Fuyumi SoryoBesprekingen

I remember reading this the first time and thinking "Soryo's stories are rather dramatic even in short form". This is before her (only) other english translated series "ES" (Eternal Sabbath) was released, which is about half as long as Mars is, so I had little comparison to go with sadly.

The title story, a prequel to Mars about when Rei first transferred in and 'met' Kira and Tatsuya, is much better read after the main series. Set roughly a year before Mars began (so about a year after Sei's death) Soryo paints the picture of low in self confidence Tatsuya trying desperately to be the popular guy...only to fail miserably the first day of school. Rei is very much as he is in the beginning of Mars--brash, cocky and just this side of dangerous.

The story is kind of all over the place but its more of a chronological journey of how Tatsuya and Rei became so close rather then an easy flowing single story.

Suite des aventures de Mine Kujô qui a pris fait et cause pour Sakaki, l’un des chercheurs rescapés du projet ES – lequel ne doit sa survie qu’au fait qu’il est difficilement contrôlable, comme elle. Elle apprend ainsi qui est Isaac et quel était son destin : celui d’être disséqué tandis que son frère génétique serait élevé à l’image des humains. Mais Isaac a développé des pouvoirs incommensurables qu’aucune loi humaine, aucun remords ou principe ne viennent limiter ; puis il s’est échappé en dévastant le labo. Sakaki, lui, a dépassé le stade des regrets : il est temps d’agir et d’éliminer cette menace, celle d’un enfant irresponsable capable de tuer d’une pensée. Mine pense qu’il est de leur devoir de mettre Ryôsuke dans leur camp et de tendre un piège à Isaac qui serait, croit-on, lui aussi caché dans la société sous une fausse identité. Pour savoir où chercher, il suffit d’attendre un meurtre inexplicable…

Dans cette atmosphère délétère propre aux mystères et aux révélations, on avance par le biais de dialogues plein de sous-entendus au sein de cette intrigue qui commence à sérieusement se ramifier, le méchant d’hier devenant un allié délicat à gérer. Si les scènes d’action sont assez peu réussies, les graphismes sont agréables dans des décors simplifiés : c’est l’intensité du récit qui sous-tend toute l’œuvre. Les implications psychologiques sont intéressantes. A suivre encore

Au début, il se fait appeler Minoru. Puis il se fera connaître sous celui de Ryôsuke Akiba. Mais ce ne sont que des noms d’emprunt. Car ES est un être à part, capable d’entrer dans le cerveau des gens et de leur faire croire ce qu’il désire. Par le biais de ces suggestions télépathiques, ES peut faire ce qu’il veut. Il peut aussi lire leur esprit, ressentir ce qu’ils ressentent. Et vivre leur drame. D’où vient-il ? Que cherche-t-il ? La jeune Mine Kujô, spécialiste en physiologie cervicale, se posera les mêmes questions lorsqu’elle parviendra à établir les preuves de son existence.

Sur un rythme lent, indolent, ES progresse dans des décors vides qui mettent en exergue, par contraste, les plongées dans la psyché des personnes qui côtoient le personnage principal : violentes, baroques, débridées, elles offrent un paysage mental tourmenté et fascinant. C’est un manga dans lequel il n’est pas facile d’entrer, très dépouillé, tant dans la mise en page que dans les dessins. Il prend sa valeur dans les visions oniriques des territoires de l’esprit et dans la quête des origines de cet individu tout-puissant qui se mêle aux hommes comme pour mieux se repaître de leurs fantasmes, et dont on ne comprend pas, pour l’heure, les objectifs.

Après un long chapitre introductif, les 6 autres, au rythme plus rapide, nous dévoilent une partie des circonstances qui ont amené à la création de ES, nous apprennent que certains humains sont, sinon insensibles à son pouvoir, du moins très difficiles à manipuler. Et qu’il y en a eu au moins un autre comme lui.

Troublant

Originality
Being able to alter a person's memories isn't terribly new. Furthermore, the unveiling of the scientific cause of the main character's psychic powers lacks enough in-depth scientific reasoning to be able to suspend one's disbelief.
Artwork
Clear, realistic and professional artwork. Excellent surrealistic images.
Story
Took just a little while longer than usual to get going in the beginning, but it picked up after the introduction of the second major character. However, the conflict between these two characters has only been just begun when important characters and motivations are introduced and then the book just ends. On an aside, background was provided in a blasé info-dump--in fact, these info-dumps occurred a little too often.
Characterization
The main character is interesting but still flat; he performs good deeds that are at the same time self-serving. With such amazing powers, he still doesn't go out of his way to help people. The second major character is a trope of the objective, socially challenged, genius scientist but adds needed sympathy to the character landscape.
Summary
The story has potential, but isn't executed that well. It's difficult to develop a morally ambiguous and mysterious person as the main character from the get-go without going into his motivations or developing a solid conflict to drive the story forward, neither of which is accomplished sufficiently.

3.5

Ah, there’s just something about ‘90s manga, the style, the stories. Makes me nostalgic similar to watching ole TGIF programming. This prequel to the Mars series contains 3 stories packed full of drama, fights, racing, and angst. Not at all necessary, but enjoyable if you already like the series.

This was one of the first manga I ever read. It has all the teen drama. We have opposites, jealously, bullying, twins, abusive homes, teen sex, you name it MARS has it. I loved it when I was 19 to 20. So I am hoping that I will love it now. The first volume of MARS introduces some of those themes I just listed. Kira is very shy so people think that they can take advantage of her. I know why but seeing her being assaulted by the teacher is still as shocking today as it was when I first read it. I like Rei better than from what I remember the first time. I see a broken kid without the love that he needs to handle his problems. Kira is not as much of a doormat as the blurb makes her to be. I think that because if she really wants something she speaks up. Like about getting Rei to model for her. She loves her art more than her fear. And that is what makes this story move forward. Kira being willing to risk for her art. I look forward to all the drama I know it coming.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought with manga with my own money.

The drama is in full swing. Kira's painting that she promised Rei is stolen and instead of going to someone like a teacher, Rei instead goes and beats the guy up in the middle of class. Then the upper classmen decide they cannot let that stand and try to beat Rei up back. Instead we get some insight into Rei's character. Rei just shuts down and scares the seniors into never touching him again. I think that Kira's reaction to this is very interesting. She does not really react at all. She is not shocked or afraid of Rei. She is just worried about him. Because of all the drama Kira learns more about Rei and that is what makes her afraid. She is afraid to ask him more about himself and afraid to not know. Very dramatic. I am enjoying the drama. Soryo art's is so good. It is interesting to read about an artist drawing as you watch her draw. It ends with Rei trying to deal with his brother's sucide and the student who stole from Kira jumping off the roof of their school. So much teenage angst.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

The drama in this volume is all about Rei getting to race. Kira's is painting the whole time he is gone but the development is great. Rei is so alive on the racetrack and Kira's at peace as she paints. The pacing is slower because of this. When the racing is going on it feels fast but the whole volume is only 8 hours long. I liked reading about the racing because I love motorcycles too. There really is not much about Kira and Rei's relationship in this volume but the outside character development is worth it. Rei is very passionate about racing and I felt that the reader was shown why he feels that way. At the end Kira has finished her painting of Rei and is showing it at a local art show. More drama on the way!

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Some of the reason behind Sei's dead are revealed but not all. Rei and Kira are trying to get closer but unresolved issues are stopping them. Rei trying to deal with his brother's death and Kira trying to be forward are the main issues in this volume. The storytelling is really starting to get off the ground. With lots of character interaction, plot development, and of course drama the real beauty of MARS is starting to show. The art is beautiful mixing finely detailed drawing for emotional impact with more simplistic style for humor. The art, like all manga, is very important to the way the story is told. So much about the plot and character's is told in how they are drawn, the backgrounds used with them, and the way shadows are played. We can see Kira's innocence in her softer style, when Rei is feeling the weight of Sie's death the art changes around him. Soryo knows what she is doing and does it well.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Rei's ex-girlfriend problems get resolved and we are starting to get into Kira's character. Rei talks about what he feels when they are being teenagers and I like the foreshadowing that is happening. I like Rei but we have had now five volumes all about him. Let's get into Kira now. The plot is this is more about Kira and Rei being more together and the reader seeing that they are not having sex. That something is stopping Rei whenever he tries to take things to the next level. One interesting thing is that Rei is not pressuring Kira to have sex with him. Other people are. Rei does not understand what is going on with Kira but he does not push her. Kira never says no but Rei is connected to her so he can feel when he has gone too far and stops. Not realistic in a seventeen-year-old boy but it is a nice fantasy. Rei's kindness is good for her.

I give this volume a Five out of Five. I get nothing for my review and I bought this book with my own money.

This volume is about Rei's recent past just after his brother's death and again we have to put Kira aside. We knew that Rei had lost his mind in grief and rage after Sei's death but we get to see what some of that looked like. The new character is very creepy and how Rei reacts to him is even more so. But Kira being a whole-hearted believer in people, she can see past all that. She helps Rei remember who he really is. That is what this volume is really about Kira helping Rei get back to who he really is. I do wish that we had gotten more of what is really going on with Kira but they have very little alone time because of the new stalker. More drama in general and about the stalker next time!

I give this manga a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

So the crazy kid Masao thinks that if Kira was gone then Rei would be more like him. He almost gets himself killed more than once in this volume. But the really interesting thing is what he knows about Kira. We get to see something in flashbacks that happened to Kira but no real idea until the last two pages when she freaks out on Rei. I find the drama very interesting because I think that most teenagers do not know really too much about stalking or the other scary things that can happen but they make good drama. So this is almost a first introduction to this kind of behavior, now I could be wrong, just going off my own teenage years and what little I knew about others then. The art again has some moments of real beauty and they happened when the violence was at the worst. The contrast was good and added more interest to the scene.

I give this volume a Five out of Five. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

We finally get what is going on with Kira. There is a lot of heavy stuff going on in this volume. Kira talks about being raped repeatedly by her stepfather, her mother leaving him over it, but now he is back and says he is sorry. That makes Rei lose it. He does not believe that her stepfather is really sorry or would never do it again. I think that the subject of rape is handled well. Kira is shown to still have pain over it but she is also shown that there is life after. I wish that Soryo would put Kira in therapy like she did Rei over his brother's death but I think being willing to talk about rape at all is a big step. Of course the drama is high with all that happens over the course of this volume. It end with them breaking up but that's just the cliffhanger for this volume. Rei does make one very good point, that Kira's mother is choosing her own personal comfort over her daughter's safety. Again a big issue and I am just going to have to see how it is handled. More drama next week.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money so long ago.

This volume is all about character. Rei and Kira get a lot of growth time. Kira's mother lets her leave home to be safe. Rei's father wants to help them so they move into his house. Then Rei starts to deal with unhappy memories about his mother and Kira learns something terrible about Sei. The drama is there but it is quieter than in previous volumes. Kira and Rei have to make some adult choices and deal with what that means. Rei remembering things about his mother is going to change the way he sees things. What he remembers is not good. In addition Kira now knows more about Sei's death and what she is going to do with this knowledge. Good pacing for this volume. With the volume ending as this bombshells drop more drama is coming up next!

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this book with my own money.

Lots of drama in this volume. Rei breaks up with Kira because she and her mother are living the man who raped her again. Rie cannot stand the thought that something might happen to Kira so he takes the easy way out. In the end Kira has to leave home because her stepfather is too controlling. This volume ends with Kira and Rei kissing. This series does have a lot of drama but it does not make light of the more serious issues. Rei makes a good point about repeat rapists and that is they will not stop. Kira's stepfather is one. He swears that he will never do it again but when he sees Kira with Rei he loses it. Kira does stand up for herself but in the end she has to leave home. Kira's mother wants things to be easy but the price is Kira's safety. So Kira chooses herself and Rei. Another thing that Soryo talks about with this is how being devalued like Kira has been does to a person. She does not really care about anything. Because she feels that she is not important or has any value as a person. Heavy stuff for a shojo manga. More drama coming next week.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Kira and Rei have sex in this volume. It is not graphic but it is very clear what they are doing. Kira is forced to interact with the real world. She does get scared but she deals with it. Rei does help but it is Kira who chooses. The character development in this volume is more relationship development. Because they are living together now Kira and Rei have to deal with some things that neither could have guessed was coming. Rei's father is still trying to get in touch with him. Kira of course is worried that Rei is ashamed of her or something like that. That is something that I wish would get dealt with but ten volumes in and Kira still thinks that like. But I still really enjoy in this series. But that said she is much better than she was at the beginning of the series. True love and all that. All the drama is good for your heart.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

The drama in this volume is very serious. Kira's stepfather, who raped her, wants her to move back into with him and her mother. Kira stands up to him which is good character growth for her. Rei has a moment of compassion for the man but the stepfather will not take No as an No still. The plot in this volume is very quick. It is about Kira and Rei refusing to bend to a abusive person. Rei's father does want what is best for him. We do not get to see his face but Rei's father wants Rei to be successful in life. He helps them both get away from Kira's stepfather. The thing that stands out in this volume is Kira's character growth. She stands up to her rapist and tells him what he is. Her stepfather does not think that he raped her. He thinks that he loves her. Kira now know that is a lie. Good for her. Only four more volumes to go before I am done with fun teen drama series.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own.

This volume continues the family drama from the last one. Kira really is not in this volume it is about Rei and his father dealing with the past. Kira still does not know what to do with the knowledge that Sei killed himself with the intent of Rei killing himself too. Rei gets to know more about his mother and both of his fathers. There is some hints about plot twists for the last two books but mostly about tying up lose ends. As the manga comes to a close, Soryo does so much with her plot and characters. But I will give a overall review of the series when I finish it. I like how Rei's character has grown over the course of the manga. At the beginning he would have never thought to question any of his memories of his mother but now he is not only doing that but he is seeking out answers for the odd things around him. He listens to his father and is not afraid to hear the hard answers. But more drama is coming!

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

Rei's father is a very important to this story in this volume. He talks to Kira about why he does not want Rei to race professionally. It is because that is how Rei's real father died. Mr. Kashino is afraid of losing Rei too. Now Rei and Mr. Kashino do not talk about that because that would be too easy but at least they are both willing to talk to Kira. Masao is just a small plot point that will no doubt become much bigger in the last volume. I like that Mr. Kashino has grown over the few books he has been in. He went from demanding, unloving step-father to man who really does love Rei and wants what is best for him and is afraid of losing more of his family. The way that he and Kira interact in very interesting and far more telling than anything that Rei ever said about him. One more volume of drama left.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this with my own money many years ago.

The blurb for this volume really tones down what Masao tries to do. He stabs Rei multiple times and almost kills him. Rei does find peace with Masao and Sei. Kira and Rei do get married and Rei is going to be a professional racer. So all well that ends well. As an overview of the series it has a lot good with some bad. The art is top notch. The story is excellent, with character growth and development. The plot does get a little over the top sometimes but as it is a series about teens for teens of course everything is over the top. This is considered one of the most popular girl's manga in Japan ever. I normally do not go for real life stuff. I like fantasy, science fiction, or other genre stuff but this is a good story. In the end if the story is good then people will read it, always. I have enjoyed my re-read of this series and I remember why one of my best friends just loved it.

I give this volume and this series a Five out of Five. I get nothing for my review and I bought this series with my own money many years ago.

This was a great series! There was only one thing wrong with volume 8. I didn't want the story to end. However, I thought the ending was moving and satisfying, yet sad. I do hope that the author will start another series later again based on this story.

The artwork of the dream sequences and the battle between Shuro and Isaac was terrific. I really liked the sexy outfit that Mine was wearing in that sequence. Very creative.

There is so much to like about well done manga. I am very happy that I found this series in my local public library. I hope to read other work by Fyuomi Soryo in the near future.½

This volume is the most violent and destructive yet. Isaac is mad that Yuri is on Mine's side. Yuri is distraught that Isaac killed her mother, but what Isaac does to Yuri is even worse. Now we're getting down to the basics. It's Isaac versus his clone brother Shuro.

Isaac is discovered to have a defect in which he is aging too quickly so that he turns his anger against the whole world instead of just against Shuro. Can Isaac be stopped? Who knows? All that I know is that I couldn't read this volume fast enough...and now I'm all set to begin volume 8.½

Okay. I'm still hooked on this series. It must be the mesmerizing eyes of the main characters, Isaac, Shuro, and Mine! Whatever it is, I find that I want to know what is going to happen. Shuro is being tamed by Mine who is getting into more difficulty by over-involving herself in the psychological problems of Yuri's mother. When it looks as if Yuri's mother is going to get help for abusing her child, in comes Isaac who reads her mind and causes mayhem in which two people die. This results in the end of Yuri's seeking shelter with Mine. She can't get out of this cycle of events between Isaac and Shuro even if she wants to. With both of these clones still able to read and control the minds of others, Isaac then seeks once again to meet up with Yuri. What is going to happen? I definitely need to read volume 7 to find out. What a mesmerizing series!

Okay, so this series is compulsively readable. I just sat down to read through volume 5 in two quick sittings. I enjoyed the psychological issues of this story and the uncertain attraction between Mine and Akira-san (Shuro). The uncertainty was so cute it made me laugh. Later, this story turned toward the more serious topic of child abuse.

I found the translator's notes at the end of this volume particularly helpful as it addressed the differences between the United States and Japan regarding gun control and child abuse. I very much like to learn about cultural differences such as these.

Ever onward...I'm ready for volume 6!