I rather whimsically marked Mars Red as one of the anime that I was going to watch this Spring Season sometime last Winter and Im rather glad that I did. It was a unique watch had its slow moments but also moments where it absolutely floored me visually and intellectually. I think the fusion of theater and old cinema with anime is something really interesting that makes watching Mars Red feel strange but also incredibly exciting. I think its no secret that Im a huge fan of visually interesting shows with philosophical themes and wacky or bizarre methods of presentation all it takes to know this is simply taking a glance at my favorites list. Mars Red is another anime of that type putting a unique spin on anime and creating something that wont have mainstream appeal because its not an absolute masterpiece akin to others that are equally as strange and unique but are in my humble opinion some of the greatest anime of all time Monogatari or Tatami Galaxy. As Ive mentioned already Mars Red is beautifully presented. Its aesthetic style is simplistic yet extraordinarily effective at conveying tone creating the mood of the scene. I could go on and on about every facet of the visuals is used to perfection but I wont waste time on going into that much detail. One aspect I really do want to bring up though is their use of aspect ratio to really highlight the stage play and old cinema themes. Its entirely objective but I thought it was a really cool touch. https://cdn.anisearch.com/images/anime/screen/14/14969/full/458328.jpg As far as the music and soundtrack is concerned I dont have too much to say. I didnt really find the soundtrack memorable in many ways and the opening was fairly meh as far as openings go. However the ending On My Own by Hyde is an absolute banger in storytelling presentation and musically. I literally never skipped it and that should be enough to certify it as a banger. https://www..com/watch?v=yMgo0N11zY Favorite Character: Deffrot https://i.pin.com/originals/e0/83/cf/e083cffb2f5688b6800ba905e2fc4777.jpg Deffrot was easily the highlight of the show as far as characterization went. His story was tragic his connection to Misaki and Maeda equally so and his love for playing characters on stage to stimulate the feeling of life gave me a feeling nothing short of melancholy. He doesnt have the most relevance or screentime but his story was among the most moving up there with Maeda and Misakis. In fact Mars Red has no shortage of characters with tragic backstories even some of the oneoff characters have stories that could spin off into their own arcs but leaving their fates in some cases up the imagination is powerful storytelling. And now what did I like about Mars Red? Aside from repeating myself about the visuals and presentation I love the parallelism of Misakis stage play Salom with Maeda and Kurusu specifically. In fact symbolism like that is one of Mars Reds strongest aspects along with the little micro stories that play out. Suwa and Ayames cute little plot and Takeuichi and the vampire kids most to choose my two favorites. Deffrot revealed as the storyteller of the entire anime at the end is a great detail too explaining the theaterlike presentation which is even cooler because the show is based off a stage play. Its the show dont tell aspect of Mars Reds storytelling that makes it such a engaging watch. However theres a reason that I havent given it full marks and now is where Ill briefly bring up those issues that keep Mars Red from stepping up into the great show tier. Firstly the inherent slowness of the plot really takes away from the overall product. Specifically theres a set of episodes in the middle that crawl at a snails pace. If anyone thought Mars Red was too slow in the beginning those few episodes in the middle would seem like absolutely nothing happens. It wouldnt be far from the truth either. The pace of the plot as a whole couldve been sped up a bit to keep people interested instead of bouncing from small pointless plot point to another even if this did sacrifice a couple of the small mirco stories that I mentioned earlier. The animation is really sub average as well which makes Mars Red a weird case of the directing being better than the animation which feels fairly rare in anime these days. I also think that sometimes Mars Red took the ideology of show dont tell to an extreme meaning that certain moments feel really confusing but this could also be a product of watching it weekly with seven days and watching other shows in between eroding my focus on Mars Reds plot. To put it simply Mars Red is going to be more miss than hit for most viewers most likely. Its not a very widely appealing show due to many things working in tow: its slow nature fairly obscure theater references abnormal presentation style and storytelling that requires attention. For a guy who likes new takes on things weird presentation symbolism and philosophical themes Mars Red stands out despite its flaws. Its a tough show to recommend really. Id say that if what Ive described appeals to you at all give it 3 episodes or so and see if it interests you or bores you to death.