Kikou Sennyo Rouran

Strange Steel Fairy Rouran is certainly a strange show. Written by Sho Aikawa also known as the writer for Neo Ragna, you have a rather unique style of storytelling with his works.

Its sorta hard to talk about the story of Rouran without spoiling major stuff, so I’d like to say its a story about corrupt governments and questionable ethics. About ancient dangers, and mysterious supernatural entities. About one’s identity, and about how appearances can be deceiving. If this is sounding a little too epic considering I only rated this show a 6/10, well you’d be right. Rouran has a lot of cool concepts, but ... the execution ranges from sometimes good to mostly ok or badly.

The characters are above average mostly, sometimes bad. In general the pacing of the show is I feel too fast paced to truly develop any of the characters well except perhaps Rouran, who is definitely the best character in the show, but that’s not saying much. I’d say she’s a “good enough” female mc, and she’s pretty cool most of the time. I wouldn’t say she ever rises too much above your average action girl though. Ultimately, the antagonists feel fairly simple too, so the story explores some concepts of corruption in leading bodies decently enough.

Animation is often above average, but never truly reaches above that. The art itself is consistent, and I am a big fan of some of the character designs and most of the mech/monster designs as well.

Music wise, the OP and ED while not really memorable, set the tone of the series well. The general soundtrack is atmospheric and even chilling at times, and is perhaps one of the stronger elements of the series. Voice acting is standard, outside of Hiromi Konno who I felt did a very good job with both Rouran’s soft, giddy and serious, heroic side.

Overall, Rouran is a solid enough show with a rare female main protag for a mecha show. It’s pretty short too being only about a cour long since every ep is only 10 min, so if you got some time to kill and like niche, odd shows than yeah I’d rec it.