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Metallic Rouge Episode 7 – Quick Summary
In Metallic Rouge Episode 7, “Appropriate Gear,” Rouge found herself incarcerated in a fluid-filled tube, with neither nectar nor chocolate. Meanwhile, Naomi informed Gene Junghardt that he had been relieved of his position, and that his previous Director, too, was in peril. Just what game is Naomi playing? Why did she suddenly start calling herself the Divine Facilitator? And what was Gene really up to?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Metallic Rouge Episode 7
Rouge couldn’t believe her eyes. Then she couldn’t believe her ears. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Sometimes a turn of phrase can say a lot about a character. Since we first met Aes, I’ve suspected he and Alice were the same person. Why else would we never see them together? And you might have noticed: they speak very differently.
Aes was very polite to Naomi and Rouge. One might almost say awkwardly nice. He seemed eager to please and very happy for the attention. Alice, on the other hand, was decidedly not nice. She acted dismissively and spoke with an edge bordering on cruelty.
In this episode, a new Immortal Nine showed up – Double-Headed Aerkos. When the figure transformed from armored to regular appearance, Rouge couldn’t believe her eyes. It looked like Aes! She even called out to him.
Eyes narrowed in disgust, the figure said (15:48), “You wanna get your eyes gouged out?”
“Huh? Alice?!” Rouge said, even more shocked (15:50).
Alice certainly has a way with words – and it’s so obvious that even Rouge can see it!
Favorite Moment from Metallic Rouge Episode 7
Hard to argue Alice’s logic. Maybe impossible. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Exploring Universal Concepts through Science Fiction
I’ve missed science fiction that explores basic concepts surrounding the human condition. That’s something I’ve enjoyed about Metallic Rouge. Episode five gave us some philosophical musings on freedom (and some screen time for Opera – I would not mind seeing more of her!). This episode gave us a character-driven verbal sparring match over another such topic.
In my favorite quote, I rather harshly joked about Rouge’s lack of intellectual horsepower. In all honesty, I don’t think she’s as unintelligent as Naomi pretends she is – and I’m not sure Naomi thinks Rouge is stupid, either.
It’s been hard to know what Naomi’s thinking, and it’s not getting any easier! But I don’t think she thinks Rouge is actually stupid. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
But making Rouge, an artificial human, less than hyper intelligent was a narrative choice that caught my attention. With characters like the Immortal Nine who are so intelligent that some of them have crossed into insanity, why is depicted as being Rouge less sharp?
Episode five’s discussion of freedom gave us a hint. This episode built on that foundation.
Rouge thinks she’s on the right side of things, whatever that might mean. In her mind, she’s been working with Gene to avenge her father’s murder. That was apparently her motivation for taking on the Immortal Nine.
Delivery: Rouge in Turmoil
Sarah Fitzgerald suggested that the Immortal Nine might not all be rampaging murders. Aes/Alice escalated that idea in this episode. Aes/Alice said that they just want to be left alone to live. They more or less demonstrated that on the cruise ship. Even in this episode, Aes wanted to partner with Rouge to assist with the idea that Neans could be free — not murder her.
But most interestingly, it seems that Aes/Alice was also on the run from Jill (Silvia), another member of the Immortal Nine. That seemed to strike Rouge right in the self-confidence. Rouge might not be the brightest, but she is absolutely not stupid. She heard what Aes/Alice said. She understood the implications. At length, she finally said that she trusted Gene to steer her right.
Aes/Alice lost their temper. “What do you think, personally?” the dominant Alice asked (19:13).
Alice’s questions hit Rouge hard. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Averting her eyes, unable to answer, Rouge asked, “Are you good guys or bad guys?”
“Are you a good guy for trying to kill us?”
After some more back and forth where Rouge tried to assert her goodness, Alice finally said (19:37), “To us, you’re definitely the bad guy, Rouge.”
I like science fiction that explores questions like this. We’re not going to solve world hunger or establish world peace with this level of dialogue. But you know what? We don’t need to. Playing with ideas like this is just fun. And even someone as cynical as I am likes to chill out and have fun sometimes.
What did you think of Naomi’s newly revealed title, Divine Facilitator? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to share in the comments!
Metallic Rouge Episode 7: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Metallic Rouge – Episode 7 discussion
- ARUM JOURNAL: Metallic Rouge Episode 7 Review – Immortal Nine Dumps
- RABUJOI: Metallic Rouge – 07 – Grinding Gears
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Metallic Rouge Episode 1: Crimson Is the Sound of Dawn
- Metallic Rouge Episode 2: Wander in the Labyrinth
- Metallic Rouge Episode 3: Marginal City
- Metallic Rouge Episode 4: Freedom and Phantoms
- Metallic Rouge Episode 5: Carnival Dances with Lost Memories
- Metallic Rouge Episode 6: Guest with No Name
- Metallic Rouge Episode 7: Appropriate Gear
- Metallic Rouge Episode 8: Nowhere House
- Metallic Rouge Episode 9: The Ones Who Visited
- Metallic Rouge Episode 10: Family Portrait
- Metallic Rouge Episode 11: Target Planet
- Metallic Rouge Episode 12: Mask Graveyard
- Metallic Rouge Episode 13: Code Eve
I know I mentioned somewhere, upon seeing Afdal be Verde and the other guy they met be the black Immortal, that I would not be surprised now if the reporter woman was another Immortal. And lo and behold!
I would say that Silvia is largely right in her motivations. What the humans are doing to the neans is wrong, plain and simple, but it is treated as perfectly right. Just like most of humanity’s other sins throughout history. When something so wrong is so entirely accepted, this can easily drive otherwise saintly people swiftly into the bowels of absolute madness. Silvia is right in that things are wrong, and she is right that changing it will be tumultuous and bloody. She’s wrong, though, for how far she wants to take things, to slaughter humans wholesale. That’s not really going to change anything, either. It’ll just be bloodshed for the sake of bloodshed.
The childlike nean who was leading a peaceful revolution was absolutely right, and it is a travesty that he was killed.
Speaking of, it is interesting that Rouge is actually the prime suspect in her “father’s” murder. Especially as we can take it as a given that her memories have already been altered in some way. I have theorized that she might actually be one of the Immortals, and the fact that her name is related to her color, like Viola, Verde, etc. lends more weight to that. Now, I am not sure if that’s it, or if she is somehow a copy of one of them, possessing memories from an original, which were altered when she was built. I mean, by my count, we have now met or at least seen eight Immortals – two killed before the series began, Viola, Verde, Silvia, Aes/Alice, the black one, the crazy one, and probably the man that the psycho met at the end of the episode. (and the fact that he is alive instead of burned up actually annoys me) That leaves one slot left, but we now have two candidates for the slot: Rouge herself, and the one that looks like her but apparently isn’t, given we saw a glimpse of her as well. So, did Rouge commit the murder she’s avenging, and was then captured and reprogrammed, or was that the Immortal of which she is a copy, making her a “tenth” immortal, if you will?
Naomi is apparently capable of both playing the great game of manipulation *and* involving herself as her own agent, getting her hands dirty. She’s this Divine Facilitator and was evidently partaking in the crime which she reported, which got Rouge arrested and Aletheia hamstrung. She’s stirred up the hornet’s nest, drawn hidden players out into the open, and I wonder if this role she fills is why the psycho couldn’t kill her, somehow. Hmmm.
“Just like most of humanity’s other sins throughout history. ”
We have a bit of a reputation, don’t we? But there is good news: we’re here and capable to talking about it — and, generally speaking, we don’t have to worry about getting murdered in our sleep because of it. That’s progress!
“When something so wrong is so entirely accepted, this can easily drive otherwise saintly people swiftly into the bowels of absolute madness.”
That’s exactly the problem that demagogues pose. They made it seem okay to do or say very bad things. The last several years of US politics is a “perfect” case study.
“So, did Rouge commit the murder she’s avenging”
The short answer is I have no idea. Honestly. At this point, I’m just along for the ride, and that’s okay. The show works for me on that level! But that would be a very interesting development, wouldn’t it?
I’m very, very curious to see who Naomi really is. If such a question even applies to this series!