Review of Mars of Destruction (2005)

Review of Mars of Destruction (2005)

Hello, everyone, it's time for a new review. This week I will review the infamous twenty minute anime OVA: Mars of Destruction.

Before watching I had already been warned by several reviews on Youtube and on MyAnimeList that Mars of Destruction is terrible. Despite all those words of caution, I decided to go ahead and watch it anyway. Why? I wanted to see if it was truly as bad as everyone made it out to be.

In short, I don't think Mars of Destruction is the worst anime of all time (Pupa and Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan still hold the top two spots in that category), but I still give it a pretty low score. The story jumps around and very little information is given throughout, the surprise ending comes out of nowhere, the characters have no development, and the animation is terrible. However, there are a few redeeming qualities that I will explain later in this review--those alone keep this OVA from receiving the score it gets.

Story:

The story begins when two astronauts are returning from Mars. They have a cheerful dialogue just before the ship explodes. Without any explanation, or decent transition, an unknown number of months pass and aliens called Ancients have invaded earth. Three girls who are a part of a special force arrive to take down the aliens. None of them succeed, and one is killed in a gruesome manner.

The main character Takeru appears in battle armor armed with a sword that he can create at will. Takeru fights the aliens, and wins at the cost of major injuries. To be honest, this is something that I do like. Too often in anime, when in battle the protagonist wins with little consequences, so I like that this one almost cost Takeru his life, it makes the situation more grave that their top warrior is far from invincible.

From there the support team--a blonde woman, and green-haired woman, both nameless--develop a rifle to help in the next battle, while Takeru recovers. Meanwhile, what remained of the ship is to be sent to America for testing. This all leads up to the final battle between Takeru and the leader of the Ancients which includes a bizarre twist ending that feels like was made up on the spot.

I know that this feels like hardly a summary, but that is pretty much all I can give without any spoilers. In the short span of time that is this OVA, there aren't that many major plot points.

I believe that this anime had the potential to be good. However, one of the main factors against it is that this OVA is only twenty minutes long. With a plot this complex, I think it needed to be a full series, or at least a full length movie. As it is, too much is crammed in the span of twenty minutes (that includes the credits), so unfortunately a lot is left out. With more time there could be at the very least some character development, better transitions, a smoother, more coherent plot, and even some clues leading up to the plot twist.

Characters:

I don't have much to say in this segment. I feel that the characters can make or break a series for me, and in this case it's the latter. Other than Takeru, no information is given on the characters. Even with Takeru the backstory is limited.

All that the audience knows about Takeru is that he disagrees with his father's choice to use him to fight. Also, that he is just an ordinary high school student. He has no personality. Nothing is known about his life, likes, dislikes, interests, plans for the future, personal beliefs--nothing. He is a bland protagonist, that it's hard to feel any sympathy for him. On the other hand, the fact that he's a fighter who is not a macho man makes him unique in that sense.

As for the supporting characters (only three of which were given a name, and only mentioned once, or in Yamabuki's case twice), there are no distinct personalities. The audience knows nothing about them other than they are a part of a special unit designed to defeat the aliens. In fact, they could all be switched out and no one would be the wiser.

There is nothing interesting about the aliens. Even with that little information given in the ending, their motivation is not clear. They are as bland as the rest of the cast.

All of the characters are underdeveloped and boring.

Art:

Now, here is where I will give this anime some praise. I do find the character designs to be decent. Takeru has an interesting look (despite his lack of character). Even though the girls have indistinguishable personalities, have distinct designs. I do like how each of them looks different. Even with the unknown names, they can be referred to by hair colors. I especially like Yamabuki (pink pigtails) and how her cheerful design contrasts with this dark story.

However, character designs is the only place that I will praise the artwork. The backgrounds are boring. The aliens look generic. Again, other than the bold hair colors, the colors used in this anime look dull.

The animation is terrible. Everything looks like it's been filmed in slow motion. I did like the action sequences, and they could have been great, but they move so slow it ruins the sense of urgency. I don't  have a problem with slow animation if it fits, but in general fights are supposed to be quick. There is very little moment during scenes of dialogue. With such boring animation, it's a good thing this anime is so short.

Music:

Mars of Destruction uses popular pieces of classical music. To be fair, I like each of the selections used in this anime. The opera in the opening is beautiful. I also caught a bit of "Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner as well as Beethoven's, "Moonlight Sonata."

So yes, I do enjoy the music used in this anime, but not at the time presented within this OVA. The use of the opera at the beginning is great. However, every other time one of these music selections were played was unfitting to the particular scene. It would be like having a cheerful, upbeat musical number played at the climactic scene in Titanic, it just doesn't fit.

Conclusion:

The story had potential, but due to time, lazy writing, or a limited budget, it wasn't given what was needed to properly develop. The characters have even less development. The plot jumped around too much, while the animation moved too slow. The music is great, but didn't fit the scene it was placed in.

If Mars of Destruction was remade, revisiting all the problem areas mentioned in this review, it could attain a higher score. However, as it is now, it's another anime with wasted potential. No, it's not the worst, but it is far from being good.

Mars of Destruction: 4/10