Mars, Akuma to Love Song Recommendations
They are both shoujo and romances, and it would seem that the similarities will end there. Yet Mars and Akuma to Love Song had one quality I really liked: they probed into subjects that people normally don't talk about. Mars is, of course, hands down, the most thought-provoking of the two, and while I wouldn't call Akuma to Love Song to be "deep" there is a sense---even in the beginning--that the characters have more depth and hidden parts of themselves that aren't seen in the surface. Maria is blunt and straightforward in everything she does and says; she has no qualms about
saying harsh truths, which often ends up offending people and making lots of enemies. She also has a remarkable quality of "seeing through people" and understanding the more selfish motivations behind what people say, often tearing down people's masks of civility to reveal a darker part of themselves... Yet despite this Akuma to Love Song is far more light-hearted in nature than Mars. Mars deals about the issues of suicide, rape, and death in a far more personal way; in a way that really causes you to feel how terrible these issues really are. Akuma to Love Song, in contrast, so far from what I read ( which is till chapter 40), mentions these issues in passing, not really going down to gritty details and asking tough questions the way Mars does.
Overall, I love Akuma to Love Song's characters more because they are so unique from characters i read so far in any anime/manga I read so far. Yet I feel I like the subject matter more in Mars and the way they handled the darker sides of life.
If you like one, you might like the others. I encourage you to give Mars and Akuma to Love Song, a chance.
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