Magic Knight Rayearth
Animeworks is a relatively new company among the many production groups that bring anime to the United States. Among such big names as Manga and Pioneer, it's easy for the new company on the block to get ignored in the shuffle. But being bold, Animeworks recently ran an add saying it's anime, Magic Knight Rayearth, was the single biggest hit of 1999. The thing is, they may be right.
Sure, the last year was dominated by Pokemon and Princess Mononoke in the theaters, but in the video stores, where the true otakus go to buy there anime, the last year had an extremely diverse selection. And Magic Knight Rayearth was definently one of the more popular ones being sold. And here's the reason why.
Magic Knight Rayearth is at first glance a cross between Sailor Moon and Lodoss Wars. Three Junior High school girls get sucked into a fantasy world called Cephiro, where they are supposed to fulfill a prophecy about saving the world by becoming Magic Knights. Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru journey across this Dungeons and Dragons type terrain, fighting various monsters and trying to rescue Princess Emeraude from the High Priest Zagato.
The anime is based on the manga of the same name, which was released in the early 90's by the hit manga group known as CLAMP. This is one of CLAMP's biggest hits, and the anime ran on Japanese TV's in 1994 and 95, consisting of 2 seasons. Even though it is just now getting over to America, (thanks to the anime boom here on this side of the Pacific) it's fan following is still getting progressively larger. Sailor Moon might just have some competition for American television space as well, as the company that owns Animeworks, (Mediablasters) is trying to get Rayearth on television here in America as well, (although I think the market isn't that strong to support it on television yet).
Other reasons for this anime's popularity is it's strong cast of characters. The three girls each have a distinct personality, and each one gets several episodes to flesh their characters out. They are given powers and advice by a small, yet powerful wizard named Cleft, are helped by the mysterious rogue named Ferio,(who one of the Magic Knights falls in love with of course), and are guided around the land by a walking ball of fluff named Mokona! In opposition to them though are Zagato's minions, who (in a nice touch) get fleshed out in various ways, and prove that working for an anime villian doesn't neccessarily mean your evil...
Overall, I give Magic Knight Rayearth the highest possible rating! It's easily collectable, (with the first season being only 5 volumes long), and won't leave you dazed and confused like some other animes. It's also on the rise in popularity, so pick it up and see what all the fuss is about!
**** stars, (or asterex, if you will)
Links:
Primera's Magic Knight Rayearth PageHas a lot of details on the series!
Animeworks official page! Go check out the group that brought it to us in America!
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