MARS: Horse With No Name

Mars [マース] #16

by Fuyumi Soryo

A bad boy can change a good girl forever; Mars is a tale of restless and confused high school love.

Genres: Manga, Romance, Graphic Novels, Drama, Shojo, Comics, Comics Manga

208 pages, Paperback

First published December 13, 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

[Lexie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prima del Dopo.

Un fuoriserie antecedente all'intera serie semi-omonima che spiega qualche passo appena accennato nella stessa e i sentimenti del Prima del Poi che poi ha reso tutto perfetto e semplicemente meraviglioso!

Leggere non costa, questo soprattutto perché qualche informazione in più non fa mai male.

[🌟Star🌟 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t really care about Rei and Tooru’s story at the beginning of the book but the other two short stories I really enjoyed.

[Sav · Rating 4 out of 5]

haven't read the whole series infact I guess I started on the last book but omg it was so emotional 3 different stories put into one book and the fact no one actually got together🥲

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating 5 because I love Mars and this was a great short prequel story to the series. However, the other two stories fell a little flat for me. They would’ve benefited from being a tad longer to explain more background.

[Penélope Albornoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonita precuela de Mars, donde se forman lazos de amistad entre Rei y Tatsuya, y donde vemos el primer encuentro que tuvo con Kira.

[Vonze · Rating 4 out of 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.

[damla · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's exceptional how fuyumi soryo pictures the blossoming life with every page and every line. each one is so painstakingly beautiful, but i especially would have loved to read more about nina and rui's story. also, the second story followed just the right pace and ending. it was such a fascinating section of life, and the beauty of choosing life itself, again. and with horse with no name, it was a nostalgic and charming story. even though tatsuya's first impression of rei was no good, i was relieved to see he chose to accept him the way he is. he needed that.

[Lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

That 16th volume of MARS you thought you needed but it turned out that you actually didn't need at all. I mean, it's a good manga, make no mistake there. You do get the backstory of how Rei and Tatsuya became friends. It's a nice story but really, nothing more. Then you get two unrelated short stories. Again, nice, totally in Fuyumi's style. All very beautifully drawn of course. Somewhat sad and tragic. But the manga is absolutely not necessary for the main series.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only read 3 of 4 stories. I can't find the fourth story. Hmm... Di sini ada awal pertemanan Tatsuya dan Rei. Chaotic juga. Awalnya mereka nyaris berkelahi. Tapi akhirnya Tatsuya dan teman-temannya bantuin Rei nyariin gelang lucky charm-nya yang jatuh di sungai (dijatuhin Tatsuya). Hahaha. Pertemanan para cowok itu unik, yah.

Sedangkan di satu cerita lepas, seorang gadis yang dingin jatuh cinta pada anak dari wanita yang membuat ayahnya bercerai. Benar-benar cerita yang nggak biasa.

[Diana Prince · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away, either. I'm not a huge fan of the prequel short stories, I just wanted to see more of Fuyumi's art! It's always worth it for the beautiful illustrations.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute quick read. The titles were great, and now I have that song stuck in my head!

[Krys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too short. The Mars story only lasts for 60 pages or so. the rest of the book is filler. Meh.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading this manga cuz it's been awhile and I'm kinda tipsy and I feel like it ok?

[Kally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute prequel.

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

I've just realized I've read this too so I just gonna give start review then.

[Katie❄️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well only 1/3 of the book was about Mars. The rest was 2 short stories.

[Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Nena Leonor Reynoso · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got the book thinking the whole book would be the back story but turns out it is a 3 story short.

[cc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, yeah, I think this was my favorite in the series.

[Erika Schoeps · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[IKn · Rating 5 out of 5]

QUIERO SER COMO ÉL, ABANDONAR ESTE MANIQUÍ DE CARNE, LIBERARME DE LA MARIONETA QUE ES ESTE CUERPO Y SER COMO ÉL omg me encantó y la precuela aún más

[fantôme de loup · Rating 3 out of 5]

C’était okay tout du long.

[𐙚 lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterpiece 🫶🏻

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today's review is on MARS: Horse with No Name by Fuyumi Soryo. It is a prequel to the series MARS and it is published by Tokyopop. The cover has the main character Rei on it looking at the reader. The intended reader is someone who loves MARS, teen romance manga, and good art. There in no language, talk of sex, and no violence in this book. The story is told from third person with character's thoughts added in for plot and character development. There Be Spoilers Ahead.


From the back of the book- We know how the story ended... but how did it begin? In this special edition of MARS, we explore what happens when Kira meets Rei for the very first time. Longtime friends Tatsuya and Rei are acting more like enemies these days as they battle it out for Kira's affections. Will they be able to mend their friendship and settle their tense conflict once and for all?
As a special bonus acclaimed manga-ka Fuyumi Soryu also includes two additional stories for your reading pleasure. Long love MARS.


Review- Once again I have a problem with a blurb. Kira is in like two scenes and that is it. It is about Rei coming back to Japan and making friends with Tatsuya. It is a good introduction to the series which I will be reading next. The art is great, all three stories are interesting, and I remember why I liked Soryu's art. The other two stories are just one shots. But they all deal with teens having problems as they grow into adulthood. Parents being bad, kids trying to be adults, and all the problems that comes with. But as Soyru is a shojo manga artist the stories have happy endings. She is able to make interesting and vivid characters very quickly. I am looking forward to rereading MARS. I hope that I still like it as much as I did so many years ago.


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

[Leila Anani · Rating 2 out of 5]

This 16th volume in the epic Mars romantic saga is in fact an anthology of three stories only one which is related to Mars - the title piece Horse with No name. It shows how Rei really met Kira for the first time (which is kind of pointless as the asking directions in book 1 works just fine) - what it's really about it how Rei and Tatsuya become friends. It did however lead me to seek out the America song which has since become one of my firm favourites - which was the best thing I got out of reading this manga.

The second story is rather confusing dealing with the astral- projected spirit of a coma victim giving a guy with lots of problems the will to live.

The final story is a bit marmalade boy bitter-sweet - A guy gets to know the daughter of the guy his mother's started dating.

The MARS story is pretty pointless and doesn't deliver anything it promises or add to the saga in any positive way. The two other filler stories are ok. I did like some of the art work for the coma victim story, but the rest of the art is simply so so and all the characters do look very similar.

Fans of Mars will want to check this out, just don't be too disappointed.

[Spring Holbrook · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off this volume has the most misleading cover text ever. Rei and Tatsuya's friendship wasn't in jeopardy because of them fighting over Kira, since in this story they aren't even friends (yet).

Basically it's just a prequel showing how Rei and Tatsuya came to be friends, plus a couple more stories by the same author. It's not really as engaging as Mars as a series was, but it's still nice to have a little more background.

There's also a couple other stories by Fuyumi Soryo. They're both stories about a guy and a girl. They didn't really leave much of an impact on me, but I still like seeing an artist's other work.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me begin by saying I have not read any other manga in the MARS series. I bought this for a friend because she is in process of collecting the MARS series, and I've been curious to read them because she loves them. After noticing this was a prequel to the series, I figured it wouldn't hurt to read it, and possibly get a bit of backstory before reading the rest. Unfortunately, this prequel made zero sense to me. I understand the premise just fine, but the manga really seemed to jump around, and I couldn't get a coherent story out of it. Perhaps my review would be different if I had read the rest, or it may change after, but for now, I'll say this was a very poor attempt at a "prequel."

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horse with no Name is a prequel to MARS, released after 15 volumes of Rei and Kira's story. The story highlights the first meeting of Rei and Kira, a sweet moment for anyone who is familiar with the series, but focuses more on the friendship that forms between Rei and Tatsuya.

The story relating to MARS is only about 1/3rd of the book, the remaining pages are the shorts "Sleeping Lion" and "A One-Carat Fruit." These two shorts were not my cup of tea, and I was hoping for more MARS related stories in this volume.

[Candy Soulistic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever since Tokyo Pop decided to come out and make this series avaliable in English I was there buying volume 1-15/16 month after month. I fell in love with the art style and the characters even before I read the manga. This is when it wasn't even translated. However at the age of 15 reading this series it was my favourite and now at the age of 25 it still is.

This is a great romance manga for anyone who likes the theme and a plot of bad boy falls for quite girl and drama. Enjoy.