http://www.mangareader.net/terra-formars/I just felt like spouting my two cents' worth about this manga since I like this forum and it seems a substantial number of the geeks here also like manga/ anime.
As a guy who has read or at least skimmed probably a thousand titles in his life, I have rarely come across a manga that is this combination of humbling, interesting, captivating, scary, well researched, ridiculous, irritating and infuriating all at the same time.
The basic premise is that this is the 26th century and man is trying to terraform Mars. Unfortunately Mankind made the mistake of introducing cockroaches to Mars. They evolved, and now are proving to be the superior race on Mars.
So the human characters in this manga are the underdogs. They're getting their asses kicked by Cockroaches, which are superior in every way and form to the humans. (Except that they're uglier.) And to make things worse, the cockroaches are capable of flying into space like the Zergs, while the humans are enmeshed in their own petty national and sub-national rivalries and some humans are possibly betraying their kind to the cockroaches.
The manga has great quality actually. Characters are remarkably well developed considering they don't get that much airtime each; there are a heck lot of plot twists and mysteries laid on top of each other and interacting with each other, manga moves fast and is very exciting.
That said, I am very irritated by this manga also.
I have never read a manga where humans are so useless and weak. The premise, and the extent to which we need to suspend disbelief to allow us to accept cockroaches evolving into a superior race in just 500 years, is practically like a joke.
Still, I'm reading it now and can't stop...
