MÄR (Marchen Awakens Romance): A Forgotten Anime Gem

What if you could transport yourself back to the magical worlds that once captivated our imaginations? In this episode of the Zone Podcast, join me, Jet Black Xtreme (JB), as we take a nostalgic journey through the enchanting anime "MÄR" (Märchen Awakens Romance or MÄR Heaven). We'll rediscover the spellbinding story of Ginta, a 14-year-old otaku who gains superhuman abilities and wields a powerful ARM in a magical world. Meet unforgettable characters like Dorothy, Jack, Snow, and Alviss, and confront formidable antagonists such as Queen Diana and Phantom, each with their unique backstories and pivotal roles. Despite its initial popularity, "MÄR" has faded from the spotlight, and this episode encourages both old fans and new audiences to revisit this hidden gem. Drawing insightful comparisons to other beloved series like "Zatch Bell" and "Hitman Reborn," we remind listeners of the significant impact "MÄR" had on the anime community.

As the episode wraps up, I share heartfelt parting words, urging everyone to stay optimistic and embrace their inner nerd. Regardless of whether you're tuning in during the morning, afternoon, or night, great things are on the horizon. This episode is a heartfelt call to action for all anime enthusiasts to revisit the forgotten series that once sparked our passions and to continue supporting the stories that have shaped our love for the genre. So, take it easy, stay true to your passions, and let's keep the spirit of anime alive together.

Chapters

• 0:01 Forgotten Anime
• 12:33 Parting Words of a Nerd

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome back to the Zone Podcast, where we like to talk about anime that's been lost in time and deserves to not be forgotten. I'm JetBlack Extreme Feel free to call me JB if you wish and today's topic is Mare, or, if you prefer, maruchan Awakens Romance, or, if you prefer, mare Heaven. Now let's go ahead and zone in on. So mayor was in the weekly shonen sunday magazine from january 2003 to july 2006 and it aired on tv and on tsunami in the us on July 2006. Now a sequel manga named Mare Omega was published to shonen from September 2006 to June 2007.

Speaker 1: 0:56

And essentially, with the story and the characters, we have Ginta who's this 14-year-old otaku who gets the isekai spider-man treatment where he no longer needs glasses, got super strange, super durability, high stamina online, and he also get this arm where I've been Bob oh, by the way, arm or arms, essentially they have like magical weapons, think of it like that. And with Bobo it's more like A, a steel ball Chained to a hammer, and also he can talk. He has this long nose With this Very thick mustache and eyebrows, he's got a bunny, not gonna lie, and of course, he's like one of the most op arms there is because it used to be, uh, owned by one of the chess piece knights, or the chess knights. Uh, there's dorothy, the 16 year old witch who wants to steal Aram's team mare and gives the first introduction to them and she's like the good sister to, compared to the evil queen, diana. So, yeah, dorothy is Diana's sister and Diana is like the big bad that Dorothy needs to take down. It's also Jack, who's a farmer with this arm that's a shovel. He was attacked by wolves and inspires Keen to pursue his goal and to want to go return home, you know, be back with the girl that he likes. Who, funny enough, looks a lot like like snow, who's the former princess alistaba and founder of team mayor. She has this ice arm weapon and she's pretty much based off snow white and have the pretty much the same fairy tale backstory too, and she kind of looked like yeah, that was her name koyuki and obviously koyuki's.

Speaker 1: 3:06

No, and I know ginta had a crush on koyuki, but I'm not too. I mean, I know I am doing this review and whatnot. Sometimes I'll watch something and still kind of forget some details, but I'm not perfect, never claimed my idea. Okay, we have the cool guy of the show, albus, who summoned ginta to the world of um using his own air, the gatekeeper clown, and he introduces the chess pieces and king orb as foes. Uh, king orb and caldea's orb they're the true leader of the chess pieces who wants to rule over on the world of mare. He failed six years ago and wants to try again, and orb wants to contain the mind of the world's most evil being. So it's kind of like a kingdom hearts five. I don't know, I'm just kind of like a Kingdom Hearts 5. I don't know, I'm just kind of making Correlations that shouldn't even be compared, but that's also A flaw that I have.

Speaker 1: 4:14

I did mention Queen Diana, but she's like the shown leader Of the chess pieces. She's like this evil stepmother type woman who took over the land of listawa after the old queen died. Uh, this evil witch who tried to clone the daughter and used to seem to be a good witch. Uh, who raised her sister dorothy after they passed. But life changed when she freed phantom who I'm going to talk about in just a moment and she always had a plan to take down the king of elizaba and she served as an evil form of geppetto from pinocchio. So you know what? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can see that phantom who's like a servant to queen Diana. His freedom is what led Diana To turn from a good witch To an evil one, and he used to own Bob-O and was Pretty much the strongest of the chess pieces. He used to be this normal kid Until the Chaldean Orb changed him, and that's the funny thing too. It's like that one episode of Rick and Morty with, uh, mr Beast and it was like oh, he wrote me into this, no, no, well, he wrote me into this. That that sort of thing. That's what it feels like.

Speaker 1: 5:34

For the most part, this anime was funny and it was like it feels like that's bell to me to where and I'm gonna do a review on that's bell with the gang at some point where mayor feels like one of those shows, where, kind of like with zoys too I know I just did a review on zoys, but I just feel like some shows, some franchises deserve more love than they got, but kind of like what, protect your Hitman Reborn, actually, where some things just get lost in time and I'm like you know what the least I can do is one day do a review on these things and hopefully that kind of helps remind people that, yeah, these shows, these movies, games, they were a thing and they meant something to somebody. I mean, it meant something to somebody. It may not be me particularly, but somebody gonna uh see this and I'm like you know what. I am so glad somebody else is talking about and saying that this show, or whatever, deserves more love than it got. You know, I'm really glad there's more of us out there, you know, and I, if you feel that way, hey, I see y'all, I'm not gonna go too much into Mare, because really I am trying to Do a thing to where, trying to cut down on time, not gonna give y'all like hour long Reviews when, like, watch it for yourselves or, you know, watch some YouTuber. Probably do it better than I can, but then again, it's just one of those things that, um, it's just some shows, that some shows, some movies, some games. There's just some things that I just want to talk about and get it out there in the open, which is why I'm just very glad I can have this podcast and eke out about shit like this. You know, at that, let me look. Yeah, I pretty much gave the rundown where Gintos is continuing to on the journey of discovery, um, this with this new world, meeting new friends and having all these battles.

Speaker 1: 8:12

And, oh yeah, mayor omega, it was set six years. I think it was an anime like I think there was a sequel anime to it or, uh, it was in the works, but I need to look into that, fuck uh. But point being, with uh, mayor omega, it happened six years after mayor. It follows kai, the adopted son of an air smith. Uh, kai looks up to ginta in dreams of having an air from himself and he inherited this magic stone from his dead parents. That suggests that, uh, his relations to um, the sorcery kingdom of caldia, uh, the birthplace of all errands and magic users. So it's like, oh man, like I just might be like a chosen one, you know. And there's also like a new type of Aran called a fake Aran where, like it's activated without magic powers but highly used.

Speaker 1: 9:10

So think of it, like Akumet got killed to where there might be some Imperial arms where, oh well, it's not like a legit one, it's more like a duplicate or, you know, mass-produced one like you know, sometimes they'll make weapons where it's kind of like a watered-down version of the uh, real thing, and I know there's like a bunch of samples of anime that does that. But essentially, you know when you're dealing with a legit legendary weapon. You know it's kind of like saying there's a regular weapon and then there's that magical, legendary weapon that's so legendary that it just has to have a name to it. And, funny enough, kai does end up meeting Bobo and using Bobo, he Defeats one of the remnants of the chest pieces and Kai, alongside Bobo Alvis yes, that's right, he comes back At least. They go to Caldea to seek help and whatnot, you know, once again going on this journey to find answers, and meanwhile they're dealing with people that's using fake arms to accost people.

Speaker 1: 10:42

So I dare say, give the anime slash manga a chance and wait a minute. Okay, so the anime had 102 episodes, so you might want to strap in for this and hold on. There's only four volumes in bear omega. Huh, I might be able to clear that real quick. So, with that being said, I kind of didn't want to make it sound like I'm being very lazy about these reviews, but then again, I'm not trying to give away too much like, at very least just call attention to it.

Speaker 1: 11:28

But that being said, let me just go ahead and close this one out. I believe you can watch Mare on Crunchyroll, maybe, maybe. No, no, no, you know what. I'm better than that. Let me just do it. Uh, oh, meritan, my bad, where can I wash the shoe? I just want to let the people know, so that way they can go around. Um, oh shit, I don't think there's a proper way to. Well, the only way you can watch it, like legally, is if you buy the dvds. But, um, and I'm pretty sure some folks will find a way, but you know what, let me just go ahead and close this one out. And oh my god, I kind of wish my head would stop going the fuck out on me at random. Maybe I need to charge them with.

Speaker 1: 12:33

That being said, I'm going to go ahead and zone out of here. Y'all, have yourself a good morning, good afternoon and good night. Remember to stay nerdy and that great things are coming. So take it easy. Y'all. Have yourself a good morning, good afternoon and good night. Remember to stay nerdy and that great things are coming. So take it easy, y'all.