MÄR (メル, Meru?), 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 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.
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 Kouichiro Hoshino.
As of 2006, the manga's first part ended in 161 chapters.
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 and aired 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. Canadian network YTV will now start airing it starting June 1, 2007 at 7:00pm in the Friday anime block, Bionix.
When the show aired on Toonami, 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. On February 24, 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 Toonami block.
On July 9th 2007, Toonami Jetstream restarted MAR from the beginning for unknown reasons, with "new" episodes are still broadcasted biweekly, and "reruns" every other week.
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 "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.
[edit] Main characters
[edit] Team MÄR
(メル, Meru)
-
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). Based on a prophecy of Snow collecting "Seven Dwarves" to assist her (as well as being the only survivors of a preliminary in the War Games, the team was formed to fight the Chess Pieces.
[edit] Chess Pieces
(チェスの兵隊,Chesu no Koma)
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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. 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.
[edit] Other characters
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This is a list of the minor characters in this show.
[edit] Episodes
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[edit] Music (Anime)
[edit] Opening themes
|
| 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 (The dream you imagined - Collection MÄR HEAVEN) |
GARNET CROW |
1-26 |
| 晴れ時計 |
Hare Tokei (Clear weather clock) |
GARNET CROW |
27-51 |
| 夢・花火 |
Yume Hanabi (Dreams · Fireworks) |
GARNET CROW |
52-77 |
| 風とRAINBOW |
Kaze to RAINBOW (The wind and the Rainbow) |
GARNET CROW |
78-102 |
[edit] Ending themes
|
| 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 (Tonight at Eden's Corner) |
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 (Reach out my hands) |
GARNET CROW |
91-102 |
[edit] DVD releases
VIZ Media has announced the launch of MÄR on DVD. Vol.1: Gateway to MÄR, containing 4 episodes with the running time of 92 minutes, hit the shelves on June 12th. Vol.2: Return of the Phantom will be released on August 7th, Vol.3 on October 2nd.
[edit] See also
