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 members 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

Takeuchi Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Kurusu, Shuutarou Main

Hatanaka, Tasuku Japanese

Yamagami, Tokuichi Main

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Deflot Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki Japanese

Nakajima, Misaki Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Glen, Rufus Supporting

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Tenmaya, Shinnosuke Supporting

Kokuryu, Sachi Japanese

Shirase, Aoi Supporting

Orikasa, Fumiko Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Inoue, Kentarou Producer

Terakawa, Hidekazu Producer

Nishiya, Yasuyuki Producer

Reviews

Dec 4, 2025

AshesOnFire19

Recommended

ive had this show recommended to me by a friend who loves it, so i finally decided it was time to see what the hype was about.

its one of those shows that starts off way more interesting than it ends up being. a secret japanese army unit made up of vampire?that’s a fantastic hook and the 1st few epis really sell the idea. It’s brilliantly written and directed in parts and for a while I genuinely thought this was going to be something special. the pacing, the dialogue heavy scenes, the big dramatic momentw, a lot of it feels theatrical in a good way, which ... is fitting since it's based on a stage play.

the real standout, tho, is the art direction. This show is gorgeous. i love the animation style, the way shots are framed and that muted color palette with the bold, vibrant reds popping out every time. the character designs fit perfectly with the dark, gritty vibe the story is going for. visually, this show hits exactly the mood i wanted it to be.

the characters are also well written and most of them are interesting enuf that i genuinely wanted more time with them. except rufus. that guy just never clicked for me, easily the weakest character in the cast. where the show stumbles is pacing. some epi flow beautifully, others feel like they needed more time or less time.

as for the music, the opening is good and fits the tone well, but it’s not something i found myself going back to. the ending theme, on the other hand, absolutely goes hard and ended up being much more memorable.

mars red is def worth checking out if you want something a little different from the usual vampire or supernatural anime. it’s stylish, ambitious and visually stunning even when the story loses steam at the end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 30, 2024

AnimeEnjoyer420

Mixed Feelings

Mars Red is a series whose biggest problems often stem from execution rather than conception. There's definite cinematic ambition here, but the animation production from Signal MD consistently fails to match the weight of its imagery. Likewise, the broad strokes of a good vampire thriller laced with tragedy are here, but the writing doesn't connect the different pieces in a way that's satisfying. Too many things are left unexplained and Colonel Maeda is too much of a cipher for the ending to come together.

It's not a series without its merits. Kurusu is a strong protagonist, even though his importance to the story isn't necessarily centered ... up front. When the writing is on point, the excellent premiere episode being a prime example, it can be really good. But that ultimately makes it more frustrating in the end because it's not hard to envision a version of this series that's far better than the final product we ended up with. I wanted to like Mars Red more than I actually did, and I do feel more positively about it than the score I gave, but it's hard for me to recommend it objectively based on what's actually there rather than what I was hoping it would be.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Jul 3, 2021

waszner13

Not Recommended

I feel like it had potential, but it just falls flat on it's face pretty hard.

You probably know the trope of over explaining things in anime, well
this is the opposite, most things that would need an explanation aren't explained. Be it character motivations or actions, effects, twists.

Because of this, most of the time when there is an emotional moment, you just know that it SHOULD be emotional, but it really isn't.

It's theatrical, which is something you either like or not, but a lot of times it just felt out of place fore me.

Overall, it's pretty forgettable; even though based on the premise and what actually ... happens in the anime, it really shouldn't be.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Mars Red Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Jun 28, 2021	55 replies	by Assassin2112 »» Jul 17, 8:05 PM
	Poll: Mars Red Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Apr 19, 2021	63 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 21, 3:38 PM
	Poll: Mars Red Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Apr 5, 2021	66 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 21, 2:39 PM
	Poll: Mars Red Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Mar 29, 2021	185 replies	by RGreatDanton »» Apr 21, 2:28 PM
	Poll: Mars Red Episode 6 Discussion KANLen09 - May 10, 2021	47 replies	by BreakApart »» Sep 23, 2023 9:21 AM