Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
fhdjk
I've never written a review here because mostly I'm a complete non-believer in how valid or relevant those are, and I certainly never trust ratings - which is actually what brought me here. I like to test out anime with below 7 rating because more often than not I tend to find hidden gems and this is most definitely one of them!
Mars Red is simply beautiful in its execution, not as an anime, but purposefully as a piece of tragic theatre. From start to finish, it's a theatrical play - each character is putting on a performance for us as the audience. They have their dramatic moments that is elevated by the choice in classical music, their asides as they transition between the different acts of the anime, and character arcs that are intrinsically tied to the story-telling. Quite frankly, a…
Read at the sourceAshesOnFire19
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…
Read at the sourceAnimeEnjoyer420
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…
Read at the sourceSgtSalamander
Mars Red is a flashy, aesthetic anime with a lot of potential that still manages to be thoroughly mid. Beginning with the story, this is the weakest part of the anime by far. The plot is meandering, the motivations are weak, the pacing is all over the place, and things seem to happen during the whole of its 13 episode run not because they make sense, but because the writers decided they need to happen. The twists are contrived, the conflicts boring, and the writing lackluster, all as a result of this design philosophy. It gets so bad at points that the viewer is bored to tears. It oscillates between spoon-feeding exposition and zipping past major plot points without any explanation. There are peak moments of action and drama where I can glimpse what this anime should have been, but they sl…
Read at the sourceAPolygons2
Show don't tell
Is one of the first and most important rules of story telling. it's a rule that pretty much everyone knows, everyone understands why it's important, but next to no one actually cares about it.
I mean we all acknowledge that most shounen anime explain what is happening in the fight, while it's happening. and we all make fun of it, but from everything that I have seen rarely anyone actually cares.
there is a certain truth that I have learned from looking at people's takes when it comes to this subject, and that's the fact that the casual watcher would rather have info dumps, than to have to pick up small things to get the story.
now don't get me wrong, if the show don't tell is used for a simple to follow enough story like a silent voice, people do understand it's magic,…
Read at the sourceHenriqueNeves
Mars Red creates a theatrical and chaotic universe, from the way it creates and positions the elements in the plan, to the way the story unfolds.
The anime's plan transforms the scenario into a kind of stage, leaving the characters or some object always located in some part of the scenario. These more fixed and direct shots always show something from more objective perspectives.
It's notable that even the anime's cinemascope helps make these shots even more asymmetrical. This wider window makes this centering of the plane even more important.
In some more specific moments (especially in the first episode), the anime assumes a freer relationship, especially in moments when the characters recreate plays. The image follows the movement of a character's hand, it moves in its own way, almost…
Read at the sourceBanzono
Finally got around to finishing this. What an intresting anime. I have a relatively mediocre impression of it, because there were several things that didn't work for me. I feel like it had the potential to be incredible, but fell quite short.
Artistically, I think it had some truly beautiful aspects; Karakara Kemuri's character designs never disappoint and the art was interesting yet comfortable to look at. The animation was just okay, nothing special. The Taisho setting made for some lovely backgrounds, clothing and color palettes. I also enjoyed the music a lot, and the voice acting was very good.
Story-wise ... this is where the anime lost me. While it's not a plotline that's difficult to follow, exactly, it's told in such a disjointed and ambiguous way that I found it very irritating…
Read at the sourcePixelB
"Do my words not reach you anymore?" Kurusu's voice actor speaks with powerful delivery, yet only his mouth is animated, and he's standing stock still because the animators were lazy.
Mars Red is truly what you'd call, "theatrical." I'm not quite impressed. Just on a purely animation standpoint, it cuts corners with bad CGI, not super amazing fight scenes, lots of scenes where people are standing still and talking with nothing going on. Of course, the animation is not actually that bad. Creative shots, good backgrounds, and still, some nice animated scenes overall still make me rate the animation quite well. But this show kind of still sucks. Even if the art was 10/10, it still wouldn't save Mars Red.
Does quoting shakespeare in a show really elevate it? How about cryptic dialogue and mys…
Read at the sourceSenpaiMars-Barz
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…
Read at the sourceNekOniiChan
Despite its initial mediocre/negative impression this series had on most viewers, I still felt that this anime had potential in being enjoyable, and boy was I right in that sense. I personally could not wait one week just for another episode to drop, with each episode pretty much ending in a cliffhanger.
As what I and probably other viewers have noticed, this isn't your typical seasonal anime where it focuses on shōnen, slice of life, romcom, or any other genres that are particularly popular nowadays, which might explain the poor ratings this anime originally had. Additionally, the overall aura that this series gave showed that it would tackle rather dark themes that one might not be used to. Coupled with the visuals, color palette, and movie-style screen ratio, it definitely felt that it…
Read at the sourceSkardo
ENG:
After I read the synopsis, I really wanted to see this anime and after seeing the first episode, despite it being a bit confusing, I was very involved with the story and just wanted to know more. All the characters revealed a lot of potential to be explored and the story had a lot of paths it could follow, leading Mars Red to end up as an excellent anime. The big problem is that Mars Red starts to get quite confusing as the episodes progress, giving the feeling that important parts of the story were skipped, to the point of making me wonder if I had skipped an episode. This feeling starts to be frustrating after some time and I was about to drop the anime several times. However, I saw Mars Red until the end, and, despite all the plot holes, I don't regret it nor do I feel like I waste…
Read at the sourceissen-ken-taka
Mars Red is a work of art. It's a pity that so many people were unable to understand it and gave it such a low score.
The most frequent criticisms levelled against this show are about consistency or plot holes. The problem is that these don't hold water if you were paying actual attention. I myself missed many details. This is a show that requires paying a lot of attention. Rewatches and reading discussions about it online helps a lot. The latter greatly increased my appreciation for the show.
TL;DR This is a very good anime, but it's arguably too good to succeed in this age of trash tier harems and brain-dead fan service.
Read at the sourcealgoPotaku
Vampire anime with a very, very good first episode. I think it is one of the best vampire anime, surely it enters the top 5 but the problem is that after the great first episode the anime declines a lot and begins to have a very slow plot for around 5 or 6 chapters. That's the only bad thing I see. The good thing that the plot is slow is that it develops all the characters that we get to know each one more thoroughly. The last chapters go by very quickly. Very animated fights, you always start because the characters do what they do. The only thing that does not close me well is because the protagonist is not controlled but hey is still very good.
Anyway, if you are looking for a vampire anime I recommend it, it will not disappoint you.
En español:
Anime de vampiros con un muy pero muy bue…
Read at the sourcewaszner13
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.
Read at the sourceGleefulViolin
I can't believe not many people talk about this underrated masterpiece!
Yes, this is not merely an anime about vampire, but a classic and poetic vampire story masterpiece!
To be completely honest, I could write pages upon pages of compliment for Mars Red. However, I won't do it. I saw there's a review which pretty much shares the same view as mine, and it's very well-written review. So, I won't do it. Since I don't think people will read my review anyway.
What I can say about Mars Red is that it doesn't feel like anime, but rather like a very well-crafted movie documentary that directed by A top class director. It's sentimental and poetic. It's raw and perfectly imperfect.
As an audience, I was taken to a journey I've never experienced and yet by episode 13 I feel like I lived through t…
Read at the sourceResident_Green
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 ma…
Read at the sourceEdenharley
Mars Red definitely has a lot going for it but ultimately I found it a little boring, there were some elements that really did stand out to me however, firstly the art and direction. I loved the artstlye and how almost realistic it was, there were a lot of really nice shots too - the 2.35:1 aspect ratio was pretty nice as well. I also liked the realistic take on vampires, it's definitely one of the more unique views on the vampire genre which was nice to see. Overall I think a lot of people would enjoy this show but it didn't really click for me, but there still were a fair few things I did enjoy.
Read at the sourceTimidGazelle
NO SPOILERS REVIEW
This show was so frustrating to watch, because it was actually amazing up to episode 6. Then each episode following, drastically got worse and worse.
It's like the studio was told they had 24 episodes to work with, and then 5 episodes in they were told they were only getting 13.
Story: 3 Poor
As good as it was at the start, by the time you finish the show, you'll feel empty inside. Random gaps of events just missing for no reason, extremely predictable, plot armor present. Legit hyped up the same character reveal at the end of the episode six times in a row. Breakneck speed level of rushing towards the end.
Art: 6 Fair
Pretty good character designs and backgrounds, animations were average, nothing crazy.
Sound: 8 Very Good
The music was very memorable, the OP, E…
Read at the sourceEDOSHINRATENSEI
This was the most confusing show in terms of storytelling. The first couple episodes were pretty okay as things were slowly set up. However, about after an earthquake, the show spiraled into a mess where every time I watched a new episode, I thought I just missed some episodes before. The plot jumped between characters at a seemingly random fashion that I had no idea what’s going on. Despite this, I still get the general sense of what was going on.
The animation was not an issue here. It looked different from other anime, and it made the show felt more mysterious and like a play. There wasn’t much vampire action, as the animators seemed to try to avoid animating the fight scenes in full sequences.
With a confusing story came confusing characters. Maeda was a MC for the first half, and f…
Read at the sourceFlexySpagoot
I think that I probably wasn't quite the right person for this anime. I think that it had some great elements, but it just didn't really grab me, and had some things that detracted from my experience.
The story was sometimes really interesting, and other times really confusing. I mean confusing in a bad way, I love me a good mindfuck anime, but this wasn't really one of those. I still think that overall it was a pretty fine story, its just that to me it sort of felt really deep while also at the same time felt really simple.
Art and sound was also a mixed bag. The OP was pretty good, but the majority of the music I don't really remember. Artwise it was either really good or really bad. The most obvious example of it looking bad is the atrocious CGI, animations were frequently reused in m…
Read at the source
