Studio Bones’ anniversary project, Metallic Rouge, recently released a new teaser trailer showcasing many of the hallmarks that fans have come to love over 25 years of the illustrious animation studio. Despite becoming defined in many ways by some of the biggest anime adaptations in Soul Eater, Mob Psycho, My Hero Academia, Bones’ president, Masahiko Minami says to the animation blog Full Frontal that the heart of the studio remains unchanged. Anime originals like Eureka Seven and the pairing of a female duo that takes on the world seen in Carole & Tuesday manifests again in Metallic Rouge:
“I don’t think it [our image] changed that much. We make an original anime every one or two years, and then there are also the adaptations. Of course, they’re always the big hits, but I wouldn’t necessarily say they’re more popular… I mean, a lot of people would say we’re “My Hero Academia’s Bones”, but to our core fans, we’re still “Space Dandy’s Bones”, “Carole & Tuesday’s Bones”, or “A.I.C.O’s Bones”, so you know…,” Minami says.
Yasushi Muraki (Eureka Seven Hi-Evolution 3) is now confirmed to be working on Metallic Rouge after the new teaser, but the interview with Minami makes clear he’s been there from the very beginning.
“Right now they’re on Metallic Rouge. Working on Eureka, people like Yasushi Muraki, who specialized in drawing robots and mechanical action, became central to studio E, to the point that it is now its defining trait.“
Bones is famously split into multiple sub-studios, whose structure Minami goes into more depth in the full interview. Studio E handled all of the Eureka Seven movies, but while that was full-on mecha-piloting, Metallic Rouge opts for mecha-style transformations, bringing it closer to another Bones work.
“Well, we’ve got Metallic Rouge coming, but I guess it’s closer to the “transforming hero” genre since the armors are human-sized. Xam’d: Lost Memories also involved such transformations. So there’s more of Kamen Rider and Sentai in those,” he states.
As previously announced, Yume Miyamoto (Nika, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury) will voice Rouge Redstar in the Metallic Rogue anime, and Tomoyo Kurosawa (Amiya, Arknights) will play Naomi Ortmann. Readers can find the full staff list here. The Chief Director is Yutaka Izubuchi (Space Battleship Yamato 2199 movie), who also serves as a series composer alongside Toshizo Nemoto (Log Horizon).
The official site describes Metallic Rouge:
A world where humans and cyborgs coexist – The cyborg girl Rouge was carrying out a mission on Mars along with her buddy Naomi.
That mission was “to kill 9 cyborgs opposed to the government”. The story of the cyborg girl Rouge’s battle begins.
Source: Full Frontal
Insert videos: Star Driver © BONES/STAR DRIVER Production Committee/MBS, Eureka Seven © 2005 BONES/Project Eureka, via Sakugabooru
Featured image: Metallic Rouge © BONES, Yutaka Izubuchi / Project Rouge