In order to solve Earth's population problem, humans of the 21st century
devised a plan to colonize Mars.
Mars ' average temperature is minus 5 0 degrees.
However, if the carbon dioxide frozen beneath the surface
could be released into the atmosphere,
it would bring about a greenhouse effect that would raise the surface temperature.
And so a plan was formed to transport vegetation to Mars
that would absorb sunlight and warm up the planet.
It was for this purpose that moss was sent to the planet
as well as another life form that could survive even in Mars ' harsh climate.
This was known as the Terraforming Project.
TOKYO, YEAR 2597
Out of the way!
Move!
Hey! Hey, what do you think you're doing?
With this world of ours bursting at the seams,
the only hope for humanity is Mars.
Naturally...
PROFESSOR HONDA'S SPACE LECTURE
for humans to live there, the cockroaches must be exterminated.
For humans to live there, the cockroaches must be exterminated.
Hey...
Do you think I should've worn a more colorful jacket after all?
There are two candidates who have a shoot-to-kill order on them for murder.
- Already? - They should be perfect for us.
Well, then...
They clear up the smallest rubbish the fastest in this country.
Don't worry, Nanao. I'd go to hell and back with you.
MARS, YEAR 2599
Hell would've been better than this, don't you think?
What's with the serious face?
So, what will you eat first when we get back to Earth?
Why are you worrying about that right now?
You don't stand a chance, Jin.
Getting your excuses ready?
Why don't you ditch this macho idiot and get it on with me?
No way.
He set me free.
"Free"?
What's so funny, Ichiro?
We're the Earth's rubbish, being sent in a metal coffin to clean up Mars' rubbish.
Is that freedom?
I don't see it so bleakly, Ichiro.
So beautiful...
What do you think you're doing?
What do you want?
You can go fuck yourself!
Sorae! That fucking creep's really getting to me!
You need to toughen up a bit, Maria.
How will you deal with the cockroaches if you're so easily creeped out?
Bastard!
I hate that guy.
Yoshikane and Toramaru, stop letching.
Don't get all high and mighty with us!
Didn't you dip your fingers into some money you seized, Moriki?
You're in no position to be lecturing us.
That's funny.
Are you after a fight?
What did you say?
You small-time thugs.
An ex-cop, two yakuza...
a serial killer...
an illegal immigrant...
the leader of a child prostitution ring...
a reclusive hacker...
a terrorist.
What the hell kind of criteria did they use to select us?
Did we have to be criminals?
I'm just a kickboxer.
Apparently we're lower than criminals.
What does that mean?
People with no money.
All crew to their stations!
We'll shortly enter Mars' atmosphere.
Prepare for landing.
So this is Mars...
This is the result of terraforming.
Human knowledge has made Mars' environment like that of Earth's.
Why did it have to be cockroaches?
Mars? To kill cockroaches?
Thanks to terraforming,
Mars' environment is now very similar to Earth's,
and it's time for the cockroaches to be exterminated.
However, to go to Mars, a highly dangerous operation is necessary.
You two are extremely well-suited for this operation.
As it stands, you'll be executed for murder.
And the best you can hope for is ten years for accessory to murder.
But if you take part in the extermination, not only will you be acquitted,
you'll also receive a supremely large reward.
If that sounds good, sign there.
No way. Mars? Dangerous operations?
I won't put her at risk like that.
Oh? You're choosing death for her sake?
No. I just don't trust you.
Nanao?
I'll do it.
Nanao! He's definitely not giving us the whole story.
It'll be fine, even if they don't give us all that money.
That's right.
Her alone will be fine.
There you go.
Exterminate the cockroaches and secure the future.
Both yours and the human race's.
Release high-capacity cockroach insecticide Mars Red Pro.
Roger that.
Now releasing Mars Red Pro.
In three hours, we leave the ship.
Komachi and Akita will head north.
Muto and Renji, you head east.
Toramaru and Hiruma, south.
Yoshikane and Moriki, west.
Captain...
I cannot work with a yakuza.
Please let me go with Ichiro Hiruma.
Toramaru, you switch with Moriki.
Yes, sir.
All cockroaches in the vicinity of the ship
should have been wiped out by the Mars Red Pro.
Go and find out if our pesticide was effective.
We've located BUGS-1, Professor Honda.
Hey, Dojima.
What do you think of my jacket?
I guess there's no point asking you, you've got no fashion sense.
It's very badly damaged.
As to be expected, really. Worth checking it out, though.
BUGS-1... Is this where it all started?
Yeah.
A research ship sent secretly by Japan ten years ago.
So, how is it at your end?
I'm expecting first contact presently.
Oh, yes, yes!
If this is a success, Japan will have the technology to dominate other nations!
Splendid, Dojima.
Japan's fate rests on your shoulders. All the best.
What?
A cockroach?
It's just a clump of moss.
What?
You really don't like cockroaches, do you, Shokichi?
And yet you signed up for this shit job when you knew that!
That's what happens when you get annoyed.
- I was annoyed? - No, I was annoyed at you.
You don't even love me, but all you do is act soppy with me.
- It really hurts, you know. - What do you mean by that?
You only sympathize with girls like me, whose parents died and didn't go to school.
So when I heard about the cockroaches,
I thought it'd be a good opportunity to pick on you.
I'm kidding. I just didn't want you to die.
Don't worry, I'll protect you from the little roaches!
That's weird.
Where are all the dead cockroaches?
Maybe the pesticide didn't work?
What the fuck are those?
A Martian?
Could be.
Shall we try talking to it?
Best not to.
But it's getting closer.
What are you doing?
Hold on!
They got Moriki too.
There must be a herd of them. It's not safe here.
What was that monster?
Why did Nanao have to die?
I thought we were supposed to be killing cockroaches!
Right, Captain?
Those things aren't cockroaches.
They are.
Those monsters are cockroaches.
Antennae, cerci...
I realized when they got Moriki.
The cockroaches that were sent to Mars 500 years ago
were more resilient than we could have imagined.
The harsh combination of intense cosmic radiation
and temperatures of minus 50 degrees
led to their evolutionary process accelerating at an incredible rate.
It's like Hiruma says.
They are cockroaches that have undergone abnormal evolution.
The government calls them Terraformars.
And you knew that those monsters were here?
But you still sent us out.
Don't be angry, kid.
Actually, you're not really a kid.
Honda...
You tricked us, you bastard!
I tricked you? That's not fair.
You signed up yourself to get all that cash.
If anything, I'm your benefactor.
Besides... you've all been provided with the means to deal with such an event.
This was called the Bugs Operation!
Each of you has had insect DNA fused with your own.
I'll skip the details. You lot wouldn't understand anyway.
To put it simply, fight bugs with bugs.
Use your power... and squash the pests.
Hold on a minute!
I thought the operations were to help us survive on Mars!
We wouldn't perform an operation with a 30% success rate for something like that.
At the end of the day, you sold yourselves.
It said as much on the contracts.
No need to worry.
Now you’re all more than human.
I won't ask what you think of my new jacket.
You kids don't understand fashion.
Well, then. Good luck.
This is an insect cell activator.
It varies from person to person, but one shot should last a few minutes.
Your body will transform, and you will gain special powers.
Powers that will help us kill the roaches?
You will now receive data regarding each of your abilities.
Now I get it.
We've become bugs ourselves to deal with the cockroaches.
The Mars bugs...
versus the Earth bugs.
One pest killing the other!
How funny!
Not that funny.
Once the drug wears off, you'll return to normal.
However, overuse can send the human body into shock,
and you'll die.
Did you know about this?
The giant cockroaches and the operation?
I was ordered to keep quiet about them.
I'm sorry, Komachi.
Are you taking the piss?
Captain...
Let's return to Earth.
It's too dangerous here.
Captain, it's one of them!
The Terraformar's getting closer!
Why are you panicking like this just because one girl died?
She was just a girl who was in debt and living like a bug.
Then an operation turned her into a real bug,
before she was killed by a bug on Mars.
- Is it really that sad? - Bastard!
That's what those bastards back on Earth think.
So... let's kill these bugs and get back to Earth.
And with these new powers that they've given us
we can get let those government bastards have it.
Isn't that the perfect way for us who've been treated like insects
to wreak our revenge?
I'll do it.
We won't get paid otherwise.
Crush this one that's approached first.
Then we'll find their nest and launch an all-out attack.
It's up to you, Lee.
Why is a Japanese guy called Lee?
I don't know his real name.
He's been fighting in Middle Eastern conflicts forever.
The unkillable...
God Lee.
He's seen hell. One roach is nothing.
It'll be a piece of cake.
Lee's surgery base was the miidera beetle.
This insect synthesizes hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone inside its body,
allowing it to excrete a highly potent Benzoquinone.
On a human scale, this acts like a flamethrower, releasing huge explosions.
So that's what transformation looks like?
You make fun of bugs, but you're a ground beetle.
So that's his insect ability...
Even Lee can't beat them?
I haven't forgiven you for tricking us and turning us into bugs.
But right now I'm going to fuck that roach up.
BUGS-2's windows are made from a special kind of resistant glass.
It won't be able to Br...
Everyone back!
So you think you're hard as fuck, do you?
I'll handle this.
Your bug is the most ferocious.
Watch how I fight.
Captain Dojima's insect is the paraponera, an ant native to South America.
While ants are small, they are strong enough to carry over 100 times their own weight.
Famous for their excruciating stings that rival the pain of being shot,
it is known as the fearsome bullet ant.
We can beat them.
We can beat them!
There's a lot of them.
Prepare for take-off.
They want to massacre us.
Why? Why are they coming to kill us?
They don't need a reason.
Don't we kill cockroaches for no reason?
There are no cockroaches where I grew up in Russia.
When I first saw one after sneaking into Japan,
I squashed it without a second thought.
There was no real reason for it. It just gave me the creeps.
Now I get it.
Mosquitoes suck blood, flies carry germs,
but cockroaches don't do anything, yet people still kill them.
It's an instinctive repulsion.
We humans hate them, and they naturally feel the same repulsion towards us.
Humans also come to feel the urge to kill one another!
Stop talking crap.
What are you doing, Captain? Let's take off, quick!
Oh, the yakuza's frightened.
Fucking idiot. Being a yakuza means only fighting battles you'll win.
Other people's lives are cheap, but ours are precious. That's our motto.
Captain, the ship's take-off system isn't functioning.
- It's all showing system errors! - What the fuck?
- We can't go back to Earth? - What's causing this?
I'm not sure. It just won't respond.
I'll act as a decoy.
Meanwhile, you lot head for BUGS-1 in the rover.
BUGS-1.
It's a research ship that was sent here ten years ago.
It uses the same system as this ship.
If we transfer it to BUGS-2, we can make it fly again.
But how are we going to get over there? We're completely surrounded.
Cockroaches have aggregation pheromones.
We'll take this one's aggregation pheromones and spread them around.
That way, I'll draw the Terraformars to me.
I'll stay here with you.
If you're going to lure them on board, we'll destroy them together.
Sounds interesting.
I'll stay too.
What a pain!
I'll stick around as well.
That all right with you, Captain?
Don't worry, I'll come back.
- How's Shokichi doing? - Don't ask me.
Tezuka, it's your turn.
So it seems.
Let's have some fun later.
Fuck you.
He's not so bad.
- Come on, let's go. - Not yet. Wait for Shokichi.
We must all survive. Those were the Captain's orders.
We can't wait any longer!
Do it, Tezuka!
Tezuka's insect is a Steninae MacLeay.
When threatened, these bugs release a gas
that acts like a jet engine, propelling them over water to safety.
Their speed is equivalent to a human travelling at 945 kilometers per hour.
Right, we can make it at this rate.
This guy's pretty good!
Isn't he?
You keep on coming.
But you don't realize you're walking into your own grave!
Dojima...
Thank you for your time. Not that you're short of it.
You can't really carry on being a captain after what you did, can you?
I admire your sense of right and wrong,
but you can't beat up a superior officer, even if they are a dick.
Poor bastard.
Paralyzed on one side of his body, I heard.
If you want to be a captain again,
I have the perfect job for you.
You see...
I want you to bring me back a special kind of egg.
Ichiro!
Now discharging oxygen from the ship.
You wanted to stay and die with the Captain.
Am I right?
I'll kill those damn roaches.
You just wanted to avenge Nanao and die, right?
That's understandable.
Your crime was sacrificing yourself for a woman.
Who told you that?
Nanao, who else?
Where the fuck are you going?
I've got no sympathy for you!
Go and sell your body to make me some money.
That's all it's good for.
No way! Only with my lover...
That's enough.
Hurting her isn't going to get your money back!
Shokichi!
Who the fuck?
You think you can tell me what to do?
Fuck you!
You'll get hurt, waving that around.
You know what?
That bitch will do anything for me!
That bitch...
You...
Listen...
It was me that killed him!
I did it!
Why did you come to Mars?
Me?
I have nothing.
There was a girl I'd loved since we were kids.
She caught some illness and died.
I have nothing.
Make it back to Earth and give Nanao a grave.
What's that?
What's up?
A tsunami?
Of bugs?
We'll drive through them! Brace yourselves!
Oh, yeah!
There's a second wave!
It's even bigger than the last one!
Tezuka won't make it through that.
Wait!
Let us protect him.
Sorae's insect is the Pachyrhynchus infernalis.
Native to Ishigaki Island,
this bug's exoskeleton is unbelievably strong.
It's unknown if they can truly withstand being stood on by an elephant,
but they can certainly take more punishment than any other bug.
I guess I've got no choice. I'll come with you.
Maria's insect, the rainbow stag beetle, is capable of active camouflage,
which it uses to disorientate its enemies.
Now switching to driverless mode.
Maria...
I'm sorry.
I was looking forward to having fun with them!
And you killed them!
Tezuka!
Sorae!
Maria!
So we're the only ones that made it.
Looks that way.
So this is BUGS-1.
- We'll stay here and keep watch. - Yeah.
- Is that okay? - Yeah. Tastes good.
- Is it functioning? - I'll try it out.
What the hell?
BUGS-1 is sending something to Earth.
Sending what?
Fight like a man!
Come on, then!
I'll die like a yakuza.
Come on!
Incidentally, Yoshikane's insect was a predaceous diving beetle,
and Toramaru's was a mole cricket.
It's unclear as to why these two were only given the abilities
to go underwater and underground, respectively.
They've been shot.
- The roaches have guns. - They're from BUGS-1.
They've evolved so much that they can use guns?
Don't worry, Lieutenant.
This means they're on the same level as humans.
However, we're more than human.
I'll handle this.
Lieutenant Obari and the others have arrived at BUGS-1.
They're surrounded.
What's the situation there?
Captain Dojima's putting up a good fight.
His heroics are really proving to be a handful.
No normal person would stay there given the circumstances.
Everything's going to plan so far.
Is there anything else I need to know?
Stay away from Shokichi Komachi if he transforms.
His bug's extremely dangerous.
Understood. Commencing mobilization.
Right.
The most dangerous animal, the animal responsible for the most deaths a year,
is not the bear or the shark...
but the hornet.
Without warning,
the Japanese giant hornet will attack anything that approaches it.
Furthermore, unlike bees that can sting only once,
they can use their venom as much as they like
until their victim is dead.
Jin Muto is a desert locust.
Like the migratory locust,
the desert locust is known for its powerful hind legs that can leap great distances.
Their jumping ability would be equivalent
to a human leaping over a nine-story building.
They possess the strongest legs in the insect world.
Good job, Captain.
Lieutenant Obari's insect is the orchid praying mantis.
It captures insects in its formidable claws before devouring them.
This predator also makes victims of frogs, Lizards and even male mantises.
Fifteen of them...
Shokichi, Jin, we did well to take out this many roaches.
Let's take the system from BUGS-1 and head back to BUGS-2.
Pyramids?
On Mars?
Who...
are you?
Moriki!
You're alive?
Ta-da!
Asuka Moriki has the abilities of an emerald cockroach wasp.
This vile creature gets its name from the way in which they destroy
the part of the cockroach's brain that controls the escape reflex,
then keeps it alive as its slave.
In other words, this ability to make puppets of cockroaches
makes it the strongest on Mars.
Yes, all of these cockroaches will be my lovely little slaves.
Hey, Ichiro. Let's get the egg and go home.
Oh, yeah, he needs water.
Ichiro... you too?
Farewell.
We don't need you to get the egg back.
Ichiro Hiruma's insect is the sleeping chironomid.
This non-biting midge lives in central Africa.
Its larva has an astounding characteristic.
That is, it doesn't die.
In an environment that lacks sufficient moisture,
it enters a state known as cryptobiosis.
They can be cooked at 2 00 degrees,
frozen to their core at minus 270 degrees,
soaked in ethanol for 168 hours,
exposed to 7,000 gray units of radiation
or sealed in a vacuum,
but they won't die.
If they are hydrated,
their bodies come alive.
What's with the costume?
I had to trick them. This seemed a little more convincing.
The undying bug, and the bug that can make slaves of cockroaches.
So where's the egg?
I have it, of course.
I got a couple of them to breed. It's freshly laid.
It's a second-generation egg.
Let's go home.
BUGS-2?
Wow, you lot are incredible!
The three of you defeating that many Terraformars... unbelievable!
You've given me lots of lovely fight data.
Fight data? What do you mean?
BUGS-2's engine started up. What's going on?
Don't worry. Everything's going to plan.
What?
Moriki and Hiruma are onboard BUGS-2, as I ordered them.
It wouldn't take off before... because Hiruma sabotaged the system.
Moriki's alive?
She can control the cockroaches.
As long as she's around, there's no reason to fear the Terraformars.
- What about the Captain? - Dead!
But Hiruma's bug doesn't die. All he needs is water. Pretty cool, eh?
You bastard...
What are you making those two do for you?
They're bringing something back.
That's my plan.
What do you mean?
That's right, you're going to die on Mars.
I'm sure you want an explanation, at least.
Let me tell you, then!
The entire crew of BUGS-1 was wiped out,
but the escape pod made it back to Earth.
And inside it... was the head of a Terraformar.
And so the Japanese government came up with the perhaps foolish plan
to gain total control of Mars by destroying the cockroaches
and pioneering the colonization of Mars.
We would research the Terraformars and fuse insect DNA with human DNA.
I'm referring to the Bugs Operation. "Fight bugs with bugs."
Humanized weapons would be used to exterminate the Terraformars.
But first, we needed to experiment.
For the initial human tests,
we recruited candidates like you who were desperate for money.
Regular astronauts wouldn't do the trick.
If we can get our hands on a Terraformar egg for research,
we can discover all the secrets of their evolution.
As well as that,
the fight data you guinea pigs are providing will allow us...
to create the ultimate insect-human hybrid.
Japan will have organic weapons to rival the might of nuclear ones.
Long live... the Terraformars!
Hold on. What about those pyramids?
My dear Obari...
You know the theory that organisms are vehicles for genes, right?
What are you on about?
Well, the truth is that genes arrived from outer space.
They made life on Earth evolve in an effort to return to space.
We didn't send the cockroaches.
They used us to get to Mars.
Through the will of the genes.
That's ridiculous.
Absolutely.
But are those pyramids not proof?
Once the cockroaches are gone,
more can be sent to investigate them.
So from the very start, we were going to be sacrificed.
What a thing to say!
On Earth, your lives were worth less than rubbish.
But now you're contributing to human evolution.
Quite a step-up, if you ask me.
Listen to me.
We're returning to Earth alive!
And I won't forget this!
How will you do that?
There's no way for you to return anymore.
Big brother...
I'm so hungry.
Please.
Big brother...
My ear's so itchy.
It won't be long, Mother.
Once my research is finished, there's a company that'll buy it.
I have a reference from my professor.
I'll take care of the kids.
Ichiro...
thank you.
You're pregnant... with my baby?
That man... at the lab...
He forced himself on me.
This isn't good, is it, Hiruma?
But...
I was set up.
I'll keep all this quiet, but you can't go to university.
All right?
Both my research and the future of my little siblings were ruined.
Money is my only ally.
That's a very tragic tale.
Foolish, too.
Why did you take this job, Moriki?
Money, right?
Idiot. Think about it.
What would happen if these cockroaches started breeding on Earth?
We'd be in serious trouble.
And what if you could control them?
Eh?
Yes.
I could run the world.
I wouldn't need any money. I could get whatever I wanted.
Surely it can't be hatching already?
It's too soon, right?
Not to worry. I know what to do with them.
I'm your queen, boys.
Be good, now. I'm a good tamer.
Why didn't Moriki's venom work?
Can they resist it?
They're the children of Terraformars that she was controlling.
Maybe it could be evolution?
If so, isn't this following your hypothesis?
BUGS-2. Come in, BUGS-2!
Hiruma! Hiruma!
Shit!
Did you plan for this to happen as well?
No...
It's totally gone to shit.
Typical roaches.
I hate them so much.
What shall we do?
We've come this far, we have no choice but to go for it.
It's kill or be killed.
We'll worry about everything else once we've massacred them all.
You're pretty cool.
You only just noticed?
Got a man?
Used to. It's his fault I'm here right now.
So, Earth's pests have all been sent to Mars.
So we have to make it back to Earth in one piece.
We'll take BUGS-2 back.
It won't fly anymore.
The escape pod will.
What's with this one? It's faster than the other roaches.
No, they're moving like humans.
They've evolved.
I won't stand for anyone else in this galaxy being stronger than me.
No, Jin! No more!
Jin!
Idiot.
You won't be able to revert to your human form.
Just remember this...
The locust is the king of the insects.
You'll never be a match for me!
You fucking roaches!
I went too far.
Why did you have to do that?
I never really...
had a reason to come to Mars.
Nor did I know... what I'd do when I returned to Earth.
I have nothing.
Nothing.
You other guys... had a reason to live.
I liked you for that.
Shokichi!
Nanao!
If the dust catches fire...
The dust will explode.
Shokichi!
Run!
She's going to blow herself up!
Don't do it.
Don't do it! Nanao!
Shokichi! Run!
Nanao...
Let's go back to Earth together.
Stop! Nanao's already dead!
Nanao!
Jin...
I don't need your sympathy.
Ever since I was a kid, I've been lonely.
I'm used to being treated like a worthless bug.
Pretty gross, right?
You can't even tell if I'm human or bug anymore.
Jin...
You're human.
You're my friend.
Nanao became a silk moth...
to save you.
Survive!
Survive and get back to Earth!
That's what...
Nanao wanted.
Jin...
Jin!
I won't die.
Not here.
Ichiro... thank you.
Money...
Money!
I need money!
It was you.
From the very start.
You really are an idiot.
Fuck you.
Don't get sloppy. We've got work to do.
Let's finish this off on Earth.
The escape pod holds two people.
Professor, BUGS-2 is broadcasting the operation to the whole world.
Everyone will know about the Japanese government's secret plan!
Well, this is a total loss for us, isn't it?
Loss?
This is Hiruma's work.
This is their insurance policy.
They've revealed their existence to the world,
so they can't be silenced when they return.
What should we do?
I'll lie low somewhere.
I'll sell the results of the Bugs Operation and the fight data to some multinational.
You'd betray the Japanese government?
You've got it the wrong way round, Sakakibara.
The government will blame everything on me and play innocent, there's no doubting it.
Exactly.
I see.
You've been keeping an eye on me for the government.
Professor Honda assumed all responsibility, then took his own life.
Listen...
This is a brand-new jacket, and I don't want to get blood all over it.
Please.
Don't shoot.
You fucking roach!
Bad luck.
Scientists are very cautious people.
Besides...
calling me a roach was a bit much, wasn't it?
It uses hornet venom.
If inhaled, it causes anaphylactic shock.
Now, if you'll excuse me.
I'll be a big shot when we get back to Earth.
I'll be on top of the world.
What will you do when we get back?
I'm going to build a shrine.
For Nanao... and everyone.
Then what?
I'll return...
to this place.
HIDEAKI ITO
EMI TAKEI
TOMOHISA YAMASHITA
TAKAYUKI YAMADA
KANE KOSUGI
RINKO KIKUCHI
MASAYA KATO
EIKO KOIKE
MARIKO SHINODA
KENICHI TAKITO
RINA OTA
RILA FUKUSHIMA
DIRECTED BY TAKASHI MIIKE