Customer Reviews

Mars Daybreak, Vol. 1

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I had a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket, so i took a chance on this series, and the first volume didnt let me down. I saw the complete collection at Borders and thought it looked interesting, and the animation looked well done so i went on youtube and watched the first 2 episodes and they were very engaging and fun, so I went back and purchased the whole collection. Ive only watched the first volume so far which is why Im commenting on only this volume. The characters are fun and interesting and the storyline is solid. Serious but not so much that you cant have a good time. I watched the subtitled version on youtube which was good, so I watched the english dubb instead and it was very good. In every episode I was engaged and the time flew by, if there wasnt action then there was good story and character developement. Speaking of characters, I believe this is really the main strength of the series. All are likable and the ones who havent had a lot of screen time are around enough not to have been forgotten and Im sure there time is coming. From the "Robin Hood" type Pirates of the Ship of Aurora to the Army Cadets of Earth who defend against them, its hard to pick a favorite character, and the last episode on this volume opens the world up even wider.

The concept is pretty simple -- Robin-Hood-style pirates on Mars, in an unspecified future time when the whole planet is covered in seas.

And fortunately its simplicity is part of "The Mars Daybreak: Volume 1's" charm -- it has nice straightforward animation, plenty of action, magical necklaces and big underwater mechas. And while some of the characters are still unformed (the snotty Vestemona), the imaginative underwater adventures and likable pirates are plenty of fun.

Frequently unemployed dockworker Gram gets swept off a city-ship while rescuing a pal. His necklace starts glowing, and he is scooped up by a mysterious "round buckler" (read: underwater mecha).

Unfortunately Earth Forces attacks him, thinking that he's with the pirate submarine Ship of Aurora -- and soon Gram finds himself as the Ship of Aurora's newest pirate. He quickly becomes invaluable to the crew (for his super-powerful Round Buckler AND his brilliant cooking skills), but is unaware that a childhood friend named Vestemona -- now an Earth Forces cadet -- has returned to Mars and is obsessed with getting him to mend his ways.

To make matters worse, his new buddy Junior is obsessed with piloting a Round Buckler, and sneaks off in Gram's without permission -- only to run into Vestemona and the other Earth Forces. And Gram himself bumps into Vess when the both of them are having a day off, only to run into some nasty trouble in their old neighborhood. To make matters worse, the president of Mars has become obsessed with snaring the Ship of Aurora.

"The Mars Daybreak" has no deep message to impart, no tormented heroes, no realistic action, no extremely complex storylines, and (admittedly) not a hugely imaginative concept. But surprisingly, its humility is one of the reasons it's such an endearing series -- it's a simply adventure yarn with good-hearted pirates and a pleasant teenage hero. Nothing more, nothing less.

The writers do weave in some other stories -- Gram wowing the crew with his cooking, the pirates being hunted by an obsessed Vess, and a hilarious subplot about a hit-and-run sub that scrapes the Ship of Aurora. And despite the straightforwardness of the episodic stories, there are some hanging threads (such as Gram's necklace and mystery mecha) that promise to provide some interesting stories in the future.

And despite the outlaws-being-hunted focus, the writers include plenty of humour and lighthearted dialogue ("Look, we come bearing gifts. LUNCH!"), political strife, and a future Mars dominated by a crumbling economy and rusty city-ships on an endless sea. And courtesy of the surprisingly realistic mecha technology (it does make sense underwater) they manage some slam-bang underwater action, with lots of grappling holds and explosions.

And Gram is a likable hero -- light-hearted, friendly, kind and honest, although he openly admits to having no life goals except making enough money to live on. The pirates are a colourful bunch as well (stern female captain, Sea Witch, talking cat, pink-haired boy, icy pilot) as are the Earth Forces officers (including the aptly-named Captain Doolittle).

The one flaw? Vestemona may have more in store for her, but in the first five episodes she just seems like a self-righteous brat who despises everything, and even tries to lecture a penniless Gram about his new ob.

The first volume of "The Mars Daybreak" is a fun, unpretentious little action/sci-fi series, with some hanging mysteries and a likable hero.