MÄR

Märchen Awakens Romance
North American cover of MÄR volume 1
MÄR (Meru)
Genre	Fantasy, Comedy, Action Adventure, Romance
Manga
Written by	Nobuyuki Anzai
Published by	Shogakukan
English publisher	Viz Media
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Sunday
Original run	May 2003 – July 2006
Volumes	15 (List of volumes)
TV anime
Directed by	Masaharu Okuwaki
Studio	SynergySP
Licensed by	Viz Media
Network	TV Tokyo
English network	YTV Cartoon Network
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^?), an acronym for Märchen Awakens Romance, is a manga series written and illustrated by 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.

Plot

Ginta Toramizu is a 14-year old junior high student who is portrayed as a typical video game geek and underachieving student. One day and without warning, he finds himself summoned to the mysterious world of MÄR-Heaven, which he has only seen before in his dreams and in his mother's books. In this fairy tale world, Ginta's physical weakness is replaced with superior physical strength as well as incredible stamina and endurance.

Upon meeting a mysterious witch named Dorothy, Ginta is introduced to the powerful magical accessories and weapons called "ÄRM" (pronounced air-um). Dorothy plans to steal the mysterious ÄRM Babbo from a trap-guarded cave, and brings Ginta along to assist her, intrigued by his unusual strength and abilities. Babbo is revealed to be a extremely special and unique ÄRM, as he possesses a will of his own and the ability to speak. Displeased with what she has found, Dorothy gives Babbo to Ginta instead, departing with a warning that others will try to steal Babbo from him.

He continues on a journey of discovery, revelling in this new world. However, when he encounters the farmer Jack and his mother, who are troubled by two werewolf brothers, he finds that he misses the real world. Ginta resolves to find a way to reach home while enjoying as much of MÄR as he can along the way, Jack journeying with him.

However, it is not long before Ginta learns that the world of MÄR-Heaven is not as peaceful as it seems when he is attacked by thieves wishing to steal Babbo. Upon meeting Alviss, who summoned him to MÄR-Heaven using a ÄRM known as the Gate Keeper Clown, he learns of the sinister "Chess Pieces" and how, six years earlier, they had tried to take over MÄR-Heaven. Alviss reveals that he summoned Ginta in order to gain assistance from an "other-worlder" in the upcoming war, as was done previously, and that Babbo originally belonged to the leader of the Chess Pieces.

Gaining both allies and enemies, the series follows Ginta as he opposes the Chess Pieces and their undead leader Phantom.

Characters

Main article: List of MÄR characters

Media

Manga

Main article: List of MÄR chapters

The series was 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

Main article: List of MÄR episodes

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 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] The first two seasons were on Instant Netflix; the first was removed due to issues with the wrong audio being played for episodes, and the second also exhibited these issues. The audio has been fixed. Both seasons can be watched on Netflix, but with occasional slight timing issues with the subtitles.

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

1. ^ "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. 
2. ^ 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