Dec 3, 2010
A 10 if you're looking for a case study of shonen, a 4 if you're expecting a high quality battle manga.
What separates MAR above other battle manga is that it cuts through the heart of what shonen is.
There's no filler here folks but neither are you going to get the type of 'faux' unique quality often praised from series like Naruto.
You'll definitely spot the hot blooded hero, the traditional cliches and at first MAR looks like your generic battle manga only if you read through the entire series excluding MAR Omega the sequel you're guaranteed to see a sort of elements of "battle manga
...
compendium lite" that makes the artist seem more like he was making a subtle serious satire of the genre rather than striving for mediocrity.
It's all hard to explain but suffice to say what MAR does best is that it is able to contain all the stuff you love and expect from battle mangas but it slices it so thin that instead of getting a quality manga with no filler - you get even less of that while having the whole package intact. There's really nothing quite like it that I've seen. It's like a master musician stopping at the exact point of the crescendo to the point that it feels flawed but you get that he could easily have continued just one sound further and it would have been great.
This holds true for all the plot elements but it stretches further towards the art which is what makes this manga seem poor. You'll see stuff that on hand you'll think cliche or generic and yet when you really think about it, it's original but it's explored at the surface. One of the best scenes to notice this is in a fight with a pinocchio like character later in the series. It's a minor battle but if you pay in particular to how that character speaks and how he attacks and then you re-read that scenes and ignore the elements of the character - you could swear the artist could have easily add one extra sentence, back story or prolonged battle stance and that fight would be more memorable than it should. I'm talking literally "in-your-face" details here even if you're not an artist, a critic or an otaku.
That is the secret of MAR but alas it's not an "official" statement - plus you're probably looking for mangas to be entertained or actual tutorials and official announced satire to be thought provoked and in that element, MAR doesn't fair as well especially with more hardcore audiences who think believe they know the cliches and non-cliches of shonen or believe they can just get that info from TV Tropes or other wiki sites.
Also one thing to keep in mind when considering MAR, it does this so well because it lifts up the rules without breaking them. Example the titular chain ball character is both a follower of the cliche generic battle manga design which seems like it's trying to follow the rule of cool but breaks it horribly but even as the backstory is rushed up until MAR Omega - the thing is able to grow on you while again constantly breaking the rules that should appeal to your taste.
Without spoiling anything, let's just say by the end of the manga, the upgrades to the weapon would all fit the rule of cool quality and would probably make this manga more recognized had the artist designed the sidekick those ways originally but in a masterful stroke, if you reach that far, you'll be more empathic towards the original lame design. An effect that may on the surface seem obvious in that it's clear which design gets the most appearance and is branded into our memory but still as an ingredient of a recipe this is how this manga is able to "tell by showing" the heart of what a true generic shonen manga is and thus in my opinion it is more a valuable tool for the beginner artist/storyteller than everyone else and can't be removed from a high rating in every other criteria except the overall.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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