Opening Songs
OP 1 - Re:Remember (May'n)
OP 2 - Replica (Maaya Sakamoto)
Ending Songs
ED 1 - Ego-izm (La La Larks)
ED 2 - Sable (Nano)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Magic, Mystery
Episodes: 24
"M3: The Dark Metal" was just one of the shows that I wanted to end, so bad. As if that isn't an obvious enough opening statement, yeah, I don't like "M3", at least, not enough for me to "pass it off" as decent. There's quite a lot of things this anime does wrong, or poorly, or ridiculously. For whatever it does right, its completely written off by its wrongs. Don't get me wrong, "M3" does have its positives. The animation is pretty solid, mecha designs are great, and it has a nice voice cast...unfortunately, its just not very f**king interesting or intriguing. The times where you are supposed to get "the feels", you just feel awkward. The times where you are supposed to sympathize with the characters, you just don't. This anime at many times is just SO F**KING BORING. And overly serious, let's not forget that. There are NO redeemable characters, the story shows SOME promise at first but then derails into the most depressing, "I don't give a flying f**k" thing ever. Even if you are a mecha nut, there's just not much reason to get into this one, seriously.
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| Yeah, have a go at these characters. Not too interesting at first sight? Don't worry, they stay that way throughout. |
You can tell that they were trying to go all out here, JUST with the opening songs alone. "Re:Remember" is one of May'n's darker and more serious songs. Honestly, its great, and it fits the dark theme of the show, definitely one of my preferred songs from May'n to date. The second opening is "Replica" by Maaya Sakamoto, and yes, since it IS Maaya Sakamoto, I'll just go ahead and say that this is another great opening song. Its not her best work, but considering how long I've not heard a song from her, it does well enough.
They didn't even let up the ending themes. The first ending is Ego-izm by La La Larks. Its a decent song, but what's really amazing here is the 2nd ending theme, which is "Sable" by Nano. For one, its a pretty damn addictive and badass ending theme. It could easily take the place of an opening song, since I'd say that its about as good as the two opening themes.
Rating: 6.0/10
If you don't know, anything below a "7.0" by my standards is pretty bad. I'd call "7.0" a decent score, so a 6 to me is below average. As I said, its not like "M3" is totally unbearable, its not. I actually watched through the whole damn thing (why else would I be here), with a stoned expression throughout. Two major, glaring issues with this anime. One, the plot is just riddled with f**king bullshit. I just could NOT stand the way the anime gets rid of certain characters, and so conveniently at that....FOR NO REASON OR EXPLANATION. And the final showdown? Its nothing short of a gigantic "wtf", that's all I'm going to say. The mecha action is average, and the Corpse is a really cool enemy, but that's about it. The second major issue is the characters. Oh, my, god. I could not STAND most of these kids. Their personalities are so freaking plain and unnoticeable, just like paper and plastic. There was NOT a single interesting character here, and let's admit it, for the most of the anime, most of these kids are downright hate-able. I'm not even joking.
Akashi? WTF IS WRONG WITH THAT GUY MIDWAY THROUGH THE ANIME?! Emiru? Maamu? They only become likable after 75% of the anime, by then you've lost a good deal of interest. Heito? F**K HEITO. Sasame? Meh. Minashi? Oh god why (to avoid spoilers, I won't say a thing). Raika? Iwato? I'll admit, they were the only two I could stand, but their relationship progress was just way too weird.
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| Ah yes, I f**king despise these two. |
The main character is Akashi, aka generic high school kid with a sad past number 1592. Ever since the parting of his brother many years ago, he now lives on as a student with his brother's old girlfriend, Kasane. He is enrolled in a school meant to train mech pilots to combat against the darkness that has swallowed the world years ago. The departed will become demonic beings and wage attacks against humanity, which in turn, forces more of them to appear. The infected are plagued with black crystal, as the slowly devour their body. The best of research companies managed to locate 8 individuals who will be said to be able to save the world from this crisis. Without prior word or warning, Akashi is selected as part of these 8 to take part in a different training regime, where he, along with 7 others, have to bond with one another and pilot a new series of mechs. The first one is known as The Reaper, Argent, and it chooses Akashi as its pilot.
"M3:The Dark Metal" isn't fun, intense or very action packed. In fact, even as a semi-depressing kind of anime, it just lacks all the important factors to make it interesting, like good characters or at least a semi-functional plot. If you really want to watch this, just go for "Valvrave". Its more light hearted, its almost the same shit (high school kids, robots), it has more grand scale battles and a better story.
"M3" just doesn't please anyone, I'm surprised its actually getting a Vita release.
Peace.
