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MAR: 1 Gateway to MAR

Score: 90%
Rating: Teen
Publisher: Viz Media
Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 92 Mins.
Genre: Anime/TV Series/Action
Audio: English (Dolby Digital)

Features:

  • Episodes:
    • 1: Open! Door To Another World!
    • 2: Babbo: The Legendary Arm!
    • 3: Jack's Battle Shovel In Action!
    • 4: Lost And Found Babbo!

MAR: 1 Gateway to MAR follows a day-dreaming, geeky kid named Ginta as he is sucked into a strange new world where magic is real and he is exceptionally strong. In a strange turn of events, Ginta meets up with a witch named Dorothy and learns about items in this new world called, "Arms." These items, which typically take the form of jewelry, can do everything from become weapons to communicate with others to come alive and act as guardians to their summoners.

Dorothy decides to use Ginta to help her get her hands on a particularly rare Arm. The only thing she knows about it is that it is called Babbo and because of its heavy protection, it must be really valuable.

When Ginta is the one to wake up this living breathing Arm (a property that is very rare for Arms), the two form a immediate friendship. Well, actually they don't at all. The two characters fight all the time and eventually get fed up with each other. It isn't until the two go their separate ways that they realize they need each other as traveling partners on Babbo's journey to figure out who he is (since he remembers only his name) and as Ginta explores this strange new world.

In the first volume, we see Ginta stumble upon this magic-filled universe and meet some new friends. One such friend is Jack, a farmer, and his mother who have been tormented for years by a pair of vegetarian werewolves. When Jack's crop is once again threatened and Ginta is in the area, Jack decides to stand up once and for all as he activates his dad's old Arm, a silver shovel.

The final episode on this DVD has Jack, Ginta and Babbo searching for an Arm that might be able to send Ginta back to his world. They find their way to a town that is said to have everything, but nothing is ever as easy as it should be when Babbo goes missing.

As far as depth of story and characters, MAR is only a level or two above the reigning king of random, BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo. Actions and animations are very exaggerated and over the top, while the show's overarching story is very loose and does little more than introduce more foes for Ginta and Babbo to go up against. That being said, I have a feeling that the show's target audience (the same audience that BoBoBo-Bo is geared towards) will find this series fun.



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

Anime Bleach 04: The Substitute Anime Noein - To Your Other Self, Vol. 4

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated