At first glance, Mars seems like your typical shoujo - shy girl somehow charms the Most Popular Boy At School - but don't be fooled. This manga's a soap opera through and through. If you're looking for standard shoujo - a bunch of highschoolers hanging out complete with the Valentine's Day arc, Christmas arc, White Day arc, "we're graduating" arc - you really won't get it here. This manga's a lot more serious than the usual lighthearted slice-of-life romcom.

The thing about this work is that it feels dated, and it's not just the art. Kira, the female protagonist, is the ingenue of ingenues; so demure and innocent she feels unreal, speaking and acting in the odd way people from old teen movies do. This isn't limited to her, though; Rei seems like he rolled out of a 80s movie, too. The most noteworthy thing about these characters is that, as well-fleshed out as they are, they never feel truly organic. But it's not as big a flaw as it seems.

Kira threw me off initially because she's inexplicably too detached, in a Hirunaka no Ryuusei sense. You don't really feel like she's a person who exists, and for a long time, you really don't understand why she is the way she is. But the manga corrects this in the most effective way, giving us a very valid explanation and it lets us see her change into something real. Even if it's a little delayed, that only makes the twist sweeter.

Kira's great development aside, Rei's the real star of the story. In the beginning, he seems to just be the refreshing type, and while he never stops being nice to Kira, as the story goes on, it becomes clear that he's more than that. Because it's the backbone of the manga, there's uncommon care put into his character and his backstory, and it's done mostly effectively and objectively well. Though I can't say I was super enthralled by him, I honestly feel like it's just a personal preference thing, and it's not like I disliked him. He's a well-done character.

The romance is something that finds its way into itself later. At first, it's kind of stilted and informed; suddenly, only a week or so after meeting him, Kira admits to herself that she's in love with Rei, and Rei is fascinated with her for seemingly no reason. Why they fell into each other so quickly is clear in hindsight, but you feel detached while you see it happening, kind of like "alright, I guess this is a thing now." But as their relationship progresses, you start to feel how much they care about each other, and it's pure and sweet love, the way they're constantly there for each other and open about their feelings.

Honestly, this manga isn't as good as people say it is, and it's definitely not realistic (in general, the relationship development is normal to good), but it's not bad, either. It's a soap opera, and while it's not handled quite as well as, say, Fruits Basket, it's a good soap opera. Even though there are going to be times where you go "holy shit, why is she doing that" or small arcs or plot points you just can't get with (you cannot pay me to care about motorcycle racing) and the story needed a bit more direction (the climax arc was clearly jammed in there and didn't stand up well to the rest of the series), when it's good, it's good. My mind was blown a couple of times, and the nuance in characters and backstories and inter-character relationships was, on the whole, really well done. As well as that, there's something to be said for Kira and Rei's character growth throughout the series.

So it's a soap opera; a good one, but take it at face value. While this probably won't become your all-time favorite romance, it's engaging and well done for what it is. Give it a try and keep in this mindset, and I bet you'll like it.