7/10/2005

My plan to put the CLAMPworks in the manga section is quickly failing – do I read anything but shoujo manga? Maybe not. And then there was a need for mecha in the anime section. So here’s a mecha-shoujo review for you.

Magic Knight Rayearth is one of girl-mangaka-group CLAMP’s earliest works, and the first to truly gain the attention of a high number of readers. Three girls with very different personalities meet by “chance” on school trips to the famous Tokyo Tower, where they are transported to a very different world, Cephiro, and learn that the responsibility of saving the princess of said world has fallen to them.

As it turns out…all is not what it seems to be. As Hikaru, Fuu and Umi gain magic, mecha and elemental force, Cephiro is crumbling, and when they are finally faced with the battle to end it all, a difficult choice is put before them. They must make the decision that will end the pain, even at the cost of lives.

The series continues later in what was termed Rayearth 2 for its original Media Blasters release in North America, but is really more like a second season, as it covers the last 3 of the 6 total manga. Produced in 1994, the series is a total of 49 episodes including both seasons, and there was also a three-part OAV that told a darker, alternate version of the series.

Links:
New Ring of Magic Knight Rayearth (Webring)
Illuminate
In My Heart: Magic Knight Rayearth