This series continues to intrigue me, for some reason. This episode was clearly meant to flesh out the concept of “Metal”, now that the introduction is finally over. Knowing the director, and the fact that this is an anime-original story, just like Chevalier, I think we can expect lots of building up in the first half, that’ll cleverly be used in the second half of this series.
Still, even though it’s building up, this series still manages to remain interesting due to its concepts, and the fact that it didn’t play all of its trumps in the first episodes. In this episode, while the person in question who has been trapped inside the Metal isn’t that relevant to the story, this episode does offer a lot of new things about the metal, and finally things become a bit clear, as to why Metal turned so important. It’s not only used for things like power plants, but civilians can also use it. In this case, a salaryman uses it to escape from reality and be surrounded by loads of beautiful woman.
The problem is that this episode a lot of complicated monologues, so it was pretty hard to understand what the assistant of this salaryman was trying to say. Apparently, he was quite an important person, yet at the same time he remained a regular guy due to his sexual desires. If I understood correctly, then he was inside the metal when the power went down on the island (I guess that the cyber-divers used a emergency back-up power-system to enter the power plant, back in episode 2), and his brains went down. Later, the corrupted data seems to have turned him into one of the women, and this same data tries to affect Haru, as he tries to get the guy back. Minamo then proves to be the mystery-element in this series, when she somehow manages to connect to Haru from outside, and apparently they can reach each other no matter what’s happening.
There also seems to have been a bit of influence from outside. They probably made alterations to Zouhen(the salaryman)’s data, to change him into a woman and prevent him from re-entering. I’m not sure about their motives, though. Heck, I couldn’t catch anything that looked like it explained this.
This episode also introduces the two characters in the OP who make strange faces, along with Minamo and Haru. I was surprised to find out that they’re both guys, (that big guy really looked like some GAR woman in the OP). On top of that, they seem to be brothers. The little guy seems to be a cyber-diver as well, and he failed to get back Zouhen earlier.
I also must say that this series has the most solid OP and ED this season. They really fit the strange nature of this series. With the heavy J-rock, combined with the strange images. I also like how the episode previews don’t spoil anything about the next episode, but instead provide an introduction to the concept of the next one. One reason why I often avoid next-episode previews on series is because you’ll never know when they’ll spoil you too much for the next episode. Especially Naruto was a heavy offender of this, though RD seems to use them very nicely.
It is surely a fresh and interesting series … the production values and art really help to make it more appealing … it is healthy to watch something different from time to timelike RD or Kaiba ( my list is filled with shonen anime .. i like them but they get on my nerves some times )
The most interesting question in my head regarding RD now is the reason Haru aged that much while others didn’t age like him ( the director for example ) .. also i wonder what was that red thing that attacked him under the water gave him that coma .. it looked like those data concentrations from the Metal … but the Metal wasn’t made yet at that time .. right ?.. and the hint that Haru might return to his normal age outside the Metal too .. aghhh … too many questions .. sigh .. gotta keep watching XD
Oh .. and i love the OP & ED too .. just feel the OP is somewhat short !!!
Just watched this episode subbed, and I’d really encourage you to re-watch this series with the subs as the dialogue gets really complicated at times! Here are the points I picked up:
– It’s not just Zhouen, but most citizens who use the Metal to experience every possible kind of orgasm
– The guy in the black coat isn’t Zhouen’s assistant, but his friend, and a member of the “Advisory Committee”
– People can purchase different “Metal Avatars” to use when they seek pleasure in the Metal, and Zhouen got one from this place called Hanamichi. Apparently female pleasure is more sustainable and far more pleasurable, hence Zhouen’s female form. Zhouen had asked the programmer that Souta arrested to add an illegal code into an existing Avatar, the simulation of a near-death experience in order to get higher stimulation, which is why he brain-downed when the power got cut.
– Haru was able to break out of the pseudo-death trap because his consciousness was much stronger than Zhouen’s.
Hope that helps clear things up a little What I really want to know is if there’s some trigger for Haru to assume his younger form, and whether his age in the Metal has any impact on his diving ability. Also, the whole implications of Kushima not aging – can they de-age Haru, does it mean nobody dies, how much of Kushima is actually original/human?? I’m eagerly waiting to see if the foreshadowing at the end of the episode will materialise later.
Anyways, I’m totally loving Spring 2008 so far! Probably the best season since I started watching anime.
Btw, does anyone here think Souta and Lt. Doujou from Toshokan Senso are quite similar??