Rave Master

Rave Master by Hiro Mashima
Mashima, H. (1999). Rave Master. Los Angeles: Tokyo Pop Inc.
ISBN: 1591820642

Plot

Once there were evil stones that bestowed incredible powers to their owners. They were called the Dark Bring. The Dark Bring were used by the Ravegroove Kingdom  and were opposed by the Symphonia Kingdom using their Holy Bring. The first Rave Master, Shiba, tried to destroy the Dark Bring using a decaforce sword. This had the effect of creating a huge explosion called the "Overdrive" which destroyed one tenth of the world. Shiba was protected from the explosion by Plue, a magical dog. He preserved the Rave needed to power his sword. Plue and the remaining pieces of Rave are scattered throughout the world. Fifty years later, a 16 year old young man named Haru Glory, fishes up Plue by accident. Shiba shows up and wants Plue back. An evil organization known as Demon Card now posses Dark Bring and want to use it to rule the world. When Haru successfully battles one of the members of the Demon Card, Shiba realizes that he is a Rave Master, as well. He gives his decaforce sword, remaining Rave and Plue to Haru. Haru embarks on a worldwide adventure to find the missing bits of Rave and save the world.

Critical Evaluation

This graphic novel series has 35 volumes. It was criticized initially for a lack of interesting characters. But as the story arc continued, the characters developed more depth and the series gained in popularity. It is in the sword and sorcery/action adventure genre. It includes the popular literary device of evil secret societies. Its main appeal is to young male tweens. It is a very popular with this group.

Readers Annotation

In a world where good battles evil, a 16 year old boy from a fishing village, Haru Glory, is thrust into the role of Rave Master. His task: collect the remaining pieces of Rave from around the globe to power his magic sword and battle the evil organization bent on world domination.

About the Author

Japanese manga artist Hiro Mashima was born in 1977. He is best known for Groove Adventure Rave which was published in the United States under the name Rave Master. This series was published Weekly Shonen Magazine from 1999 to 2005. His current series is called Fairy Tale. Mashima states that in his work he wants to make justice prevail, but also make readers understand the motivations of the villains to fight the main characters in order to make them more complex.

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction, Graphic Novel, Manga

Curriculum Ties: Language Arts

Booktalk Ideas: Courage, Accepting responsibility

Reading Level: Grade 4+
Interest Level: Grade 4+
Challenge Issues: Violence. The violence in this book can be defended as it is mythological in nature and moves the plot.

This series of graphic novels is included because it is popular with young males.