MÄR

I know there are people who'll say this show is unoriginal and dosen't do anything new or ground breaking or exciting, but the problem with anime is that there's so much different anime and manga out there that it's hard for a any show to stick out unless it's so big name or some new trending show like Mob psycho 100 or Twin star twin star exorcists, witch both of those are great but there do exist anime that is good just get shoved of as unoriginal and meh because critics don't want to be bothered with having to review them because they don't do ... anything new. However it's not also something new that makes your show stand out it's the execution of it and Mar dose good execution. Ginta, Babbo and the rag-tag group of friends they team up with and fight along side with are interesting, enjoyable and have their share of funny moments, the animations is pretty good, The music isn't anything super duper but it's pleasant, the plot has charming and is very fitting for this kind of show and the fight scenes are cool. I really like the ARMs witch is the weapons the use to fight in this show, they require the users own energy to use their special magic attacks and are ranked by class like holy Arms, dimension ARMS, Darkness ARMS and so on, It's kind of like the NEN chart From Hunter X Hunter. I will say the tournament battle arc does drag on but they change locations on where they fight witch really helps for any tournament arc and I do have to complain about the use of CGI but it's not as bad as say Kirby right back at ya. Over all I enjoyed MÄR Heaven and if your interested in checking out underrated anime I say check it out! And check out the Sequel manga Mar Omega.

It reminds me of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Shaman King - shows I watched when I was about 13 and really enjoyed, back then I didn't even know what anime is and I'm no sure I was even aware of the shows' origin, but I still enjoyed them.

I picked MAR for the sole reason to relive that excitement and since it had 102 episodes I expected to have tons of fun with it, alas, the reality was different.

The show started well, the premise of the main character being transported to a fantasy world he has longed for was interesting. The first few episodes, where he still figures ... out what goes on and characters are being introduced were the more interesting ones for me.

After that, the majority of the show is about a tournament, but that's where I started skipping just to get through and say I've finished it.

The story on paper sounds fun, but in reality it's really mediocre and poorly executed, very predictable and uninteresting.
The art style is OK, I can't say ti was bad, but it wasn't anything remarkable either, many characters shared similar features, like color palettes and such.
I think the show, like other long running ones suffers from recycled sounds to the point where it becomes noticeable, not a deal breaker, but just one more negative to the list.
The characters were extremely poor developed and suffered from "Anime Humor Syndrome" - a grave disease where one would fall in the same absurd situation over and over and react the exact same way without ever noticing it, the worst part of this disease is that it spreads in the air and it's very infectious, by the end of the episode, every other character would have contracted it.
After passing the 41st episode, I found it really hard to enjoy it and decided to fastforward just so I can say I've finished it and not dropped it, I really wanted to see the end without losing track of events.

Overall I both regret wasting my time with it and I'm also glad I know what is it about so I won't have to bother with it again. On a positive note, I think that if I was 13 again I might've enjoyed it A LOT more.

MAR is a series that embodies a lot of the worst qualities of shounen anime and brings nothing new to the table. Almost immediately, the story steers itself into a ditch with an interminable Tournament Arc that lasts well over half the run of the series. While there are a handful of decent moments in the 70 or so "X vs Y" episodes that follow, most of it is an agonizing waiting game, slogging through one utterly predictable fight after the next, with no sign of plot progression for dozens of episodes at a time. When the end of the Tournament Arc blessedly arrives though, ... the story fully goes off the rails into an extended denouement that is totally confused, full of questionable narrative choices and other decisions that make it apparent that they had no real plan for where to take this story beyond the Tournament Arc. The ending is heavily telegraphed and feels unsatisfying when it arrives, both because of the middling story content and the sense that it probably should have wrapped up about 20 episodes earlier than it did.

The writing is juvenile and character motivations are thin and riddled with cliches (oh, you want to become stronger so you can protect everyone's smiles? I've never heard that line before). Action scenes are often boring due to the lackluster animation - likely a necessary sacrifice to produce weekly TV for 2 years straight, but that's hardly an excuse when it cuts into the core appeal of an action anime. More unforgivably, the CGI used to animate the summoned Guardians is absolutely hideous and badly composited to boot. These are supposed to be the most powerful weapons a person can wield, but they have all the visual majesty of a guy summoning some stray PS2 assets. The character designs are also uninspired and feel like a conscious attempt to mimic Dragon Ball. See if you can count how many boys with similarly spiky hair are in this series.

So what was actually good about this show? Well there isn't much, to be frank. Dorothy is a pretty fun side character, though her obsession with the main character can be overbearing. The relationship between Dorothy and Diana (left vague to stay spoiler free) is one of the few compelling plot threads on offer here. Every once in a while, you'll get an interesting battle when 2 people have special abilities that combine in a unique way, though the obviousness of the outcome of every fight dampens any thrill you might get from that.

Overall, I can't say my time was well spent watching this thing to its conclusion. I recommend simply skipping it, but if you are at all curious and inclined to give it a chance, watch until the first fight of the War Game and you'll know by then if this series is going to do anything for you.