MÄR, which stands for "Märchen Awakens Romance", is a popular manga series created by mangaka Nobuyuki Anzai.
The television anime based on the series is titled MÄR -MÄR Heaven- (MÄR -メルヘヴン-, Meru -Meru Hevun-) and was originally broadcast in Japan on the TXN station. MÄR is characterized 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.
A sequel to MÄR, entitled MÄR Omega, was announced in September 2006.
Synopsis[]
The story follows Ginta Toramizu, a hyper 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 the "Gatekeeper 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 "Gatekeeper 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.
Main Characters[]
Team MÄR[]
(メル, Meru) Main article: Team MÄR
Team MÄR consists of the series' eight 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.
Chess Pieces[]
(チェスの兵隊,Chesu no Koma) Main article: Chess PiecesAn army created by two outcasts of the magic kingdom Caldea, Diana and Phantom, which gathered soldiers of different objectives and united them under the same goal: to conquer the world. Most of the Chess Pieces, especially the zodiac knights, were rejected by others and want revenge. Phantom hates the world and everything in it. 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. Some members however, due to Ginta and Team MÄR's influence, desert the Chess Pieces before its collapse and retire peacefully.
Media[]
Manga[]
Main article: ChaptersWritten and illustrated by Nobuyuki Anzai, MÄR was serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from January 7, 2003, to July 5, 2006. Shogakukan collected its chapters in 15 tankōbon volumes released from May 17, 2003, to August 11, 2006.
In North America, the series was licensed for an English language release by Viz Media. The first volume was released on May 3, 2005, and the fifteenth on September 18, 2007.
A sequel titled MÄR Omega, written by Anzai but illustrated by Kōichirō Hoshino, was published in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from September 13, 2006, to June 27, 2007. Its chapters were collected in four tankōbon volumes published from December 16, 2006, to August 10, 2007.
Anime[]
Main article: EpisodesAn anime television series adaptation titled MÄR Heaven (メルヘヴン, Meru Hevun), produced by SynergySP, premiered on TV Tokyo on April 3, 2005, where it ran for 102 episodes until its conclusion on March 25, 2007.
Staff[]
- Original Work - Nobuyuki Anzai ( serialized in " Weekly Shonen Sunday " published by Shogakukan )
- Original draft cooperation - Shinichiro Tsuzuki, Masato Hayashi, Yasushi Miyasaka (Weekly Shonen Sunday Editorial Department )
- Director - Masaharu Okuwaki (episodes 1 to 52) → Keiichiro Kawaguchi (episodes 53 to final episode)
- Superpaiser - Atsushi Nomura, Nobumasa Sawabe, Yutaka Saito
- Series composition - Junki Takegami
- Character Design/Chief Animation Director - Toshiyuki Komaru
- ÄRM Setting Design - Yasutetsu Ebina (episodes 1 to 51) → Koichi Konno (episodes 52 to final episode)
- Art Director - Yoshiro Kajiwara
- Color Design - Tomoko Kuroyanagi
- Director of Photography - Kenji Hirochi
- Editing - Hiromi Komine
- Sound Director - Jun Watanabe
- Music - Daisuke Ikeda
- Planning Cooperation - Shogakukan Character Business Center
- 3DCG Production - Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment
- Line Producer - Shinao Shimoji (XEBEC) (Episodes 1 to 26)
- Animation Producer - Ryosuke Sakurai
- Producer - Takeshi Sasamura (episodes 1-10) → Shunji Aoki (episodes 11-71) → Shinichi Iwata (episodes 72-final), Naohiko Furuichi
- Animation Production - SynergySP
- Production - TV Tokyo, Shogakukan Productions, TX
CD[]
- "MÄR HEAVEN THEME SONG BEST" (『メルヘヴン THEME SONG BEST』) (released March 14, 2007 ) (GZCA-5098)
- A compilation album of opening and ending songs of the anime. From 「君の思い描いた夢 集メル HEAVEN」to 「もう心揺れたりしないで」, the TV Edit versions of「風とRAINBOW」and「この手を伸ばせば」are also included as hidden tracks.
DVD[]
All are published by Shogakukan and distributed by Geneon Entertainment (currently Geneon Universal).
- Episodes 1 to 52 were released under the name MÄR Heaven. Total 18 volumes.
- Episodes 53 to 102 were released under the name MÄR Heaven Z. Total 17 volumes.
- All volumes include a long version of the Sunday CM theater and a collection of setting materials as bonus items. In addition, volumes 8 to 18 of the first season will come with a reversible jacket featuring a new illustration of Alviss as a first-time bonus. Currently, the wallpaper image is no longer available due to the closure of the mobile site.
In addition to the above, there is a not-for-sale "Shonen Sunday special DVD MÄR" that was available through a lottery when the 8th volume of the book was released. It contains an extended version of the Sunday commercial and bonus footage.
International Release[]
In North America, the anime was licensed by Viz Media and aired on Cartoon Network's online broadband service Toonami Jetstream in July 14, 2006, and the series premiered on their television programming block Toonami, on December 23, 2006 at 10:30pm Western time. It also premiered in Canada on YTV channel on June 1, 2007 at 7:00pm in the Friday anime block, Bionix. In Australia, it aired on January 16, 2006 on Cartoon Network in Australia at 6:00pm.
The order of the episodes on Toonami were not aired 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. Then, on February 24, 2007, Prince of Tennis and MÄR changed timeslots. MÄR moved to 10:00, and both shows started over and went in order until June 9 when both shows were removed from the schedule.
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. In June 2011, the first 52 episodes were available on Netflix's Instant streaming service.
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.
Video Games and TCG[]
Four main video games were published by Konami and released for console.
- MÄR Heaven: KNOCKIN'ON HEAVEN'S DOOR
- Software for Game Boy Advance. Released on June 30, 2005.
- Monthly sales were 48,676 units, ranking 22nd . Highest ranking: 8th place, appearance: 3 times. Famitsu cross review score is 6.6.6.8 .
- MÄR Heaven: ÄRM FIGHT DREAM
- Software for PlayStation 2.
- Released November 3, 2005, December 14, 2006 (low price version).
- The initial sales were 9,625 units, ranking 12th, and monthly sales were 11,113 units, ranking 46th. Famitsu PS2 gave a total of 6 reviews, with one reviewer praising the game's ease of operation, high-quality reproduction of the original work, and rich library, but pointing out the lack of modes and voices as drawbacks. Also, on Dengeki PlayStation, the game was rated C out of 5 by AE, with poor loading and slow tempo, and the rich customization and replay elements. Overall, the characters have been evaluated as attractive.
- MÄR Heaven: Devil of Caldea
- Software for Nintendo DS.
- Released on March 30, 2006 and December 14, 2006 (low price version).
- Highest ranking: 26th place, appearance: 1 time. There is a connection with KNOCKIN'ON HEAVEN'S DOOR using double slots.
- MÄR Heaven: Oblivion of Clavier
- Software for Nintendo DS.
- August 26, 2006 (event advance) September 7 (general sale) released.
- Another story based on the scenario at the end of the original work. The anime version features many original scenarios from this game. Linked with GBA version.
Browser Game[]
- GAME MÄR Memory
- A nervous breakdown game that existed in the PLAY world of WEB Sunday during the anime broadcast. In addition to regular cards, there were event cards. Total 4 stages. If all of them are cleared, the player can get wallpapers, and clearing them with a high score yields additional special wallpapers.
Additional Publications
- Official Fan Book
- MÄR official fan book AKT.SILVER
- First edition published on August 25, 2005 (released on July 15, 2005) (ISBN 978-4-09-127772-5)
- Prototype Version
- Nobuyuki Anzai short story collection CRAZY MANIAX
- First edition published on September 15, 2006 (released on August 11, 2006) (ISBN 978-4-09-120577-3)
- Fairy Snow recording
- Various Guidebooks
- MÄR Heaven: Knockin' on Heaven's Door Official Guidebook - Released August 16, 2005 (ISBN 978-4-09-106249-9)
- MÄR Heaven: ÄRM Fight Dream Official Guidebook - Released December 26, 2005 (ISBN 978-4-09-106272-7)
- MÄR Heaven: Demon of Chaldea Official Guidebook - Released on April 26, 2006 (ISBN 978-4-09-106298-7)
- MÄR Heaven: Oblivious Clavier Official Guidebook - Released September 28, 2006 (ISBN 978-4-09-106321-2)
- MÄR Heaven: The ÄRM Battle ÄRM Master Super Victory Book - Released December 9, 2005 (ISBN 978-4-09-106269-7)
See also[]
References[]
MÄR by Nobuyuki Anzai |
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Chapters • Episodes • MÄR Heaven • Characters |