English Dub Review: Mars Red “Unknown Song”

Overview:

Hunting vampires with vampires begins, but not very smoothly. Suwa cozies up to a geisha, and Yamagami can find other vampires because he is instinctually scared of higher-ranked ones. Aoi’s stories involving vampires keep getting removed.

Our Take:

I feel like I have mentioned this just about every week but this is probably the sleeper hit of the season. It is so good, one of the highlights of my Mondays. Mars Red brings something I didn’t expect to the table just about every week and that is… the feels. I was not prepared to be this emotional with a vampire show.

Suwa was a really big mystery and we got to explore more of his character this episode. He spent some time with a geisha and there was definitely some romantic tension. We also learn he is over 300 years old, that boy looks good for 300. As a side note, I could be wrong but I think the geisha was voiced by Bryn Apprill. The geisha removed Suwa’s mask and we got to see his vulnerable side. He is afraid without the mask he might lose control and start attacking people.

Kurusu and Maeda are probably the most intriguing characters so far. I am really looking forward to learning more about them. I really think Kurusu is the childhood friend Aoi believes isn’t actually dead. So I am really excited to see that get explored, but poor Maeda needs to get his heart in check before anything else can happen. Four episodes in and I haven’t been disappointed once, I feel they will get to all the characters in turn.

I was worried after the development Yamagami got last week that he was a goner this week, but Kurusu came to the rescue. I feel like Kurusu is almost too overpowered but it seems there are some pretty powerful and influential vampires waiting in the shadows so I think that might be okay.

I want to mention something on the voice acting side, Caitlin Glass as Aoi Shirase. She gives her that old-timey reporter accent from movies and I absolutely love it. The sound effects in this show are also very much on point. Whenever Kurusu uses his speed it sounds so satisfying. Shout out to the sound team.

Please, anyone who is reading this, stop reading and start watching Mars Red. I don’t want it to be a sleeper anymore! This show deserves to be recognized. It is doing different and unique things, the animation style even feels different than your typical anime. Get on it, everyone! If you are an anime fan you owe it to yourself to check this out.