I felt like it was about time for some more vampires, so I wanted to revisit an interesting series from a couple of years ago that I really enjoyed. Mars Red is an animated interpretation of a live-action stage read (I’m not sure what makes this distinct from a typical play, but it’s how the source material is specifically described) and takes place in Japan in the early 20th century.
It’s the latter part of the Taisho era in Japan, and the number of vampires has suddenly started to increase. Fearing that something sinister is happening, the Japanese military creates a secret squad called “Code Zero” whose sole purpose is to manage the impending vampire threat. They offer the vampires a choice – either exist openly and register with the government, or face destruction at the hands of Code Zero.
The vampires themselves are an interesting bunch. As usual, they’re humans who are transformed by being bitten by an already-existing vampire. Most humans can’t manage the transformation, however, and end up dying. The majority of surviving vampires lack cohesive thought. It’s only the rare few who come out of the experience as beings capable of rational though.
The story focuses on members of Code Zero, and more specifically Colonel Maeda who is assigned to be the leader of the group. He’s engaged to an actress who, after an accident, becomes a vampire herself – though one who is no longer really in her right mind. The other members of the main squad are themselves vampires who have retained their humanity and have various levels of vampire powers at their disposal.
In a broader sense, though, this is a story about various social anxieties – modernization, Westernization (it should come as no surprise that the vampire instigators are European) – played out on a supernatural stage. And a “stage” it is, as the entire series has a certain theatrical quality that I suspect is partly the result of its origins.
Mars Red is unusual but certainly refreshing as far as vampire fiction is concerned. It has a unique sense of time and place that distinguishes it from your typical “Dracula” style story.
Mars Red is available to watch on Crunchyroll.
You can read my first impressions of the series here.