MAR

Another story of a dorky kid who travels into a mysterious world of adventure and fantasy, but then again what is wrong with that?

Story

Ginta Toramizu is your average 14 year old junior high school loser, he’s short, he’s not very good at school, and all he does is day dream. As luck would happen, Ginta constantly dreams of a fantasy world (and more importantly the fact that he is a hero in this world) until one day his dreams come true and he is sucked into his dream world.
Once inside the dream world Ginta soon realizes that he is now blessed with strength that he once lacked, as he tosses off his dorky glasses and begins to battle Guardian Arms (more on this later) that would kill a normal person. After meeting the Witch Dorothy, Ginta learns about the magical Arms, which can cast spells, transform into guardians and even hold the ability to return him to his home. After following Dorothy around for a while Ginta and Dorothy learn of an ultra powerful arm hidden away in a cave. And after a little bit of fighting Ginta acquires the ultra powerful Arm known as Babbo which is so heavy that only Ginta can use, but can also talk.

When Ginta and Babbo unite the true adventure begins as Ginta begins his search for the Arm that can return him to his home, and Babbo searches to become a human again. The world of Mar is filled with mysterious creatures, dangerous foes and unlikely allies.
The story behind Mar is pretty simple, and anyone who has ever read a fantasy book before can see some obvious similarities between Mar and classic fantasy novels. With that said Mar is an entertaining read for children and would fit perfectly into the hands of a 14 year old book worm. It’s been done before, but who doesn’t enjoy a fantasy story where the loser becomes the hero.

Graphics/Artwork

Mar is drawn in black and white, and mixes several different styles of artwork to deliver the message. Most of the artwork is reminiscent of Full Metal Alchemist, but Mar borrows different styles of artwork to fit the mood. All in all the artwork of Mar is pretty good; however there is nothing extraordinary about the artwork either.

Readability

Mar is a very easy to read graphic novel, and should take an avid book reader about 2 hours to finish. However, I found my self accidentally skipping over cells and other tid bits of information because of the fast pace, so I recommend that you take your time with Mar because there is a lot of information that could be lost if you rush through it. Anyone with a middle school education should be able to read mar from front to back with no problem, which is always nice for those of us who are not avid readers.

Format

Mar is presented in the standard Japanese format (right to left) and thankfully enough comes with a few key reminders for the reader. If you have never read a Manga in the Japanese format, you are missing out. Each Page flows perfectly into the next one, and the format does little to hinder the American reader.

Overall Comment

While the story of Mar is one that has obviously been done before, the story is quite entertaining (especially for its target audience). Older more experience readers might want to stray away from Mar, but fans of the genre might want to check out this quirky adventure series.

BY : Travis Pierce