Haru Glory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Japanese
Tomokazu Seki - English
Yuri Lowenthal
- Rave Master
| Haru Glory | |
|---|---|
| Rave Master character | |
 Haru Glory as drawn by Hiro Mashima | |
| First appearance | Rave Master chapter 1: Opened Map (1999) |
| Created by | Hiro Mashima |
| Voiced by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Alias |
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| Notable relatives | Gale Glory (father, deceased) Sakura Glory (mother, deceased) Cattleya Glory (sister) Elie (wife) Levin (son) Malakia Symphonia Glory (grandfather, deceased) |
Haru Glory (Japanese: ハル・グローリー, Hepburn: Haru Gurōrī) is the main character of the manga Rave Master by Hiro Mashima. Born on Garage Island, Haru was left in the care of his older sister. In the beginning, Haru accidentally fishes his sidekick Plue up, and his owner, Shiba, encounters terrorists from the organization Demon Card. Shiba tells Haru that he has been chosen as his successor, Second Rave Master. Thus he is entrusted the sword Ten Commandments (テン・コマンドメンツ, Ten Komandomentsu; also "TCM", "Decaforce Sword", or "Ten Powers"), his pet dog Plue, and magical stone Rave (レイヴ, Reivu) to grant him power. Seeking power to defeat Demon Card, Haru and Plue set off on a journey to find the rest of the missing Rave stones.[clarification needed]
Haru was created by Mashima before the series' beginning. His relationship with his family was explored earlier than planned in order to improve the series' popularity. The character is voiced by Tomokazu Seki and Yuri Lowenthal in Japanese and English, respectively.
Critical response to Haru was mixed, with several critics finding him as a conventional hero often seen in series from the same genre. His portrayal in the anime adaptation was met with negative responses for how the localization changed Haru's characterization.
The Rave Master protagonist, Haru Glory, was designed prior to developing the manga; author Hiro Mashima always wanted to draw him before the series' conception. His sidekick, Plue, was also designed much earlier when Mashima was in high school. In early drafts of the series, Haru was an alchemist able to control metal, but this idea was scrapped as the author found his attacks maniacal. This led to the new concept of Haru being a swordsman. Mashima later came up with the idea of a larger Ten Commandments Sword so that Haru could perform several types of attacks with the same weapon. Mashima decided on a caring personality while being open to the idea of Haru being violent.[1]
Haru is the successor of the supporting character Shiba, who was planned to die in the first story arc. However, this idea was also discarded, as the author found it would negatively affect Haru and Plue's journey.[2] Mashima wanted his readers to have familiar names for his protagonists: Haru's given name means spring to emphasize his warm personality.[3] During production, Mashima considered Haru as the "angsty hard-working type".[citation needed] While writing his next work, Fairy Tail, Mashima made the new main character Natsu Dragneel calmer than Haru.[4]
Early during publication, Rave Master almost faced cancellation due to complaints found in reader surveys. As a result, Mashima was forced to move the story to the parts he found more interesting, involving Haru's father, Gale, and his rival, King. King dies, leaving his son, Lucia, to be Haru's true final enemy.[5] The second fight between Haru and Lucia serves as a halfway point of the Rave Master manga. From this point, the plot would focus on mysteries, most notably how Shiba knows of Haru or the connection between the protagonist and Lucia.[6] During the finale, Mashima enjoyed the scene where Haru encourages Shuda to fight together in order to surpass Gale, which led to toning down the previous fight.[7] Mashima had mixed feelings about the final fight between Haru and Lucia, as he wonders if he should have given it more chapters. The idea of Haru surviving the aftermath surprised several readers, though Mashima still suggests it was overshadowed by Elie's older appearance.[8]
In Japanese, Haru is voiced by Tomokazu Seki. His replacement for the English adaptation is Yuri Lowenthal. Lowenthal said that Haru was one of his first leading roles, but expressed disappointment due to him being unable to finish the story.[9]
