Mars, Vol. 12

Mars [マース] #12

by Fuyumi Soryo

Kira leaves home with her mother's blessing. When Kira goes with Rei to meet his father, she realizes that he is the elegant man who tried to buy her painting of Rei. It comes out that Rei is actually the son of his father's brother, who Rei's mother had an affair with. Rei's father invites Kira to come live at his house with Rei as his fiance until they graduate from high school. As Kira and Rei explore the giant mansion together, Kira learns details about Rei's life, and Rei is also beginning to remember things that he had long forgotten. When Kira and Rei go exploring alone (Kira to Sei's room and Rei to his mother's room) they both discover things that were held secret for years. Kira finds a suicide note painted into one of his paintings, in which he shows his true colors, which are far darker than anyone could've imagined. Meanwhile, Rei remembers things about his mother's illness that shock him?

Part of the comiXology Originals line of exclusive digital content only available on comiXology and Kindle. This title is available as part of comiXology Unlimited, Kindle Unlimited and Prime Reading.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Graphic Novels, Shojo, Young Adult, Comics, Fiction

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 10, 2000

About the author

Fuyumi Soryo (惣領冬実) is a Japanese manga artist from Beppu, Oita, Japan. She is a graduate of the Oita prefectural Geijutsu Midorigaoka High School.

She was born into the home of a master of the Kanze school of Noh. In her childhood she liked to draw pictures of horses and things but had no special interest in manga. While enrolled in fashion college, she happened across Shogakukan's Rookie of the Year Contest and applied to raise money for the Sōen fashion contest. There she received an honorable mention, and debuted with "Sunspot Visitor" (Hidamari no hōmonsha) published in the April 1982 edition of Bessatsu Shōjo Comic (now Bestucomi).

Her works translated abroad include Mars and Eternal Sabbath. In 1988, she was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo manga for Boyfriend. Currently her last manga series is Cesare which centers around the infamous Borgia family of the Italian Renaissance and Cesare Borgia himself.

Reviews

[Keiko, the manga enthusiast ♒︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's getting twisted once again

I was relieved that the buyer was indeed a relative of Rei, but it was a shocker that he's actually Rei's legal father. I wasn't expecting that, and I wasn't expecting that he was actually a good guy. And his mother might be a lunatic—I mean, you should protect your son, not make him feel the hurt you feel for him to understand how you're hurting. Crazy stuff. Now that I think about it, that's one hell of a deranged family—one crazy gene passed to another (I dunno where Masao came from, lol. Maybe their lost child! Kidding!) Even Rei has his weird, intense streaks. Even the revelation about Sei's real self. Also, I'm starting to hate Sei. Are there any more surprises? Because I'm losing my mind now, if I haven't lost it from Uzumaki yet. Also, this series is just so good!! I really love it.

[☾❀Apple✩ Blossom⋆｡˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

ayo wtf

[Carissa (Regency Woman) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vol 12 is where Rei finally begins confronting certain truths in his life, things he has believed for so long that they're ingrained in him, but are not necessarily representative of the truth. Let's be real for a minute. Rei isn't really a good guy. He's a spoiled, rebellious teenager who thinks he can get away with anything and mopes and broods and sulks when he finds out that he can't. There isn't much to like about him, especially when we see his father differently than he does.

But that's the point. We're supposed to see this weird dichotomy that doesn't line up. The truth about Rei's childhood, about his twin brother Sei, all of it starts to come to light. The readers begin to get an idea of what's actually happened, and now we can fully support the flickers of memory that Rei starts having, memories that are different from he's always believed and are scary. But also present his father in a different, much more accurate, nicer light that matches up with what the reader thinks his father is like.

Rei is changing, finally, and for the better. I wouldn't have been like Kira and stuck it out with this rebellious brat for so long. So I'm glad she isn't like me. I'm glad she's her because her presence continues to move Rei's story forward in positive ways.

This is a great volume, truly. We've seen a lot of growth from Kira in the past several volumes, but Vol 12 is where I really start to see that character growth and maturity from Rei that I've been hoping for.

On to Vol 13, nearing the end!

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ehhhhhh.
This doesn't have much sustence, and with only a few volumes left I'm not sure why they chose to put so many reveals and exposition. It's just too much for this late in the series and lost it's impact

[Katie❄️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW. So much of Rei's life he remembers is a lie. So much he doesn't know yet. I really hope he doesn't give up his dream of racing. He can always fall back on business. It's always good to have two plans.

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread- more secrets revealed! things are starting to come together

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rei & Kiara move into Rei's family home with his father. Rei shows Kiara around and she sees Sei's room.

Later that night when she cant sleep she asked to go to Sei's room because the smell of oil paints calms her. While she goes there, Rei goes to his mother's room. What will they discover while in those rooms.

[Pflanzis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Langsam wird es schwierig Bewertungen zu schreiben, ohne zu spoilern... In diesem Band erfahren wir viel über Reis Vergangenheit und seine Familie. Beim ersten Lesen wurde ich hier ziemlich überrascht.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sei... just wow... Rei's father is a great character.

[gianna z. · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Penélope Albornoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Buenísimo!
Un tomo con muchos descubrimientos del traumático pasado de Rei.

[bes · Rating 3 out of 5]

there is so much happening here

[♡︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

“it’s love, love” THE PAIN IS NEVERENDING

[elif sinem · Rating 2 out of 5]

When things get boring trust Soryo to bring back Sei. Works like a charm.

[Jessica-Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, wowie. How does this writer come up with this stuff?

The Sei plot line has returned and is it something to *gasp* about! I feel mildly out of breath. I mean, I completely agreed with Kira earlier on in the story when she said that Sei was a wimp for abandoning Rei and causing him so much pain but then, then... That note! What?! How did Sei ever become that f*cked up? "I'll be waiting for you to come to me" ... "At least I'll leave the perfect wound for you". Psycho! Creepy, Creeperson, McCreep-a-lot!

So far Sei has been such a sympathetic character, he was the good one, the one that cried and was scared all the time. But now it's like BAM, everything you know is a LIE.

The drama! *faints*

You can see my overall review of the complete series (spoiler free I promise) on my blog Reading Robyn

[Starbubbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read this one, I was reminded of the movie The Bad Seed. That, and the two theories of nature vs nurture for how a person's character developments. Mental illness can stem from both, but I was just stunned by how much was running in the family. That's what brings me back to the movie and the fear and constant surveillance of oneself to look for the warning signs of the same disease.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love that we learn more about Rei's past.

[Brianna Jo♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

We found out a lot in this volume. One of the most telling and most entertaining. I think it was my favorite yet. We learn more about Rei and Sei's father, their mother, their upbringing--Kira even finds Sei's suicide note and it is more than telling; it's devasting. Apparently, Sei is more like Masao than we previously thought. And Rei's mother's actions were questionable (to say the least) and there's something suspicious about Rei's memories. Trauma is like that, sometimes. Traumatized people are known to black some memories out. But they're flooding back. Turns out, mental illness is genetic and is more than that, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy in these genes.

I'm so excited to find out what's going to happen next. Is this what people feel like watching telenovelas and soap operas?? Jeez (ง ื▿ ื)ว｡･ﾟ･

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ayah Rei ternyata lelaki yang memuji lukisan potret Kira di pameran. Dia nggak seburuk yang diceritakan Rei. Meski Rei bukan anak kandungnya, dia benar-benar serius memikirkan masa depan anak itu. Dia bahkan mau menanggung biaya pendidikan Kira dan mempersilakan dua anak ini tinggal di rumahnya.

Surprise, surprise, Rei ternyata anak dari adik ayahnya. Huwah! Di kamar Sei, Kira tak sengaja menemukan suicide note Sei. Dan dia terkejut karena wajah asli Sei tidak selembut yang dikira orang-orang.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

New trauma has entered the chat... what was that letter?? I like the sweet moments and I don't hate his dad. I think Rei can't deal with somethings and his father has really not held anything against him (at least that we are shown). And that memory of his mom... what was that too??? Oh and the adoption discussion.

Rei is down bad, I do feel like we have lost the racing and art story lines to a certain degree.

[d★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

rei y kira ahora viven en la casa del padre de rei y se revelaron muchas cosas; lo más importante siendo que kira encontró la carta de s******** de sei y que rei empezó a recordar(? algunas cosas de su pasado que tienen que ver con su madre y su “padre”

[Hana Arika (tiq4far TikTok ft gram) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why does it's getting darker 🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. These volumes are so dramatic. I will say that overall volumes 12-15 have a more cohesive plot and are much stronger in terms of storytelling compared to the earlier volumes.

[Lex Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uhhh plot twist?!

[Morgan Wiebelhaus · Rating 4 out of 5]

OKAY WE ARE GETTING BACK ON TRACK

[Kaylee Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point, my reading goal will mostly be Manga but next year will be more chapter books for sure

[faeth 📖 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh so everybody is crazy

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn.. the past (truth) is being revealed and I cannot stop reading.

[cc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone Rei knows is a sociopath. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Kira went all stabby stab stab at this point.

[damla · Rating 5 out of 5]

the pain never leaves me