Anime Groove Adventure Rave [Rave Master]

[Monkey_Orange]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][B]Groove Adventure Rave[/B], or [B]Rave Master[/B], is a story about 15-year-old Haru Glory who lived with his sister, Cattleya, on Garage Island. One day, Haru literally fished out a snow-man-like dog named Plue from a river. Later he meets an old man named Shiba who, under certain circumtances, entrusted him with a sword called the Ten Commandments. Embedded within this sword is an object called a Rave.

Shiba told Haru the story about an evil orgainization called Demon Card, whose members used weapons that involved stones called the Dark Bring. After Shiba appointed Haru as the next Rave Master, he told Haru that it was his duty to stop Demon Card from taking over the world, and most importantly to destroy the Mother of the Dark Brings -- Sinclaire. And doing so would require the collection of all 5 Raves.

From there on, Haru leaves Garage Island and into a life of adventure where he meets up with interesting people who either turn out to be his good friends [like Ellie and Musica] or enemies, OR...something else!

[B]Groove Adventure Rave[/B], or [B]Rave Master[/B], is your typical action/adventure series. Take ONE teenage boy that's pretty easy going, add in ONE sword [with 10 forms], a few adventures, plenty of bad guys, very ODD creatures, and fights...AND that's what you've got. A typical Shounen anime.

Now, as for the anime itself...sadly, I missed out on watching the series when it first came out on fansub. I've seen the anime on [B]Cartoon Network[/B], and...it just does NOT do justice for the manga. I think that the 'kiddy-fication' is the thing the killed this show, THAT and the horrible dubbing and dialogue.

[U]Okay. Here is a more concise review from me:[/U]

[I]Art[/I]: Simple. Nothing special or unique. Although, I DO like the colors. I reccommend checking out the manga if you want to see a different art style.

[I]Music[/I]: Americanized version = BAD [I swear, I want to run until a wall every time I hear the English opening!] Additionally, the background music is just as worse. Japanese version = Good [I LOVE the OP theme! Butterfly Kiss!]

[I]Voice[/I]: Dubbing = lame, cheesy, mismatch, and recycled?. Japanese = haven't heard, BUT I know the casting very well and...they are GOOD VAs.

[I]Story[/I]: Like any manga-based anime, this series leaves out several details from the manga. And yes, this series also has it's share of fillers. Be aware though, the story won't be completed even AFTER you finished watching the series. But overall, the story is okay. It's NOT deep, BUT it's fun. And if you happen to be watching the US version...I'm sorry, BUT it SHOULD get better as you continue to watch it. You just gotta live through the cheesy dubbed dialogue.

For myself, I have seen several episodes on [B]Cartoon Network[/B]. The review above is based off of my knowledge from reading the manga [which is GOOD], and the several episodes I've seen.

Still, it's a fun story![/COLOR]