MARS RED “Frailty Thy Name Is” Review
MARS RED “Frailty Thy Name Is” is the thirteenth and final episode of the MARS RED anime. Following the inevitable battle between Maeda and Kurusu in episode 12. The two fight but not before we see Maeda in the past and in his own dream world. Showing his inner turmoil and how he came to completely lose his mind.
Losing Yourself In A Dream
The episode opens with Maeda in the past. We see a lot of interesting things there, like Maeda and Yamagami going for a drink and him telling Yamagami about his Nakajima’s proposition to marry his daughter. Yamagami thinks it’s fantastic and drunkenly shouts it to the entire town as Maeda carries him home. Next is a scene of Maeda with Misaki walking just past the train station. She says she wants to know so much more about him and he replies they’ve got plenty of time. Before turning around and seeing she isn’t there. The shot then cuts immediately to Maeda and Nakajima playing Shogi together and Nakajima saying “check” (not so subtle hint of him being the mastermind behind Maeda’s tragedy.) Before Maeda takes off and he’s in the theatre watching Misaki play Salome. The scene shifts again to Maeda outside in the snow looking down at the burn mark Misaki made when she died in episode 1.
The scene cuts immediately to Takeuchi and the kids who are still keeping tabs on where the vampire units and Kurusu are. Takeuchi notices they’re movements are becoming less organised, due to Rufus’ death but he doesn’t know that. Whilst Aoi runs through the streets to get to Kurusu.
Kurusu and Maeda fight. With Maeda remembering small things along the way but not enough to have him change his behaviour. Mostly we finally get to see why he was so loyal to Nakajima. The day he lost his right arm he was the only survivor during an attack and Nakajima brought reinforcements that meant he was able to be saved. Finally in his dream word. Maeda sees himself talking to Misaki, saying he had a weird dream that everyone had died including her. And he was all alone.
Coming Back
Just then, Aoi shows up and Maeda mistakes her for Misaki. Losing his senses for a while. But also finally coming to his senses. He doesn’t let on that he remembers who Kurusu is though because he wants him to kill him. The two fight, with Kurusu admitting he’s weak but proud of it because that’s what makes him human. And finally goes all out. He gets cut on the neck but he stabs Maeda right through the middle leaving him lying right where Misaki died.
Finally Maeda drops the façade and tells Kurusu to “put an end to this ridiculous farce.” He lays waiting for the sun’s exposure to kill him, finally realising that he wasn’t so alone after all. He dies. And his burn mark interlinks perfectly with Misaki’s. Kurusu, who’s exhausted goes to get up and fight the vampire units coming their way but he can’t. He asks Aoi to give him some of her blood saying he’ll keep fighting because it’s the thing that keeps him human. She cuts her hand and he sips her blood. His wound instantly heals and he finally has all his strength back. Everyone can feel his presence. The vampire units immediately become obedient to him too.
The after credits scenes show the different vampires and what they’ve chosen to move on to. Takeuchi is still with the kids. Suwa is in the new world in America. Tenmaya and the head clerk are still together. And Aoi laying flower’s at Maeda and Misaki’s place of death. The final scene shows Defrott give an abridged and slightly edited version of Shakespeare’s “All The World’s A Stage” from As You Like It.
Review
Wow. What an ending. Bittersweet yet poetic and beautiful. This show has got to be one of the rarest because it nailed that ending. It was perfect. Yes there was the “memories during an emotional fight” trope but it wasn’t used cheesily. It was so cleverly used that it almost doesn’t count. We were treated to some Shakespeare and Blake for the literature nerds like myself out there. Seriously, hearing Defrott recount A Little Girl Lost over Maeda and Kurusu’s fight was beautiful and tied in so well with the theme. I’m gonna have a hard time forgetting this episode let alone this anime in general. The flashbacks were perfect, dreamlike and otherworldly and always hinting that they’re not quite real.
Seeing Kurusu at full power finally put into perspective why the fact he was an A-Class was so shocking. And how much not drinking actual human blood was dampening his actual potential. It was amazing to see. This is a must watch show. I’ll be recommending it to everyone I meet from now on.
