Mars v.5 by Fuyumi Soryo - 198 pages

Mars v.5 by Fuyumi Soryo -  198 pages

Rei and Kira undergo simple everyday experiences as a couple – Rei getting sick and Kira taking care of him, cooking, kissing, Rei teaching Kira how to ride a dirtbike.  Through their conversations Rei tells Kira more of what life was like with Sei and their father, and their family quarrels, and he is able to come to a better understanding of himself and his motivations. 

“I don’t know how- how to protect a kid like a mother does,” Rei tells Kira.  “I’m not a mother, or a father.  I don’t know how to protect anyone.”   Kira replies, “You wanted someone to protect you, too.  You needed to be supported even more than Sei.”  Rei finally breaks down in a cleansing act of grief.

Rei is finally able to tell a devastated Shiori goodbye.  “Shiori,” he tells her, “They say there’s always someone you can’t live without.  You go and find that person.  I already found mine.”  We are left wondering if Shiori will finally be able to let go of Rei and move on.

At the last part of the volume, a man who may be Rei’s father admires Kira’s painting of Mars in a gallery, and Kira wonders if she should get more serious with Rei when she likes things exactly as they are now.  While very much a middle chapter of the story, Rei’s healing was an important factor in being able to move forward in life, and it’s interesting to see how the characters develop.