Set in the year 2200 on a colonized Mars, the story follows private investigator Aline Ruby and her android partner Carlos Rivera —a "backup" of a soldier who died five years prior.

Directed by Jérémie Périn, Mars Express is often described as the spiritual successor to Ghost in the Shell and Blade Runner .

: Their search reveals that Jun was involved in "jailbreaking" androids, a process that removes the hardcoded safety protocols (the "shackles") that force them to obey humans.