With over 30 years of experience in directing movies and TV shows, it’s no wonder that anything created by Japanese anime director Shinichiro Watanabe is bound to be a masterpiece. That’s certainly true with one of his more recent TV shows, titled ‘Carole & Tuesday’. This futuristic, feel-good anime is bound to make you binge-watch.

‘Carole & Tuesday’, taking place in the future on a colonized Mars, is about the story of two girls from very different backgrounds coming together through music. One of the two main characters sure to steal your heart is Carole (voiced by Jeannie Tirado), an orphaned teenager born on Earth. Carole was abandoned by her parents at a church on Earth when she was a baby, so she was transported to a Mars version of a foster facility at a young age. Carole bounces around part-time jobs to earn a living in order to keep living in the futuristic “Alba City” on Mars. She’s also an avid keyboard player, playing on the street in between her many jobs. 

Tuesday (voiced by Briana Knickerbocker) is very different from Carole in the sense that the two came from different backgrounds. Tuesday, born into a family of wealth and power, feels she’s misunderstood in her musical pursuits. Her mother is a strong political figure on Mars. Tuesday refuses to engage in political affairs and schoolwork and instead wants to be a musician. Tuesday then finds herself running away from home with nothing but her acoustic guitar. Her travels lead her to Alba City, where she finds Carole playing her keyboard in the street.

Tuesday compliments Carole on her playing, and Carole’s taken aback because usually everyone just walks past her. A few sentences of chit-chat later, Carole invites Tuesday to stay with her and their dynamic duo is born. The show follows their adventure into Martian stardom; everything from entering the Mars version of ‘America’s Got Talent’ to playing at the Mars version of Coachella. 

‘Carole & Tuesday’ is an anime, but it’s not a stereotypical anime with exaggerated features and dialogue. ‘Carole & Tuesday’ also does an amazing job of contrasting these two girls. Carole is spunky and outspoken while Tuesday is still coming out of her shell. The show also shows how music unites these two very different girls. It shows the price of freedom in the societal world; Carole is poor but free to do what she wants, and Tuesday is rich but is trapped in a (metaphorical) cage surrounded by disapproving adults. It’s also pretty cool how Mars is the new promised land, as Earth is portrayed as a filthy, has-been slum. Overall, the show is definitely worth the watch and is honestly probably one of the best shows out there.