MÄR
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MÄR Heaven | |
|---|---|
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| メル (MÄR) |
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| Genre | shōnen, fantasy, comedy |
| Manga: MÄR: Märchen Awakens Romance | |
| Authored by | Nobuyuki Anzai |
| Publisher |  Shogakukan  VIZ Media EMA Ivrea Elex Media Komputindo Komik Remaja, Tora Aman |
| Serialized in | Shonen Sunday |
| Original run | May 2003 – July 2006 |
| No. of volumes | 15 |
| TV anime : Mär Heaven | |
| Directed by | Masaharu Okuwaki |
| Studio | SynergySP |
| Network | TV Tokyo Toonami Jetstream (Broadband Internet Service) and Cartoon Network'sToonami block TV3 |
| Original run | 3 April 2005 – 25 March 2007 |
| No. of episodes | 102 |
| Game: Mär Heaven: Demon of Kaldea | |
| Developer | Konami |
| Genre | Touch ÄRM RPG |
| Rating | CERO: A (All Ages) |
| Platform | Nintendo DS |
| Released | 30 March 2006 |
| Game: Mär Heaven: Boukyaku no Clavia | |
| Developer | Konami |
| Genre | Touch ÄRM RPG |
| Rating | CERO: A (All Ages) |
| Platform | Nintendo DS |
| Released | 7 September 2006 |
MÄR: Märchen Awakens Romance (pronounced Mare) is a popular manga series created by mangaka Nobuyuki Anzai. A television anime of the series, titled MÄR - MÄR Heaven - (MÄR - メルヘヴン - Meru - Meru Hevun -?), also exists and in Japan is broadcast on TXN stations. (Note: In Japan, the manga is simply titled MÄR, while the anime is titled MÄR - MÄR Heaven -.) MÄR is unique simply because of the fairy tale motif running through the series itself. MÄR is also an acronym for Märchen, itself being German for "fairy tale". VIZ Media has also acquired the rights to the MÄR 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.
A sequel to MÄR called MÄR Omega has also been announced on September 2006.
Contents |
[edit] Status
As of 2006, the manga's first part ended in 161 chapters.
Buried With Manga - For more Info
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, and in Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo. MÄR has been announced as a part of Cartoon Network's new online broadband service called Toonami Jetstream. It has aired on Jetstream since July 14, 2006. It is currently airing Saturday nights on Toonami, having premiered December 23 at 10:30 western and was aired January 16, 2006 on Cartoon Network in Australia at 6:00pm
The show is now airing on Toonami as stated, however, the order of shows originally was not in sequential order. The first episode was aired, then another episode that was not the second followed. On January 13 2007 Episode 7, Awaken: Meet the other Ed, was aired. The next listing on the Cartoon Network website was listed as Episode 14. The same was happening with Prince of Tennis, which started at the same time. As of February 24, Prince of Tennis and Mar have both been switched. MÄR is now on at 10:00, and both shows are starting over and going in order, now.
http://z4.invisionfree.com/Buried_With_Manga/index.php?act=idx - info from this site.
[edit] Plot
The story follows Ginta Toramizu, a hyperactive and easily excitable boy who has always dreamed of a fantasy world, and has been transported to one, the world of MÄR-Heaven, by an extremely powerful Dimension ÄRM known as "Gate Keeper Clown." It was used in desperation by the world of MÄR-Heaven, which is in a period of oppression and instability caused by the mysterious reappearance of the Chess Piece Army. The "Gate Keeper Clown" goes as far as to pluck the surprised and shocked Ginta out of his classroom during a fairly typical day of school, where, being a dreamer, he is constantly heckled by his classmates for his lack of physical prowess, except for his childhood friend Koyuki who encourages him to tell her about the dreams.
Upon appearing in MÄR-Heaven, his 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 witch Dorothy, who introduces him to the powerful magical items called "ÄRMs"(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 this memory, and considering 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, reveling in this new world, but also finds that he misses the real world. Eventually Ginta forms resolves to find a way to reach home while enjoying as much of MÄR-Heaven 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.
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.
Most of the series is borrowed from fairy tales, of marchen. Lengthwise, Ginta's mother writes marchen.
[edit] Main characters
[edit] Team MÄR
(メル, Meru)
Team MÄR consists of the series' seven main protagonists; Ginta Toramizu, Babbo, Snow, Jack, Alviss (Cross Guard), Alan/Edward (Cross Guard), Dorothy, and Nanashi (Luberia). The team was formed to fight the Chess Pieces in the War Games.
[edit] Chess Pieces
(チェスの兵隊,Chesu no Koma)
An army created by two outcasts of the magic kingdom Kaldea, Diana and Phantom, which gathered soldiers of different objectives and united them under the same goal: to conquer the world. Its ranks are based on the pieces in the game of chess with rank going down from King to pawns. After the deaths and scattering of the top members, it was thrown into anarchy and consequently disbanded.
[edit] Other characters
[edit] The War Games
Scheduled to succeed each massacre of the two MÄR-Heaven war is a tournament held by the Chess Pieces army known as War Game, which assembles all warriors on its adversary line into one fighting stage. There they will be pitted against the Chess Pieces members all the way from second-lowest Rooks class to omnipotent Knights class. Its original purpose is to eliminate all malcontents spared alive from the previous gory razzmatazz, but both Games in the two war ends fiascoes.
The War Game takes place in a place the Chess has pre-arranged (in the 2nd war it's the Reginrave castle situated in the centre of MÄR-Heaven), but its unofficial start announcement is prematurely given by means of lunar broadcasting, the role of deliverance falling down to Chess Pieces' chief strategist Knight Peta. Everyone who wishes to involve will arrive in the place at the appointed time and have to enter the Game's preliminary round; an one-on-one combat in enclosed spaces (entry available through magic stones only, chosen at random) with a Chess individual. The Chess selected are mostly Pawns, but among them there's a 'hidden piece', a Knight, a tweak of plot that ascertains one less from the enemy (in the 2nd War the case being Chimera, while on the Cross Guard, the 3rd man Gaira happens to be his prey). After the round's settled, the surviving participants will engage in the fighting round of the War Game, henceforth starts the true Game's rounds.
In each round, each party involved will choose a captain to lead the fights and select a number of fighters on their side (decided by a Chess referee's roll of dice), and the selected will be transported to a distant battlefield, while the remainings and spectators will observe the fights broadcasted back through the sun. Two important rules are applied to the fights, first is that the team with the most wins wins, and all combatants (including the lost one) will advance on to the next round; while if the team loses, only ones with victory can advance. The second rule is that the captain's fight decide the whole team's fight, if he loses his own fight, the whole party he represents will be the vanquished.
Both Chess' participations in the two War Game are carried out with its leader Knight, Phantom, as the captain. From the opposing side, Danna commander of Cross Guards in the 1st War, and Ginta from MÄR in the 2nd.
[edit] Round 1-Normal Field
- Leno vs. Alviss: Alviss wins when Leno is knocked out after being sent flying by Alviss' 13 Totem Poles.
- Pano vs. Jack: Pano wins with an accidental hit to the groin, resulting in Jack being knocked out after being called a pervert.
- Ginta vs. Garon: Ginta wins with the destruction of Garon's ÄRM.
[edit] Round 2-Desert Field
- Snow vs. Fuugi: Snow wins using a snowman body slam.
- Nanashi vs. Loco: Nanashi could have won by killing Loco but instead destroyed her ÄRM. However, Nanashi faints from his injuries so the victory goes to Loco, in which she is unsure of.
- Dorothy vs. Maira: Dorothy wins through destruction of Maira's ÄRM, then killing Maira.
[edit] Round 3-Volcano Field
- Alan vs. Alibaba: Alan wins with the destruction of Alibaba's ÄRM. Alibaba is thrown into a volcano, counted as dead.
- Jack vs. Pano: Jack wins through exposing Pano to hallucinogenic mushrooms.
- Snow vs. Mr Hook: Hook's longsword eventually chips away Snow's Ice Sword. When Snow fires away Yuki-Chan, it is defeated by a falling anchor. Snow's magic is drastically cut due to the volcano heat.
- Ginta vs. Kannochi: Against Kannochi's Darkness ÄRM, Ginta resorts to his Holy Guardian Alice, which him his victory. However, Alice unintentionally causes Kannochi's death by destroying his darkness ÄRM.
- Alviss vs. Rolan: Alviss loses due to the exhaustion of his magic power.
[edit] Round 4- Ice Field
- Alviss vs. Mr. Hook: Alviss wins effortless. Mr. Hook dies at the hand of his Chess team captain, the Knight Rapunzel.
- Jack vs. Korekkio: Jack wins, condemning Korekkio to the same fate as Mr. Hook.
- Dorothy vs. Avurutuu: Dorothy wins before Avurutuu could do anything, resulting in his death at Rapunzel's hands as well.
- Nanashi vs. Aqua: Nanashi intentionally pulls a draw, but Aqua meets with her death sentence by Girom's hands nevertheless.
- Ginta vs. Girom: After Girom kills Ginta, Ginta goes into a rage and starts out losing to Girom via Girom's new guardian arm. However, Babo refuses to fight anymore unless Ginta regains control. Ginta regains control and beats Girom
- Dorothy vs. Rapunzel: Dorothy wins by using her Guardian Crazy Quilt as a diversion to attack with her Zephyroth Broom.
[edit] Round 5 -Desert Field
- Snow vs. Emokis: Snow wins with the help of her new Guardian Undine.
- Alviss vs. Hamelin: Alviss wins.
- Jack vs. Candice: Candice wounds her body to accumulate enough magic power to summon her Guardian Gorgon, but is counterattacked by Jack's new Guardian Mehitos. The match results in a tie.
- Ginta vs. Ash: Ginta wins, with Ash giving up the fight after his Guardian is finished.
- Nanashi vs. Galian: Nanashi wins using his new Guardian Gymnote.
[edit] Round 6 -Mushrooms Field
- Alan vs. Chaton: Against the kitty girl Bishop, Chaton, Alan loses due to his cat-phobia.
- Alviss vs. Kouga: The introduction of Alviss' new Guardian, A Baoa Qu, leads him to victory.
- Dorothy vs. Pinocchio: Dorothy wins. Pinocchio's body is smashed to pieces.
- Snow vs. Magical Lou: Lou purposefully lures Snow into his trap, capturing her and bringing her to the castle of Lestava. Snow loses.
- Ginta vs. Ian: Ginta wins.
[edit] Round 7 -Final Battles
- Jack vs. Vidar: Jack wins using his 2nd new Guardian Kikazoku Fire. Vidar's source of magic power is destroyed.
- Alviss vs. Rolan: Rolan's emotional instability stands no chance against Alviss. Alviss wins.
- Dorothy vs. Chimera: Dorothy wins, but Chimera escapes.
- Alan vs. Halloween: Alan's new Guardian, Saint Anger kills Halloween, sending him flying. Alan wins.
- Nanashi vs. Peta: Nanashi wins and kills Peta.
- Ginta vs. Phantom: Phantom used up all of his ÄRM and magic power. Ginta crushes him with an enlarged Babbo, wins.
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Trivia
- The witch Dorothy has a Guardian ÄRM which is a huge dog which she calls Toto, in a clear reference to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Flying Leo could also be a reference to the Cowardly Lion, Ring Armor as the Tinman, and the Guardian Scarecrow as the Scarecrow. In addition, her Guardian ÄRM Crazy Quilt may be a reference to the Patchwork Girl of Oz, a character from another work by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz series. Also, in place of the Wicked Witch of the West, the one whom Dorothy must kill is her witch sister, Diana, while the one commanding the act instead of Oz is Kaldea's Grand elder.
- In the English version, when Snow is training Ginta in the Training Dimension, Ginta makes a comment about all the Guardians he's seen were "lions and golems and stuff." to which Snow responds "oh my!". This is reference to a song in the Wizard of Oz called "lions and tigers and bears. Oh my!"
- Pinocchio's saw Weapon ÄRM is based on one of the first versions of Pinocchio, where his maker found a tree that had been struck by lighting while searching for a suitable tree to cut down to make his next puppet using that kind of saw. Additionally, his Guardian ÄRM Fastitocalon is a reference to Monstro, the whale that swallowed him.
- The Weapon ÄRM, Magic Hammer, used by the Bishop Korekkio, has the ability to reduces one's height. It is quite similar to a hammer from the popular Doraemon series, which increases one's height. It is probablly based on the Japanese legend of Issun and the Mallet of Luck. It also may reference to one of the Mario Party series, in one of which, the player hits a dice block to decide whether a mega-mini hammer turns an opponent larger or smaller
- The name of the magic kingdom Kaldea, is very possibly derived from Chaldea, a Hellenistic designation for a country situated in southern Babylonia recorded in ancient scripts, whose scholars were found to be extraordinarily versed in all forms of incantation, sorcery, witchcraft and magicals arts, beside being masters in writing and reading.
- One of the six strongest Knights, Vidar, noticeably has many versions of translations for his name (Veezle, Vizel, Pizel, etc...), among which Veezle is the most often used. But since he has a Guardian ARM which summons Yggdrasil, the gigantic ash tree which connects nine worlds in Norse mythology, it's very possible the most correct form of his name is Vidar, a god residing in Asgard, son of Odin and slayer of the monstrous wolf Fenrir which killed Odin in the apocalyptic day of Ragnarök, also from the referred myths.
- The design of Girom's Guardian ÄRM Ebura may be a reference to the Ice Giants of Norse mythology.
- The name of a member of MÄR, Alviss, is derived from Alvíss, a dwarf in Norse mythology who was tricked by Thor into petrifying himself, ironically caused by his profound wisdom which successfully answered all of Thor's questions.
- Alviss' Guardian ÄRM A Baoa Qu, name and shape, is derived from a Malay legend about a magical creature who follows visitors up a tower seeking enlightenment [1].
- The Knight Rapunzel who possesses the lethal ÄRM Hair Master which allows her to lengthen and use her hair at will is a warped version of an imprisoned beautiful girl in the fairytale Rapunzel, who also used her hair as the ladder for her capturer the evil enchantress to climb up the tower in which she was held.
- Babbo, Ginta's ÄRM, means "dumb" in the Korean Language, but also "father" in Italian.
- Alma, the female Vestorian sailor ghost, is the Spanish word for "soul".
- Chaton is French for "kitten."
- In the first episode, when Ginta first makes contact, he is wearing a shirt with the symbol for Jera
[edit] Music (Anime)
[edit] Opening themes |
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| Title | Transcription/Translation | Artist | Episodes |
| 君の思い描いた夢 集メル HEAVEN | Kimi no Omoi Egaita Yume - Atsu MÄR HEAVEN | GARNET CROW | 1-26 |
| 晴れ時計 | Haredokei | GARNET CROW | 27-51 |
| 夢・花火 | Yume Hanabi | GARNET CROW | 52-77 |
| 風とRAINBOW | Kaze to RAINBOW | GARNET CROW | 78-102 |
[edit] Ending themes |
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| Title | Transcription/Translation | Artist | Episodes |
| I just wanna hold you tight | I just wanna hold you tight | Miho Komatsu | 1-13 |
| 不機嫌になる私 | Fugen ni Naru Watashi (You Get Sullen Toward Me) | Sayuri Iwata | 14-26 |
| 毎日アドベンチャー | Mainichi Adobenchā (Mainichi Adventure - Everyday Adventure) | Sparkling☆Point | 27-39 |
| 桜色 | Sakurairo (The Color of a Cherry Blossom) | Shiori Takei | 40-51 |
| Miracle | Miracle | Rina Aiuchi | 52-64 |
| Koyoi Eden no Katasumi De | Koyoi Eden no Katasumi De | GARNET CROW | 65-77 |
| もう心揺れたりしないで | Mou kokoro yuretari shinaide | Aiko Kitahara | 78-90 |
| この手を伸ばせば | Kono te wo Nobaseba | GARNET CROW | 91-102 |
[edit] Casts
[edit] Japanese cast
- Motoko Kumai/Kumiko Higa as Toramizu Ginta
- Ai Shimizu - Koyuki/Snow
- Banjou Ginga - Babbo
- Daisuke Sakaguchi - Jack
- Juurouta Kosugi - Alan
- Koichi Sakaguchi - Edward
- Masaya Onosaka - Nanashi
- Saki Nakajima - Dorothy
- Souichiro Hoshi - Alviss
- Michiko Neya - Diana/Queen
- Mitsuki Saiga - Phantom
- Kouichi Toochika - Peta
- Hiroshi Matsumoto - Halloween
- Mie Sonozaki - Chimera
- Susumu Chiba - Rolan
- Kenichi Ogata - Vidar
- Yasunori Matsumoto - Galian
- Nao Nasagawa - Pinocchio
- Tomokazu Seki - Magical Lou
- Daisuke Gouri - Kouga
- Katsuyuki Konishi - Ash/Jupiter
- Kumi Sakuma - Candice
- Yuko Sazaki - Rapunzel
- Shinji Kawada - Ian
- Miyu Matsuki - Chaton
- Wataru Hatano - Hamelin
- Chiemi Chiba - Emokis
- Kimiko Koyama - Aqua
- Keichii Sonobe - Maira
- Tetsuharu Ohta - Korekkio
- Daiki Matsubayashi - Avurutuu/Rondo (ep 86 +)
- Hiroyuki Yoshino - Girome
- Kentarou Itou - Mister Hook
- Hideyuki Umezu - Kanocchi
- Hidenari Ugaki - Garon
- Tomoyuki Shimura - Orco/Gaira
- Junji Majima - Mercury
- Kaworu Sasajima - Pluto
- Nanaho Katsuragi - Uranus
- Rikiya Koyama - Saturn
- Sayaka Ohara - Venus
- Atsuko Enomoto - Neptune
- Akira Tomisaka - Mars
- Makoto Yoshimura - Leno
- Yuko Sasamoto - Pano
- Chihiro Suzuki - Fugi
- Sawa Ishige - Loco
- Megumi Toyoguchi - Gido
- Jin Horikawa - Kapel Meister
- Yuu Asakawa - Sarah Band
- Kan Tanaka - Flat A
- Kaori Shimizu - Flat B
- Mai Kadowaki - Flat C
- Kunihiro Kawamoto - Bols
- Hiroshi Shirokuma - General
- Rie Kugimiya - Bell/Kotomi
- Masumi Asano - Alma
- Katsuya Shiga - Pozun
- Shizuka Itou - Lillis
- Megumi Nasu - Pirun
- Sayori Ishizuka - Ginta's mother/Reginrave's princess
- Anri Katsu - Marco
- Mitsuo Iwata - John Peach
- Fuyuka Oura - Rolan (young)
- Rikako Aikawa - Bumoru/Halloween (young)
- Yukana - Merillo
- Emi Shinohara - Undine
[edit] English Cast
- Spike Spencer as Toramizu Ginta
- Michael McConnohie as Babbo
- Michelle Ruff as Snow/Koyuki
- Yuri Lowenthal as Alviss
- Bryce Papenbrook as Jack
- Wendee Lee as Dorothy
- Liam O'Brien as Nanashi
- Lex Lang as Alan
- Douglas Rye as Gaira/Garon
- Eddie Frierson as Edward
- Stephanie Sheh as Bell/Daydream Fairy (ep 1)/Alma
- Tara Platt as Diana
- Derek Stephen Prince as Phantom/Tom
- Kyle Hebert as Peta
- Richard Epcar as Halloween/Ruga Rogelu
- Anthony Pulcini/David Keefir as Rolan
- Doug Erholtz as Ian
- David Lodge as Maira/Sneak thief (ep 15)
- David Keefir as Girome/Boss (Danna)
- Kirk Thornton as Orco/Oracle (ep 12)/Garu Rogelu/Yazawa-sensei (ep 1)
- Carrie Savage as Loco
- Jaxon Lee as Fuugi/Moku/Blue-haired bully (ep 1)/Monkey (ep 2)
- Vic Mignogna as Alibaba/John Peach
- Lia Sargent as Pano
- Doug Erholtz as Leno/Village Headman (ep 16)
- Amanda Winn Lee as Gido
- R.Martin Klein as Pozun
- Brianne Siddall as Chapu
- Ellyn Stern as Jack's Mom
- Jessica Straus as Ginta's Mother
- Michael Sorich as Kaldea's Grand Elder
- Kirsten Potter as Reginrave's princess
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
[edit] External links
[edit] English
- MÄR Heaven JOURNEY an Italian/English fansite.
- MÄR at TV.com
[edit] Japanese
- MÄR Heaven (Japanese)
- TV Tokyo's Official site (Japanese)
- Japanese episode list (Japanese)
