This was Mashima's first long manga, and... it's bad. This review will contain spoilers, but I'll warn you beforehand. Without spoilers, I won't be able to justify how bad this manga is.
Visuals:
1) The art style is very simplistic, and some panels are confusing to understand in my opinion. However, they did improve as the series progressed.
Story and Characters:
1) MINOR SPOILER: In the storyline where Haru learns from an old lady that Elie will die regardless, it would have been much better if the lady had shown him that he would stab her with the Rave sword. This would have maintained the mystery for a longer time, keeping readers guessing.
2) Sexism is not amusing, interesting, or entertaining.
3) It's corny all the time.
4) The mangaka sets up rules only to break them whenever the main character needs help, which happens often because the mangaka can't think of anything clever. For example, in chapter 115, ***********SPOILER************ there's a character who can shatter anything he touches. This character has been shown touching the floor without any effect. Eventually, the main character pushes him against a wall, and because he touches the wall, it breaks, causing him to fall and making the main character victorious.
5) It's too predictable to be enjoyable.
6) *********SPOILER****** In chapter 161, after showing a full-blown war with people killing defenseless victims and laughing at them, Haru is the only one bothered by it and wants to stop the war immediately. Elie then tells him to smile because if they smile, the other people (the ones being slaughtered) can smile too! Haru agrees with her, and both smile like nothing's happening. I can't even.
7) *******SPOILER******* In chapter 206, there's a plot hole regarding who can use the Etherion. This chapter exists after Elie and her allies know she's the only one capable of controlling Etherion. BG had already tried to kill her, even after obtaining the magic staff. However, in this chapter, it's revealed that they aren't sure if they can find someone else capable of controlling Etherion. The leader of BG decides to kill their best candidate, and once that fails, they realize they don't need Elie after all, proving they wouldn't try to kill Elie before since they wouldn't be sure they could use someone else besides her. Chapter 216 reveals that Belnika tricked Hardner into believing she could indeed use the staff. It's just a mess of a plotline, honestly.
Look, I can summarize this manga like this: There are 296 chapters plus 2 extra stories. Out of these 298 chapters, I only enjoyed 22 of them. This means I only enjoyed reading 7% of the whole manga, which is way too low for me to recommend this to anyone.
I haven't read any manga for a while, so it was interesting to finally pick up another one. I came across Rave Master and thought it looked promising, so I decided to give it a try. It was an original manga, so reading it from right to left added to the overall enjoyment, though it was a bit confusing at first.
The characters are intriguing, and you get to know their personalities very well. There are also new non-human characters that add a fun element to the story, like Plue, for example.
The main storyline is good, although it's one that has been used many times before. Essentially, a young warrior-in-training meets someone who tried to save the world but failed. He then learns from this warrior that it's his 'destiny' to save the world this time, and thus, the quest begins.
Rave, the anime was the reason for my addiction to anime. I felt disappointed when it ended at episode 50 (around volume 12, I believe). So, I continued from where the anime left off, meaning I have yet to read the first few volumes.
Story:
It's quite cliché, but as this was my first manga, I didn't notice it back then and was completely engrossed. There are many twists, some brilliant and others not so much. I consider myself a bit of a sadist because my favorite parts were when Elie got tortured (it happened three times). It was oddly arousing... The fight scenes are hard to distinguish, short, and follow the same formula: the hero loses dramatically, recovers, and starts winning. The blood is depicted in black, which is unusual. The ending felt rushed despite the story being well-paced up until then.
Art: 7
The art isn't particularly special, though it has its own style. Characters would look identical if not for their hair. The scenery lacks detail as the story doesn't cover many regions, and everywhere looks like an empty plain.
Character: 8
This is a typical shounen manga with strong supporting characters and relatively weak main characters. Many find Elie annoying, but she's my favorite. She’s very weak, and I’m disappointed her powers weren’t better utilized, but I still love her. Haru depends heavily on his sword; without it and high stamina, he'd be useless. His techniques involve basic slashing and running, with no special strategy. The relationship between Haru and Elie is more like siblings than lovers. I prefer Seighart over Haru any day. Musica undergoes a makeover, which is a good thing. The characters can be seen as the predecessors of those in Fairy Tail. The mascot Plue is another memorable character whose species remains unknown. Another notable character is Reina, and I give the author credit for her plot. I dislike Ruby and Julia.
Enjoyment: 8
Apart from my sadistic tendencies, I enjoyed this manga because I wanted to uncover the mysteries laid out by the author. I wasn't disappointed with the revealed stories, but I hated the ending. It was terrible. I wished the author had taken a bold step to break away from the typical shounen outcomes. This ruined my love for Rave.
Overall: 8
Rave was my first love and will always remain so. I give it an '8' because of Elie and the numerous twists throughout the manga. I don't understand why people prefer Fairy Tail over Rave, as both lack original ideas, but at least Rave has an amnesia-suffering female lead.
I know I sound biased, but I feel that Rave is unfairly overlooked compared to Fairy Tail.
When people hear the name Hiro Mashima today, they instantly think of his most recent work, Fairy Tail, which has steadily grown in popularity since its debut in 2006. However, it's easy to see where Fairy Tail's roots come from when one explores his previous massive shounen story, Groove Adventure Rave. The anime adaptation of Groove Adventure Rave, named Rave Master, suffered considerably due to inconsistent character designs compared to the manga and only covered the first 90 chapters, leaving many unanswered questions and plot holes. Groove Adventure Rave is a story that is unmistakably shounen through and through. Despite obvious plot twists and predictable characters, it remains a highly enjoyable read about a teenager's coming-of-age journey to save the world.
Haru Glory, Rave's shounen hero, is a young teenager living away from civilization with his sister on Garage Island. One day, an old man passes through the island, and Haru eventually learns that this old man is none other than the Rave Master, destined to save the world from the atrocious organization, Demon Card, who plan to rule the world. In poor health, the old man passes on his title and sword to Haru, entrusting him to find the Rave Stones to stop Demon Card. Thus, Haru becomes the second Rave Master. Early in his journey, Haru meets a young girl named Elie, who has amnesia and seeks the truth about her past. This fateful meeting sets off events that will shake the world.
From this synopsis, any reader familiar with shounen stories can anticipate the adventures, pitfalls, powers, and themes Haru and Elie will encounter. Without fail, Mashima employs all these shounen plot elements. The sudden power-ups, the talk about dreams overpowering thirst for power, friendship overcoming critical death status—all are present. While the story may become predictable by today's standards, there are a few surprising plot twists deeper into the narrative that keep readers engaged.
Fans of the art in Fairy Tail will easily appreciate the art style Mashima uses in Rave, as it is identical. Although not as refined in the early chapters, Mashima designs his characters attractively—the men with defined muscles and distinct faces; the women with heavenly chests and attractive figures. The battles are relatively easy to follow, although some instances can get cluttered. My main critique is that Mashima sacrifices background detail, especially during battles, where the background might be plain white or black. However, this does make the battles easier to follow.
While the characters look attractive, their personalities are rather predictable. Haru is your typical shounen male lead; Elie is your typical female co-lead, and the same goes for the other characters Mashima introduces. They are nothing you haven't seen before, both good and evil. On the positive side, Mashima adeptly tells each character's history without taking up too many pages or chapters, which is refreshing compared to other stories where character backgrounds are either too long or too short. Though character personalities don't undergo drastic changes, the main heroes do evolve, allowing you to notice the difference from their introduction to the final chapters.
Despite Groove Adventure Rave being the epitome of shounen tropes, there is something about the story and Mashima's storytelling that makes it enjoyable. You genuinely start caring about what happens to Haru and Elie and watch in awe as their relationship develops from acquaintances to love. Mashima introduces a plethora of different characters that shape various arcs, and despite the length of the story—with the exception of a few gag chapters—you never feel like Mashima doesn't know where he's going with the plot. Although the story follows a straightforward path from point A to point B, it remains an enjoyable read.
One significant drawback is that almost every defeated villain undergoes an instantaneous change from evil to good, which becomes repetitive quickly.
After reading Groove Adventure Rave, it's easy to see where many ideas, character names, and guild names in Fairy Tail originated. If you're looking for a lengthy shounen "coming of age" journey of a young man, with a nice side of romance, Groove Adventure Rave is definitely worth checking out.
Art: The art in Rave Master wasn't particularly special. There weren't any moments that made me marvel at the beauty of a picture. It was adequate but didn't show noticeable improvement throughout the series.
Character: The main characters were well-developed and formed strong bonds with one another. However, most of the minor and side characters were forgettable, not only due to their large number but also because they lacked interesting traits. (This is my second time reading Rave, and I forgot two of the main antagonists.)
Enjoyment: I loved Rave Master the first time I read it because of its numerous plot twists and exciting fights that left me wondering how the characters would escape their predicaments. However, sometimes the resolution relied too heavily on friendship, which could make some fights feel anticlimactic.
I recalled reading the first few volumes of Groove Adventure Rave after the poorly received dub aired on Toonami during my teenage years. Back then, with limited funds, I could only afford a few volumes and eventually stopped reading. Many loyal fans of the series expressed strong dissatisfaction with the anime adaptation, which prompted me to revisit the entire series this summer.
The initial volumes reminded me why I initially found promise in the series, with likable main characters, intriguing settings, and only a few typical shonen tropes. My concerns were that the art quality was average and inconsistent, and the humor fell flat. However, as the story progressed, things changed; the art improved significantly (though the fight scenes remained the weakest part), but the side and support characters became boring or felt inconsequential. The plot also started to feel repetitive.
It seemed that despite Mashima's claims of careful planning for his characters, he lacked a clear direction for the overall story. Early on, the protagonists' victories felt earned, but towards the end, they relied heavily on the "friends, family, and faith" trope common in shonen manga. This would have been fine if it had been established and consistently used from the beginning of the series.
Unfortunately, halfway through the series, due to repetitive plot elements, forgettable side characters, and the shift to the aforementioned "friends, family, and faith" dynamic to win fights, finishing the series felt more like a chore than an enjoyable experience. I had hoped to give it a fair chance, but ultimately, it didn't hold up as well as I had hoped.
Today, I'm going to write a review of Groove Adventure Rave, also known as Rave Master. I'll be trying a different format today, breaking down this manga into various aspects.
### Exemplary Shounen-ness
First off, Rave Master is undoubtedly a shounen manga. There's no debate about that. It’s also a well-executed shounen, meaning it occasionally makes readers feel their blood pumping. In other words, it's epic. In this regard, it stands shoulder to shoulder with series like Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. However, as we will see, being a great shounen isn't its only strength.
### Amalgam of Genres
Another noteworthy feature of Rave Master is its broad genre coverage, extending beyond the typical battle-focused shounen elements. While top-tier shounen series often incorporate additional elements, Rave Master does this exceptionally well. Besides action, fantasy, and comedy, RM places significant emphasis on adventure (much like One Piece), drama, and even romance. Admittedly, the romance isn't as deeply explored as in romance-centric manga, but the inclusion of these elements adds depth without detracting from the shounen essence.
Moreover, while RM offers more variety, it notably cuts down on fan-service. This is excellent news for readers tired of gratuitous displays of anatomy in manga, though it might disappoint those who enjoy such content. Nonetheless, the romance in RM compensates for the lack of fan-service.
### World Construction
Rave Master boasts one of the best world-building efforts found in fantasy manga, likely because the mangaka is a big fan of Eiichiro Oda, creator of One Piece. Readers who appreciate frequent changes in setting throughout a story will surely enjoy this aspect.
### Art
Opinions on the art will vary depending on how much one enjoys the styles seen in One Piece or, more directly comparable, Fairy Tail. Personally, I find this style refreshingly different from most other manga, making it enjoyable in its uniqueness.
### Character
Rather than discussing the entire cast, I’ll focus on the male lead, Haru Glory, which sets this manga apart from other shounen series.
Typically, male leads in shounen are bold, determined, adventurous, and righteous, often portrayed in the manliest way possible. However, this setup can make them appear slow-witted and sometimes emotionally unintelligent. If I had to pinpoint one reason why many people dislike shounen, this would be it.
Fortunately, Haru Glory breaks this mold. While he possesses the typical boldness, adventurous spirit, and determination, he exhibits these traits in moderation. He is thoughtful, sensitive, and knows when to back down. Somehow, he feels more relatable rather than just an icon of justice (like Naruto).
### Story
This is where Rave Master truly excels. In previous posts, I mentioned that Psyren is a case of good brainstorming. Rave Master, on the other hand, is a prime example of phenomenal overall planning.
Let me remind you of another common issue with popular shounen: the story tends to slow down between arcs and almost comes to a halt before the grand finale. For the most part, this doesn’t apply to Rave Master.
Here’s a succinct flow chart of my reading experience:
Slow Start → Gradual Intensifying Plot → Epicness → Building Up Intensity → Epicness
... (repeats cycle)
(A few slowdowns in between)
... (repeats cycle)
FLASHBACK → Mind-Boggling Revelation → Grand Finale Battle → Epic Ending!
Overall, Rave Master is a manga that contains most of the shounen epicness along with tropes and clichés, but it manages to present these in a way that they become less annoying. It features a typical yet more likable male lead, a cohesive story that flows smoothly through different arcs, a good balance of various genres, and a comfortable pacing. Most importantly, it is completed, so readers won’t agonize over waiting for weekly chapters.
**Story:** 10/10
**Art:** 8/10
**Character:** 9/10
**Enjoyment:** 10/10
**Overall:** 10/10
EPICNESS!!! The story, the characters, AWESOMENESS!!! It's a tale about a boy named Haru Glory who stumbles upon destiny when a peculiar old war veteran and his strange white creature arrive on his island. They give him the key to stopping the notorious Demon Card, along with one of five artifacts called Rave, a creature named Plue, and a sword known as the Ten Commandments (I know they censored the name in the anime due to religious references, but this name truly does sound EPIC). Along the way, he meets an amnesiac girl with a unique perspective on life, a boy who can shape-shift silver for combat, and countless other odd individuals. Each character is weird in their own charming way, the kind of weird that feels natural and makes you laugh.
This manga oscillates between serious and hilariously bizarre moments. The seriousness ranges from intense to existential threats (literally), while the humor spans from quirky to laugh-until-you-cry scenarios. The more you think about it, the funnier it gets. The plot twists are some of the best I've encountered in manga, anime, or famous novels. These characters persist with a die-hard passion that is both unreal and inspiring, often bringing tears to even the toughest of us as they constantly fight for what they believe in. There are times when they get discouraged, but seeing them rise again and evolve is incredibly heartwarming.
The art style perfectly captures the humor reminiscent of One Piece during funny moments, while the serious scenes are exceptionally detailed and superb. I love this manga, and if you take the time to read it, you will too.
I started watching Rave Master a long time ago—it was one of my first anime that truly felt like an anime, even before I knew what anime and manga were. I watched it out of order on TV and was left confused by its abrupt end. A year ago, I found the manga and dove right in. By then, I already knew the beginning plot and was accustomed to the shounen style; this series is typical of the shounen formula.
Story - 7
Rave starts as a light-hearted adventure with three distinct goals for Haru, Elie, and Musica, featuring a small key cast with a predictable progression scale. However, the story became erratic with an inconsistent pace, exploiting every possible opportunity to add twists, new characters/groups, or deviations. I often forgot the ultimate goals and interesting plots we had been so excellently drip-fed earlier—and I'm certain the characters forgot too! We were given so many epic goals, big one-on-one battle climaxes, and classic angry shounen hero "I'm going to put this right!" moments, which all turned out to be just another false alarm. These would have been fine in a slower-paced arc format like One Piece, but presented as they are, it's too much in too short a time to actually register it all. The overall story, if you can weed out the key points that actually refer to the Rave, is very good and does have that "epic long quest with many sacrifices to win this war against evil to save the world" theme presented well with enough originality. Unfortunately, it's cluttered.
Character - 7
Our three original heroes are typical and interesting enough through the base story to put off a final design until later through the coming-of-age formula. Haru is the typical coming-of-age kid on a mission with the usual shounen outbursts of shouting and rage about morals or showing off his naive confidence—he's a safe bet. Elie is the typical female co-lead personality who's gutsy and cute but generally a burden until her sudden power-up near the end. And Musica is the streetwise slightly older character who is briefly an antagonist before dumping all (why I don't quite get) and joining the gang. But later, after developing the storyline and characters—including the supporting lot—we are suddenly bombarded with antagonists after antagonist and so many allies and new mains that outnumber and shrink the significance of the originals. All of them are brilliantly developed with their own unique abilities and sob stories and are very likable—but there's just too many! Nearly every "bad guy" they defeat suddenly has a revelation and swears to change, thus they are spared or even recruited. I'd love to give this section a nine for all the characters are brilliant. Unfortunately, from the magnitude of them, the story loses focus and ends up with the characters fighting for limelight.
Art - 9
I found the art style very nice and easy on the eyes. All the characters' designs are distinct despite their number, and unlike in many manga, I never found myself confusing any key characters. The characters developed over time and changed clothes regularly, which is a nice detail. The background often lacks details, but there is never a déjà vu recycledness, and the actual characters in the background (including the insignificant ones without names) are developed with unique hair/face/clothes. The artist does like to focus quite a bit on the qualities of women—edging towards ecchi in how often they have skimpy/torn/no clothes—but it adds to the humor (and fanservice).
Enjoyment doesn't get a section, but its score is a 9.
Overall, I give it an 8 because it's very good but not quite great.
As of today, I finished Rave Master and it has been an incredible journey that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I appreciate how Mashima-sensei evolved with the story; everything from the art to the narrative became even better over time.
The passion I felt kept me hooked until the very end—I couldn't stop reading because it was just that good.
I won't spoil anything, but I will say that Haru's fighting style was incredibly creative.
The plot twists were amazing, and even towards the end, when I realized the foreshadowing, I was blown away. I remember sitting in my room thinking, "Mashima-sensei is just an amazing creator—how did he come up with this? WHOAAAA!"
I felt both happy and sad that it concluded in just 35 volumes, but ultimately, I was content.
For me, Rave Master surpasses many older manga I've read, easily making it one of my top 10 favorites!
I highly recommend it to everyone—give it a try; it might just be the manga you're looking for.
Groove Adventure Rave is a distinctive manga. Its storyline starts off simple and somewhat typical, but it significantly improves after a certain point, particularly where the anime series concludes. The artwork is superb, featuring unique creatures and well-developed characters. I highly recommend this manga to all manga enthusiasts and to anyone who has finished watching the anime.
Mashima-sensei's first manga, Rave Master (also known as RAVE or The Groove Adventure), offers a story that may not be entirely new, but once you start reading, it becomes incredibly engaging. The artwork significantly improves over the course of the series.
The standout feature is undoubtedly the characters—some are kind-hearted, others wicked, and some are just plain bizarre. This manga is highly recommended for fans of Fairy Tail. Like Fairy Tail, it features an alternate world filled with magic, curiosities, and monsters. Who could resist such an enticing setting?
Overall, I give Rave Master/RAVE/The Groove Adventure a 9 out of 10. It’s an excellent debut manga by Mashima-sensei, showcasing his potential and creativity right from the start.
Popular Reviews
Visuals:
1) The art style is very simplistic, and some panels are confusing to understand in my opinion. However, they did improve as the series progressed.
Story and Characters:
1) MINOR SPOILER: In the storyline where Haru learns from an old lady that Elie will die regardless, it would have been much better if the lady had shown him that he would stab her with the Rave sword. This would have maintained the mystery for a longer time, keeping readers guessing.
2) Sexism is not amusing, interesting, or entertaining.
3) It's corny all the time.
4) The mangaka sets up rules only to break them whenever the main character needs help, which happens often because the mangaka can't think of anything clever. For example, in chapter 115, ***********SPOILER************ there's a character who can shatter anything he touches. This character has been shown touching the floor without any effect. Eventually, the main character pushes him against a wall, and because he touches the wall, it breaks, causing him to fall and making the main character victorious.
5) It's too predictable to be enjoyable.
6) *********SPOILER****** In chapter 161, after showing a full-blown war with people killing defenseless victims and laughing at them, Haru is the only one bothered by it and wants to stop the war immediately. Elie then tells him to smile because if they smile, the other people (the ones being slaughtered) can smile too! Haru agrees with her, and both smile like nothing's happening. I can't even.
7) *******SPOILER******* In chapter 206, there's a plot hole regarding who can use the Etherion. This chapter exists after Elie and her allies know she's the only one capable of controlling Etherion. BG had already tried to kill her, even after obtaining the magic staff. However, in this chapter, it's revealed that they aren't sure if they can find someone else capable of controlling Etherion. The leader of BG decides to kill their best candidate, and once that fails, they realize they don't need Elie after all, proving they wouldn't try to kill Elie before since they wouldn't be sure they could use someone else besides her. Chapter 216 reveals that Belnika tricked Hardner into believing she could indeed use the staff. It's just a mess of a plotline, honestly.
Look, I can summarize this manga like this: There are 296 chapters plus 2 extra stories. Out of these 298 chapters, I only enjoyed 22 of them. This means I only enjoyed reading 7% of the whole manga, which is way too low for me to recommend this to anyone.
I haven't read any manga for a while, so it was interesting to finally pick up another one. I came across Rave Master and thought it looked promising, so I decided to give it a try. It was an original manga, so reading it from right to left added to the overall enjoyment, though it was a bit confusing at first.
The characters are intriguing, and you get to know their personalities very well. There are also new non-human characters that add a fun element to the story, like Plue, for example.
The main storyline is good, although it's one that has been used many times before. Essentially, a young warrior-in-training meets someone who tried to save the world but failed. He then learns from this warrior that it's his 'destiny' to save the world this time, and thus, the quest begins.
It's a good read with some great battle scenes.
Rave, the anime was the reason for my addiction to anime. I felt disappointed when it ended at episode 50 (around volume 12, I believe). So, I continued from where the anime left off, meaning I have yet to read the first few volumes.
Story:
It's quite cliché, but as this was my first manga, I didn't notice it back then and was completely engrossed. There are many twists, some brilliant and others not so much. I consider myself a bit of a sadist because my favorite parts were when Elie got tortured (it happened three times). It was oddly arousing... The fight scenes are hard to distinguish, short, and follow the same formula: the hero loses dramatically, recovers, and starts winning. The blood is depicted in black, which is unusual. The ending felt rushed despite the story being well-paced up until then.
Art: 7
The art isn't particularly special, though it has its own style. Characters would look identical if not for their hair. The scenery lacks detail as the story doesn't cover many regions, and everywhere looks like an empty plain.
Character: 8
This is a typical shounen manga with strong supporting characters and relatively weak main characters. Many find Elie annoying, but she's my favorite. She’s very weak, and I’m disappointed her powers weren’t better utilized, but I still love her. Haru depends heavily on his sword; without it and high stamina, he'd be useless. His techniques involve basic slashing and running, with no special strategy. The relationship between Haru and Elie is more like siblings than lovers. I prefer Seighart over Haru any day. Musica undergoes a makeover, which is a good thing. The characters can be seen as the predecessors of those in Fairy Tail. The mascot Plue is another memorable character whose species remains unknown. Another notable character is Reina, and I give the author credit for her plot. I dislike Ruby and Julia.
Enjoyment: 8
Apart from my sadistic tendencies, I enjoyed this manga because I wanted to uncover the mysteries laid out by the author. I wasn't disappointed with the revealed stories, but I hated the ending. It was terrible. I wished the author had taken a bold step to break away from the typical shounen outcomes. This ruined my love for Rave.
Overall: 8
Rave was my first love and will always remain so. I give it an '8' because of Elie and the numerous twists throughout the manga. I don't understand why people prefer Fairy Tail over Rave, as both lack original ideas, but at least Rave has an amnesia-suffering female lead.
I know I sound biased, but I feel that Rave is unfairly overlooked compared to Fairy Tail.
Art: The art in Rave Master wasn't particularly special. There weren't any moments that made me marvel at the beauty of a picture. It was adequate but didn't show noticeable improvement throughout the series.
Character: The main characters were well-developed and formed strong bonds with one another. However, most of the minor and side characters were forgettable, not only due to their large number but also because they lacked interesting traits. (This is my second time reading Rave, and I forgot two of the main antagonists.)
Enjoyment: I loved Rave Master the first time I read it because of its numerous plot twists and exciting fights that left me wondering how the characters would escape their predicaments. However, sometimes the resolution relied too heavily on friendship, which could make some fights feel anticlimactic.
I recalled reading the first few volumes of Groove Adventure Rave after the poorly received dub aired on Toonami during my teenage years. Back then, with limited funds, I could only afford a few volumes and eventually stopped reading. Many loyal fans of the series expressed strong dissatisfaction with the anime adaptation, which prompted me to revisit the entire series this summer.
The initial volumes reminded me why I initially found promise in the series, with likable main characters, intriguing settings, and only a few typical shonen tropes. My concerns were that the art quality was average and inconsistent, and the humor fell flat. However, as the story progressed, things changed; the art improved significantly (though the fight scenes remained the weakest part), but the side and support characters became boring or felt inconsequential. The plot also started to feel repetitive.
It seemed that despite Mashima's claims of careful planning for his characters, he lacked a clear direction for the overall story. Early on, the protagonists' victories felt earned, but towards the end, they relied heavily on the "friends, family, and faith" trope common in shonen manga. This would have been fine if it had been established and consistently used from the beginning of the series.
Unfortunately, halfway through the series, due to repetitive plot elements, forgettable side characters, and the shift to the aforementioned "friends, family, and faith" dynamic to win fights, finishing the series felt more like a chore than an enjoyable experience. I had hoped to give it a fair chance, but ultimately, it didn't hold up as well as I had hoped.
EPICNESS!!! The story, the characters, AWESOMENESS!!! It's a tale about a boy named Haru Glory who stumbles upon destiny when a peculiar old war veteran and his strange white creature arrive on his island. They give him the key to stopping the notorious Demon Card, along with one of five artifacts called Rave, a creature named Plue, and a sword known as the Ten Commandments (I know they censored the name in the anime due to religious references, but this name truly does sound EPIC). Along the way, he meets an amnesiac girl with a unique perspective on life, a boy who can shape-shift silver for combat, and countless other odd individuals. Each character is weird in their own charming way, the kind of weird that feels natural and makes you laugh.
This manga oscillates between serious and hilariously bizarre moments. The seriousness ranges from intense to existential threats (literally), while the humor spans from quirky to laugh-until-you-cry scenarios. The more you think about it, the funnier it gets. The plot twists are some of the best I've encountered in manga, anime, or famous novels. These characters persist with a die-hard passion that is both unreal and inspiring, often bringing tears to even the toughest of us as they constantly fight for what they believe in. There are times when they get discouraged, but seeing them rise again and evolve is incredibly heartwarming.
The art style perfectly captures the humor reminiscent of One Piece during funny moments, while the serious scenes are exceptionally detailed and superb. I love this manga, and if you take the time to read it, you will too.
I started watching Rave Master a long time ago—it was one of my first anime that truly felt like an anime, even before I knew what anime and manga were. I watched it out of order on TV and was left confused by its abrupt end. A year ago, I found the manga and dove right in. By then, I already knew the beginning plot and was accustomed to the shounen style; this series is typical of the shounen formula.
Story - 7
Rave starts as a light-hearted adventure with three distinct goals for Haru, Elie, and Musica, featuring a small key cast with a predictable progression scale. However, the story became erratic with an inconsistent pace, exploiting every possible opportunity to add twists, new characters/groups, or deviations. I often forgot the ultimate goals and interesting plots we had been so excellently drip-fed earlier—and I'm certain the characters forgot too! We were given so many epic goals, big one-on-one battle climaxes, and classic angry shounen hero "I'm going to put this right!" moments, which all turned out to be just another false alarm. These would have been fine in a slower-paced arc format like One Piece, but presented as they are, it's too much in too short a time to actually register it all. The overall story, if you can weed out the key points that actually refer to the Rave, is very good and does have that "epic long quest with many sacrifices to win this war against evil to save the world" theme presented well with enough originality. Unfortunately, it's cluttered.
Character - 7
Our three original heroes are typical and interesting enough through the base story to put off a final design until later through the coming-of-age formula. Haru is the typical coming-of-age kid on a mission with the usual shounen outbursts of shouting and rage about morals or showing off his naive confidence—he's a safe bet. Elie is the typical female co-lead personality who's gutsy and cute but generally a burden until her sudden power-up near the end. And Musica is the streetwise slightly older character who is briefly an antagonist before dumping all (why I don't quite get) and joining the gang. But later, after developing the storyline and characters—including the supporting lot—we are suddenly bombarded with antagonists after antagonist and so many allies and new mains that outnumber and shrink the significance of the originals. All of them are brilliantly developed with their own unique abilities and sob stories and are very likable—but there's just too many! Nearly every "bad guy" they defeat suddenly has a revelation and swears to change, thus they are spared or even recruited. I'd love to give this section a nine for all the characters are brilliant. Unfortunately, from the magnitude of them, the story loses focus and ends up with the characters fighting for limelight.
Art - 9
I found the art style very nice and easy on the eyes. All the characters' designs are distinct despite their number, and unlike in many manga, I never found myself confusing any key characters. The characters developed over time and changed clothes regularly, which is a nice detail. The background often lacks details, but there is never a déjà vu recycledness, and the actual characters in the background (including the insignificant ones without names) are developed with unique hair/face/clothes. The artist does like to focus quite a bit on the qualities of women—edging towards ecchi in how often they have skimpy/torn/no clothes—but it adds to the humor (and fanservice).
Enjoyment doesn't get a section, but its score is a 9.
Overall, I give it an 8 because it's very good but not quite great.
As of today, I finished Rave Master and it has been an incredible journey that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I appreciate how Mashima-sensei evolved with the story; everything from the art to the narrative became even better over time.
The passion I felt kept me hooked until the very end—I couldn't stop reading because it was just that good.
I won't spoil anything, but I will say that Haru's fighting style was incredibly creative.
The plot twists were amazing, and even towards the end, when I realized the foreshadowing, I was blown away. I remember sitting in my room thinking, "Mashima-sensei is just an amazing creator—how did he come up with this? WHOAAAA!"
I felt both happy and sad that it concluded in just 35 volumes, but ultimately, I was content.
For me, Rave Master surpasses many older manga I've read, easily making it one of my top 10 favorites!
I highly recommend it to everyone—give it a try; it might just be the manga you're looking for.
Groove Adventure Rave is a distinctive manga. Its storyline starts off simple and somewhat typical, but it significantly improves after a certain point, particularly where the anime series concludes. The artwork is superb, featuring unique creatures and well-developed characters. I highly recommend this manga to all manga enthusiasts and to anyone who has finished watching the anime.
Mashima-sensei's first manga, Rave Master (also known as RAVE or The Groove Adventure), offers a story that may not be entirely new, but once you start reading, it becomes incredibly engaging. The artwork significantly improves over the course of the series.
The standout feature is undoubtedly the characters—some are kind-hearted, others wicked, and some are just plain bizarre. This manga is highly recommended for fans of Fairy Tail. Like Fairy Tail, it features an alternate world filled with magic, curiosities, and monsters. Who could resist such an enticing setting?
Overall, I give Rave Master/RAVE/The Groove Adventure a 9 out of 10. It’s an excellent debut manga by Mashima-sensei, showcasing his potential and creativity right from the start.
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