Mars: Vol. 4

by Fuyumi Soryo

Synopsis
Just when things are beginning to heat up between Kira and Rei, Rei's old girlfriend shows up and confesses that she never stopped loving him. When Rei tells her not to come around again, she walks into traffic and Rei is forced to rescue her. His act of heroism only intensifies her obsession, and soon the exiled ex refuses to get out of bed or eat until Rei agrees to see her. When Kira tries to give him some girlfriendly advice on the matter, Rei lashes out at her and reduces her to tears. Emotions continue to escalate until the anniversary of Sei's death, when repressed memories are unearthed and hidden secrets revealed.

Review
This volume kinda reads like a soap opera, with the introduction of the ex-girlfriend, Shiori, who tries to wedge her way in where she doesn't belong. On top of that, she's not that nice, or actually, she plays nice to get what she wants. She's very selfish and spoiled, probably so that the readers won't like her at all. But she does have her own motivations, too, and she doesn't feel introduced just so that Kira and Rei's relationship will stop developing, she feels like a natural addition to the story. One thing that I really appreciated was how easily Rei saw through her. There was potential for him to be an idiot and think that she was genuine, but fortunately, the characters are smarter than that.

What else is interesting is everyone has their own idea for why Sei committed suicide. Rei says it was teenage impulsiveness, while a friend says it was because Rei stole Shiori from Sei. At the end of the volume, Rei says he remembers the real reason, because their father wasn't their father. But we'll have to wait until the next volume to find out more, because it ends there.

This is a really good series. It's interesting without having to contrive conflicts, and the characters are believable.

Final thought: I have to read the next book!