Magic Knight Rayearth

—by Mark L. Johnson

MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH is another one of those anime titles that we have mentioned countless times but never directly reviewed. Okay, maybe not countless, but in at least 46 separate articles. We have looked at the CLAMP's original domestic manga release, and the Japanese OVA series, but never directly at the popular anime TV series.
Thanks to the increasing popularity of anime in North America, we are finally seeing many modern anime "classics" (and cult favorites) get a professional release. It was only a matter of time until RAYEARTH would arrive, and it appears that Media Blasters is doing a commendable job in its release. This review looks at the first two volumes (of 5), though volumes 1 through 4 are already available and the last volume, Midnight, should appear at the end of February, 2000.
I certainly do not have room to go into the finer details of MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH, as even the Anime Turnpike has a separate page dedicated to RAYEARTH fan pages that number in the hundreds.
In a nutshell, RAYEARTH is the story of three Tokyo middle school girls: Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Hououji. Hikaru is a super energetic girl who looks young for her age, Umi is a refined girl from a pampered upbringing and Fuu comes from an enriched school with a sharp mind. From completely different schools and strangers at first, the threesome get transported from a Tokyo Tower field trip to the magical world of Cephiro.
Soon after arriving, they are met by the sorcerer Clef (a deceivingly young looking man with amazing powers) and they are told they can only return home after they have saved Cephiro. They were called to this world by the princess Emeraude, who was imprisoned by the sorcerer Zagato and his minions.
Thus their quest begins to become Magic Knights, which includes getting magical weapons made by Escudo and finding their matching Rune-Gods while discovering their own inner magic through experience. On their way, they will fight many a monster, defeat many a minion and have many an adventure as they travel on their quest to become powerful enough to challenge Zagato.
Based on this alone, and the fact that Fuu even comments on this within the story, this follows a standard cliché role-playing video game progression. However the character, humor and experience that the girls develop over the adventure takes this story and gives RAYEARTH a deeper meaning.
Looking at the production values, RAYEARTH comes in as a respectable TV series. There are reused scenes here and there, and the occasional episode drops in quality of animation, but overall the quality is decent. Often the action switches into characteristic CLAMP super-deformed versions, complete with Hikaru's cat ears. Then again, the super cute Mokona always looks super deformed.
The English dubbed version is one of the better ones I have viewed of late. The intro and ending songs are a good English attempt to match the original versions and, based on my memory of Working Design's version for the Sega Saturn RAYEARTH game, I feel AnimeWorks's version is a little better. The voice actress for Fuu comes across a bit weak, but other than that I felt the voices did a good job in matching the characters. I have to admit I still strongly prefer the original Japanese cast and songs, but for viewers who desire English voices I give RAYEARTH a strong passing grade.
Media Blasters has done a good job with this title, as the packaging, subtitling and translation is excellent from what I have seen so far (even with the silly religious Fuu-ster/Umi-ster instead of -chan comments from some fans). I do have two minor issues though. The running problem I still have with Media Blasters in general is their truly awful opening logo screens, and I pray that they will change them for their upcoming DVD releases. And I must admit I was surprised they took out the next episode previews, with the cult classic "Who's it this week" spinning wheel featuring super SD versions of the characters.
Speaking of DVDs, according to Anime on DVD it looks Media Blasters will potentially release a 500 minute DVD collection box set on May 23, 2000 (although, as with all release dates, prepare for potential delays).
Personally, I enjoyed looking at RAYEARTH again since I saw it back in 1995, and some of the humor had me laughing all over again. It is good to see Media Blasters releasing this so aggressively (4 episodes per tape), and I will probably pick up the DVD release myself.
While MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH is intended primarily for children, this is a story that has proven to expand out of that genre, much like SAILOR MOON or DRAGONBALL has. The tale of three schoolgirls in uniforms out to save a fantasy world may not be the most original of titles, but the character and friendship between the primary heroines is surprisingly well done. CLAMP's style and unique humor comes out in full force, and fans of their work should definitely take a look again at RAYEARTH.

Released by in North America AnimeWorks
Daybreak
VHS, 100 minutes
Subtitled, AWVS-9951, $24.95
Dubbed, AWVD-9950, $24.95

Sunrise
VHS, 100 minutes
Subtitled, AWVS-9953 $24.95
Dubbed, AWVD-9952, $24.95

MKR—Combo Pack Daybreak/Sunrise
2 VHS Tapes, 200 minutes
Subtitled, A2PS-9921, $39.95
Dubbed, A2PD-9920, $39.95

Available now in the USA
Where to buy