Mars Daybreak (Japanese: 絢爛舞踏祭 ザ･マーズ･デイブレイク, Hepburn: Kenran Butōsai Za Māzu Deibureiku) is a Japanese science-fiction anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo from April 1 to September 23, 2004. It is currently licensed by Bandai Entertainment. Kenran Butōsai (絢爛舞踏祭, Kenran Butōsai) is a simulation game based on the concept, developed and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 video game console.

Mars Daybreak
Cover of the first DVD volume
絢爛舞踏祭 (Kenran Butōsai)
Genre	Adventure, Comedy, Mecha, Romance
Created by	Sony Interactive Entertainment
Anime television series
Directed by	Kunihiro Mori
Produced by	Masahiko Minami Taihei Yamanishi Takeshi Sasamura
Written by	Miya Asakawa
Music by	Kaoru Wada
Studio	Bones
Licensed by	NA Bandai Entertainment
Original network	TV Tokyo
English network	ImaginAsian
Original run	April 1, 2004 – September 23, 2004
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Game
Developer	Sony Computer Entertainment
Publisher	Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform	PlayStation 2
Released	July 7, 2005

Plot

Life on Mars is hard for those who live here. As the economy worsens, work becomes scarce and food becomes expensive and highly prized. Gram and his friends try to do the best they can but, he finds himself on the run with the most notorious pirates on Mars. The only problem is he soon starts to enjoy the adventure.

Characters

Main characters

Gram River

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese); Johnny Yong Bosch (English)

The anime's main protagonist.

Vestemona "Vess" Lauren

Voiced by: Houko Kuwashima[1] (Japanese); Melissa Fahn[2] (English)

Gram's childhood friend and eventual sweetheart, who was a fellow orphan on Adena Cityship.

Crew of the Ship of Aurora

Elizabeth Liati

Voiced by: Miyuki Ichijou (Japanese); Barbara Goodson (English)

The Captain of Aurora who oversees what's going on in the ship, and will not tolerate any betrayal.

Kato Takigawa Jr.

Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi (Japanese); Yuri Lowenthal[3] (English)

Nicknamed Junior or Shou, dreams of becoming an R.B diver, despite what anyone says otherwise.

MAKI

Voiced by: Gara Takashima (Japanese); Peggy O'Neal (English)

The AI of the Aurora who has a personality of her own.

Ester Ein Astrada

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (Japanese); Kate Higgins[4] (English)

Like Elizabeth, she also pilots the Aurora. She also keeps track on the surrounding waters, whether it be the Earth Forces launching their attack or any other creatures. She is 141 years old. Ester often refers to herself as a Nautical Witch, who fought in a war a long time ago. It is possible she is a gynoid or some other kind of artificial being. In the Japanese anime, her voice actress is Fumiko Orikasa, and her voice actress is Kate Higgins in the English adaptation.

Yagami Arian

Voiced by: Jin Yamanoi[5] (Japanese); Steven Blum (English)

A soldier under Nelle Poe who fought for Mars independence during the Pan-Galactic War, where he was apparently part of a vast battle in which he was either the only survivor, or one of very few. He is nicked-named "The Reaper" because of the many RBs he has destroyed, and the coldly efficient way he operates; early in the series, he informs Elizabeth that "I just don't know how to hold back."

Aki Polandwood

Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki (Japanese); Erik Davies (English)

As with Nelly, he also works as a mechanic in the Aurora, which they get the RBs ready for take off.

Megumi Higashibara

Voiced by: Yui Horie[6] (Japanese); Stephanie Sheh[7] (English)

A girl who has the ability to read the minds, thoughts and emotions of various life forms.

Neli

Voiced by: Maki Tamura (Japanese); Wendee Lee (English)

As with Aki, she also takes care of the RB repairs and also prepares the RBs for launch.

Enora Taft

Voiced by: Akino Murata (Japanese); Colleen Villard (English)

The granddaughter of Earth's president.

Sala

Voiced by: Akiko Yajima[8] (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead (English)

The nurse of the Aurora's clinic who tends to the wounded crew members.

Chrysalis Milch

Voiced by: Kiyoyuki Yanada (Japanese); Jamieson Price (English)

The person in charge of loading the torpedoes and firing them at incoming enemies.

Clara

Voiced by: Mako Hyōdō (Japanese); Mela Lee (English)

A cat that can talk. She is technically the "professor" of the Ship of Aurora, and is the most intelligent and logical of the crew.

Poipoider

Voiced by: Hiroshi Yanaka[9] (Japanese); Michael McConnohie (English)

A talking cetacean (resembles a small beluga whale) in a large water-filled suit, which enables him to walk on robotic legs and use robotic arms.

Other characters

Kubernes

Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara[10] (Japanese); Lex Lang[11] (English)

An old acquaintance of Elizabeth.

Niall Poe

Voiced by: Shinpachi Tsuji (Japanese); Michael McConnohie (English)

A self-proclaimed revolutionist who owns the Aurora.

Bon

Voiced by: Rikako Aikawa (Japanese); Brianne Siddall (English)

A young orphan who takes care of his little sister, Shie.

Shie

Voiced by: Yōko Teppōzuka (Japanese); Sandy Fox[12] (English)

Bon's little sister.

Selena Knightley

Voiced by: Akiko Hiramatsu (Japanese); Bridget Hoffman[13] (English)

A woman from the Rodeo Sector where rich people live whose looking for her lover who apparently was a pirate.

Mars Aboriginies

The first colonists of Mars and only ones to experience Mars as a world not covered in water, the Aborigines were meant to be the first phase colonizers of Mars until the flood that would cover Mars in water. After centuries had passed, Earth, believing that Mars was unpopulated soon allowed another group of colonists to populate Mars. Instead, they found people surviving in such violent environment without advanced technology required to survive. The second migration occurred around 200 years before the time of the series.

Technology

Ship of Aurora

One of the most notorious pirate ships on Mars, where the mere mention of the name and/or just the sight of the Auroras' crewman puts fear in pirates and Earth Force service men alike. Other pirates would run away from encounters with the Ship of Aurora. In the series this is first shown during episode seven when the Black Whirlpool proclaimed that service shuttle form the Ship of Aurora is in the Whirlpool's personal berth. The captain soon reverses his proclamation once he notice Milch, torpedo room officer in also being a formidable crewman of the Aurora, leaves the berth to the shuttle. Just like any pirate ship, the Ship of Aurora is crewed by many different species from a cat to a Naval Witch. The ships AI, MAKI, is also considered a crewman with its own personality. The submarine is armed with torpedoes, cannons, missiles, grappling hooks and several Round Bucklers. Its two most infamous attacks is the Daybreak, (which basically a ramming technique), and the Elizabeth Cannon, (which is just the Captain screaming at the top of her lungs), causing all those in the immediate vicinity to flee in absolute terror.

City-Ships

City-Ships are literally floating cities that drift in Mars huge ocean. The city ships have been around since Mars was colonized for a second time and some are over a hundred years old.

Round Bucklers

These are mecha designed solely for an underwater environment. RBs can come in two different build designs, but all RBs are unique since they are completely based on the equipment used in the construction process. The size of an RB varies form as roughly larger than basic pressure suit to a small iceberg. Throughout the series other mecha units are shown and used but are given no name and used in a variety of Jobs.

Cordless

A "Cordless" Round Buckler means that the pilot himself is contained within the unit itself, this most commonly used by pirates since the Earth Forces view Cordless designs as archaic. Throughout the series there are only five Cordless Round Bucklers. Some details of how an RB is built is shown when the captain of The Ship of Aurora orders a crew member's RB sim pod to be scrapped and then be used in the construction of another Round Buckler.

Corded

Round Bucklers controlled externally (known as "corded") come in pairs, usually commanded by most simply a pressure suit to a Seahorse, a control unit used by the Earth forces. Cables are attached to the RBs which are usually smaller, faster, capable of extreme maneuvers since there is no actual pilot within the RB itself compared to cordless; yet through the series whenever cordless and cord RBs are in combat a cordless RB is victorious, this may merely be because of the relative skill of most cordless pilots. Though technically attached to control unit most cables have a beacon at the end of the cable that allows the RBs to move beyond the cables maximum length, usually several nautical miles further before the pilot is unable to control the RB.

Anime

The series was produced by Bones, directed by Kunihiro Mori with Miya Asakawa writing the script. Kaoru Wada composed the series' music and character designs by Hiroshi Osaka. It aired from April 1, to September 23, 2004 on TV Tokyo. The opening theme is "Take Back" by G B Shelter while the ending theme is "Aoi Tabibito (Blue Travelers)" by Takatsugu Tsumabuki.

References

External links

• Kenran Butousai Official Anime Site (Japanese)
• TV Tokyo's Daybreak Website (Japanese)
• Mars Daybreak (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia