character.
The second issue was the failure of Naomi’s choice to seem emotionally significant. She sacrificed her body for Rouge and combined her consciousness so they could be together forever. That should have been the most powerful moment in the series, but it fell flat. There wasn’t enough time to develop that plot twist, for one thing. For another thing, this series clearly has problems with creating emotionally poignant scenes.
My criticisms have now been explained. They are each pretty serious critiques. However, this episode didn’t leave me completely disappointed in the anime as a whole. I think it’s good that Metallic Rouge exists and that someone tried to create an original sci-fi anime without source material. I enjoyed much of this series and don’t regret watching it just because the ending wasn’t perfect. With that in mind, I’ve got a few notes on the elements of this episode that I appreciated.
To begin with, I love plot twists that make characters question their free will. It’s a good excuse to get into broader discussions of determinism. I’m fascinated by the idea that the Immortal Nine are, in some ways, puppets of the Puppeteer. I also seriously wonder to what extent this is true. I find it hard to believe that the Puppeteer’s power over them was anywhere near perfect. Some of that was probably a false narrative he was spinning. That said, he definitely manipulated everyone to some degree.
Another element I liked was the background information provided by Junghardt concerning the Immortal Nine. Shortly after creating them, Jung sent the Nine to fight the first war with the Junoids and protect humanity. Although they were victorious, they were disillusioned by their experiences on the battlefield. The Immortal Nine thought to themselves, “Humans were selfish and ugly. Is it even a good thing to serve them?” This train of thought eventually led Jill to choose violence. I appreciated this information because it wasn’t clear before.
For a final example, I enjoyed Gene’s brief but meaningful moment of character development. As Junghardt lay dying, he desperately tried to convince himself that Gene was his true creation, and that he would somehow live on through that man. But Gene asserted his independence without missing a beat. Early on in the series, I thought Gene was evil – and he was manipulative in some ways. However, it’s now clear that he won’t end up truly evil like the Puppeteer. I now fully appreciate the character of Gene. 🙂
Part 3: Closing Notes and the Black Box Blog
Metallic Rouge certainly had its share of issues, and this became very clear to me in the final episode especially. Nevertheless, I’m glad I watched this show and would still recommend it for those who have free time and enjoy sci-fi stories with female protagonists. I think the anime deserves about a 7/10 as an overall rating. Eventually, I’ll write a technical series review for Metallic Rouge and explain my takes further.
On a related note, if any of my readers do love consuming sci-fi content, I have something to recommend. A very close friend of mine is creating sci-fi stories on a blog called Black Box. There are several story drafts you can read, including one that’s complete (as a first draft) – Terra. I suggest checking out this blog in order to enjoy sci-fi material as well as support a new content creator.
~Thanks for reading~
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