“Terra Formars” is an exciting, violent but addictive series that I am looking forward to! As humanity depends on the survivors on Mars, what happens when they are ambushed with new evolving Terra Formars? Vol. 5 of “Terra Formars” is recommended!
Image courtesy of © 2011 by Ken-Ichi Tachibana, Yu Sasuga/SHUEISHA Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: Terra Formars Vol. 5
STORY BY: Yu Sasuga
ART BY: Ken-Ichi Tachibana
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Shueisha, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC
RATED: T for Older Teen
Available on March 17, 2015
As the various teams try to make their way to Annex 1, Team 5, made up of Germans and South Americans, comes under ferocious attack by the Terraformars. The team leader, Adolf, struggles to survive against all odds. The American and Japanese members of Team 1 have their own battles to fight against an enemy that keeps coming, keeps adapting and won’t stop until all the humans are dead!
With a new mission is being set by U-NASA (20-years after the disastrous BUGS-2 mission), this time, this latest expedition is for the survival of humanity as a virus has swept Earth and the only known antidote is in Mars.
New recruits have been selected and a powerful group of officers that are part of Annex 1 are on their way to Mars, but to the surprise of anyone onboard, the Terraformars have gotten aboard and now it’s a fight for survival in the spacecraft traveling to Mars.
As the onslaught of Terraformars have killed many of the officers of Annex 1, but those who have survived and fought back against the humanoid/cockroaches are now starting to discover that it’s not just cockroaches that are on the planet, other insects are also on Mars and each of them have fighting capabilities.
And the fight against these new insects continues as Adolf Reinhad of Germany and his group continues to fight. But with these new species of insects, do they have a chance of surviving the insect onslaught?
Find out what happens in vol. 5 of the hit manga series “Terra Formars”!
What is “Terra Formars”?
In 2011, writer Yu Sasuga and artist Kenichi Tachibana would create “Terra Formars”, a manga series that would become a major hit in Japan.
First serialized in Shueisha’s “Weekly Young Jump” and an OVA and anime series slated later this year, “Terra Formars” was ranked #1 in the 2013 “Kono Manga ga Sugoi!” top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey.
With nine tankobon volumes published in Japan, “Terra Formars” vol. 1 will be released in the United States in July 2014 courtesy of Viz Media (on the Viz Signature imprint).
With Earth looking to colonize Mars which is undergoing its final stages of Terraforming and now becoming a green planet, a group of 15 men and women have been sent to Mars to check on the Terraformation of the planet.
Meanwhile, on Earth, the planet is falling into ruin due to environmental destruction and energy shortages, so Mars has been the focus by scientists.
Scientists have used moss and a black organism to darken the surface of the planet and causing it to absorb more sunlight, increase temperatures and melting the carbon dioxide.
The black organism used by scientists were cockroaches.
As the 15 men and women of BUGS 2 arrive on the planet on their mission to evaluate the planet but also to find out what happened to the first crew (BUGS 1) that landed on the planet.
The team discover that the Terraforming has succeeded but to their shock, the cockroaches have mutated with human bodies.
As the Japanese members, Shokichi Komachi and his childhood friend Nanao Akita try to make contact with one of the beings, the humanoid cockroach snaps Nanao’s neck.
And now the humans have become the hunted.
Because the cockroaches exhibit all abilities of a cockroach, it was learned that scientists embedded human DNA in them and their mutation has made them beings that would not just survive in Mars but also exhibiting human characteristics and a hatred towards humanity (as humanity has had a hatred towards cockroaches).
But humanity also has found a way for humans to counteract the cockroaches by using injections of insects on humans that will briefly give them insect powers. But is it enough for the humans to survive in Mars as they are now considered the pests for the planet in which the humanoid cockroaches are the primary species?
In volume 2 of “Terra Formars”, the manga is set 20-years later and Shokichi Komachi is now the new head of U-NASA. As one of the few survivors to escape from Mars and survive the cockroach onslaught, the Earth he has returned to is not just facing an overpopulation problem but also a widespread virus that came from Mars.
The bad news that the only way to stop it is to confirm the existence of the virus and determine its type and bring it back to Earth in hopes to create a vaccine.
But will Shokichi find a new group of people willing to sacrifice their lives for humanity by going to Mars and prepare for the onslaught of cockroach/humans that have infested the planet and want nothing more than to kill the humans?
As the Terraformars have invaded the spacecraft of Annex 1, it becomes a battle of survival as the recruits must prepare for a crash landing on Mars, but to find out that not only have Earth’s recruits have evolved, so have the Terraformars!
In volume 4, the officers come across different types of Terraformars that somehow have other insect abilities. Did they evolve that way or is someone responsible for the insects becoming bipedal humanoid.
And in volume 5, learning that these Terraformars have managed to evolve possible with other insects that were kept behind on Bugs 2. And now, Adolf Reinhad of Germany and his crew must survive in their fight against them.
With the fifth volume of “Terra Formars”, it was known that the cockroaches have evolved with human DNA. But now, we are learning that cockroaches are not the only insect, but there is also the hardshelled Pachyrhynchus Infernalis and silkworm. Have the cockroaches found out how to use the DNA of these other insects and evolve to make different species on Mars?
Adolf Reinhad of Germany and crew must fight a battle against these evolved insect species, but do they have any chance of surviving?
The artwork by Ken-Ichi Tachibana is magnificent. Characters are well-detailed, artwork is just pleasing and the action is well-featured. And of course, the writing and research done by Yu Sasuga has really made “Terra Formars” a fascinating and captivating series.
Overall, “Terra Formars” is an exciting, violent but addictive series that I am looking forward to! As humanity depends on the survivors on Mars, what happens when they are ambushed with new evolving Terra Formars?
Vol. 5 of “Terra Formars” is recommended!