Avenger (stylized as AVENGER) is an anime series, produced by Bandai Visual and Bee Train, and directed by Koichi Mashimo. It is set on post-apocalyptic colonized Mars. The 13-episode series premiered across Japan between 1 October 2003 and 24 December 2003 on the TV Tokyo network. It was later licensed for North American distribution by Bandai's distributive unit across the region, Bandai Entertainment.

Plot

The story is set on a colonized Mars at some unspecified point in the future. Following the destruction of Earth, the majority of the human population is divided up into a number of small domed city-states. Those who live outside the domes in the harsh wildernesses of the planet are known as Barbaroi. Resources are scarce, and supplies are divided out between cities based on the outcome of gladiatorial battles between representative fighters from each city. Adding to the problems of the colonists, no children have been born on Mars for a decade. The cause of the infertility is unknown, but people have turned to child-size robots called dolls as a substitute for the presence of children in their lives. And a red moon, Earth's moon, hangs over Mars, drawn towards the red planet after the destruction of Earth and ravaging it with lunar storms caused by gravitational fluctuations between Mars and its unwelcome satellite. The protagonist of the story is Layla Ashley, a barbaroi gladiator from Serena City with a mysterious and tragic past and follows her quest to defeat Volk, the ruler of Mars. She is accompanied on her journey by Nei, a strange "doll" whom she shares a deep emotional connection with, and Speedy, a doll breeder (or repairman) from the same city she's from.

Characters

Anime

Soundtrack

The music for Avenger was composed and performed by Japanese duo Ali Project, which has also contributed music to several, other anime series, including CLAMP School Detectives, Noir, Princess Resurrection and .hack//Roots. The series opening Lunar Eclipse Grand Guignol (月蝕グランギニョル Gesshoku Guran Ginyoru) and ending (Mirai no Eve) themes and the score overall are considered by some fans and reviewers to be among the show's most memorable elements. An Original Soundtrack album was released in Japan in 2003.