M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane

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.

I do not know why people dislike this anime, or the amount of hate I get from people watching this, maybe because this is pretty slow-paced, so most watchers didn't continue to bother watching this series. First of all I'd like to say that watching this anime episode by episode will only bore us, and that's why I think most people dropped this show. Maybe they don't find it appealing enough, or because of the slow start, forgettable characters, and the mediocre animation. So I advise everybody who plans to watch this anime : WATCH THIS STRAIGHT.

The story is good, the synopsis explains that ... this anime has potential, and the plot itself is indeed interesting. This anime has VERY slow pacing, you will find quite boring for the first few episodes(boring until episode 12 I guess?), but you will get hooked by it. One thing that I didn't like in the story was the concept of mechas being used, it didn't fit really well with the story. This anime also brings deep messages to its viewers, but it doesn't convey well straight to the point and can't connect its meanings to the viewers completely. With some deep messages it brings, this anime has psychological undertones and contains some explicit scenes which may not please others.

The characters were really good, we can see leaps of character developments as we go on with the show. At first they seem pretty forgettable, but they kinda grows within you. That feeling when your first impression on a character changes, you will like them and eventually root for them. Some supporting characters may be dull, one-dimensional, and their actions do not make sense, but you can see their developments as the show goes on. Also, one thing that I also find it interesting is that this anime isn't afraid of losing its characters, characters that didn't stand out at first evolved and developed pretty well(especially Mhamu), character interactions, some characters were just so crazy and insane(the mad scientist LOL) but their presence is really essential for the plot.

The art, for a 2014 anime, was quite cheap and a little bad. Maybe the studio were on a tight budget for producing a 24-episode anime or something, but it still fits the atmosphere of the show. The use of dark colors really sets the dark mood of the show. Character designs were fine, the mecha is also good I think, having consistent animations and distinctive designs. CGIs were satisfying enough to entertain our eyes throughout the show.

For the sound, which includes its music and sound effects, were pretty good. I really find the openings catchy, the first one "Re:Remember" by May'n fits with the sad tone of the show and reminds us of a beautiful sorrow, the second opening was "Replica" by Sakamoto Maaya, was really catchy, giving us hints of how the series will end but the animation of the anime spoils its viewers.
"Ego-izm" by lalalarks is not that appealing for me...at first. But eventually the song, piano keys, and its music gets stucked in your head. The second ending song "SABLE" by nano was my favorite, it really conveys the action genre of the series. There is only a small set of soundtrack, but it still gets the job done. Character voice acting were just average, they didn't stand out.

As for my personal enjoyment, the first few episodes are not that good, to the point of being boring or even bad, but I assure you watching the episodes continuously can at least change on your point of view to this anime. For an action anime this has less action, but more on character interactions for summing up the plot, but it's still good. For those who dropped this, give this a chance.

Overall, I give this anime a 9. It think it deserves some praise, the show was pretty successful itself in terms of adaptation, it's really sad, as the anime itself didn't do anything bad to be hated, that people dropped this, this isn't even worse than other mecha animes out there, so give this a shot.

If there is one thing that drived me trough this anime it was it´s deep and intresting story, truly one very unique and for me the first of it´s kind.
Its backstory and premise is fantastic although unfortunatly the characters of the show does now support and help the story very much, except for Akashi and the crazy researcher wich name i forgot. The characters just feels like very onesided paths that you walk without any change in the way you walk.
They felt dull, boring and sometimes it felt like the atmosphere around certain characters where just outright emotionless or depressed.
The action sequences is very ... weak considering it is a mecha, action anime.
Although i didn´t find it particullary let down considering there where some really intresting enemies. But this is something i think was made to fitt in more with the story although they could have done a better job at the fighting side of things. The anime has a lot of psychological and supernatural elements wich fitts in really good with the story wich keeps it interesting and exciting.

As an all round review i would give it a seven but the strong part and possibly the only strong part is the story wich is a nine for me. the rest is about averge . If you like mecha animes that doesn´t focus much on the action but on the story or if you like thrilling animes with supernatural and psychological thems to it then this is worth a shot.

M3 Sono Kuroki Hagane is a surprisingly very good psychological oriented mecha anime set in a dark atmosphere.

- NO SPOILER -

The anime focuses on a team of young pilots using giant machines to discover and explore a mysterious dark and disrupted zone appearing on earth.

While brutal action packed fights were expected, surprisingly this anime delves very deeply in the emotion and psychology of the characters. Another surprise is that this aspect is treated with real intelligence and maturity. The psychological issues are addressed gradually with subtlety, finesse and poetry.

I would like to stress this, not only as an anime fan but also ... as a recognized psychiatrist. Indeed, too much often, many anime involving teenagers/young adults have characters who are emotionally very immature or borderline: they express emotion with excessive shyness (like a 3 years old child), seduction with brutal shift of demeanour, love with extreme awkwardness, sexual attraction by needless hysterical behaviour and empathy with a useless or strange distance. For instance, Stein Gates or even the famous Evangelion are suffering from this bizarre syndrome. Maybe it is because many anime are made for otakus by otakus? Maybe it is some kind of failed humorous attempts? Maybe it is a social phenomenon in Japan? You name it.
On the contrary this is where M3 Sono Kuroki Hagane is shining here. Relationship and bound, conscious and subconscious issues, friendship and love are expressed in a very thoughtful and sensitive manner. It is the strong point of this anime as well as its dark tone, sinister and yet beautiful ambiance.

Lastly, where some anime try to cloud their lackluster, inconsistent or nonexistent story or characters behind a mask of so called abstractionism or art (like FLCL), this anime is not pretentious at all, it is very accessible and clear but it will let you interpret some parts or symbols as well.

Therefore in M3, there is enticing character development through the episodes as we understand the ties between them. It is easy to feel empathy with the characters precisely because their thoughts, reactions, struggles seems very real and profound. As a consequence the story and plot unfold in a slow paced fashion. There is some action involving mecha but is clearly not the main point of this show.

General design mix 2D drawing featuring acceptable animation with 3D mechas and creatures. The sinister creatures as well as the deranged world are an interesting and attracting creation.

Japanese dubbing is agreeable, with all the voices fitting very well the personality of each character.

Overall, this anime is a pleasant surprise. A very sensitive, mature and intelligent mecha adventure with a dark tone featuring excellent story or character development and yet very accessible. I strongly recommend it whether you like the mecha genre or not.

It will be a short review:
I watched this a few monthes ago while I did see a bad rating for the score of the anime I don't see any explanation as to why (only one review tries and has a bad score)
If you want to watch this anime for action skip
If you want to watch it for a realistic story ( on the technology point of view) skip
To be blunt it goes well in depth on a psychological side, the characters if not too complex ( which would make the anime totally uninteresting because nothing would justify it, "normal" people don't have a really ... deep personality ( not as much as some seems to believe ) but they do have one which can't be seized whole in one smooth movement ) are well written and following them and their reactions is interesting the backstory is bit by bit discovered and marked the people they are "now"
I think that's all the end was pleasant but not amazing

If I want to describe M3, I will say, it is “everything is dark, mess up and fully depressed” kind of anime, but as you follow through each episode, you will gain some insight about each character. M3 is kind of an anime which focus more about the characters personality, their past event, their personality, their perspective, and their characteristic, which is not many anime didn’t go to this route.

One might say, this anime is dark and depressing which leads for those who watch it will ask themselves to continues watching the series or not. And this is true by the way since I have ... done go through that experience. What can I say, the story has a slow progress and complicated at the start but somehow in the end, the pieces of events eventually connect together.

M3 is an anime which show you each main character’s story as they interact to each other in depressing way and it not just one but many occasion. While they fighting for humanity, you can see conflict between good and bad is not the main point of this series. As you follow the series, you might want to argue about specific main character who got many spotlight such as Akashi, but the other character also do have their impact in main story which is good but in depressing way(again). The character development also has a slow start at first, but you can see the struggle of each main character to support each other even you will have sympathy for antagonist character.
The animation of this is somehow average and I don’t expect high and fluid animation since the focus of the show is not about the fighting scene and character details. But, the series do have a good CGI for the mecha suit especially when they fight the Admonitions. Other than that, it pretty much okay.

The OST has many depressing song in it which is suit with the anime. The arrangement of the soundtrack is also average and not much active since the theme is dark (again). Once again, I didn’t expect Nano to contribute the theme song for the series and that is one of the reason I keep watching it.

Verdict:

M3: Sono Kuroki Tetsu is a good anime with nice dark theme and good character development. Maybe the series is not for anyone since I heard many negative reviews from audience, but I do believe the studio did a good job showing us how they handle the dark theme successfully. If you are a person who can be patient with this genre and story, then this show might be one of your watch list of anime.