MAR

MAR, short for Marchen Awakens Romance is a Japanese manga and anime. The manga ran from 2003-2006, while the anime ran from 2005-2007, made up of 102 episodes. A sequel was made named MAR Omega.
Story.
The story is about a Japanese boy named Ginta who journeys into a world named MAR Heaven, which is like a fairy tale. Here, magical items known as ARMs are used to perform different tasks. Ginta meets a witch named Dorothy who wants to find a powerful ARM called Babbo. Ginta and Dorothy find Babbo, but find he is alive and can talk, which other ARMS can't do. Babbo has no memory of who he is other than his name and becomes Ginta's friend.
Ginta travels around MAR Heaven, forming a group of friends which he calls Team MAR. Team MAR fight the Chess Pieces, an evil group of people who wish to turn MAR Heaven into a nightmare. Team MAR is forced to fight in the War Games, a fighting tournament, to defeat the Chess Pieces. Ginta also wishes to return home, looking for the ARM that brought him to MAR Heaven in the first place.
It is revealed near the end of the story that the King and Queen of the Chess Pieces are Ginta's father Danna controlled by an evil spirit called Caldia's Orb, and Dorothy's older sister Diana. Team MAR battles Caldia's Orb, Diana and the leader of the Chess Pieces' Knights, Phantom, in the floating Lestava Castle, and win, saving MAR Heaven. Ginta and Danna return home at the end of the story.
Characters.
Team MAR.
Team MAR is made up of the main heroes and characters of MAR. The team's goal is to defeat the Chess Pieces and save MAR Heaven from destruction. The members are:
The Chess Pieces.
The Chess Pieces are the main villains of MAR. They want to turn MAR Heaven into a nightmare. They are in groups named after the pieces of a chess game. The King and Queen, Caldia's Orb and Diana, are not in groups.