Terra Formars

Centuries before any human ever set foot on Mars, Earth launched cockroaches to the planet as part of a terraforming project. Five hundred years later, those cockroaches evolved into massive, terrifyingly strong humanoid creatures — and now they're the dominant species on the planet. Meanwhile, back on Earth, a deadly virus is wiping people out, and the only possible cure is on Mars. So a crew of genetically modified fighters gets sent on the Annex I mission to retrieve it, knowing full well what's waiting for them. Akari Hizamaru is one of these fighters, each surgically enhanced with abilities borrowed from different insects and animals. That's where things get interesting — the combat isn't just brute force. Each crew member has a unique biological power set, and the show leans into the strategy of how you'd actually use, say, a bombardier beetle's defense mechanism in a fight against something that can crush your skull barehanded. The tone is dark and unrelenting. People die fast and without much ceremony. This is a seinen series through and through — it doesn't pull punches with the gore or the hopelessness of the situation. If you liked the desperate survival energy of Attack on Titan or the body-horror transformations in Parasyte, this scratches a similar itch. It also shares some DNA with Gantz in how expendable the cast feels. It's 13 episodes from LIDENFILMS, adapted from a manga, and it moves quick. Fair warning though — the censorship in the broadcast version was pretty heavy, so track down the uncensored cut if you can.