Mars

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Reading Mars feels like... being swept up in a hurricane of emotions. The story lures you in with the common trope of high school romance; popular bad boy meets extremely shy girl. Yet, there is a "grit" that makes Mars much more mature than most of the genre, without forgetting that the leads are still teens. I'll say it leans more toward psychological, coming-of-age drama with a complex love story. What I find to be the hidden theme of Mars is violence and the human instinct to hurt other is; how it affects the victim, but also warped a person deeply.

First off, Rei is ... an ML who is far from your dreamy "I can fix him" kind of trouble. Despite having a carefree charm, Rei can also be straight up unhinge. He is the titular "Mars" of the story, as in the god of war. Rei will straight up crush anyone who goes against him, and I mean ANYONE, without remorse. His main passion is motorcycle racing and it's a driving force for many of his decisions in life. Kira at first glance feels like your typical timid girl MC. Yet she has this inner strength that makes you root for her. She does cry a lot and can be very naive, but the cause of her emotionally stunted state is slowly revealed throughout the story. Both leads face many drama and trauma, but the story doesn't justify their actions. They can mess up, just as you do when you're young.

Still, Mars has one of the most natural chemistries between the leads. They have this pure empathy and care for each other that goes beyond the "doki doki". You can feel they genuinely enjoy each other's company and just feel comfortable together. Their dynamic is less "I can fix you" and more "You are not alone in this sh*tstorm of problems". The amount of trauma dump can feel quite melodramatic, but their trials and tribulations is what makes the character development throughout the story so fulfilling.

The art itself is some of the best I've seen in Shoujo. The style is realistic and vivid, but the panel work really drives home the emotional state of each character. That, accompanied by the dialogue that cuts deep, just make reading so investing.

Overall, it's a great character study and a mature love story. Despite going melodramatic, the characters felt raw and real. I would not recommend reading if you don't like morally gray characters or want to avoid triggering subjects. Honestly don't understand how this manga is considered Shoujo and not Seinen based on the mature themes and how dark it went. I'm glad I didn't read it as a kid when it was popular, the amount of angst would've scarred me and I would not have appreciate the nuances. Reading Mars now, I can't help, but feel touched by the journey.

Ps. The racing are so well drawn! The racing fan in me feel so hype every time.

I've always been a sucker for romance. Maybe It's just that I enjoy watching fictional relationships progress throughout the series. This time I really wanted to read a longer oldie, which turned out to be quite good pick. Mars was hell of read and it's been a while since I was this invested to a manga that I couldn't stop reading. However, there was a lot of things too that I didn't enjoy in the manga.

Art:
I really loved the art. It really has a 90s shoujo manga vibes. Characters were done beautifully. I don't really have anything to complain about. However, this is only a ... small issue I had. Sometimes it was really hard to read the characters emotions. I thought the expressions were kinda hard to interpret. Still, nothing major.

Story:
Story was okay. It's not just a typical high school romance story. It has a lot of ups and downs, turning points and heavy topics. The author really lets the reader know that everything bad can happen right away. Despite having lots of drama and uncomfortable topics, it's not going to be the hardest shit you'll read. Trust me anime/manga industry is filled with fucked up shit.

Characters:
This is where my compliments will stay in their bare minimum. Unfortunately, the characters were the biggest issue I had throughout this story. My god, how fucked up can they be... My patience wont last enough for me to go through every character I thought were shit. Despite all the horrible shit some of these characters did, I couldn't come in terms with our ML Rei. Rei was the character whose actions I despised most of the time reading this manga. He had elements that many of us can relate. Jealousy, anger, trust issues and possessiveness. However he used those ill feelings wrong way and instead of wanting to help and protect his partner, ended up hurting her even more. Some of Rei's actions I found unforgivable and couldn't believe the other characters still accepted it. The characters were too benevolent. I found that unrealistic and dumb.

All in all Mars is definitely a shoujo even a guy could enjoy. I know I did, but I've always liked shoujo and josei romance as much as shounen and seinen. Mars has a lot of good elements for everyone to enjoy. Biking, sports, cuteness, drama and so much more. Like many people have said it is one heck of a rollercoaster, but genuinely a very good read!

I'm so dissapointed i had to write a review. Just to say this as short as possible, karekano this is plot better.

Story: i never thought i would find so a hardcore soap opera from a shoujo, i seen drama, i love drama but good written drama this bordeline with just soap , every single chapter had sutil mistakes i could not everlooked

Characters: so even in mangas females leads dont deverse to have a great characte develpoment right ? Being sucessful and fufilled, if they are married and give free therapy to a broken guy is enought right ? Dont get me wrong, rei was ... a victim from circunstances and everything that happen to him make sense, but he was so selfish and volume 8 and 9 he did horrible things, yes he make a huge change but i dont like how they hanlde their heroine arc .... she was a painter i wishnthey could use that and show how many pictures she draws and how succesull she becamewith the correct help, and how herr paintings toouch so many hearts, idk,k think i was waiting too much for a shoujo manga from the 90s..... she end with the rich hot guy, isnt that the best.

For real so much wasted potential, this cpuld have been a masterpiece, but was average at best, i enjoyed it tho.... full into it, i guess is cuz i like kdramas and they likefull soap opera , but this is a manga so i was waiting for something else, even ore with that make 10s