9.8

MARS RED “King Of Fools” Review

MARS RED "Frailty Thy Name Is"

Our Rating

Overall Score9.8
9.8

MARS RED “King Of Fools” Review

MARS RED “King Of Fools” is the twelfth episode of the MARS RED anime. Following the events of episode 11 Rufus is living the high life. Controlling the new Code Zero and meeting big names. His dreams of being the king of vampires don’t last long though. Whilst the actual Code Zero use the children vampires as a way to figure out where the vampire units are attacking and mobilising.

King For A Day

Rufus revels in all the chaos he constructed. He gets the vampire units to fight whilst he comes along as an apparent hero saving people from the onslaught of vampires made by his Ascra. He’s able to do as he pleases with Nakajima in prison and Defrott dead, in his mind anyway, he goes out of his way to show Tokyo who’s boss. He even burns down the house that the refugee vampires were hidden in by Tenmaya. All assisted by the female vampire that did eventually turn out to be a traitor.

Meanwhile Takeuchi has taught the young vampires a game of “Mikan” basically utilising their skills as weaker vampires to locate where the stronger ones are and map where the vampire units have been. Suwa tells him it’s his job to deal with the female vampire and goes off to find her, not without giving him one of his knives though and asking if Takeuchi will “give it to him.” Kurusu or Maeda? Don’t know yet but we will do eventually.

Aoi has a chat with Kurusu and can’t quite believe he’s a vampire, though he proves it by transporting behind her in a flash. He spots Takeuchi giving him the signal that they’re ready to move out and goes off without a word. Aoi wants to follow but she feels like loving Kurusu is doomed because he’s an immortal and she’s not. Tenmaya makes her feel better though by saying, in the end they all ask why they exist. Both human and vampire. She decides to go after him and Temaya asks the Head Clerk to keep an eye on her on her way as the road is dangerous at night.

Death Of A King

On his way to try and regain control of his mind and his units. Kurusu forces Rufus to Tokyo Train Station. Telling Rufus in no uncertain terms “it’s time to run, man, you’re done.” Rufus looks back to his unresponsive vampire units all having been killed by Maeda. Kurusu engages Maeda in battle as Rufus realises his goose is cooked and runs.

Rufus boards the ship to the USA and is led to his room by a helpful clerk. Just as he goes to take a step into his room though the floor falls from beneath him and he falls overboard. The entire thing was a mind trick played on him by Defrott. Defrott watches from the side of the boat as Rufus drowns.

Suwa meets the vampire girl on board. She asks if he’ll kill her and he just throws her aside on to the bed. He then puts his fingers to the window. And pulls aside the curtain. Allowing his fingers to set alight. She immediately stops him and he rightfully points out that she keeps asking for death but then fights to survive. He says their hearts kept them alive and purposes they stay together and visit the USA together.

The episode ends with shots of Aoi running through the streets and Kurusu and Maeda staring at each other. Each ready to pounce.

Review

This was such a great episode! It makes me sad to think that this show only has one more episode to go before it’s finished. It was the perfect set up for a final though, bringing up enough questions that could be answered in one episode but not so many that it’ll feel rushed. As long as 13 is handled well then this is the perfect set up for it to be amazing.

Who we all thought was the main antagonist is dead. But likely Maeda will fill that role. Kurusu seems to have abandoned all hope for him as he engaged him in battle immediately, none of the meek sweet Kurusu from previous episodes left. The fact that Takeuchi made a game out of tracking the vampires with the kids is peak Takeuchi and one of the reasons I love his character so much. He’s more than smart, he’s resourceful and always one step ahead. The cliff hanger of Nakajima being left with a gun in prison and being told to die by Rufus was one I was oddly moved by. I hate the guy. But even I felt bad for him in that moment. Will he really do it? Or will it be left for interpretation?

Overall, the perfect precursor to the final episode and one of the strongest the show has. Though that’s not saying much as there’s not a single episode I’ve not loved.

About author(s)

Clara

Hi there! I'm Clara, lifelong geek, gamer and all around nerd. I mainly play console games on PS and XBox and will trophy hunt if the game is good enough. Gaming is my life and I have a real passion for supporting as many independent creators as possible.