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| Märchen Awakens Romance | |||
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| MÄR (Meru) |
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| Genre | Fantasy, Comedy, Action Adventure, Romance | ||
| Manga | |||
| Author | Nobuyuki Anzai | ||
| Publisher | Shogakukan | ||
| English publisher |   Viz Media |
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| Demographic | Shōnen | ||
| Magazine | Shōnen Sunday | ||
| Original run | May 2003 – July 2006 | ||
| Volumes | 15 (List of volumes) | ||
| TV anime | |||
| Director | Masaharu Okuwaki | ||
| Studio | SynergySP | ||
| Network | TV Tokyo | ||
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| Original run | April 3, 2005 – March 25, 2007 | ||
| Episodes | 102 (List of episodes) | ||
| Game | |||
| MÄR: Demon of Kaldea | |||
| Developer | Konami | ||
| Genre | Touch ÄRM RPG | ||
| Rating | CERO: A (All Ages) | ||
| Platform | Nintendo DS | ||
| Released | March 30, 2006 | ||
| Game | |||
| MÄR: Klavier of oblivion | |||
| Developer | Konami | ||
| Genre | Touch ÄRM RPG | ||
| Rating | CERO: A (All Ages) | ||
| Platform | Nintendo DS | ||
| Released | September 7, 2006 | ||
| Anime and Manga Portal | |||
MÄR (MÄR Meru), which stands for Märchen Awakens Romance, is a manga series created by mangaka Nobuyuki Anzai. The television anime based on the series is titled MÄR Heaven (MÄR -メルヘヴン- MÄR -Meru Hevun-) and was originally broadcast in Japan on the TXN station.
MÄR is characterised by fairy tale motifs running throughout the series, Märchen being itself the German word for "fairy tale". VIZ Media has acquired the North American rights to both the MÄR manga and anime and aired a dubbed version of the series, first on Toonami Jetstream, an online service from Cartoon Network, and then on the network itself, as part of the Toonami programming block. In June, Canadian youth network YTV broadcast MÄR.
A sequel to MÄR, entitled MÄR Omega, was announced in September 2006. However, it is not being written and illustrated by Nobuyuki Anzai, but by Kōichiro Hoshino.
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Plot
Upon appearing in MÄR-Heaven, Ginta's physical weakness is replaced with physical strength as well as incredible stamina and endurance. The explanation given was that the gravity was lower in MÄR-Heaven, thereby bestowing relative strength and endurance on Ginta. However, no explanation was given for his improved eyesight. Ginta, who on Earth was a typical video game geek and underachieving student with a drunkard chain-smoking writer for a mother, finds his wildest dreams come true by discovering a world beyond his own where he can be someone else.
Ginta quickly meets the mysterious pink-haired witch Dorothy, who introduces him to the powerful magical accessories called "ÄRM" (pronounced air-um).
Dorothy plans to obtain the mysterious ÄRM Babbo, and brings Ginta along. Babbo is extremely special for an ÄRM: he can be shaped into different forms with the use of imagination and possesses a will of his own. However, he has lost all his memory, and considers himself a "gentleman". After saving Dorothy from Babbo's guardian, Ginta becomes the new owner of Babbo, though at first they do not get along.
He continues on a journey of discovery, revelling in this new world, but also finds that he misses the real world. Eventually Ginta resolves to find a way to reach home while enjoying as much of MÄR as he can along the way. However, it is not long before Ginta finds out that the world of MÄR-Heaven is not as peaceful as it seems, as he is attacked by thieves wishing to steal Babbo (who is wanted by the Chess Pieces Army). He soon meets Alviss, the person who brought him to MÄR-Heaven using the Gate Keeper Clown, and acknowledges the upcoming war with the Chess Piece Army. The army aims to destroy the peace of MÄR-Heaven. He also realised that his dad had been a hero in MAR heaven. Then found out that his dad died in MAR heaven in a match with Phantom.
Many more secrets and characters come to light, especially that of the epic MÄR-Heaven War six years ago, in which a mysterious man called Danna (lit. 'Boss' in Japanese, and in the Toonami Jetstream Anime) from Ginta's world defeated the champion knight of the Chess Piece Army, Phantom (the former owner of Babbo), ending the first MÄR-Heaven War. However, he gave his life in the process. As time passes, the story reveals that Phantom has been resurrected and wants to start another reign of terror over the world, with the help of the evil queen of Lestava.
Characters
Media
Manga
The series is published in Japan by Shogakukan, in North America in English by VIZ Media, in France in French by Kana, in Spain in Spanish by Ivrea, in Singapore in English and Simplified Chinese by Chuang Yi, in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo, and in Vietnam in Vietnamese by Kim Dong Publishing House.
Anime
SynergySP produced an anime adaptation of the MÄR manga, which premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 3, 2005 where it ran for 102 episodes until its conclusion on March 25, 2007. It was released across 17 Region 2 DVDs in Japan by Shogakukan, which each disc containing 3 episodes except the first and last which contained 2 episodes each.
The anime was licensed by Viz Media and aired on Cartoon Network's online broadband service Toonami Jetstream and for a limited time on their television programming block Toonami. On July 9, 2007, Toonami Jetstream restarted MAR from the beginning with episodes being broadcast biweekly, and "reruns" every other week. Viz Media released began releasing the series to DVD on June 12, 2007, with each disc containing 4 episodes. Four volumes were released before Viz delisted the series in favor of other titles.[1]
Reception
IGN gave MÄR a mostly negative review, stating that, while the series is not horrible, it is "like every other shōnen fighting manga you've exposed yourself to", and "is only for the absolute diehard shōnen fighting otaku".[2]
References
- ^ "Future DVD Volumes of MÄR Anime Reportedly Delisted". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-01-04/future-dvd-volumes-of-mar-anime-reportedly-delisted. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
- ^ Sparrow, A.E. (2007-04-23). "IGN: MAR Volume 12 Review". IGN. http://comics.ign.com/articles/782/782862p1.html.
External links
- Official TV Tokyo MÄR site (Japanese)
- Official Viz Media MÄR site
- MÄR (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
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