Mar: Volume 4

Introduction

MAR was one of Manga Entertainment's acquisitions from Viz that made its UK debut in July of last year. I was unimpressed with the first thirteen episodes, feeling that the fairy tale based RPG adventure was aimed at a wholly younger demographic than mine. I also remember commenting that Viz had dropped its US DVD release after just sixteen episodes, and that if we in the UK got to the second volume, we'd be outdoing the States in anime for a change. Not only was volume 2 released, we've actually steamrollered on all the way up to volume 4, halfway through the 100 odd episode run. The vagaries of review discs being what they are, I wound up missing out on volumes 2 and 3 of MAR, and had to turn to Wikipedia for a quick recap. It turns out that after around episode 15, MAR becomes a shonen tournament anime of the sort that I loathe so much. On one side, there is team MAR, the other side, the Chess Pieces, and the two engage in one on one battles, invoking spells and guardians, and the score is tallied through the series to see who will prevail. If only real wars were fought like that. My instant reaction was that the absence of volumes 2 and 3 were bullets dodged, but volume 4 still hits between the eyes. Practically the only thing of note that has occurred is that Ed/Alan, the part time dog, part time warrior, has had his curse broken and he's been split into his individual components. Otherwise all the characters have powered up and gained new abilities over the past 26 episodes, and we're now up to the 5th Round of the MAR Wargames. Excuse me while I contain my enthusiasm.


Ginta Toramizu is your typical bookish schoolboy. He's none too athletic, and his eyesight has been rendered opaque through years of videogaming. What makes him stand out is his constant daydreaming about a fairytale world, a world where he gets to be the hero. Naturally such an attitude sees him picked on more than most at school. Even his mother, an established author of fairytales has little time for his fantasies. The only one who believes him and stands up for him is a girl in his class named Koyuki. Nevertheless, his belief in this other world remains absolute. It's a good thing too, as the other world is real, it's called Mar-Heaven and one day a dimensional portal opens up and he is pulled through. He finds the fairy tale world of his dreams, a world where heroes and villains exist, mythical beings and monsters, all competing to possess ÄRMs, magical pieces of jewellery that can transform into weapons, guardian beasts, open portals, heal and curse, and possess other fantastic attributes. It's also a world where his eyesight is perfect, and he's strong and athletic too. When he comes into the possession of an ÄRM named Babbo, his adventures truly begin. Babbo is unique in that he is alive, can speak, and can be shaped into different forms using Ginta's imagination. An ÄRM such as this is truly coveted, and it isn't long before he is the target of thieves, bandits and mercenaries, all looking to possess Babbo. The real reason why Ginta is in Mar-Heaven becomes clear when he meets Alviss, the one who summoned him. Mar-Heaven is in danger from the Chess Pieces, a group that wishes to take over the world. The people of Mar-Heaven need a hero from Earth to protect them. Ginta is that hero, and on his travels he will make new friends and allies in his quest.


Thirteen episodes are presented across 3 discs.

Disc 1
40. The World's Ugliest Match! Snow vs. Emokis!
41. Alviss' Crisis: Stolen Magical Power
42. Sensation! The Knight Candidate - Stone User!
43. Battlefield Of Death! The Psycho Space

Disc 2
44. Fateful Mortal Combat! Nanashi vs. Galian!
45. Lightning vs. Lightning! Nanashi's Memory Returns!
46. The Knight Reborn: Ian's Revenge
47. Alviss' Struggle
48. Dorothy's Anger! The Desert Tower

Disc 3
49. The Zonnens Infiltrate The Training Gate!
50. Alviss vs. Nanashi! Forbidden Labyrinth!
51. Dorothy vs. Snow! The Allure of Lippenstift!
52. Concentrate! The Power of Sixth Sense!

Picture

Oh dear. On the bright side, the 4:3 regular transfer can't be faulted. It's clear and sharp, the colours are strong and vibrant, and the image is clear of any significant artefacts. But the animation is extremely simple, the character designs are utterly forgettable, and there is no sense of depth whatsoever. The animation is replete with clean lines and primary colours, and the look of the piece is one step above a simple Flash animation. That's except the CGI. Most of the major magic moments, the arrival of Guardian beasts and dimensional rifts are accomplished through CGI. Of course there is no attempt to marry the two formats, and in some cases the 2D imagery is crudely pasted over the CG work.

Sound

Oh dear, oh dear. You have a choice between DD 2.0 English and Japanese, with optional translated subtitles. The Japanese is the way to go, with actors that suit the characters. The music suits the fairy tale world and the story, although it does sound annoyingly like the synth muzak that you get piped into lifts. The English dub is a rebuggering of the whole thing. Thank PCB Productions for that, who adapted the show for the US market. Not only do the characters get the Saturday morning 'toon treatment, but the soundtrack is altered to give it a heavy metal thrash appeal, the sort which makes my gums bleed. It also means that the original opening and closing sequences are confined to the wastebin of history (or Youtube), and in their place, on both English and Japanese versions, we get a short guitar spasm, designed to squeeze an extra couple of adverts in.

Extras

Disc 1 offers trailers for Naruto, Death Note, Bleach, and Naruto the Movie, and that's your lot.

Conclusion

I'm so far away from the target audience that it's depressing. If you are an eight-year-old male (or female), who is into Pokemon, Digimon, Power Rangers, and the like, then MAR will be right up your street. It's got cool and funny characters, the boring bits with the story don't take too long, and they characters have lots of cool fights, with magic special effects and 3D computer graphics. The good guys want to save everyone, and the bad guys want to take over the world, and they have lots and lots of really cool fights. This message was brought to you by my inner child, coaxed out by the promise of a game of Tekken.


Back to my outer curmudgeon, who really, really hates this kind of show. It's a standard Saturday morning cartoon, stock characters, clichéd stories, and the prospect of endless one on one battles, week in and week out. When two groups of people have a disagreement, they have a nice and messy war, sending thousands of innocents to their deaths. If only reality was like anime, with each side selecting a single champion to determine the course of history, and with everyone else just watching it on TV. There's a point, at about the age of twelve, where the pretty world of children's cartoons just like this one, loses its allure when the brutal reality of the world becomes clear. These tournament anime, with their one on one battles, their working their way slowly and inexorably towards a final big boss confrontation just annoy me, and when an anime show goes down that route, my interest drops rapidly.


There are exceptions of course, Naruto being one, but at least Naruto actually announced the tournament as a tournament, a competition with a prize. There was no attempt to turn it into something more meaningful, no fate of the world staked on the outcome. We're up to round five of the tournament here in MAR, and that means five one on one battles between members of Team MAR, and members of the Chess Pieces. Your typical episode will begin with a recap of the previous one, then a lengthy fight sequence, with a lot of physical and verbal to-ing and fro-ing, interspersed with the odd flashback to enhance the story, followed by a battle conclusion, unless it's a two part episode.


The fifth round then over, it's time to prepare for the sixth round. There's a bit of comedy in a relaxing diversion, followed by a side story where the fairy Bell is kidnapped, leading to a one-on-one battle when Alviss tries to rescue her. More battles ensue when Dorothy tries shopping for a new ÄRM, and gets hoodwinked by a sneaky salesman. Then it's back to training before the sixth round, to stop Team MAR from losing its edge. Alan opens up the training gate again, and sends the characters through, but as soon as that is done, he is attacked by Saturn, leader of the Zonnens group within the Chess Pieces, who are tired of the Wargames and just want to cheat. Training becomes more serious for Ginta and his friends when more Zonnens follow them through the training gate and attack them in the training dimensions. It's a chance for Team MAR to learn the value of teamwork in some two-on-two battles. See how they are playing with the format there?


At my age, if I never see MAR again, it will be too soon, but if you are the proud parent of a child of single digit age, then they'll probably enjoy this. Before they grow up that is.