▪	RELEASED BY:		VIZ MEDIA
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		4:3 FULL FRAME
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD  2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		100 MIN
		▪	RATING:		T
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		10/02/2007
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		10/01/2007
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		DAVEY C. JONES

The group’s off for special training in the latest volume of Mar. But hold up gang, the Chess Pieces are on the move and they plan on wasting the land of Mar! While the good guys are away, the bad guys are going to play!

Alan opened up portals to another dimension so that Ginta, Jack, Snow and Dorothy can get some training (specifically Jack and Ginta, after all, the two girls don’t have Arms to train with). They’re working hard, using magical stones to power up their training, but they’re having a hard time mastering the mad skillz they’re gonna need when they get back to Mar and find out what those nasty, tricksy Chess Pieces have done! Alan’s been maintaining the dimensional portals and it’s getting him down. Then Ian the Rook comes by to beat him up! They battle fierce and hard and it looks like Alan might be about to bite the dust. But then Ginta and the rest show up and it’s hammer time, Babbo style!

Excitement, action and go-go-go! That’s what Mar the anime is all about. Ginta and Jack both show off they’re new Arm powers this volume and wow, did they ever supe up! And we get a bit of Ian’s humanity peeking out when the female Pawn protecting him goes down and he seems to care about her! Who is she? And what is up with Ian? Is he a good guy fighting on the wrong side? We don’t find out yet, but it sure is starting to look that way. In the meantime Mar is getting trashed by Phantom’s Chess Pieces and the Second War Game officially is underway! Now Ginta has his Team Mar and they’re ready to go up against the bad guys, at least they think so until a Guild of Thieves ambushes them!

Having to face what’s happened to Mar is harsh on Ginta, and he’s gotta figure out if thief boy Nanashi is on his side or about to get with the bad side of the Force.  There’s even a bit of background in the “real” world with Ginta’s mom and Koyuki (who looks exactly like Princess Snow…). His momma is worried he’s run away and she tells the cutie pie Koyuki all about his dad. Will the mom ever figure out the real story? Will we ever learn why Koyuki looks exactly like Snow? And would someone please kick Phantom’s behind! It all might happen, after all, Mar’s all about action and the good guys coming through in the end. 

EXTRAS:
Extra goodies include a snazzy foil cover, reverse cover art, sneak peeks at other Viz manga and DVD titles, production art, and MAR dictionary.

IN SUMMARY:
Ginta gets training while the Chess Pieces start the Second War! It’s another face off with the Rook, a face off with a Thieves Guild, and Babbo hits the next level of power in Mar!