#mars red summareview

[satohqbanana]

Mars Red EP 2: Til Death Do Us Part SummaReview

This episode is where we get to meet the real main cast (aside from Maeda, Aoi, and Defrot).

TL;DR: Maeda proves he is GOAT and SOFT, Kurusu's hesitance makes me think he's so incompetent, lots of awesome things about the main cast, and some neato lore about the vampires of the story. ALSO MISAKIIII MY LOVE (SOBS). The beauty of theater (and the lack of narration) is still there. This series will probably not spend a single episode without referencing anything about theater, so we better get used to it.

Actual summary/review:

We open with Maeda inspecting the remnants of what seems to be Misaki's cell. It's suspicious that, for a posthumous side character, Misaki still appears in the OP, and so does the Salome poster as Takeuchi walks in the city. Does it mean she's more involved than we initially think she is?

Aoi is funny, but I like Misaki better. I like to think Misaki fits in the series as a female lead, but Aoi serves as the naive POV and is also Kurusu's lover--AHEM, childhood friend, so I guess there's more reason for Aoi to stay. Also, Aoi is a journalist for a shoddy newspaper filled with lies and speculation (I mean, they sold Misaki as the actress who eloped with her lover, though as of EP 1 I think that's more or less "correct" in the angle of "she went and met with Maeda and they're probably in love with each other, probably"), so it's definitely interesting in the angle of "What do outsiders to the vamp situation think/do about this?"

Kurusu meanwhile... well, here he goes (again). He's in an absolute state of denial about his vampirism. It's his character in the series, and also his greatest personal conflict. It's also what makes him annoying for me, but it's what makes him "human", even if he is the least "human".

Yamagami, who tries to be a good model to Kurusu despite being the same seniority of vampirism and fails anyway because he's an unranked vamp who still has pride, is absolute perfection. Takeuchi, who's definitely embracing the mad scientist role with much gusto (and some responsibility), is also perfection. I love them both.

And love that tension between Yamagami and Maeda. Maeda really just had to rub salt in the wound by mentioning he's a colonel now and Yamagami, who used to be his colleague, is just a Major, AND an unranked vampire (Yamagami isn't totally useless as an unranked, but he still is an unranked). But, huh... Kurusu is a Lance Corporal. I must've skipped that in the manga in a hurry to consume Mars Red content.

Suwa is straight to the point. He's so bloodthirsty towards the vampires he's not allies with. Given his backstory as already explored in the manga, we can't really blame him. That said, his design is so dope. I love him too.

I can see art errors every time I pause. That said, I like how Suwa has blue eyes compared to everyone else in the unit (except Maeda, who definitely isn't a vamp like I first thought) who has red/brown.

I also love how they try to explain the (pseudo) science of being a vampire. Well, Takeuchi's someone who's dedicated to explaining and experimenting with it, but I just love how it's explained in a way that fits its setting. There's just enough info about it.

We get to see Tenmanya Shinnosuke, too! It's a pleasant surprise for me, because I was so sure from the previews I saw that we'd only see the main Code Zero squad this episode. Love his shop. It's so quirky! This isn't how I imagined it in the manga; it was more like a dark, ridiculous, antique shop-like in my perception. But here in the anime, it's bright, it's cute, it's filled with junk still, but it's definitely a nice place to find just about every single pleasantly weird things. I also love his multi-colored lamps! I absolutely love everything about this part of the episode.

We also get yet another play aside from Salome and Romeo & Juliet. This time it's from kabuki! Chuusingura's Okaru and Kanpei is referenced by the episode's antagonists, perhaps as a foil? Parallel? To Romeo and Juliet, except the villains of the week probably know more about JP theater than Western, so I guess that's why it's been referenced. I also wonder if the name of the rival of Tenmanya is Ascra. Or if it's the product. It's obviously not superior compared to having fresh blood, and it . The female vampire doesn't like it at all, though her lover insists on it.

Maeda is such a GOAT. His command over the troops is so confident. Then he goes to visit the spot where Misaki died. My heart bleeds for this guy. He offers pink, white, and purple asters for Misaki. Then he goes "No it's not for my lover," then Aoi goes "Asters mean 'I'll never forget you.' He definitely lost his lover." I HATE THIS. I NEED A MAEMISA FIC NOW.

Then Maeda immediately goes all business-like, easily decides what to do, very cooly, as if the whole ordeal with Misaki never happened. He's so cool. Minus Kurusu, I love the scenes that followed, the chase and the whole dialogue between the two vampires, and how the Ascra was meddling with the perception of the male vampire who was becoming very addicted to it, because it made him feel safe.

Incompetent boy Kurusu is, his hesitance killed Moriyama. Moriyama was such a good character. Even Maeda mourns Moriyama, citing that he (Maeda) should've been the one bitten by the vampire (albeit metaphorically: "I should be the one who becomes a monster."). That said, Kurusu's incompetence let Suwa the cold killer and Maeda the goat save the day. Suwa coming in with a swift knife to the chest and Maeda drawing his sword and swiftly slaying the vamp was just so awesome.

That said, I hope Kurusu warms up to his role faster, because he's not making it easy for me to go through the series, even if he is supposed to be the main main character. And even if he hands the scenes where he's supposed to be awesome to Suwa and Maeda.

That said, I personally feel uneasy about Defrot too? Maybe it's because he's not yet that significant besides being the oldest (living?) vampire in the cast.

I look forward to see more of Mars Red. Minus Kurusu. He alone makes me upset, but at the least I can understand why there's a need for his character. I just wish he'd develop much faster.

Also, by the way, the OP animation is referencing some plot points already showed in the manga. I wonder if it's already spoiled a lot of stuff?

[satohqbanana]

Mars Red EP 5: Persona Non Grata Summareview

TL;DR: Today's episode was BOMB. Not only did it confirm a lot of stuff about Misaki, but also, Lt. Gen. Nakajima. Also finally the theatrical is back.

Actual summary/review:

Rufus Glenn is serving some British? European? vampires who wish to conquer this part of Japan. He asks for more time regarding the matter, only to later use his (non-high quality) Ascra on them to poison them, free himself from them, and further his own plans.

Maeda awakes and sees Aoi who continues to pester him about the "truth" of the human combustion case. After sending her away, he finds a heartful letter from Misaki that leads to a lot of revelations. He goes to the theater and meets with Defrott, who admits he was the one who turned Misaki.

Lt. Gen. Nakajima's ally, Okimura, cannot buy him more time for the SF Unit 16. Nakajima thinks Okimura has gone mad and distrustful of him. Thanks to Code Zero's latest skirmish to dispose of the European vamps' vampirized victims, it is revealed that his real plan is to gather a troop of invincible soldiers made up of S-class vampires. Code Zero is not sure where to go on from here.

I love how Rufus is presented here. He just really works for himself. He brought himself to that level; he's going to reap the fruits himself, instead of being used all his life. I love his character.

I also love how Misaki's character ties into the story. She's dead, but she is ever present in the story. She is revealed to be Lt. Gen. Nakajima's daughter, and with the way that she spoke to Maeda in the letter and the way Maeda reacted, I am now convinced they are (or were) a couple.

Aoi is getting really annoying, and I miss her interactions with Defrott. I'm like 60% sure the show can do without her in this part of the story.

And speaking of which, I am not sure of what to think about Defrott, tbh. The more I see of him, the more I feel wary about trusting him, but at the same time, I don't feel like not trusting him is correct. He's probably annoyed by the developments given he just wants to enjoy his new territory for a good time, so that's probably how he'll end up teaming up with Code Zero? I'm not sure; this is pure speculation.

Now. The SF Unit 16. That was just amazing. From all angles.

Okimura urges Nakajima to hurry up because he can't hold off the budget cuts for longer. Then Nakajima shoots him. Wow. And here I thought Okimura was the last ally Nakajima has.

Nakajima also unleashes the real SF Unit 16 - the actual vamp force he was raising. It's an army of S-class vampires that seem to be more stoic and zombie-like. They're brutal, and they don't hesitate. They fulfill orders as expected. An invincible army that will strike terror into their enemies.

Code Zero, a.k.a. Maeda's team was baffled. They're starting to get along better, Yamagami is beginning to respect Maeda again, Kurusu's gotten better and is thinking less of the enemy vamps' humanity, and they’re all looking forward to bringing success to their team captain who’s in the hospital, and then BAM! No, they were not the dream vamp forces. So why was their unit formed? Were they really needed? What is their purpose? I am hooked and I want to learn more.

Visuals are A+ as usual. The action was way better than the last episode's. Also Defrott ends the episode with a line from Hamlet. I adore this episode. I will definitely put it as my second favorite episode after Ep 1.

[satohqbanana]

Mars Red Ep 1:Dawn SummaReview

I read Mars Red manga before watching, so I might reference some stuff that don't make sense in the context of the anime. So, spoilers beware!

TL;DR: Maeda proves to be worthy of being the leader of Code Zero. Misaki proves she is best bae. It’s so beautiful and tragic like the theater.

Actual summary/review:

I love how the story starts with then-Major Yoshinobu Maeda meeting the actress Misaki Nakajima, who's been turned into a vampire. Based on the dialogue with Maeda's superiors, I assume she's either supposed to have turned into an S-class vampire. And yet, for all the abilities she was blessed? cursed? with at her vampiric birth, she was unable to remember anything but her desire to reenact her parts as Salome, from the play Salome.

Maeda perhaps takes a fascination to her, as she is very beautiful and enthralling as an actress. Her Salome was also very convincing, and even if they were repeated footage on the part of the viewer, it was still very beautiful to look at. She's very passionate about her work, and it's all she ever does whenever Maeda visits her. She too takes fascination to him, and with each passing day, she begins to break out of her trance and awaken more of her abilities. I ship them.

Maeda investigates and meets Deffrot - and I thought that he wasn't supposed to know about Defrot until later (based on the manga). That said, Defrot was supposed to be Misaki's partner in the play, her Salome's Jokanaan. That said, Defrot says that Misaki's been waiting for her lover to come back, and has been practicing her lines to show off her talents to him. However, she "dies" when some props fall on her. Of course, Maeda's colleagues seize her body, because she is a vampire. Tragic, indeed, like the tragedy the actors are playing out in the stage.

As a vampire perhaps Misaki transposes Maeda's facade onto that lover. Also, we're also told Maeda has a fiancee he's never met. We are not sure who that is, and we can't truly say if he's the one Misaki's waiting for or not.

That said, Misaki just really wanted to see that guy she so loved. She breaks out of her cell in Tsukishima and injures - not kills - the forces who come to try and contain her. Miraculously, she's wearing her Salome costume. It's for poetic emphasis visual-wise, but logic-wise, perhaps she'd only been wearing it underneath her kimono and hakama.

But, while she is breaking out, there's much emphasis given on how much she calls out for her Jokanaan, how much she claims to love him. In her eyes is Maeda; she treats him as her Jokanaan, and spends the whole night looking for him. He too spends the night looking for her, and he meets her in the theater she worked for. The scene is so beautiful, so ethereal. She dances about in the streets; Maeda simply walks stoically to the theater, as if knowing she will be there.

When they meet, Maeda hesitates. Eventually he draws his sword - but she stops him. Instead, she takes his hand and dances with him, happy to see her "lover" come back. She does not kiss him even if in her speech, she desires to, perhaps knowing that he is still not the man she is waiting for, in vain. Even so, he gives her a bit of that happiness, as he had listened to her and watched her performance several times. The dawn comes, and it dissolves her into ashes.

Maeda perhaps spends some time reflecting on the incident, staring at the spot where she dissolved, before returning to report to his superiors. He's promoted to Lieutenant - and that's how he comes to lead Code Zero.

[satohqbanana]

No summareview this week; I’ll do it next time because I’m exhausted and also pretty disappointed in the adaptation of Yoshiwara arc. :(

[satohqbanana]

Mars Red EP 3: His Dream Summareview

In this episode, the plot moves only a tiny bit, because we're given so much of the characters' pasts. I think it's a major theme in Mars Red that all of them are affected by their pasts in one way or another, especially the vampires who have to leave their human lives behind.

TL;DR: Yamagami is sometimes a softie, Takeuchi is resourceful, Tenmanya is more than just a quirky pro-vamp shop, and Code Zero fails to deliver expectations for the military bigwigs. There's another theater reference but I'm not familiar with the lines.

Actual summary/review:

Yamagami and Kurusu are told their families are told they had passed away. Yamagami doesn't like that.

The Bon Festival is in full swing, and Yamagami remembers that he and his wife Tomiko used to celebrate it together. Kurusu uses his vampiric speed to help Yamagami disguise as a ghost/spectre so he can meet his wife again. Their reunion brought tears to my eyes, as he tells his wife to sell her mementos of him, such as his favorite chair or his hapsichord, if times get rough. Yamagami even tells his wife to remarry if she wishes to. His wife, however, seems to be very peaceful with the matter. She also seems to have reconciled with his apparent passing, while Yamagami still isn't ready to fully let go of her. They exchange lines that are definitely theater references. Please help me quote it?

Meanwhile, Takeuchi reveals he feeds Tenmanya with info and his services. He used a pharmaceutical chemist and he claims this is his main line of work; his involvement with Code Zero was his sideline. It was his experiments with vampirism that caused him to be a vampire - the vamp blood he collected exploded in the flask and a drop landed on his now-covered eye. He is very enthusiastic about the ordeal, however, because he never ages now. He’s a “rare” vamp according to Shinnosuke.

Shinnosuke also tells them that Tenmanya exists to protect the weak vampires - it provides fake registration papers for them. The arc words is called forth: "Frailty, thy name is vampire."

Suwa meanwhile goes to see a(n American) Western film. He and Defrot pass by each other. As a lower-ranking vamp, Suwa reports to Maeda that he passed by a very dangerous vamp. Defrot is estimated to be possibly either an A-class or an S-class.

Suwa is also revealed to be a minor (at the time of his turning), with Defrot possibly younger than him (at the time of Defrot's turning). Surprising, but not really, given that I already read the manga.

Defrot meanwhile is spending his time with Aoi. He probably knows that Suwa has sensed him. I both like and dislike how we move so slow with Defrot’s part of the plot, but I don’t think he’s supposed to be a big bad.

Maeda's boss, Lt. Gen. Nakajima, has survivor's guilt and it's his main motivation behind establishing Code Zero and the plan to use vampire soldiers against the vampire problem. Using vamp soldiers theoretically reduce the number of human soldiers (and his friends) who will die. However, in 20 years, his plan had only produced 4 vampires that the military can use. His peers' criticism is putting lots of pressure on him and Maeda. Also that plan is so shoddy to me, though it serves to help us as viewers to sympathize more with Code Zero.

Lt. Gen. Nakajima's ally, whose name escapes me, mentions that he's trying to bring in a vampire from England's own vamp troops. That is definitely Rufus Glenn, but this is already speculation as the manga is yet to reach/touch this point. I love the hint.

Maeda definitely replaced his severed right hand with a fake one, because he salutes and the fingers do not stretch. I appreciate this level of detail. Also, he favors using his left hand a lot. He also has a bad sleeping schedule thanks to him having to manage Code Zero at night and Lt. Gen. Nakajima's affairs at day. I am also reminded he has a heart condition. Was he suffering a stroke? I don’t know. But I hope he survives.

As for the actual plot, the troops manage to corner and capture a transporter of Ascra. They later find out that the location the transporter was going to ship the Ascra vials to was Yoshiwara. The preview for the episode, which appears after the ED sequence, shows us Maeda and Suwa investigating another victim to vampirism - a view of the red light district, literally toned in red lights.

I am looking forward to this next episode as this is the current arc in the manga. Also catch me screaming Suwa’s name.

Also, once again, the visuals are pure art. The festival was so nice and amazing and happy. The whole lantern offering scene was divine. The way they previewed the red light district was just mystic. Mars Red wins in the visuals department for me. I stan their choice of simplifying the way they color characters. The artistic talent in this show is just so delightful!

[satohqbanana]

Mars Red EP 4: Unknown Song Summareview

TL;DR: Suwa was handsome and also a softie but the studio forgot to breathe life into the characters the way they did episode one. Where was the poetic reference? I also mention stuff from the manga here.

Actual Summary/Review:

Code Zero discovers vampire activity in the red light district of Yoshiwara. During their investigation, Suwa encounters the prositute Akesato, who asks him to sing a song for her, to which he declines but he reveals part of his past, anyway. He reencounters her during her death to vampires in the area.

As for Kurusu, he spars with Maeda but hesitates and gets stabbed, hinting to his personal conflict. During the Yoshiwara investigation, he messes up and lets their suspect go. Yamagami almost pays the price for Kurusu's mistake. Maeda scolds Kurusu for his incompetence and hesitance to kill vampires.

Meanwhile, the higher ups of Code Zero is pressing the unit for better results. Thanks to Lt. Gen. Nakajima's friend, British vamp Rufus Glenn gets in and sells Ascra blood as "perfume". Somehow Aoi gets her hands on one of those perfumes, which she gives to Defrott. Defrott finds Rufus Glenn to tell him (and his potential peers) to bugger off his vamp territory.

The political/military intrigue and the visuals were the saving grace of this episode, but that's only because I'm biased towards how this arc played out in the manga. I'm very interested in what Rufus Glenn's and Defrott's roles are supposed to be in this adaptation. Also, I have to say Yoshiwara was absolutely beautifully animated/drawn.

While Aoi is a necessary POV, I find her screentime in the manga to be very lacking to the story, to the point that her character adds little to the plot. I do adore the way they interpret her journalism career, though, and I felt that when she went "Can I charge our company for my meal during fieldwork?"

Now, for parts already discussed by someone else before me.

First up is... where was Code Zero's silly costumes?! I wanted to see Kurusu's "second son of a farmer from the countryside without any fashion sense and came to the city to play" costume! What about Yamagami's merchant? Takeuchi's "inexperienced student who came to the red light district for the first time"? Not only does it add to the infiltration, but it also adds to their characters as vamps who barely know how to do their job; Takeuchi because he usually works in the lab, and Yamagami and Kurusu as newbies to the team who probably never had to infiltrate as much as they had to hold and shoot guns. Suwa meanwhile is a natural.

Second is the issue I have with how Kurusu's story in this arc was portrayed. Yes, it has to be cut because airtime. No, they didn't have to cut the part where Kurusu tried to apprehend their suspect but failed because he hesitated (again), because transitioning from Suwa's encounter with Akesato to "our suspect escaped no thanks to our newbie" is so, so jarring.

Also, the abandoned temple scene with Yamagami and Kurusu was just plain disappointing. I'm not expecting overt gore and blood, but it was just lackluster. There are many ways to portray horror, such as angled perspectives/framing, extreme close-up shots, use black/deep red for blood instead, maybe just put Yamagami in a mass of black figures with glowy red eyes animated like the way the hands in Yoshiwara were that works fine too, but horror wasn't exactly part of this scene.

Finally... Suwa and Akesato.

Suwa is a very careful person in the manga. He does his kills cleanly, he keeps his mask on, and he scolds Kurusu when he messes up. It's part of him being a 300-year-old vamp, from his trauma of turning when he and his sister haplessly boarded a ship full of vamps. He still carries his trauma wherever he goes, and he's a soft man to the people he cares about. When Akesato comes to his room, he's rather cold and dismissive. But when confesses about her age and her motivations for being a prostitute, he relaxes and tells her a bit about himself, tucks her into the futton, accepts her hairpin as a gift.

Akesato's putting up a brave face in the manga because she's a teen and she's had to do prostitution as a teen, maybe even younger. The moment Suwa talks about her being in the red-light district at her age, she immediately shoots it down with "I'm used to it" first and foremost. She lies on the bed with the intent to sleep when Suwa tells her to just sleep. She embraces him because she's yearning for a meaningful relationship, like the one he and his sister has. And when he refuses her, she says "Bite me to death". She's scared. But this is her only source of stability. She's willing to look at death as an option briefly, but only at the hands of someone who cared about her even for a moment.

This is basically the dream that Yoshiwara sells. Before they ever even meet again, Akesato has died from vampire bites, and Suwa is so regretful to have never sang a song for her. It looks like he was near tears during that scene. When they actually "meet" again, it's Suwa standing before her grave and placing her hairpin as an offering.

Now, in the anime.

Suwa's still a clean killer in the anime. He's just not as careful. He just lies down on Akesato's lap, relaxes and undoes the straps of his mask, and panics when his playful banter with Akesato removes his mask.

So where was that softness in the manga? Where was that care and yearning in their interactions? Where. Was. That. DEPTH. Akesato sounded like a more willing prostitute than a forced worker. Their encounter was more like "just another ordinary Tuesday in Yoshiwara" rather than its poetic "we sell dreams" thing.

The more poetic side would've worked much, much better, not only to keep Suwa's character consistent, or to give depth to Akesato and the rest of Yoshiwara's prostitutes, but also to keep up with Mars Red's ode to its source material being a stageplay. Its romantic tones were absent in this episode. I felt like I expected too much at first, but I remembered that this episode left me in need of a theatrical reference. This was it. This was a missed chance.

Anyway, I barely have an idea of what's gonna be on the next episode. Hopefully, it won't disappoint like this episode did.

[satohqbanana]

Mars Red EP 6 Summareview but it’s actually just a no-spoiler reaction

YEAAAAAAAHHHHH--

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO