People who drop anime immediately if they don’t understand it probably just lack patience to let it explain itself.
Summary:
- The first episode of Metallic Rouge, an original anime by Bones, was criticized by many viewers for being too confusing.
- It follows the traditions of older sci-fi anime and utilizes a “show, don’t tell” approach.
- It’s also just too early to drop the series without even letting it clear things up first.
Metallic Rouge is a new original anime by Studio Bones. After the first episode aired, comparisons to Blade Runner arose immediately, and they aren’t unprompted. A lot of fans complained about how confusing episode one was, though.
The confusion is understandable: viewers are immediately thrown into a world without much explanation. In a futuristic setting where androids and humans coexist, the anime seems to focus on action and political conspiracies — even if the full plot isn’t clear yet.
Viewers complain about confusing premiere
Some viewers were quick to drop or disregard the anime after the first episode. Without knowing the premise in advance, it’s nearly impossible to understand what’s going on. Even if you knew what it was going to be about, the actual questions still stand: who all these people are and why they are fighting.
Metallic Rouge is a fully original anime — meaning, it is not based on any source material. There aren’t any people to clue in the viewers who are confused, which naturally upsets some. The fact that it is confusing is arguably a good thing, though.
Metallic Rouge will probably reveal how the world works as it goes
The anime takes a clear “show, do not tell” approach, which is often praised by media critics. Showing how the world works without information dumps is considered a far better technique than just stating things outright.
Yes, the motivations of the characters are unclear yet, as is the overarching story. That doesn’t mean it’s not interesting to watch. The action is very well-animated, and figuring out what is actually happening can be interesting in its own regard, treating the anime as a mystery.
Some fans actually praised this approach, saying it reminds them of old-school sci-fi anime, which often offered a riskier approach to storytelling.
Criticizing anime for not explaining the entire setting is also a little bit silly. A lot of people also criticize anime where it spends a lot of time on infodumps, which leaves less time for actual content.
With worlds as complex as that of Metallic Rouge, it would be hard to avoid that trap — and so, an approach where the information is gradually revealed throughout the episodes is required.
Actually, it’s too early to judge
Overall, it’s just too early to dismiss the series based on Episode 1 alone. Otaku nowadays are way too impatient and want all the answers here and now, and as such, can’t really wait for them to be revealed slowly. This lack of attention is somewhat disheartening to those who actually enjoy series like that.
Besides, even if you don’t get what’s going on at first, perhaps it’s better to let the anime cook for a couple of episodes: no need to drop it immediately. If the plot threads come together in the end, it’s going to be amazing.