Thursday 12 June 2014

M3 the dark metal - Episode 8

The sudden and unexpected discovery of a signal belonging to a recording device assumed lost within the Lightless Realm means that its time for the Gargouille crew to swing into action once again in spite of - and in fact because of - recent events.

As the two Reaper pilots, it's left to Akashi and Heito to take up the job of entering the Lightless Realm using Argent and Sable to retrieve this recorder before its data is corrupted forever - a mission which relies on them sticking close together and ensuring that the mental link between them prevents their psyches from being corrupted; rather a tall order given the recent history between the two of them. The mission at hand also proves to be one of particular importance for Akashi, as the recorded in question was lost due to the death of his brother when trying to retrieve it previously, leaving him treading in said brother's footsteps - a topic about which others seemingly have important, but ultimately unspoken, things to tell him about.


Unsurprisingly, things don't go all that swimmingly once the mission begins - Heito and Akashi's relationship could still be best described as frosty, as the pair soon find themselves split up within the Lightless Realm. Without one another's protection, both individuals find themselves assailed by an assault on their psyche, with Heito remembering some uncomfortable childhood memories while Akashi comes to realise the truth behind what drives his Argent and why he's the only one who can pilot it.

Once again, this week's M3 had some fairly interesting (if predictable at this point) content on offer, but its delivery remains as flat and dull as ever in terms of both story and animation. It remains nigh-on impossible to care about the show's characters given that they act like bland cardboard cut-outs or over-the-top cliches, and that robs those more interesting elements of the show of any real drama or passion - for a series that is trying to be dark, the harshest thing about it is the thought that it's going to go on for another four months.

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