MAR: Box 1 (Ep 1 - 12)

Originality is a finite resource when it comes to producing television programmes. If you happen to be a fan of American sitcoms (God help you) or most modern science fiction series, it's guaranteed that the same storylines, plot devices and key features of a series will have been either done before in a slightly different flavour. Sadly this is true for MAR too...

The series itself has a simple premise; nerdy weakling finds a way to a magical world where he is the key to something important. Insert some random destiny blurb here involving magical talismans and the survival of both the magical world. Now, this isn’t exactly a new idea, borrowing quite substantial aspects from series like Slayers, Pokemon and the hairstylist from Dragonball Z. I would list more, but quite frankly I don’t need to. This case of “I have seen this before” isn’t what bothers me; it’s the sheer fact that the progenitor of the series, the nerdy otaku dweeb called Ginta, is just so completely detestable. Seriously! I watched the first disk and every time he opened his mouth, in both English and Japanese dub, I wanted to strangle the little git. I have not been this irritated by an individual character since Kiddy Grade.

Let’s not judge the quality of the show by the majorly irritating main character. Instead I will use the standard process of how logical the story and plot is. So here we go. First off, single nerdy character having the ability to go into a new world through a magical doorway. Not entirely unbelievable (Bucky O'Hare anyone?), he dislikes his current life and thus jumps at the ability to experience the world he has been dreaming of without a single moment of hesitation. And so he discovers a world of talking trees, talking mushrooms and fairies. However, what really gets me is the “changes” that Ginta goes through. I mean, in the real world, he is short sighted and weak, in the other world he has almost superhuman strength, perfect vision and is amazin