After a quarter-century of exceptional animation, Studio Bones has called their next project, Metallic Rouge, a celebration of those 25 years, for reasons that sound almost too simple. It's a sci-fi show with mecha elements, something studio founder Masahiko Minami says "is what we do best," but is that enough reason to get hyped for this new original series?

In October 1998, Masahiko Minami, Hiroshi Osaka, and Toshihiro Kawamoto founded Bones to create anime that they wouldn't have been able to at Sunrise, the studio famous for Gundam. They never abandoned their mecha roots though, creating the likes of Eureka Seven, Star Driver, and numerous projects with mecha-like elements, Metallic Rouge being the latest.

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What is Metallic Rouge?

Metallic Rouge is set in the distant future of 2128, where humans coexist with androids called "Neans." Rouge Redstar, a combat-ready Nean with a sweet tooth, is sent to Mars on a covert assignment with her partner Naomi Ortmann. Together, they must track down the "Immortal Nine"; nine Neans who pose a threat to the government and are revolting against humanity.

That single paragraph is pretty much everything known about the story so far from the four teasers released since the project's announcement back in March. There's not a lot to go on and the most extensive details about the characters are largely inferred from the dialog in the PV released in September. The marketing seems keen to let the visuals - and far more importantly, the creative staff behind this show - speak for themselves.

To that point, the staff is impressive. Metallic Rouge is being written by Yutaka Izubuchi and co-written by Toshizo Nemoto. Izubuchi's involvement in a new Bones project is something of a reunion, the gravity of which might be lost on younger anime fans. Back in 2002, he was both the director and mechanical designer for RahXephon, one of Bones' first original series ever.

In addition to directing, Izubuchi has been a character/mechanical designer since the late 70s, having worked on everything from Gundam and Patlabor to the Evangelion Rebuilds. His co-writer Nemoto also has a history with Bones, credited with series composition on the Towa no Quon film series from 2011, perhaps one of the studio's most overlooked projects.

Hori Motonobu is directing the series - a recent repeat collaborator with the studio, having directed Super Crooks and co-directed Carole and Tuesday alongside Shinichiro Watanabe. Given the latter of those two, his involvement bodes well for Metallic Rouge, which - at least based on the marketing - seems razor-focused on the two women leading the story.

For anime fans even vaguely familiar with the above-mentioned artists and their works, there might be a swell of excitement over this new series, and for good reason. The more one digs into the staff list, the more it feels like a who's who of great - if slightly eclectic - talent. Thus, it makes it all the more confusing as to why the anime's own previews seem a bit lacking.

Relying on Vibes

For starters, up to this point, we'd neglected to point out the character designer: none other than Bones founding member Toshihiro Kawamoto. He is a legendary member of the industry, responsible for the character designs of Golden Boy, Gundam 8th MS Team, Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, and Kekkai Sensen, just to name a few. It's just that while the costume designs of Metallic Rouge look quite stylish and cool, the characters themselves seem a bit plain.

The way the characters move looks nice enough and there's a lot of subtle body movement that adds character, especially when Rouge and Naomi are on-screen together. However, the faces lack a lot of the personality that one expects from a seasoned designer like Kawamoto. Perhaps this issue might have been abated were the audience more invested in the characters and their story but, once again, that aforementioned paragraph is all there is to the story as of now.

Metallic Rouge's marketing is contingent on vibes, and make no mistake, it's not unsuccessful in that regard. For one thing, the small samples of the music sound incredible thanks to composers Taisei Iwasaki, Towa Tei, and Yuma Yamaguchi. Iwasaki is perhaps best known for Kekkai Sensen and, as for Yamaguchi, fans of last season's Undead Murder Farce will agree that his music was a defining part of that story's success.

Next, the brief flashes of the world in which this story takes place are perhaps the most tantalizing thing about the project. The tech noir aesthetic is strong and the way the neon-drenched city streets retain a sort of jazzy nostalgia evokes the same kind of wanderlust that one could find watching Kekkai Sensen. While Rouge's facial expressions might underwhelm, the artwork and color design across the board look stellar.

Given that this is a Bones series, good action is expected and almost always guaranteed, but Metallic Rouge is unique in one particular regard. It is the first TV anime created at Bones Studio E, the fifth and most recent of the company's five animation houses. E's previous and only works were the Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution film trilogy.

While those films are somewhat divisive, it's hard to argue that they weren't gorgeous from the trailers alone. The thought of Bones doing high-concept, effect-heavy mecha action again - on the big screen no less - is incredibly exciting. Studio E came out of that trilogy quite adept at mechanical action, something Minami calls their "defining trait."

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about Metallic Rouge, from the staff to the music to its promises of incredible action. The more one delves into it, the more this show does feel like a fitting way to celebrate this studio's incredible history; an original story, crafted with care. It's just that the trailers don't do the best job of garnering interest, especially with the series only a little over a month away. Here's hoping the final product doesn't suffer because of it.

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Source: Full Frontal, Metallic Rouge anime's website