Mars Red is a new vampire-themed anime. The story takes place in Taisho-era Japan where the government creates a new unit to hunt down vampires and their artificial blood supply.
The series premiered in April 2021. Mars Red is based on a stage reading play written by Bun-O Fujisawa. Director Kouhei Hatano and screenwriter Jun’ichi Fujisaku were involved in the adaptation.
According to Hatano, the anime design is based on realism. Hatano also wanted to show how vampires and Humans coexisted in this world realistically.
Hatano also mentions that the anime is very theatrical. It also has other elements packed in it so that viewers are able to see new things every time they watch it.
Fujisaku describes that the anime is not a typical vampire anime like his other work Blood+. In Mars Red, the characters’ weaknesses are shown first and this shows how vampires suffer in early modern society.
As per Fujisaku’s observation, the charm of Mars Red lies in the symbolism of the Taisho era. The Taisho era is the time when western influence and early technological advances spread in Japan. As a result, Romanticism is a character of this era.
Fujisaku mentions the risks he takes when adapting the anime. The anime portrays images in a different form from the perception of the audience. There is also the risk of lack of dynamism for the different characters and also the issue of the Taisho-era.
The unique storytelling of the anime is a result of the creative vision of Hatano and Fujisaku. They did not want to tell the story only through dialogue. They wanted the audience to form their own answers by taking hints from the characters’ actions and thoughts.
