Rave Master
Rave Master, known in Japan as RAVE(レイヴ) or Groove Adventure Rave, is an anime and manga series by Hiro Mashima. The manga, first published in Japan by Kodansha, consists of 24 issues. The anime consists of 51 episodes, which were first broadcasted on TBS from October 13, 2001 to September 28, 2002 but never finished. The show premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States under the title Rave Master on June 5, 2004.
TOKYOPOP publishes the anime and manga in English in the United States. Rave Master first aired on the Toonami programming block of Cartoon Network in North America, but was temporary transferred to Miguzi's Saturday evening slot until it resulted its part on Toonami.
Plot synopsis
The story begins in the year 0000 when a force known as the "Dark Bring" (Shadow Stone in the English anime) threatened the world. The current Rave Master sliced it in half with his sword, mistakenly thinking it destroyed, and the resulting huge explosion known as the "Overdrive" destroyed one-tenth of the world. The Holy Bring or Rave was separated and flew to the four corners of the world.
50 years later, Haru Glory, a teenager living on the peaceful Garage Island, is passing his time fishing. He discovers a weird creature with a small white body, dot-like eyes, and a huge drill-like nose. He names it Shabutaro at first, until later bumping into Shiba, (the Rave Master who attempted to destroy the Dark Bring earlier), who saw the creature and called it "Plue". Shiba explains that Plue was actually his companion and also a Rave warrior.
Soon, Feber, a member of Demon Card ("Shadow Guard" in the English anime), an organization that is attempting use the Dark Bring to take over the world, finds Shiba and demands that he hand over the Rave. Shiba refuses and tries to retaliate by using the Rave's power. It fails and Shiba is shot by Feber's giant arm cannon. Shiba gives Haru the Rave and tells him to run away. Haru refuses and with Rave in his hand he punches the Demon Card member, causing an explosion. Shiba is shocked and decides Haru is actually the Rave Master's successor. Haru decides to search for the other pieces of Rave to defeat the Dark Bring which has scattered from the original stone for the past 50 years. Haru confronts many other warriors with Dark Bring and destroys them, collecting Rave Stones at the same time.
Ten Commandments
In Rave Master, The Ten Commandments (The Decaforce in the English anime, or "TCM" for short), is a huge sword originally owned by Shiba, the first generation Rave Master; it was given to Haru Glory when he was chosen by the Rave to become the 2nd Generation Rave Master. The Ten Commandments was made with a special slot to hold the Rave or the "Holy Bring/stone". It was broken once by Shuda and reforged by its original maker, master blacksmith Galen Musica. The Ten Commandments is said to have ten forms including its original state when attached with the Rave.
- Eisenmeteor - An ordinary steel sword and the normal form it is usually found in. It has the ability to diffuse magic and is useful in fights due to its weight and size.
- Explosion - A sword with no proper cutting edge but creates a powerful explosion on contact with the enemy. Haru's first sword gained from Rave and his most commonly used.
- Silfalion, the sonic sword - This sword causes the Rave Master to become extremely light, granting great speed and the ability to create blades of air for long ranged attacks. The Sifilion can also be used with the Explosion to create a special attack named "Bombing Dive" which fires explosive blades at the enemy. To make up for its advantages, the Sifilion is relatively weak as a mêlée weapon and is no more than a normal sword for attacking.
- Rune save, the sealing sword - This sword cannot cut anything physical but can cut and seal things without a tangible form like lightning, fire and smoke. It is used by Haru to seal Elie's Etherion.
- Blue Crimson, the twin dragon sword - the Ten Powers splits into two blades with one having the properties of fire and the other having the properties of ice.
- Melforce, the vacuum sword - The sword of air, this form allows the user to fire powerful bursts of air at the enemy to blow them away and paralyzes them.
- Gravity Core - The heaviest of the 10 forms, the gravity core pulls the gravity in the surrounding area down which allows the user to remain stable and fight under unusual circumstances, such as underwater.
- Million Suns - A sword whose blade is composed purely of Light, the holy light generally blinds Haru's opponents and dispels darkness. Used by Haru to defeat Pumpkin Doryu and disable the power of his Dark Bring.
- Sacrifar - The most powerful of all the forms so far, the Sacrifar provides the user with great power but in exchange the user will be consumed by the sword and eventually lose himself.
- Raveworld- The most poweful form of the TCM sword. When Musica discovers that a tenth form of the TCM was never made, he takes it on himself to create one, using a piece of his Silver and some tiring blacksmith skills. Ravelt has the power to dispell evil, and becomes the default sword, while still able to transform into the other forms.
Cast
Heroes
- Haru Glory: The current Rave Master.He lives with his sister,Cattleya Glory in Garage Island. A teenage boy who believes in justice and peace, yet doesn't have much interest in adventuring, his destiny takes a turn when Shiba gives him the Rave stone, passing on the powers of the Rave Master. When he realises the true threat Demon Card are to the world, he sets off to find Rave, and restore peace to the world.
- Elie: A girl with no memories, she first met Haru at the dog races where she was betting on Plue. She ends up joining them after Haru saves her. She fought with Tonfa-style guns that have an explosive effect. But Elie soon learn her true name is Experiment #3173, and that she was modeled after Resha Valentine, the genius girl who supposedly gave her life using the power of Etherion in her create the Rave and the Ravestones. (The Rave's name is a derivative of her name; Resha Valentine.) Elie originally possessed Etherion, but since she can't control it, it was sealed by Haru to prevent it from destroying the world. Later in the series (both in the anime and manga), Sieg Hart finds that Elie is not the result of an Experiment and that the her name ELIE and 3173 are actually map coordinates. Her name and orgin have yet to be found (As of Vol. 17 in the manga).
- Hamrio Musica (Hedara Musica in the English dub): The leader of a band of infamous thieves known as the Silver-Rhythm gang. Musica is a Silver Claimer, able to manipulate anything silver into any form he wants it to be. The skull necklace he wears, called Silver, gives him this ability. He can reform Silver into almost any kind of weapon or tool he needs. He became Haru's good and strongest friend, helping him in his search for the Rave Stones, while searching for the Silver Ray.
- Plue: The strange creature that Haru discovered, Plue is the Rave Bearer, and is able to sense the presence of the other Rave Stones. He's quite fond of sweets - especially lollipops. But he hates pudding.
- Griffon Kato: Called Griff by his friends, he mostly praises Plue. The reason was some months before he met Haru, Plue ended up on Griff's island home, when it was under attack by the Puddingheads. Plue defeated the villains in what seemed a noble sacrifice. Griff declared himself as Plue's follower as a result.
- Let: A Dragonrace, a race of half-dragon people who reside in Makai, the demon dimension. Let vowed revenge against Jegan, who had taken his girlfriend Julia from him, and joined the Demonic Guard to improve his strength. After meeting with Haru, Let was convinced to join him so that he may find Jegan. After passing some sort of trial, he attains a human form, but he is still of dragon blood. Eventually, he finally defeats Jegan, and rescues Julia.
- Julia: Let's girlfriend, a feisty blond who's loud, rowdy, and not above beating people up to get her way, a polar opposite to the cool and calm Let.
- Belnika: A young girl who was experimented on to weild and absorb magic, such as Aetherion. She is used as a tool for the evil Hardner, believing she is helping him save the world. Haru convinces her of the truth, and she joins his side.
- Ruby: A pink penguin, who owns a massive floating casino. Ruby likes to use his wealth to buy rare treasures. When he learns Doryu is using his cash for evil ends, he's almost killed by Doryu, but Haru saves him, and he decides to join his side.
- Gale Glory: Haru's father, he and King set up the Shadow Guard to protect the people. But Gale left when he was not fond of the direction the organization was going. He tried to stop King, but it ended horribly with King's family slaughtered. Gale felt the fury of his former friend's rage when his face was scarred and his wife killed before his eyes before the Ultimate Shadow Stone was placed inside his body. He later reappeared and helped his son defeat King, and eventually sacrificed his life to save Haru for the tower's collapse.
- Jeid: one of the four main generals in the Imperial Army and the older brother of Jegan.
- Shiba: The previous and first Rave Master.
- Knights of the blue Sky: The knights who protect the rave stones
- Alpine Spaniel: A heroic knight of the kingdom of Symphonia who becomes one of the guardians of Rave. Unlike the others, he survived the war and the overdrive. He kept the other knights' soul and transform them into animal to guard the Rave pieces.
- Clea Maltese: A dark-skinned beauty from Luka Continent. She was one of the Four Knights of the Blue Sky, and after death she turned into a bird-like being.
- Deerhound: A huge brute of a warrior who seems to laugh at everything. After death he transformed into a bear.
- Master Dalmatian: A master tactician and perhaps the most level-headed of the Four Knights of Blue Sky. After death he transformed into a walrus-like being.
Demon Card (Shadow Guard)
In the Japanese version, the group was to be called the "Demon Guard", but a misspelling of the banner renamed them "Demon Card". The most powerful members use the Dark Bring (Shadow Stones in the English anime).
- King/Gale Raregroove: An old friend of Gale Glory, the two set up Demon Card. But soon after Glory left, Rareglove fell under the Dark Brings' power and turned the Demon Card into a terrorist group. Glory went to his old friend who used to be under him when he was in the army to help him arrest King. His "friend" betrayed him and killed King's family, that was when King came up with the ultimate revenge: Killing Glory's wife and placing into his ex-friend's body the item that would become the ultimate Dark Bring, the End of the World ('End of Earth') which would cause another Overdrive. King would later bring Gale out to the open so that Enclaim would complete the Dark Bring. King wielded a parody of the Ten Powers sword as his own weapon, a Dark Bring called "Decalogue" and used two of his other four Dark Brings, Black Zenith and Gate to fight the Glories. But when Haru obtained the Rave of Combat and destroyed the villain’s weapon, King sacrificed his own humanity by surrendering his very being to another of his Dark Bring, Monster Prison, which fused unto his chest as his new source of life. But despite his defeat, King's true intention was to do what he never was able to do before: destroy the organization he created by using his last Dark Bring, Warp Gate, to teleport the unstable new ultimate Dark Bring into the base. With that done, he destroyed Monster-Prison to kill himself, and made his final peace with Gale before succumbing to death.
- Oracion Six (The Top 6 generals in the Shadow Guard)(Oracion Seis in Japanese):
- Shuda (Shūda): Former member of the Oracion Six, fought Haru and lost his hand.
- Reina: A Silver Claimer like Musica; her Dark Bring is called White Kiss and it grants her the power of creation. Reina often uses it to form silver for her attacks. She also searches for the Silver Ray. (Note: Her name comes from the Spanish word "reina", which means "queen".)
- Jegan: He owns a wild dragon named Julia, whose intimate love he once vied for some time earlier. Because of it, he bears a wicked grudge against Let, and vice-versa, because he too had special feeling for Julia before she became a wild dragon. He is a member of the Dragon Race, and the younger brother of the Imperial General Jeid. He uses the Dark Bring Yggdrasil.
- Berial: A demon lord, he uses the Dark Bring The Earth. A four-eyed demonic bat named Boi Boi often sits on his shoulder
- Julius: He fights with the ice Dark Bring Armure D'Etoile. He has an unhealthy obsession with his "beauty".
- Haja: also known as Haja the Infinite, he is considered to be the second strongest High Mage in the world.
Doryu Ghost Squad ( Doryu Commandos)(Rave Squad)
When the Demon Card disbanded, several smaller groups emerged to take the top spot in the underworld. One of the three most prominent was the Doryu Ghost Squad. They become Haru's new nemesis while on his way to Symphonia.
- Lucia Raregroove: The "Blonde Demon", DarkBring Master. The son of King who was originally thought to have been dead. But in reality, was kept in a high-security prison until he escaped. He possesses Dark Mother, which is a part of Sinclaire the most powerful of the Dark Bring. The one that caused the "Overdrive" 50 years ago to try and kill Shiba.
- Pumpkin Doryu: The founder of the Ghost Squad and holder of its top position. He holds one of the five True Dark Brings, pieces of Sinclaire itself with powers greater than the ordinary DarkBring. His Dark Bring Vampire gives him complete control over the forces of gravity and repulsion which lets him, at the most extreme, pull physical matter into darkness (which he did to Musica).
- Franken Billy: A Frankenstein-esque member of the Doryu Ghost Squad. He wields a Dark Bring called Giant which allows him to enlarge his arms at will.
- Lilith: A presumably young woman with a slight resemblance to Medusa. Her Dark Bring North Wind enables her to manipulate, as well as become physically one with, the wind. It also allows her to breathe in and move freely through large bodies of water.
- Mummy: A corrupt scientist with an affinity for werewolves, he created a breed of bipedal wolves with three eyes and machine guns imbued into their right arms. Mummy also turned the defeated Musica into a powerful lycanthropic creature and sent the beast against the Rave warriors, but Haru returned Musica to his normal state. Mummy also possessed a reversal Dark Bring, Bone Knight (a Dark Bring that throws away the wielder's soul to transform them, similar to King's Monster Prison). He appears to have been classmates with Alice, the medicine man, who domineered over Mummy.
Others
- Sieg Hart: A Defender of time. Was originally out to kill Elie, but eventually joined Haru on his quest.
- Cattleya Glory: Haru's sister. She is reluctant to let Haru leave Garage Island. She is the self-proclaimed "Queen of "Karaoke".
- Nakajima: A strange lifeform that lives stuck to the outside wall of Cattleya and Haru's house. He looks like a flower, but claims that the petal-looking things ringing his round face are feathers. His favorite (and perhaps only) hobby is "golling".
- Sakura Glory: Haru's mother and Gale's wife, she was killed by King as part of his revenge against her husband.
- Galein Musica: Musica's grandfather and the blacksmith who created the Decaforce Sword. When Galein finished creating the sword he was unable to complete the tenth form, which is why Shiba was unable to defeat the DarkBring Sinclaire.
- The Silver Rhythm Gang: This is Musica's gang and the crew of the Advent. They are a motley crew of thieves and brigands, but are none the less loyal to Musica and his friends. Though much of their wealth was ill-gotten, it did enable them to buy a state-of-the-art air ship, the Silver Knights. Now, if only they could figure out how to make it stop when they want.
- Hebi (The tatoo on his head says "Snake"): Musica's right-hand man and second in command of the Silver-Rhythm. He also knows a lot about animals.
- Jiggle Butt Gang(Big Butt Bandits in English dub): Three hopeless robbers who have absolutely no talent in robbing, they extremely big booties which they jiggle when excited. Their leader, named Wonderful Gocche, has an affinity with Plue.
- Alice: A medicine man met by Haru's gang during the journey to Southernberg island. He says "munya" a lot. Although simple-minded in appearance, he is over five hundred years old and 'wields' a giant syringe, containing various fluids, of which switched the souls of Haru, Elie, Musica and Plue around, causing confusion. Alice later cured Elie's broken arm.
- Saga Pendragon: A prophet of Acapella Island, belonging to Nakajima's race. His poi was stolen by a tiny dandelion named "Dee Dee". His maid, Sonia, knows a lot about flowers.
Video Games
There are 2 Video games based on Rave Master. One of them is Rave Master for the Nintendo Gamecube. The other is Rave Master: Special Attack Force! for the Nintendo Gameboy Advanced. Both games are Rated T for Teen by the North American ESRB.
US Cast
Japan Cast
External links
- Seekthestones.com (http://www.seekthestones.com/) - A website by TOKYOPOP about a contest related to Rave Master.
- RavExtreme (http://www.geocities.com/haruluvelie) - A fan site with a dictionary of Rave Master terms and characters.
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