I came upon this while searching for something 'fun and easy' to read to pass the time. I saw the synopsis looked interesting and it was only four chapters long, so I gave it a go. I was amazed by how much I liked this manga and, by the end, I genuinely wished it was much longer.

On the surface, it seems like your pretty typical fare. Two good looking girls from opposite sides slowly form a relationship and eventually things escalate to a higher level. This basic descriptions applies to pretty much 90% of yuri manga out there. What separates Mars no Kiss from most of them is that the MC, Yukari, is a surprisingly complex character.

Most manga of this type have pretty one dimensional characters. Their personality is one of the manga archetypes (e.g. tsundere, hot blooded idiot, yamato nadeshiko, etc), they are kind and get along well with classmates (which is generally how they meet their love interest), and their character undergoes little to no development. Yukari, however, does not fit any of that. She is, by all accounts, a pretty normal girl with her own set of troubles. She is also a pretty normal student and is not bullied or popular. In other words, Yukari is a pretty normal person...something which is pretty uncommon in manga and, paradoxically, makes her a bit unique.

By that's not all that makes her special. When we meet her, we are shown that she has trouble with an overbearing mother and the result is that she has become strongly inclined to rebel in classic ways (older boyfriend, being sexually promiscuous, body accessories which her parents dislike, etc). However, as we go along, we learn that both her overbearing mother and her own behavior has resulted in an acute sensitivity to being self-consciousness and, despite her brazen confidence at times, we do learn that she is actually prone to low self-confidence at times.

As the chapters passes, we learn her thoughts/feelings on things and we see her develop in response to new realizations. Everything happens in a surprising smooth and notable way. Eventually, she blooms into what is arguable her 'true self' and the moment is rather beautiful.

I went on a lot about Yukari. The other MC, Miki, is also a good character and works well as a supporting role. However, I do think Yukari carries this manga and I'm very impressed with how the author designed her and the story so well in such a small amount of chapters.

Anyway, I went on a lot about the story, but there's really much more to it than what I said. Considering it's so short (unfortunately), it would be a shame for anyone to miss this. I definitely recommend reading this!