M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane

In a dark void known as the Lightless Realm, a group of children meet and bond, but are then separated and returned to their own dimension. Years later, these children reunite to fight "Admonitions," monsters that originate from the same void, using robots known as "Vess." However, their efforts only slow the ever-encroaching and expanding Lightless Realm from infecting their world.

Their lives take a drastic turn when a new foe appears in the form of a "Corpse," whose song is rumored to kill any who hear it within nine days. The "Corpse Song" is heard by the group, and with this, they each begin to pull away and become caught up in their own personal problems—ultimately threatening the fate of humanity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Isaku, Heito Main

Murase, Ayumu Japanese

Hazaki, Emiru Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Saginuma, Akashi Main

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu Japanese

Izuriha, Sasame Main

Koiwai, Kotori Japanese

Yuzuki, Mahmu Main

Fukuen, Misato Japanese

Maki, Minashi Main

Kakihara, Tetsuya Japanese

Kasumi, Raika Main

Yahagi, Sayuri Japanese

Namito, Iwato Main

Maeno, Tomoaki Japanese

Izuriha, Tsugumi Supporting

Koiwai, Kotori Japanese

Natsuiri, Sadami Supporting

Tobita, Nobuo Japanese

Matsumura, Shunsuke Producer

Yoshida, Kento Producer

Okamura, Takema Assistant Producer

Kawamura, Hiroshi Assistant Producer

Reviews

Oct 7, 2014

novahyou

Recommended

First of all, I'd like to say that the key to truly enjoying M3 is having an interest in a series that not only showcases sci-fi/fantasy elements but also has the tendency to go deep into the characters' psyche, exploring their personalities and how they came to be like that. I'd go beyond that and say it's not so much about the story but the journey these people go through and the very simple yet effective and truthful message it’s trying to convey about what connecting with others truly means.

Story 8/10

It starts really slow and sligthly confusing. I'd say this is the main downfall ... for the series, for those that do not find something about it that makes them want to stick with it. The first ten or so episodes are the weakest ones, but they ARE indeed important to develop the background and offer a starting point to the characters. At the end everything comes together nicely.

Art 7/10

I personally found the character designs appealing and distinctive enough. It handles its (I'm guessing) low budget well enough, but it lacks dynamic action, fluid animation or a visually captivating direction. But it gets the job done.

Sound 6/10

The music is good, not spectacular. Voice acting is very good, though you could find a particular character hamming it up from time to time.

Character 9/10

This is where the series shines. It's quite likely that you won't like some characters from the beginning, but them being initially unlikable really works positively for the series since their evolution and reasons for being how they are makes sense in a satisfying way.
Not all of them are particularly interesting, but the crucial ones are. By the end of it, they're people you want to cheer for.

Enjoyment 8/10

This is a very subjective area; I personally found myself enjoying the series more as it went on. It started pretty mediocre and confusing but as the episodes went by it found the right balance. In the end, the good taste left by the second half overcame the bitterness of the first one.

Overall 8/10

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi in many areas: books, movies and anime. In this last form of media in particular, I have enjoyed wildly different stuff, from Gundam to Getter Robo, with series like Votoms or Dougram in the middle. M3 has little resemblance to the real or super robot genre: it's definitely in line with what most of Evangelion talks about, but developed in a much simpler, easier to grasp manner. It's more akin to mystery series in which the characters' motives are the center, such as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

It was a pleasant surprise and I'm sad to discover most people did not find it appealing enough to stick with it until its final episode. What's more it was not commercially successful at all. While it clearly had flaws (slow start; mediocre production values; excessive use of flashbacks; an underdeveloped character), the positives outweigh the negatives and it offers a satisfying story with a clear finale and a more thoughtful focus.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 3, 2014

Nasty001

Mixed Feelings

Ok, so I've just finish watching this 24 episode anime and quite frankly I have mixed feelings about it, so I'm gonna cut to the chase and just present my ratings for this anime:


Story: Decent 4.

The problem with the story was that it has too much in it that the plot and the story-line itself wasn't easily understood, especially when it has a mixture of sci-fi mixed with supernatural, in my opinion the two genres are like oil and water that don't mix, it also has a combinations of "SOMEWHATS" and SOME SORTS"and I do mean "SOMEWHATS." First of all there is that somewhat of ... a harem combine with a some sort of yaoi, there is that somewhat supernatural beings represented by "Corpse" vs the some sort of sci-fi which was represented by the MA-Vess. There was also that somewhat of melodrama combine with some sort of action. Also the plot was obviously a recycle of "Guilty Crown" and "Black Bullet" which was given a little bit of a tweaking to make it look like it was different, but even so the story is still decent enough.


Art: Very Good 8.

I really like the CGI that was incorporated into the anime especially when it involves that Corpse thing and the MA_Vess, very fancy but very good indeed.

Sound: Mediocre 5.

Ok, as far as I'm concern, I just don't have any comment about the voice actors who did the voices of the characters here, as for the opening and closing, I really don't have much to comment about it, sorry.


Characters: Good 7.

At first it was one of those high-schooler who would be doing jobs that should be done by grown ups, but then again, as the anime progresses, you would forget that the pilots of those so called "MA-Vess'" were high-school kids, but what really prompt me to give this section a 7 was the intensity of them character's portrayal as they not only struggle to do their jobs to protect the population outside the "Lightless Realm" but also the conflict they encounter and their own personal feelings and fears that they themselves will end up as LIM's. But the one who really impacted me was Natsuiri, yes, it was that antagonist that really impacted me, not because I admire him, but rather, he is the kind of character that I really wanna see get turned into a necrometal, and seeing his demise is what convinces me to give this section its score.


Enjoyment and Overall: Fair 6.

For this anime to be 24 episode long was really very long, in fact nearly half of it was created to serve as a mere cliffhanger, ok, I really do enjoy watching it but only barely since my enjoyment stems for my desire to see how Natsuiri will have his demise also, we're left with other questions such as to how on earth did a small village where Tsugumi, Sasame and Minashi lived where able to obtain that "Corpse" thingy? Also, anime director Junichi Sato forgot to mention as to what "LIM" stands for ok so we know it is a kind of dark metal that powers the MA-Vess' and produces a sort of resonances with the pilot, but what was the science behind it? Also, how did Tsugumi survive in the 'Light-less Realm" for too long and didn't even bother to look for his friend and her sister Sasame while she is has that so called Corpse in her command, also why did she stayed in the "Light-less Realm." These question alone form a plot hole that basically kept me from giving this anime's enjoyment and overall a high score, so opinion wise, I just limit it to a 6 and I think that's fair enough.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 23, 2020

OffColfax

Not Recommended

This was something I had grabbed because I wanted to watch another mecha show. (And it was recommended from the Bokurano page, so yet another downvote for MAL recommendation givers.) I really should have grabbed almost anything else.

The characters are about as unlikable as possible, and the stilted and awkward dialog does nothing to help with that. I was actively rooting for the big bad to kill all of the kids off, but only after the grownups had been piled up and burned alive so at least some of the screaming would actually have a purpose behind it. The plot is inane technobabble stirred ... into misunderstandings and flavored with characters repeating things already mentioned over and over again.

And the art and animation was just... Ugh. I understand that things will be poorly lit when a major part of the action takes place inside an area called the Lightless Realm, but a predominantly black color scheme doesn't help at all when you are trying to see what is going on with the action. The character design is generic and bland, the animation has more issues than the New York Post, and the CGI is about as believable as the anime as a whole. Which is to say not at all.

This is not an enjoyable anime. Period. It failed at any aspect of storytelling, fight choreography, and giving a reason to care about the characters. For a psychological mecha drama with major action pieces, that is a death blow. I would recommend that this be placed on the pile of titles that should be forgotten about. Not the pile of titles to be avoided at all costs, as that only encourages masochists like me to pick it up, but just forgotten about. Hopefully that will keep people from ever finding it again.

Recommendation level: Not even worth a hatewatch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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