2002 · Konami Computer Entertainment Japan · Fighting

Rave Master: Special Attack Force

Nintendo exclusive

It's time for the Rave-olution! Battle it out as Haru Glory, Elie, Musica, and many other characters from the exciting new animated series. Wield powerful weapons and harness the skill of the Tension Gauge as you unleash explosive attack combos and incredible special moves to defeat your enemies.

Released: 29 September 2002
Platforms: Game Boy Advance
Genres: Fighting
Developers: Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Publishers: Konami
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Themes: Action

About

Rave Master, Rave, and alternatively, The Groove Adventure Rave in Japan, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The series follows Haru Glory, a teenager on a quest to find the five fragments of Rave, the sacred stone of light, to bring peace to the world by defeating the criminal group Demon Card. Mashima created this series with the idea of travelling around the world and was presented with difficulties in its serialization due to its considerable length.

The manga was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from July 1999 to July 2005, with its chapters collected in 35 tankōbon volumes. The manga series was licensed for an English release in North America by Tokyopop until Kodansha allowed their contract to expire. It was also adapted into a 51-episode anime television series by Studio Deen, which was broadcast on TBS from October 2001 to September 2002. Tokyopop also licensed the anime adaptation, which was broadcast in the United States on Cartoon Network from June 2004 to July 2005.

Keywords

anime
time limit
based on - anime
licensed game
platform exclusive
character select screen
special attacks
difficulty level
versus screen

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

In 0015, the world is corrupted by Dark Brings, evil stones that bestow powerful magic with different abilities to their owners. The Dark Brings are used by the Raregroove Kingdom, which is opposed by the Symphonia Kingdom with the five Rave stones. Shiba Roses, the Rave Master, attempts to destroy Sinclaire, the "mother" of all of the Dark Brings, with the Ten Powers Sword. However, the aftermath causes a massive explosion known as Overdrive, destroying one-tenth of the known world.

Shiba, protected from the disaster by his special guardian "dog" Plue, holds onto the Rave required to power his sword. Plue and the four remaining Raves, however, get scattered around the world.

Development

Hiro Mashima created Rave Master with the idea of travelling around the world. Composed of thirty-five volumes, Mashima comments that although it was sometimes difficult to think of how to develop the storyline, he still remembers enjoying the making of Rave Master. Additionally, he regards that the series' end was "a little sentimental, a little sad." In early chapters Mashima had multiple difficulties with the series' backgrounds.

Nevertheless, across the volumes Mashima realized how the art was evolving resulting in most appealing pages. During publication, Rave Master was supposed to end in its ninth volume with King and Demon Card's defeat and all of the plot's mysteries resolved. This was planned since Mashima had the desire to make a new manga. In the end, he decided to continue with Rave Master following King's arc after finding such an ending too contrived.

Reception

The Rave Master manga has been well received with its Western release appearing in Diamond Comic Distributors's graphic novels charts. The manga and anime series also received positive impressions from Jason Thompson's book Manga: The Complete Guide, giving the series a positive review of 3 out of 4 stars. Chris Beveridge from Mania Entertainment also enjoyed the series recommending people to buy multiple volumes rather than one to enjoy the connected story arcs. He praised the series' fight scenes coupled with the emotional content that makes the series worth reading.

UK Anime Network writer Rory Carlyle shared similar comments as he viewed the series to be "pretty good" despite having common standards seen in multiple shōnen manga. Carlyle was surprised by the multiple character designs that included humanoid and superdeformed characters besides common ones like Haru. The artwork was also praised by Anime News Network's Allen Divers who referred to the series as "a try before you buy" based on the simple storyline.