I wasn’t really expecting to get much out of Mars Red. The promotional posters were nothing special and its origins as a stage reading play didn’t exactly stir any particular feelings of excitement. Signal.MD has done a few worthwhile series, but nothing I’d gush about. The only thing it really had going for it was the strong cast of announced seiyuu and an ending theme by HYDE.
As it turns out, this meant I was in for a nice surprise.
Set in Tokyo in 1923, Mars Red follows a military unity by the name of ‘Code Zero’ tasked with taking down or assimilating vampires. The first episode introduces us to or protagonist—Maeda Yoshinobu (Suwabe Junichi)—who has returned to Tokyo after a long absence; Misaki (Takagaki Ayahi), an actress-turned-vampire he must deal with as he sees fit; and Defrott (Sawashiro Miyuki), Misaki’s mysterious co-actor who is quite obviously a vampire.
I’ve always quite liked the aesthetic of Taishou era Japan and Mars Red certainly captures it well. The animation budget doesn’t seem particularly high, but the unusual directing style and choice of cuts still lend it a fascinating quality. You can almost feel its stage play origins in the artistic choices: the dramatic reading of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé mirroring the episode’s tragedy; the silhouettes superimposed over the posters; the subtle delivery of details through character dynamics.
If it weren’t for the incredibly predictable1 twist, this would have been a near-perfect first episode in my book.
I do, however, worry when it comes to anime that try to set themselves up as deep and intelligent, particularly when it comes to referencing or paralleling classic works of Western literature. Mars Red certainly does more than a little of that, but at least it does so in manner beyond simply quoting lines to make characters seem smart. In that regard, it reassures me that this adapts a stage play rather than a manga or light novel, but not by much. The presence of a lookalike with an uncanny resemblance to our protagonist’s now-deceased fiancée2 leads me to fear this will be another of those stories wherein the original love is supplanted by another who matches a few of her superficial characteristics. I would very much like to be proven wrong, but for now, I’ll withhold judgement and hope.
It really helps that I like traditional takes on vampires. A lot.
