MÄR

MÄR (MÄR), 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-) 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. 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, but when he encounters the farmer Jack and his mother 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 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. Upon meeting Alviss, the person who summoned him using a ÄRM known as the Gate Keeper Clown, he learns of the sinister 'Chess Pieces' who six years ago tried to take over MÄR-Heaven. Alviss reveals he did so in order to gain assistance from a 'other-worlder' in the upcoming war, as was done in the previous war.

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

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.

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".