#Rei Kashino

[chocoxcaramel]

[seasaltmemories]

Mars Review/Analysis

Mars was a series I had vaguely known about for a while. I've seen the iconic statue kissing scene, the male lead ranked as one of ppl's faves problematic love interests, and even had a mutual who talked about reading the series once a year. However it wasn't until a discussion on the portrayal of sex and other mature topics in shoujo that I figured it might be useful for me to read such a foundational work

Cue me reading the first chapter and breathlessly telling people it alone would count as the one of the best of shoujo. I binged the rest of the 15 volume series in a week, and through so many familiar ups and downs, it still felt like something special.

CW: Suicide, Sexual Abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia

Summary time:

Kira, a shy high school student, lives only for her art. Rei, An arrogant, rebellious and violent playboy, wears his delinquency like a badge of honor. They are exact opposites in every way, but when Kira sees Rei kissing a statue of Mars, she overcomes her fears and asks him to model for her. And, to everyone's surprise, Rei agrees.

On the surface it seems just like a typical good girl/bad boy story, and it is hard to say it isn't, but so much of what makes the story work is the details. Their meet cute is subdued, nothing but an excuse to get them talking again, but as they talk more and more, their chemistry just shines through. I don't know if it just fits my specific tastes, but it really is the stuff of girlhood dreams. Rei has this easy-going charm that is hard to look away from, and you can see Kira start to fall fast and hard despite herself, and by the end of volume 1, they've shared their first kiss and are more or less an item for the rest of the series

It is a pretty fast courtship for most romance stories, but the fact we skip the pining to get straight to an established relationship means we get this sort of easy physical affection that is so refreshing. Frankly I would enjoyed just watching them be absolutely adorable, but as we uncover both their dark pasts, they take on this young, restless "us vs. the world" love I can't resist

I mention before how a lot of Rei's appeal lies in his laid-back nature, rather than brood in a corner, he's outgoing and popular but the same carefree nature means he doesn't put much stock in social convention or consider the consequences his poor impulse control can get him in. It's a much more thought-out portrayal of a "bad boy" even as the dramatic details of his backstory build up. Considering his mother's early death, his estrangement from his father, and the fact he saw his twin brother commit suicide in front of him, it is clear his ease with everything is more bc of a general apathy, even towards his own wellbeing

Kira we learned started the series still recovering from the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepfather, as her relationship develops with Rei, she has to process a lot of trauma she still has surrounding her sexuality. It is clear her introverted, passive nature is not just a means of making her more relatable/easier to project onto, and that the real Kira has only started to come back out of her shell

I'd be lying if I acted like these issues were explored in nuanced, subtle ways, but even through the melodrama there was something real to it all that captured me. Like I usually struggle to latch onto most contemporary romances where the biggest obstacles couples face are their willingness to go ahead an make the first move. But these are real problems that real ppl face, even if it is heavily dramatized, and so their determination to stick together and make a place where they can be happy and safe just tugs at my heartstrings, even the breakneck pacing from one arc to the next, felt true to the whirlwind that is young adulthood. Did Fuyumi Souryo forget a plot thread when Rei's dream of becoming a pro racer fell away from the plot for like ten volumes? Maybe, but in life you're usually not really following a laid out plan and are more trying to survive from one crisis to the next while discovering patches of stability along the way

The melodrama really started to test my limits with the introduction of the antagonist, Masao. In contrast to Rei and Kira's detailed history of violence, Masao's just plain evil and attracted to the both of them for extra "creepiness" It's not just tasteless, it's boring, his entire arc nearly killed my interest in the series

Thankfully he only shows up for one arc in the middle and then briefly at the end to stir up more trouble. He's more bearable in those chapters thanks to the fact he's reflecting how much our main leads has grown, but his existence is painfully utilitarian, which applies to most of the rest of the cast, clearly only existing to highlight our main duo better. This also leads to some transphobia and insensitive portrayals of suicide.

Rei's mother and twin also suffer similar "secretly evil all along" reveals as Masao, which I do think cheapen Rei's struggle. Frankly we don't get enough time to unpack either character's history to really understand them, but even if the narrative doesn't suggest it outright, it is hard to ignore the feeling their deaths aren't so tragic bc of their flaws. Even so, they bothered me less than Masao for some reason. For all her violent tendencies, Rei's mother is still given sympathy that Masao never gets. And even though Sei's suicide note expresses a lot of misanthropy and sadism, to me there were enough lines almost suggesting he feared those tendencies within him and was also struggling in his own way. Perhaps their underdeveloped nature all helps keep either plot point form having to overstay their welcome

And that's the thing, despite all the dark and shocking plot twists I casually mentioned, what really stands out as I look back on the series, is the strong love Rei and Kira share. Going back to the plot summary, what you see is what you get. If you aren't on board with the series after volume 1, then it probably isn't for you. But few pieces of media have ever sold me on two character's love for each other as hard as this did. I mentioned before that I tend to need my media to acknowledge tragedy before I can accept their hope, but even when Mars isn't pulling out its soap opera cliffhangers, I always wanted to see how Rei and Kira would come together to support each other through their next stages of life.

[jesush8r]

[geminimoonthoughts]

My Interpretation of the Mars Statue Panel

"For someone so violent, he has a gentle face, doesn't he?"

TW: references to violence and sexual harassment

Rei says this quote to Kira before kissing the statue of Mars, the god of war. This is very interesting given the events of the first chapter in which Kira is cornered by their teacher in the art studio. The way I interpreted this quote was that it alludes to how violence can be committed by those who appear trustworthy (The high school teacher is well-liked by the students but is actually a creep). Violence does not always appear as traditional rage or brute force, but can be calculated and deceitful. It's just like in war, utilizing strategies and tactics.

More thoughts...

This quote could also be a bit of foreshadowing of Rei's character arc. The way Kira describes his appearance is boyish and smiley, but the colors she paints Rei with are vibrant reds and yellows. She alongside other characters in the series acknowledges that Rei has a darkness to him. I would like to do another post talking about my interpretation of the iconic mars painting and how Rei is surrounded by those colors in the painting...Idk I might get to it in the future.

[mortalprojection]

are you so serious rn rei kashino???

[neardestruction]

<<Do you want me to kiss you while I'm dying?>>

Paul Verlaine's letter to Arthur Rimbaud, 1873

[poppletonink]

BOOK REVIEW: MARS Vol. 1

★★★★★ - 5 stars

"The world is full of selfish people... and there's nothing you can do to save it. No matter how well you hide it selfishness seeps out slowly."

MARS tells the story of Kira Aso - a budding artist - and motorcycle racer Rei Kashino, and how they fall in love. Volume 1 focuses around how the two meet. Rei is pretty much your stereotypical bad boy archetype - he smokes, he's a womaniser and he rides a motorcycle. But when Kira asks Rei to model for her artwork everything they know comes to a halt as their worlds begin to revolve around each other.

This will always hold a special place in my heart as the first manga that I ever read. I literally read the entire series of fifteen volumes in less than a week (I think my family was mildly worried, if I'm being honest...) because I was so incredibly hooked within the story. That is one of the brilliant things about MARS how thrilling and enticing it is; how it has you on edge, constantly wanting to know what happens next - and that is the key to a brilliant book.

Also, the art. My word. The art. This is coming from someone who had never even heard of manga until I stumbled upon MARS whilst scrolling through Amazon about two years ago. To put it simply, it can only be said that art is absolutely beautiful.

The romance between Kira and Rei is something that hopeless romantics can only dream of. If I'm being honest, MARS may just be the first romance book I ever read (aside from Divergent by Veronica Roth, which is more so fantasy/dystopian action than romance). Obviously it's very stereotypical fitting into the bad boy x good girl/opposites attract category. However, it is so much more than that. MARS is about the irreversible effects we have on the people we meet and how wonderful our influence on others can be - how it can change their lives forever.

On Goodreads it has an average rating 4.12, mostly due to it's stereotypical character archetypes and common placed romance tropes, but partially due to issues with the series that come into play in later volumes (it must be noted that there is mentions of rape and sexual assault, homophobic slurs are said and transphobia occurs also later on).

Overall, MARS Vol. 1 is an enticing, beautifully drawn introduction to the characters and the story of the MARS series that will draw you into the series with a firm grasp until you can find so escape from the action of turning pages to find out what happens next.

[revyy-0]

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT THEN WHAT ARE DOING !!

[choujinx]

MARS (1996-2000) by fuyumi souryou

[onyxisnotuniqueenough]

just heard about a manga called mars and i promise you you need to search up pictures of rei from that manga on google images right now he is! everything i could ever

[buunloon]

kira aso and rei kashino

Inspired by fuyumi soryo’s style

[chocoxcaramel]

[dewlight-doodles]

This was a very specific experiment. One of my favorite mangas is Mars by Fuyumi Soryo. I thought: wait a sec, how would our dear Ajax/Tartaglia/Childe look as Rei Kashino?

So, this is a heavily referenced drawing of Childe inserted into scenes of the manga. Basically Tart as Rei. 🔥

[jesush8r]

mars manga. a love like this please god 

[quadrupedalpotato]

10 Characters from 10 Fandoms

Tagged by @supposed-to-be-studying

Oh yay, this is fun! Loosely interpreting fandom here just because I'm not actively in 10 fandoms right now, and not sure if half of these are recent or big enough to count.

1. Pieck Finger (Attack on Titan)

2. Matt (Death Note)

3. Shorter Wong (Banana Fish)

4. Yuuri Katsuki (Yuri on Ice)

5. Kojiro Nanjo (Sk8 the Infinity)

6. Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Caribbean)

7. Rei Kashino (Mars)

8. Yasu Takagi (Nana)

9. Hatsuharu Sohma (Fruits Basket)

10. Seto Kaiba (Yu-Gi-Oh)

Tagging @beautifuleverevolvingmonster, @congressofspirits, and anyone else I follow who wants to.

[sailermoon]

rei kashino