So... I’m new to all of Hiro Mashima’s stuff. I’m super late to the party, as I’ve just recently finished reading this series and have only now started reading his second hit manga, Fairy Tail, for the first time (give or take watching a few episodes of the anime). I’ve always known just how split a lot of people are on Mashima’s work. People either love it or hate it, so I was pretty anxious to really get into his stuff. I figured that, since I’m new, I’d start with his first major series Rave Master and see what my overall first impressions are of him. And after reading nearly 300 chapters of this story, I feel like I was able to properly wrap-up my thoughts on it. Heads up, this review might contain light spoilers...

Characters:

The cast in this series is a decent one. Haru and Elie are both fine protagonists with a pretty heartfelt dynamic, and their companions and opponents I think of in a similar way. Musica, Griff, Demon Card, and everyone else have their own level of charisma. But it honestly doesn’t feel like much else. They really are an ultimately decent shounen cast, though I don’t really take that as much of a negative. In a way, it works for the kind of story Rave is.

My favorite character, however, is easily Let. From beginning to end he felt like the most complete character. He has an understandable goal that helps the reader really sympathize with him, and the way his stoic personality works off of everyone else’s exaggerated traits actually make him a lot more charming and likable. And once he finally does reach his goal, he genuinely grows as a person that’s come to rely on his companions much more than before. Let is just great. I loved him in pretty much every scene he was in, and is for sure one of Rave’s best aspects in terms of it’s writing.

Pros:

One thing I think I’ll always be able to give Rave credit for is that it’s definitely a very charming manga to read. I wasn’t expecting much going in (in fact I thought I was actually going to dislike this series for the most part) but as I kept reading I couldn’t help but feel like I was having genuine fun with it. It just seemed like a comic for me to simply stop thinking and just have a good time with. Obviously the plot becomes a bit more developed as it went on, but for the most part Rave does a good job at making the reader feel humbly entertained (even if it that entertainment might be surface level for some people). It reminds me more of a decent Saturday morning cartoon, something you watch to just take your mind off of stuff and enjoy yourself with.

Speaking of the plot, I did enjoy the mystery element it had quite a bit. Usually shounen manga go about their narrative through a consistent formula or through different story arcs. But Rave approaches this a bit differently by having it’s lore and mystery to Elie’s past a major topic throughout the entire thing. It helps the plot feel much more streamlined and narrow compared to other battle manga, and I actually think that’s kind of cool.

I also really loved the twist they did with Elie’s past. I guess it could be argued that it felt a little predictable, but personally I thought the way it was all executed was actually engaging. I felt a real sense of satisfaction reading it, and everything with how other characters were involved seemed really well put together. Especially with the character Seig’s involvement in it all. Not to give too much away, but it was the first time in the whole series that I was genuinely caught off guard. Such a seemingly minor role at first, yet the actual truth behind his involvement left me speechless. Again, it might not seem that major, but that didn’t make it feel any less surprising than it was.

Cons:

The story is a very mainstream battle shounen, and I might even say it’s very riddled with tropes and archetypes (though that feels a little harsh). There were a number of moments reading where I felt a little less invested than before, as the narrative and set of events happening felt sort of predictable and reminiscent with stuff I’ve seen. I wouldn’t blame anyone for feeling sort of bored after a while, as it’s hard to get truly wrapped up in everything because of the familiar tone and plot structure. While part of me does feel like the very traditional approach to battle shounen storytelling it takes is part of Rave’s charm, it’s hard for me to insist that it’s a really standout series (even compared to what I’ve seen of Mashima’s other works).

Another issue I had was with how some of the arcs were paced. I know that pacing in comics is a tough discussion to have, as time within a comic format is an ultimately subject experience. But what I mean is in how arcs would be structured, and how the stakes and set of events were handled. I know it should be expected of shounen manga, but sometimes Rave felt like it was much more insistent on having battle after battle instead of steadily building up each arc to it’s climax. The biggest instance if this, in my opinion, is in the Tower of Din arc. On it’s own, it’s a fine arc, but I feel like it could have eased into itself so much better than it actually did. It seemed like it introduces the overall situation, and then immediately goes into a world-shattering battle with incredibly high stakes. I would’ve enjoyed it more if it had a better segway into the huge confrontation instead of feeling like it immediately jumped into it for the sake of having more and more action scenes.

Also, even if it’s a fairly minor complaint, I just found a lot of the humor way too cheesy, even for a simple fantasy story like this. There were plenty of jokes that really took me out of the moment, especially whenever it was in the middle of a really intense scene (and that happens a lot). I get that Mashima has a very goofy sense of humor, but for Rave a handful of jokes were a stretch too corny for me. And the less I say about the Jiggle Butt Gang, the better...

Overall, Rave has it’s fair set of problems. I didn’t have a very enthralling experience reading, and a lot of it’s aspects could have been executed a lot better then they were. But I feel like having such high standards for a story like this is a little unfair to what it’s actually trying to be. Rave isn’t a perfect piece of literature, but it is a pretty charming action adventure story that wants to embrace shounen tropes for the mindless and entertaining form of storytelling it can be. Rave sure might not be my favorite manga I’ll have read this year (or even just in general), but I fairly enjoyed it enough for what it is and what it wanted to be. And I think it deserves some credit for that.