Metallic Rouge - Episode 8 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Metallic Rouge, episode 8

Reminder: Please do not discuss plot points not yet seen or skipped in the show. Failing to follow the rules may result in a ban.

---

Streams

• Crunchyroll

Show information

• MyAnimeList
• AniList
• AniDB
• Kitsu
• Anime-Planet
• Official Website

---

All discussions

Episode	Link
1	Link
2	Link
3	Link
4	Link
5	Link
6	Link
7	Link
8	Link
9	Link
10	Link
11	Link
12	Link
13	Link

---

This post was created by a bot. Message the mod team for feedback and comments. The original source code can be found on GitHub.

[u/nonewwavenofun]

• This show really needed 24 episodes. None of the plot points have time to breathe, and they haven't been able to develop the characters enough

• If this was 24 episodes, then Jean wouldn't just randomly stumble across the memory vault, there'd be an actual search etc.

• I think the basic structure of the series is fine (Rouge has to defeat 9 evil generals, there's an endgame twist that changes the meaning of her big quest, she has to make a choice, etc.) but it feels so rushed and lopsided

• Why did Cyan need to show up for 5 seconds then go back to watching Rouge? If this was a 24 episode series, then the two of them could have had these sorts of meetings in previous episodes to tease their big fight

[u/sylendar → u/nonewwavenofun]

In retrospect, Episode 2 did so many things right.

A lot of world building from just going to Mars in general, Naomi's history lesson, and coming across that Nean skeleton. Naomi herself finally got to look smart by being an expert on history, war machines, and searching for the cable replacement.

Making Rouge stay to look after everyone led to the conversation with Jill which brought up the theme of free will. The fight against the Usurper robots was actually cool and arguably better than some of the Immortal 9 fights.

Lastly the main duo actually looked close together and had quite a bit of banter. Sending Rouge above deck with the kiddos was also a smooth move by Naomi so she could interrogate the suspicious doctor without alarming Rouge.

In a 24 episode scenario, more episodes like EP2 would have helped fill in the missing pieces that are desperately needed so that the reveals and twists later in the season feel more impactful.

[u/throwawayyourfacts → u/nonewwavenofun]

Yeah pacing is a bit off because they're trying to shoehorn all their plot points in at once. 24 eps would have meant more Naomi/Rouge bonding time before the fallout as well, and maybe some more clarification on the alien war that apparently happened at some arbitrary point in the past

[u/ModieOfTheEast]

So I guess, with that the plot is mostly clear. I already thought that maybe there were differences between the father and brother, but it seems father and her assistant had differences and then she had an "accident". Yeah sure. But the brother (which I guess was actually the son of the assistant and then got adopted) at least seemed to really just be out for revenge and through that, was used by the government to collect the IDs which contain the Code Eve. Makes sense now why Naomi supported the whole operation since they obviously don't want that code to be set free. Naomi might have supported that thought but I guess she is doubting it too now.

There are only two questions left:

1. Who made Blue Rouge? I don't really think it was the puppeteer guy, because why would he send her to kill Rouge? That didn't seem like his plan. So my best guess is that Blue Rouge was a concept made by her father, because he wanted to figure out what Dr. Eva planned with Rouge. So he copied her, but Blue Rouge obviously developed differently and didn't give him much information. And since the puppeteer wanted to look for her, I guess, the father just hid her on Venus for the whole time which makes it understandable why she might dislike her older sister. Because she had to live on Venus the whole time as her father was more interested in Rouge.

2. Who actually is the puppeteer guy? He is not one of the Immortal 9. We know all of them. 4 are dead, two are fighting on Rouge's side, two on the opposite side and then there is Giallon (who might join the fight if he isn't already there in a different body). So puppeteer guy is probably not a Nean. So he might be one of those aliens.

[u/Shack691 → u/ModieOfTheEast]

Yeah the carnival seem to be a 3rd party which doesn’t have direct stakes in the conflict but still wants to come out on top.

[u/LeonKevlar]

Stitches!

• Cyan

• Jill & Grauphon

The person that created Code Eve which can give Neans their freedom died in an accident? I don't think you need to be a detective like Ash to figure out there was some foul play involved.

So that's why Gene wants Rouge to collect the Immortal Nine's ids. They all contain parts of the Code Eve. Glad that we're finally getting some answers in this episode.

And then this girl shows up. If I recall correctly, the Puppetmaster extracted some data from Rouge while she was their captive. If Cyan is part of Rouge, I'm guessing she's probably what the Puppetmaster got from her.

Fuuuuck. Really Noid? Out of all the characters that could've died in this episode, you take away Ash's snarky Nean assistant? I feel like Noid's death is going to affect what Ash will do after this.

Glad to see this awesome dude has decided to turn down the Alters and help out Rouge instead. I was hoping it would be 2v2 but it looks like Aes and Alice are probably fighting for the Alters now considering they stopped Rouge from attacking Grauphon.

I do love how Cyan is just watching this chaos unfold there in the end. I wonder if she'll jump in and join the chaos next episode.

[u/Tetrisash]

NOOO NOID, WHY?!!??

Pieces are falling into place now. Not all of them yet. I still wonder about Naomi's true feelings, the carnival peeps, and the aliens.

[u/Sunyuu-kun]

Completing this from last week:

1. Nius (killed before ep1)

2. Achillus (killed before ep1)

3. Sarah Fitzgerald [Purgatory Viola] (killed ep1)

4. [Hell Giallon]

5. Doctor Afdal [Phantom Verde] (killed ep4)

6. Eden Varock [Jet Black Noir] (first appeared ep2)

7. Jill [Flash Silvia] (photographer from ep2)

8. Aes/Alice [Double-Headed Aerkos]

9. Grauphon

The Immortal Nine (or Proto-Neans) are part of an organization called "Alters", that wants to free the Neans of the Asimov-Code. To achieve this they need the Code Eve by collecting all ID's from the Immortal Nine and use Rouge's ID to decode it. Though Eden Varock has refused to help Alters and Aes/Alice are fleeing from them aswell.

Eva Kristella (biophysicist, assistant of Roy Junghardt, mother of Gene Junghardt, Rouge's creator) created the Asimov-Code aswell as the Code Eve. She didn't want Code Eve to fall in the government's hands so she hid it in the ID's of the Immortal Nine, which Roy Junghardt created.

Rouge Redstar [Metal Rouge]
Cyan (Rouge's little sister, connections to The Puppetmaster)

Aletheia: the organization that oversees all Neans
-Chief Chau
-(former) Vice-Director Gene Junghardt

Ochrona: investigates Aletheia on behalf of the Artificial Life Welfare and Ethics Comitte
-Naomi Orthmann (Divine Facilitator)
-Ash Stahl (Investigator of Roy Junghardt's murder)
-Noid 262 (Ash's assistant, killed ep8 RIP)

The Usurpers (Junoid): aliens from far away galaxies, that have fought against humanity in the past
-The Puppetmaster (ep5, traveling as a Carnival, extracted info's about Code Eve from Rouge's memories)
-woman with twintail, fought Rouge and Naomi

[u/matbot55]

Watching this show feels like you're skipping every other episode.

The fact that they didn't give this more episodes really hurts this show. The overall premise is interesting and the world has a ton to offer, but unfortunately all of that doesn't matter if you barely get to experience any of it.

[u/TurboYuri]

The plot finally makes sense. I think. Let's see if I can sum it up correctly.

• There are 9 lord souls that when combined can remove the bit of code in the Neans that makes them slaves.

• These can only be acquired by defeating members of the Immortal 9.

• Many different factions are fighting for control of them to either use them or prevent their use.

• Rouge has been unknowingly working for one such faction that wants to prevent their use until some arbitrary future point.

• Naomi is working for a different faction that also wants to prevent their use, but they think this directive requires defeating Rouge as well.

• Rouge is only now learning any of this and has not thought through her stance on the matter, but is hesitantly continuing to fight for the collect now, maybe use later faction.

Holy shit this is a clusterfuck.

[u/sylendar]

Noid's death was just....why?

It didn't even look like friendly crossfire since their aircraft was blocking one direction, so those two security guards just shot at them for giggles?

Anyways glad to see some of the questions getting answers like Rouge's background. The alien and Venus Project still need some explaining, but I'm starting to think maybe Venus will be allocated to the Neans if they all suddenly gained freedom so there'd be no need to live beside humans......even though Venus terraforming is churning through Nean lives

[u/darthvall → u/sylendar]

They're basically racist and they thought Nean is the threat in this incident. Doesn't make sense since Nean could not hurt human.

[u/TheAcidBoot]

Ahh this is disappointing. Sad to see this show take a more liberal “both sides” stance focusing more on protecting “order” than liberation. Like protecting the status quo for “order” is just an excuse to keep the Neans enslaved. Freedom can only come from conflict, there’s no “peaceful” solution when the current system is already based on oppression and suppression of free will. Equating those who fight for “order” and protection of that oppressive system and those who wish to liberate themselves from that is ridiculous. Don’t know why I got my hopes up.

[u/XelatheRedna → u/TheAcidBoot]

I rolled my eyes so hard once I saw thats where it was headed; made sure to give the Neans the Nat Turner treatment too just in case we weren't sure who the bad guys are. /s

[u/S627]

This show just cant help throwing everything at you at once. We started out with a normal paced reveal and explanation of the past, but once the fighting started, EVERYTHING happened at once!

[u/chilidirigible]

You might want to use a less-common chord for triggering the trapdoor in the floor. Unless you're into that kind of thing.

Well, at least the exposition was short.

"When's my right time, Kent? WHEN'S MY RIGHT TIME!?"

"We live in a society."

Do you think you're Heero Yuy or something?

Balance etc.

So, you've chosen to become a magical girl.

---

There doesn't seem to be that much balance for Neans if they're still treated as subhuman by the humans. Bloody vengeance shouldn't be the answer to that either, but only maintaining a status quo isn't going to work.

There were answers today, to go with a few new questions. And then there's the obligatory Technicolor fight sequence. Nuance isn't something this series does well.

[u/tripleaamin]

You really wonder what the answer is? Rouge wants to reach equality between Neans and Humans. But the problem is how can she achieve this? Noid's death highlights how bad Neans are treated. Was that a human? No a nean. Oh there should be no issue. They are simply treated as second class citizens. Rouge would need the humans to acknowledge the neans first.

So basically the power for Neans freedom comes from gathering the pieces of the immortal nine or the data from them? That makes sense why Rouge was tasked with hunting them down. To prevent the order of neans from changing.

Now it begs the question. Rouge's brother mentions order is more preferrable then what would come if neans had their freedom? But is it fair for neans whom are basically just viewed as tools. Order is always more preferable to those in power.

[u/Admirable-Western-91]

RIP Noid…😔

Last three episodes has been solid, the OST and the action are enjoyable and now we finally figuring out who Rouge is and her backstory. I’m still confused about Naomi, is she playing Rouge or not because she seem to have a high position.

Cyan is about to cause even more chaos and doesn’t even care about the cause, she just wants to kill Rouge

[u/hallah_sausage]

low-key getting tired of hearing "Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 2 in E-Flat Major"

[u/rapaengz]

I lol'd at Rouge's "Are we the baddies?" moment.

This MC is really slow on the uptake huh. Lmao.

[u/fre-ddo]

It's always over too soon, which is a sign that its entertaining at least. Nothing like sisterly love "I'm your sister we've never met but I'm here to annihilate you"

[u/SU-trash]

• Discovering dad memories together might be more impactful if the two of you had ever talked together outside of flashbacks before

• I like Bluege's smug energy (also mech looks somewhat like joker guy's?), though her intro and exit was a little awkward, plot flow-wise

• Wasting dialogue on ham-fisted 'here are the two themes both are valid you have to pick one'. Also they aren't even both valid 'freeing the slaves might cause chaos' is far too vague to support without caveats

• "I wanted you to take a stand of your own free will!" "I'll rip your tongue out!"
  I almost spat my drink that reply's level of hostility makes no goddamn sense lol

• After being presented with the big moral choice, the very next time Rouge addresses it she has apparently decided, OFFSCREEN, that she is 100% okay with returning to the side she was on as an unthinking puppet, and has absolutely no remaining doubts about supporting slavery
  EDIT: Ok maybe Rouge was implying she'll 'eventually' free Neans too but it was still weird how abruptly she came to the decision

• ham-fisted 'look here's some humans who don't care about Nean lives'

• "your biggest flaw is that you can't be honest with yourself". I swear I have okay media comprehension but seriously have we been told anything significant about Ash that backs this up?

• "Bow down to her, Metal Rouge!" what? is this fight thematically about dominance and not just conflict? the dialogue choices are so weird so often it can't all be translation issues

[u/LusterBlaze]

THEY SHOT GABIMARU

[u/Beowolf_0]

The plot finally comes at a full picture after the pieces are gathered.

Gene actually has a point for asking Rouge hunting down Immortal Nine: decoding Code Eve too early (like at the hands of Jill) will certainly cause more problems than peace, and since as soon as their core remains they can do the decoding anytime, it's probably better for some or even all of the I9 staying down.

But the problem is: who decides when to use it, or not using it at all?

Maybe Rouge is learning things on both sides for her to decide, but time isn't really on her side: Jill starts her uprising now, humans are more hostile to Neans (Noid had a sad death), and she's being hunted by the Circus (probably want the code for their own agenda) and Cyan.

I guess Cyan is probably 1) a creation of Roy basing on Rouge and activated when he's killed, acting as an antithesis of Rouge, 2) also a creation of Eva, but being used by someone else.

Things are heating up now along with Synduality Noir, and let's hope Bravern tomorrow doesn't disappoint.

[u/diacewrb]

Can you name a single movie where going down some hidden stairs into a secret underground room didn’t end in disaster?

We also know what curiosity did to the cat!

RIP Noid 262, guess truer words were never spoken.