Mars Shy and boy-phobic, Kira is a young high school girl. Rei is a bad boy who falls for her. With many obstacles such as past girlfriends, past trauma as well as a mental patient trying to kill you, it's a wonder they even stay together. But how much can they take? Mars is truly a unique manga. It has the common shoujo element of a boy and girl falling in love and trying to make their relationship work. But, it is full of teen angst, the dark side of people and finding your place in the world. It deals with deep issues. I found for the most part it was very unpredictable, with lots of twists and turns. I noticed the characters cried a lot, which I got used to after a while. ^^ Mars was created by Fuyumi Soryo. It is currently being published in English by TokyoPop. There are 15 volumes plus a book containing 'extra' stories. I don't think an anime series has been made of this series. I (personally) would probably rate this 16 and up. It deals with dark and mature themes. (For example: suicide, killing, mental issues ect.) There is also some swearing.

pic from Burning Sunset.

Characters

	Kira Aso- Kira is a very shy, timid girl. She is also a very talented artist. Kira has a traumatic past, causing some problems in her current life. At first she dislikes Rei, but soon gets to know the real him.
	Rei Kashino- Rei is a playboy, biker and worst enemy of teachers. He can be very violent. Rei usually just used a girl, then dumped her, but Kira was different. He fell in love with her. Rei also has a horrible past. His mother died a long time ago, and his twin brother committed suicide right in front of him in middle school. He is distant from his father, who is in charge of a big company.
	Tatsuya Kida- Tatsuya is Rei's friend, and eventually Harumi's boyfriend. He went to middle school with Kira, and had a crush on her at the beginning
	Harumi Sugihara- Harumi is Rei's ex-girlfriend. At first she is hung up on Rei and cruel towards Kira. But after a while accepts their (Kira and Rei's) relationship. She becomes close friends with Kira by about the third book. (Somewhere around that time anyway).