It is important to say that Souryo is a veteran manga artist who has published works since the 1980s and continues to be active today, with her most recent work: Cesare: Hakai no Souzousha, ending in 2021. She was also awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga for Boyfriend, whose plot reminds me a bit of Mars (but haven't read it yet to confirm) in 1988.
[PLOT AND CONTEXT] What I mean by all this is that Souryo's "voice of experience" is reflected in Mars brilliantly through well-grounded psychological themes and drama, talking about suicide, mental issues and family issues . Questioning distorted love and lack of attachment to life. The fact is that Mars makes reference to the god Mars, from Roman mythology, who had powers of destruction and destabilization, however, he used these powers to keep the peace, which if you observe has everything to do with the protagonist King. It is also possible to see a nuance of reflection on the rapid changes that society was going through, in a nostalgia for the past and hope for the future, as a result of the context of the turn of the millennium, I believe.
[CHARACTERS] The main characters and the romance are developed in a very satisfying way to follow. With a painter protagonist, the author uses real art as inspiration with the painting "The three ages of women" by Gustav Klimt and the curious look and tendency to capture the beauty of life that artists have. As for the protagonist Rei, the author uses motorcycle racing as a very stylish way to show how the character has a free spirit and at the same time destructive. All this with beautiful features and the aesthetics of the 90s that make reading a pleasure.
[MORE+] Mars also has a kind of prequel in a compilation of 3 stories with different stories called Mars Gaiden: Namae no Nai Uma, but only the first story is really related to the Mars manga; telling the story of how Rei and his best friend met.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING IT!
April 04, 2023, Tuesday
