Mars Red

In the year 1923, a vampire crisis takes Tokyo by storm. Provoked by the illegal trade of "Ascra," an artificial blood source, the population of vampires begins to rapidly increase within the city. Under orders from Lieutenant General Sounosuke Nakajima, the Special Forces Unit 16 gathers vampires within the military to create a new undercover vampire-hunting unit known as Code Zero.

Leading the unit is Colonel Yoshinobu Maeda. Responsible for locating the source of the Ascra trade as well as capturing and killing vampires, he is pressured into producing fruitful results amidst the growing criticism that threatens to decommission the unit. To make matters worse, the vampires within the unit are struggling to grasp their newfound powers and identities now that they are no longer human. With the world at odds against them, the of Code Zero must find a way to curb the crisis or otherwise fall victim to their own demonic natures.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Suwa Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Maeda, Yoshinobu Main

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Kurusu, Shuutarou Main

Hatanaka, Tasuku Japanese

Takeuchi Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Yamagami, Tokuichi Main

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Deflot ing

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Nakajima, Misaki ing

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Glen, Rufus ing

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Tenmaya, Shinnosuke ing

Kokuryu, Sachi Japanese

Shirase, Aoi ing

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Inoue, Kentarou Producer

Terakawa, Hidekazu Producer

Iijima, Emiko Producer

Reviews

Jun 28, 2021

ExemplarCayman

Recommended

This review contains an optional spoiler section at the end.

- How does it end?
- It’s a tragedy.

One word: cinematography and theatrics.

If someone told me before I have seen Mars Red that it’s a TV anime entirely drawn in cinemascope size (2.35:1), my first thought would’ve been, “Well, that’s pointlessly pretentious. Not like a TV anime is shot on 70 mm film and meant to be projected on cinema screens.” Boy, am I happy to be wrong on this one. Every other scene of Mars Red is an absolute masterpiece of shot composition, properly utilizing the wide aspect ratio for grand panoramic views and pensive camera ... pans. It wouldn’t be weird to think you’re watching Quentin Tarantino’s work, so skillful the presentation on the pure craftsmanship level is.
And it’s not like I’m implying this is a case of style over substance - in Mars Red style IS substance. The show is adapted from a stage play, and it wears that origin on its sleeve. The cast can’t walk three steps without quoting some classical drama (the fact that several of them are actual thespians helps). And then the storylines of the early episodes mimic the very same classics in a deliberate, ostentatious manner. So the wide shots don’t just exist for the sake of pretty pictures - they are contributing to the show’s extravagant theater-like atmosphere and to its exclusively visual storytelling, the much-vaunted “show, don’t tell” principle, which many like to use as a buzzword but few appreciate when it’s seriously put to practice, as lack of spoonfeeding makes the story cryptic and genuinely hard to follow (I had to watch the first episode twice to fully understand what transpired there - and I saw many not only completely miss the ENTIRE story of that episode but also miss even the fact that they’re missing something - but more on that later).
Also, it’s about vampires, which I hope is something I don’t have to explain because any self-respecting vampire fiction fan should understand that vampires means pathos and pathos means vampires.

Do note that the show has two distinct “phases”, and so far I’ve been talking about its first half. The second half ditches the episodic structure and the theater homages in favor of a single main plotline, but what it loses in aesthetics gets compensated twofold in weight of its dramatic writing - Episode 6 is a particularly profound highlight.
Here, I ought to elaborate on the show’s setting and how it contributes to the tone and the narrative. It’s Taishou Era (the early 1920s) Japan - no doubt the consequence of Kimetsu no Yaiba’s success, that nonetheless has more significance than just being a marketing gimmick. The Taisho Era was the golden age of the Japanese Empire - coming out of World War I on the winning side with massive territorial gains and ushering the decade of prosperity, progress, modernization, and social change. It’s not an accident that the male characters of Mars Red are manly military men with iron-cast jawlines, nor is it one that the female characters are plucky, go-getting “modern girls” (the Japanese name for flappers). There couldn’t be a better stage for a theatre-inspired story.
So, what the central plotline of the second half of the show does on that stage is denouncing the militaristic ethos birthed from that decade (embodied by the character of Lt. Gen. Nakajima) - the ethos responsible for railroading the Japanese Empire into World War II and spelling its demise. Furthermore, the main plot is counterpointed by personal dramas of the cast playing out amidst the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 - another defining event of the Taishou Era.

Returning back to the “show, don’t tell” point. Honestly, at times what this series does feels more like “don’t show, don’t tell.” Important plot developments happen off-screen between episodes, with the audience left to figure out wtf had happened only by the breadcrumbs in characters’ dialogues and reactions to the aftermath of those. It’s like the show was purposefully trying to filter out the “plot” audience that watches anime to see if aliens will explode the earth with a blue laser - instead of watching it for character arcs, exploration of themes, or audio-visual presentation - as figuring out the plot here is a nigh-impossible task. This is the first series since The Tatami Galaxy that feels intentionally designed for rewatches. The first rewatch is a much more enjoyable experience than the initial watch-through - and I don’t mean this as an abstract impression, but as my actual first-hand experience. I have rewatched the entire show before it finished airing to confirm for myself if things that I felt were unexplained/plot holes actually were those things - or if I just missed/didn’t get it the first time. Rest assured, it’s the latter - not a single question about the plot points, character motivations, etc. that I had on my first watch was left unanswered after a rewatch. So, yeah, look at the screen when watching anime.
Still, don’t expect a Madoka-tier perfectly-structured, easily-digestible screenplay. Watch this show only if you’d like to appreciate some amazing cinematography and submerge yourself in some stageplay pathos. I really don’t have all that many words to describe those, as it’s kinda a misguided effort trying to describe with words what’s so beautiful about the sunset over the ocean - one just has to see it.

11/10 (on a 15-point scale) for “historical drama that epitomizes the art of visual storytelling.”

P.S. Below is a list of plot points established in the first episode purely by visual/indirect storytelling. The list is meant for those who have seen the episode. It’s there for a case study of how a “deep” anime actually looks like.









*Spoilers begin here*

1) Misaki was Maeda’s fiancee. I’m not explaining this one, it should be obvious to anyone who looked at the screen when watching this episode.

2) Maeda has recently lost his dominant right arm and wears a prosthetic. You can see him struggling to write readable kanji with his left hand around 00:50, as well as generally using only his left hand for everything while holding his right arm in an unnaturally stiff way. Later, around 10:35, Lt. Gen. Nakajima apologizes for summoning Maeda three days earlier [than his medical leave ends] and inquires about the arm, to which Maeda replies, “I can use it.”

3) Misaki’s first name is revealed around 11:15 by a case file, and then her full name is spelled on a letter Maeda holds around 12:45 - and it’s Nakajima Misaki. Meaning, she is a relative (an educated guess would be - a daughter) of Lt. Gen. Nakajima. When Nakajima instructs Maeda to dispose of her if she is not usable, and makes a point that personal feelings should not interfere with the duty - he talks to himself just as much as he talks to Maeda.

4) Defrott is a vampire and he’s the one who turned Misaki. She was mortally wounded in an accident that happened in his presence, and expressed regret about missing the chance to show her performance of Salome to Maeda - and so Defrott gave her a second chance. Defrott reveals his and Misaki’s motives in a conversation with Maeda around 15:30, and then with Salome quotes around 17:30.

Bonus: the title Mars Red alludes to the god of war and the color of blood - it’s a story ing vampires as a military force. Something tells me that the Venn diagram of people that got this meaning on their own and people that disliked this show is nil.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by ExemplarCayman (52)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Aug 4, 2021

SenpaiMars-Barz

Mixed Feelings

I honestly don't at all see how people enjoyed this for more than 3 episodes. The production value is there but everything else is just terrible. My itch for Taisho Era stuff was the only thing that got me through this dumpster fire.

The story and characters are especially terrible...well...the story could have been "fine" at least if the characters were well written. I cannot tell you the name of a single character because they really had absolutely zero buildup in the story. You do not get to know ANYONE. There are minimal backstories and minimal setup. You see characters rise and fall before ever even ... getting to know them. Everyone seems to have this intricate relationship but because of how the story is told you do not get this intimate understanding.

As it is the big bad villian of this series has absolutely zero backstory other than his goals just being a power trip. They wanted to make this deep but just did not write the story that way.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by SenpaiMars-Barz (8)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Jun 30, 2021

Resident_Green

Not Recommended

Pretentious, chaotic, and lazily open-ended. And pure relief when I managed to finish the last episode.

∞ Who is Mars Red aimed at? Definitely not an average anime follower.
I doubt that even folks drown to niche shows are going to find Mars Red charming. It's very theatre-heavy and into the most confusing way of storytelling. Don't get me wrong. I love me some mental challenge, but that lack of explanations would frustrate even the most chill person.
Those with a degree in English literature could be the ones to enjoy this, but even there I'm not so sure. I still believe that anime isn't ... all that deep.

∞ Why so low score? Confusing world. Dull characters. Nonexistent purpose to the story.

World. The more you get into it, the harder it is to figure stuff out. Especially after the major event that throws the world setting on its head. After that, conflicting pieces of information and no answers are the norms. Also, unnecessary time jumps further challenge your ability to piece unexplained narrative turns.

Characters. They all have undeveloped goals and predictable roles in the story. I would be hard-pressed to call any of them relatable or compelling. Initially, Maeda Yoshinobu had the most interesting character concept - a man whose sheer force of will made him stronger than any supernatural being. Sounds amazing, right? Yet he is criminally underused and his impact at the ending is...confusing and infuriating.

Vision. There is no genuine sense of purpose behind anime. Some vamps need to work hard to save their humanity, and some lost it. Vamps are truly fragile creatures. Well-intentional extremism never leads to great solutions in practice. That’s it. The end.

∞ Is there anything salvageable? Of course, but it's not worth to watch the whole season for it.
Designs of background and characters are far from generic and anime is highly atmospheric at moments. Some shots from the first couple of episodes had movie quality to them.
The ending song is great and is a clever way to tell the background story of one of the characters.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Resident_Green (15)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Hidden Gems That Might Just Blow Your Mind Part 2

by spiritdudegamer

50 Entries · 19 Restacks

vampires 🦇

by grrrlsrevolution

41 Entries · 51 Restacks

Gray Hair, Don't Care, Let's Start a Life Beyond Retirement—The Oji-san (Old Man) Odyssey To a Total Dad Bod Domination!

by section9necrosis

50 Entries · 61 Restacks

North American Anime & Manga Releases for March

Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for March. Week 1: March 1 - 7 Anime Releases Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? Bloom (Is the Order a Ra...read more

Mar 3, 2022 11:25 AM by Discuss (2 comments)

Spring 2021 Simulcast List [Update 4/19]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime acquired for simulcast release during the Spring 2021 season. Anime series licensed for home video rel...read more

Mar 29, 2021 11:26 AM by Discuss (54 comments)

	Poll: KANLen09 - Apr 19, 2021	63 replies	by »» Apr 21, 3:38 PM
	Poll: KANLen09 - Apr 5, 2021	66 replies	by »» Apr 21, 2:39 PM
	Poll: Stark700 - Mar 29, 2021	185 replies	by »» Apr 21, 2:28 PM
	Poll: KANLen09 - Jun 28, 2021	54 replies	by »» Aug 31, 2024 7:25 PM
	Poll: KANLen09 - May 10, 2021	47 replies	by »» Sep 23, 2023 9:21 AM