The roaring twenties are back in all their neon glory. Zeppelins fly around the art déco skyscrapers. On the surface, waiters in uniform serve the guests of an elegant club. Tonight, singer Sarah Fitzgerald performs on stage, while assassin Hell Giaion, who is half the Joker and half Vash the Stampede, steals a smuggled shipment on the street. But this is not the Earth: we’re on Mars, where the twin moons Deimos and Phobos shine through the pink mist. And the waiters and cleaners are Neans, humanoid androids who need a substance called Nectar to survive. But Nectar is also a powerful drug, and lowlifes can take advantage of the rules that stop Neans from defying humans to steal it from them. It is a dangerous world, which is why Miss Fitzgerald has taken under her wing a young, homeless girl whom she found sitting in the rain. But, after an armored robot called a Red Gladiator attacks her, Sarah and Giaion meet at a cathedral at midnight. As it turns out, they are not human, but part of the Immortal Nine, powerful Neans not bound by the usual rules. And the assassin who killed two of them already is coming for the rest.

Oh, boy. Those were some truly impressive visuals. With its neon nights, its shiny flying vehicles and its artsy robots, Metallic Rouge manages to bring to life a majestic sci-fi world somewhere in between the aesthetics of the Gilded Age and those of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Its characters wander around limousines and gigantic domes, classy bartenders and social unrest. The worldbuilding, which owes something to Blade Runner, left me very intrigued, and every character is an interesting riddle. Are the Neans good or evil, or is it more complicated than that? Why is our heroine hunting them? Are the Immortal Nine aliens, as some believe? What role will the Nectar play in the story? This makes up, I’d say, for the somewhat complicated way in which the plot was delivered to us, jumping around the city and piling up events in a very short timeframe. Once the mental connections are done, though, the story is quite compelling. The music is on point, the mysteries are cool, and the final battle feels meaningful, even tragic. In short, this show is right up my alley, and I really want to know where it goes.

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Metallic Rouge can be streamed on Crunchyroll.