Kojima praises Mars Express for evoking 80s and 90s sci-fi anime
Hideo Kojima posted on X praising Mars Express, the 2023 French sci‑fi noir directed by Jeremie Perin. He singled out the film’s look, design, world‑building, story, theme and authorial voice, saying it evokes the hard sci‑fi anime of the ’80s and ’90s OVA boom, naming Mamoru Oshii, Yoshiaki Kawajiri and Satoshi Kon.
Set in the year 2200 on Noctis, the capital of a colonized Mars, the story follows private detective Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera. A routine hacker case pulls them into rogue robots, brain farms and a missing girl whose secret could unsettle the boundary between humans and synthetics.
Perin’s film openly wears its influences: its aesthetic and tone recall Ghost in the Shell and Akira, and it includes visual nods to works like Terminator 2 and elements reminiscent of Halo 2 and Akira’s final transformation. The cinematography makes modest use of 3D computer animation in a way that recalls Satoshi Kon, making ordinary movements feel cinematic.