Image by Nicole. Soryo. Anniversary Edition Volume 1 Cover Art, MARS, Kodansha.
MARS – Information
Author of Story: Fuyumi Soryo
Chapter Count: 15 Volumes, around 60 chapters
Status: Completed
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Frequent, explicit depictions of and dialogue about SI
- Mental health, trauma
- Dialogue about death
- SA
- Mature topics, scenes
- Nudity
- Bullying
- Blood, extreme violence, murder
- Sexism
- Homophobic/transphobic dialogue
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
MARS – Plot Summary
The MARS manga series is a fan favorite for many reasons! This incredibly emotional story is a youthful romance with plenty of drama, twists, and action.
It shows the world through the eyes of two high school students who have had their own share of difficult experiences—and how their emotional instability and psychological scars dramatically affect their lives. However, we get to see a romance bloom as these two learn to come to terms with their past and begin to move ahead.
To these characters’ young, inexperienced minds, everything that happens around them is incredibly meaningful and every decision they make is life-changing. MARS gives the vibe of “it’s us against the world” throughout its plot, and does an amazing job at pulling you in. But let’s start from the beginning.
This story begins with Kira Aso, a high school student who keeps to herself and doesn’t seem to have any friends. She is an artist, often sketching or painting after school in the art club.
One day while sketching at the park, she is approached by a classmate who needed help with directions to a non-emergency medical facility. Instead of simply telling him the directions, she quickly draws a map in her notebook and rips it out for him.
This classmate, Rei, is a known playboy that draws people to him with his boisterous energy. He’s great at basketball and motorcycle racing, and has lots of friends and dating experience. He later realizes the paper she gave him had a beautiful drawing on the back, which leaves an impression on him and allows him to recognize her at school the next day.
He then begins talking to her often at school, starting a strange relationship that confused their classmates. How could a relationship form between these two completely different people?
Although it may sound like a basic or boring plot, this simple meeting becomes the start of a dramatic, emotional relationship between the two! Buckle in for a whirlwind of emotions and dramatic plot twists.
Soryo. Volume 3 Cover Art, MARS, Kodansha.
Why I Enjoyed the MARS Manga Series
The MARS manga series is a wild ride of a story. It may have some uncomfortable or even depressing topics at times, but in the end the overall message is impactful.
It’s a shoujo that really encapsulates the downsides of life and love, and explores a lot of unique psychological aspects within the plot. This manga looks deep into the minds and emotions of its characters, and proves just how deeply the author must have considered each and every one of them.
Plot:
I’m not sure if this is a stylistic choice or just a thing with older manga, but the plots of older series often feel more impactful to me. The characters don’t feel superficial and they actually have so much depth to them. It helps draw you into the plot and makes you really want to know more about each character.
In this story we learn about many dark experiences and personality traits of the main characters, and how they learn to bond and grow closer together even with those more negative aspects of life lingering forever in their hearts.
They begin to grow from these experiences, rather than letting the negative thoughts take control of their lives. Because there are a lot of serious topics in this series, you will feel a range of emotions while reading it. Excitement, frustration, shock, sadness, anger, and so on!
In terms of the romance, this manga takes an interesting approach using things like trust, reliance, dependency, and understanding to thread two characters together as they deal with trauma, family betrayals, and more.
It’s a bit of a cliche romance set-up (quiet art girl meets motorcycle bad boy) but it becomes much more than that—and I loved every minute of it! The romance starts out a little uncertain but very exciting, and grows to be passionate, intimate, and mature.
I love these kinds of melodramatic romances where the characters fall hopelessly in love and are very devoted to each other. It’s dramatic and youthful in the best of ways. I wasn’t really expecting this kind of romance from the main two given their personalities, so it was a nice surprise.
The rest of the plot showcases unique struggles of these two youths—surviving in a world where you are powerless, making realistic decisions even though they can be hard, planning for the future, and more. There is a lot of action involving fights or disagreements, as well as some fun motorcycle racing scenes.
Characters:
Both of the main two characters (and many side characters) in the MARS manga series are absolutely out of their mind, but in many different ways. Rei is just plain reckless and careless, but Kira is arguably worse. She somehow is completely unfazed by the things that happen around her, even when things get extreme.
I loved seeing her character depth increase more and more as the series progressed. She is a very interesting female lead, but it takes a little bit of time before you can see why. Kira is so much more than a quiet, tame, head-over-heels heroine. Stick it through!
Soryo. Volume 9 Cover Art, MARS, Kodansha.
Rei is very reckless (as said before) and often violent towards others as he struggles with his trauma. He has endured hardships that make him act as though he doesn’t care about his own life much, but he grows to love Kira enough to begin to change that—to an extent. He becomes much more caring and works hard to take care of Kira in the ways he is able to at his young age.
His relationship with Kira helps him deal with his violent tendencies and traumatic past, but even towards the end of the series he still enjoys motorcycle racing for that near-death thrill. I really loved seeing his character grow and the suspense we feel every time he’s on that motorcycle. The ending really hits hard—be sure to read it yourself for the full impact.
Art:
The style of this series is amazing. Somehow it looks very detailed, yet also not too busy at the same time. It is so incredibly soft and flowy when it comes to the romance, and yet is well done in other scenes that have more suspense or action elements to it.
The motorcycle scenes are impressive, and are portrayed in a way that allows for someone like me (who knows nothing about motorcycles) to still enjoy the story.
The author does a great job at capturing a huge range of emotions of these characters. Whether they are happy, shocked, numb, or hopelessly in love—their face says it all. The romantic scenes feel soft and sensual, with eyelashes and hair that look so delicate.
On the other hand, the more dramatic scenes feel energetic, dynamic, and bold. I really enjoyed the art of the MARS manga series. Very rarely the eyes or head proportions may appear to be a little off, but for the most part MARS is a very beautifully illustrated series.
Any Cons?
- First off, I would not recommend this series to sensitive readers. There are definitely some more depressing, disturbing topics in this story—obviously these are intentional for shock factor (please check the content warnings listed at the top).
- Additionally, sometimes the characters’ choices really didn’t make sense to me. I obviously can’t state why for spoiler reasons, but for readers who have already enjoyed the story and are reading this MARS manga review anyway, I’ll mention it more in the in-depth section. Just know that while reading this, you may find many of the characters making strange choices at times, even if they aren’t the antagonist. Luckily this doesn’t affect the overall plot too much.
- I won’t say this is a con for me personally, but as a reader you have to be willing to read dramatics if you want to enjoy MARS. If characters constantly spiraling over events in their life or bad choices they made really bother or annoy you, you may not enjoy this series. It’s a bit melodramatic!
- The ending of this series felt a bit abrupt to me. There was a lot happening, and it felt like the climax of the plot finally happened—and then it all was just magically resolved… the end!
- This is a less important complaint, but I was a bit sad that the aspect of Kira being an artist was sort of pushed into the background of the story. It could have shown Kira using art as a form of emotional expression throughout the series, but instead her interests and potential career were pushed aside while Rei’s were prioritized. I would have loved to see her become a cool, successful female artist.
- Similarly to the above-mentioned con, there are some outdated gender roles in this series. Although I am desensitized to this sort of thing being in manga at this point, it may bother other readers, so beware! (MARS was first serialized in 1995, by the way.)
More In-Depth Review (Warning: Spoilers!)
This story really dives deep into topics of life, death, love, happiness, and mental health. The characters start at a very low point and struggle with happiness and mental health, wondering what the value in living is and why they should even care. Luckily, they meet each other, and pull each other out of the darkness.
The characters throughout the MARS manga are anything but superficial. They have many layers that keep the story so engaging and unique. At first, I thought Kira was a weak, quiet, tame FL who had fallen in love too quickly and would do anything to be in love, even with a crazy person like Rei.
I thought love blinded her to the horrible things Rei did occasionally, and that Kira was just letting herself be used by him for the sake of being near someone who showed her interest.
However, as we see Kira’s actions and thoughts more throughout the series, we see this first impression is very wrong. She’s actually very mature and strong-willed, but almost never puts herself first—which makes me a little sad.
She also has had her share of horrific life experiences, and simply kept to herself out of fear and a growing hatred for those around her. She was a shell of herself, and Rei slowly brought her out of that.
Rei on the other hand seemed to be more childish than he lets on. He lacks self control when his emotions take over, but also isn’t so lost that he doesn’t understand what’s right and wrong when things are said and done. He just can’t see any other reasonable action to choose first.
Later in the series he begins to seem like a needy type than he did at first impression. Although he acted like a playboy, Rei truly seems like a lonely child who doesn’t love himself and sees no reason to.
He was a very sad character who somehow always stuck things through just for the fun of it. He didn’t care if he got hurt, and he didn’t create real connections with the women he dated.
I was happy to see Rei shift from a moody playboy who saw himself as a crazy person and didn’t see the value in life anymore, to a dedicated boyfriend/husband who wanted to protect his true love and actually enjoy life. He chose life in the end, and it was a very nice way to complete his character arc.
My only complaint is just one dumb choice made by Rei. I really didn’t like how he approaches Kira’s secret about what happened to her that made her dislike men. Instead of using words to communicate about it, he instead checks his suspicions with actions that send her into a panic.
Why do that to someone you love? Use your words! I really hated this scene because even though Rei has a rougher side to him, it doesn’t usually come out towards Kira.
In this scene, it definitely felt as though it did. I think the MARS manga series could have done without this aspect, and they could have approached it differently…
Regardless of that upsetting aspect, I really enjoyed the immense amount of character development those two go through in this series.
And in the end, this story portrays a dramatic, meaningful relationship where characters who have had their ups and downs eventually form a strong, unbreakable bond and devoted love for each other. They grow and become ready to handle anything that the world throws at them.
In terms of the side characters, some of them were just as complex. Kira’s mom is a good example. At first she seemed to really care for her daughter and worked hard to allow her a chance at college—but then brings in her gross husband who hurt Kira, even while knowing what he did to her daughter.
I could not understand this action, as I felt absolutely nothing could have justified allowing that person back into their home.
Another side character, Shiori, was confusing. She comes in, cries up a storm and threatens her own life. She acts crazy and seems obsessed with Rei.
Then, he finally rejects her and she just disappears. I figured it would be more difficult to rid of her character, but she was gone faster than I ever expected. She never even appeared again! Such an abrupt use of a character in my opinion.
So, those are my thoughts about MARS. I hope you’ve enjoyed the in-depth section! Feel free to share below your thoughts about this series.
Final Thoughts
If you are a reader who enjoys older manga styles and very dramatic, thought-provoking romances, you’ll probably enjoy the MARS manga series. It has a lot more serious topics and an overall very emotional plot that just hooks you in and makes you unable to stop reading.
The romance was very mature for a story about two students, but I think that’s part of the charm—witnessing two youths who take on way more than they can handle, but survive it together. This story is a joy to read as you reveal more and more layers of plot and character development with each volume!
Although it may be a bit dated in some ways, I think the MARS manga series will still continue to leave an impact on romance-lovers for a long time.
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Soryo, Fuyumi. MARS, Kodansha, 2019.
