Magic Knight Rayearth II

Little time has passed since the Magic Knights’ final confrontation with Princess Emeraude’s "Mashin." Still haunted by the princess’ death, Hikaru Shidou returns to Tokyo Tower. There, she meets her friends Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Hououji for the first time since their spontaneous quest to save Cephiro. Plagued by nightmares of the realm she had left behind, Hikaru is relieved to find that her companions too want to return and serve the kingdom they once so dutifully protected.

The Magic Knights’ wish is answered, for at the top of Tokyo Tower, the three are blinded by the same great light they had seen on the day they first met. Once more on the back of a flying fish, the group returns to Cephiro—a world now desolate and in ruins. With the collapse of the Pillar's power, monsters freely roam the land while three nations seek to annex Cephiro with hopes of seizing the Pillar for themselves. Complicating things further is the mysterious Lady Debonair, who proclaims herself to be the rightful heir of the fallen country.

Now confronting graver stakes and radically different enemies, the three Magic Knights set forth once more to save Cephiro and bring peace. With the bonds they have forged together, the trio stands united in the face of such a great challenge.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shidou, Hikaru Main

Shiina, Hekiru Japanese

Ryuuzaki, Umi Main

Yoshida, Konami Japanese

Hououji, Fuu Main

Kasahara, Hiroko Japanese

Mokona Supporting

Shiratori, Yuri Japanese

Lantis Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Vision, Eagle Supporting

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Ferio Supporting

Yamazaki, Takumi Japanese

Nova Supporting

Itou, Miki Japanese

Zagato Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Clef Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Yoshioka, Masahito Producer

Hirano, Toshiki Director

Urakami, Yasuo Sound Director

Motonaga, Keitarou Episode Director

Reviews

Sep 17, 2021

banichan

Recommended

Overall: this was a really enjoyable show with a lot of flaws, that was not as strong as the the first season. It probably could have been sped up, have some things fleshed out with others cut out, and been a shorter season.


Good stuff:

- The production isn't bad. The music is decent and the art looks like it got a bigger budget than season 1, although there are definitely episodes with super inconsistent/lower quality art. Still pretty decent for the time period.

- There are a lot more story threads and interesting new worldbuilding! Overall just very enjoyable as a show.

- ... Eagle is basically the best thing about this show. In fact, he's so good, I think it actually does a disservice to the rest of the show. Eagle is far and away the strongest best-written character, due in large part to him and Autozam in general having really strong and meaningful motivations, whereas the rest of the characters have either selfish, silly, or wishy-washy motivations. I loved Eagle's storyline, although part of me feels like he should have been in a different show.


Issues:

- As is common with older anime, the pacing is super slow. I had trouble finishing it until I started watching it at 1.5x speed - and most of the time it didn't even feel sped up.

- The majority of the characters are not very consistent or well-written:
* The Magic Knights - Hikaru has a very limited character arc with Nova and her emotional problems, but there's just not enough there to sustain through 29 episodes. It also feels like the writers didn't know what to do with Umi and Fuu, so they don't get much real development.
* Fahren and Chizeta - these characters feel like they're just goofy comedic characters, which would be fine except that they're held up next to Autozam who have a serious meaningful storyline. I really feel like this show would have been fine as a cute funny fantasy adventure if they had removed the more serious aspects, and would have felt more consistent in tone.
* LaFarga, Caldina, Ascot, and Mokona - they were clearly added only as nostalgia from the last season, and never seemed to have anything to do.
* Sierra - I won't spoil too much but her small storyline didn't end up mattering. This probably didn't need to be in the story unless they were planning to properly expand this.
* Debonair and Nova - they felt kind of half-baked as villains. There was a half-decent idea here but it lacked the depth it needed to carry the season.
* Annoying Fairy - I forget her name but why was she even here? She had no purpose or character growth, and eventually effectively disappeared from the story without it really affecting anything.
* Lantis - I think he had a lot of potential, but the writers didn't seem to have a plan for him. He had some interesting things laid out early on, but we almost never circled back on any of it.

- The romance storylines are all kind of mediocre or bad. Fuu and Ferio barely get any additional time or development, Umi's romance options end up being pretty vague, and Hikaru's romance is very insta-love and doesn't get the development it should for how much it's propped up as a really important part of the story. There are also several (unnecessary imo) unrequited love threads that don't go anywhere, and a side romance that had no real basis and also isn't really needed. I may be biased, but Eagle/Lantis seemed like the most compelling relationship in the show, even if it wasn't really canon.

- The continued lack of even a basic soft magic system led to an abruptness and lack of tension in the battle scenes. Maybe I'm too used to shounen, but it felt like they needed at least a tiny amount of explanation around what magic the knights could use and when. I'm still confused by why they didn't combine rune gods and use their super attack pretty much every time.

- The storyline overall is somewhat inconsistent and not very well planned. By the end I was rooting for Autozam? I also don't love the ending of season 2, as it feels like it undermined the story of season 1.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 22, 2022

Mahoukun

Mixed Feelings

Spoiler

Warning: Spoilers Ahead.

Before I go into my review of Magic Knight Rayearth II, I have to establish that the first season is a fantastic interpretation of the magical girl genre, and it really demonstrates many interesting tropes found in 90s anime. The first season excelled in making a show that was well-paced, featured a great soundtrack, and created an epic feeling with its awesome mecha influence. Moreover, Umi, Hikaru, and Fuu each received an equitable amount of character exploration, which made their friendship and emotions feel real. Most importantly, without attempting to subvert the genre, it breaks the boundaries of magical girl, especially through its ... tragic ending. The decision for the Magic Knights to mercifully murder Zagato and Princess Emeraude was a beautiful way to show the maturation of the girls both through their powers in Cephiro and growth into teenhood.

However, Magic Knight Rayearth II abandons many of the aspects that made the first season so good. Choosing to focus almost entirely on Hikaru, adding love interests that have little chemistry with the main cast, and relying heavily on racist (Sinophobic and Arabophobic) characterizations, Magic Knight Rayearth II loses much of its originality. Even considering its age, the show fails in various regards. The pacing is all over the place, and the cast grows tremendously in such a short period of time. Overall, it just feels like it's failing to repeat the formula of other magical girl shows popular at the time, specifically Sailor Moon, by co-opting random elements from them. Thus, even with the upgraded soundtrack and animation, this season leaves a sense of being underwhelmed.

Therefore, if you have watched the first season and are considering watching the second one, I would tread carefully. If you are a hardcore fan of the magical girl genre, you will probably still enjoy this season. Particularly if you like entangled stories and romance, this season may be for you. However, I also think that simply finishing season one is a fine way to experience Rayearth.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Oct 12, 2008

jmoriarty84

Not Recommended

I personally felt this didn't live up to the first season. I really felt the impact of the ending of the first series. Sure it left things open, but it still felt conclusive at the same time. I thought the ending was really touching and you really feel how the three magic knights bonded with one another and you really see that. To me, making a sequel just takes away the impact the ending had on me. Personally, I thought if they were going to do a sequel, they could have just made them stay in Cefiro instead to try solve the remaining problems it ... had and would eventually come and then end it the same way the first season did. The series doesn’t really have the same unpredictable plot twists the first series had impact wise. And I just really didn’t like the newer characters. The Chizeta twins and Lady Aska just came across as annoying and I didn’t like the rest of the cast. When you have your antagonists as your comic relief and not acting serious, it just goes down the toilet.

I thought the magic knights were developed enough already and they were able to use their maturity and experience, but they just simply couldn’t develop any further to some extent. To me, at that point, they just hit their peak. If they didn’t go back and have that ending where they are embracing each other and crying, then this story would have worked out better. It’s just my main beef will always be that the ending had an incredible impression on me filled with emotion and resolution But by going back, and then coming back, you truly do see their development of how much they cared about protecting Cefiro.

Along with the characters, we now have a lot of new elements to the series with design. Like the Autozam people represented industrial and robotic technology. Of course with the Magic Knights have those Mashins looking like mechs, the Autozam people have their own mechs like the FTO and the GTO. Their costume designs are pretty nifty as well. It has a descent balance of being fantasy and sci fi features to it. The FTO that Eagle pilots bares a very strong resemblance to the Dunbine from Aura Battler Dunbine which I thought was pretty cool, but had more of a First Appearance Iron Man twist to it. I also like how the other antagonists from Fahren and Chizeta were more cultural looking. Fahren was based on ancient China and Chizeta was more Arabic but they spoke in Osaka dialect. To combat the Mashin’s, Lady Aska brings a drawing that resembles her servant to a gigantic form and the Chizeta twins can use humongous genies.

Which leads me to the action. It is more reliant on the lets say “mech action” and we don’t see much sword play or magic. I guess that takes away from using excessive recycled footage. I really like the action, but I just really miss the approach and how it tried to distinguish itself from other magical girl anime. Now it tries to be more like a mech anime. Granted I do like the designs of the Mashins and the FTO, but giant genies and weird drawings once again comes into why I didn’t like the humor.

And the miniaturization of the characters isn’t really as prevalent as it was in the previous season.

Ferio now being revealed to have royal blood is now dressed up more formally, and lets say Caladina shedded some clothing.

Other than that, it’s the same old CLAMP school of how they draw eyes and faces. It’s a pity thanks to the circumstances of the story, we don’t get to see much of the scenery that the first season had which brought a great imagination element to it.


Well, I couldn’t get past an episode of watching the English dub in the first season, so I never really bothered watching the dub for the 2nd season. But anyway, the cast still remains the same that were initially introduced in the previous series. The original cast still do their roles very well and convincingly. I still love how passionate and emotional Hikaru always comes across. Juurouta Kosugi who played Zagato is also back and this time he is playing his brother Lantis. I don’t think the role really requires his charisma or his dark voice, but character wise, it was important.

Some additions to the cast are Inoue Yo and Hisakawa Aya as the Chizeta princess twins, Tatra and Tetra. Inoue Yo still has that calm voice you always hear in other roles as Belldandy from Ranma and Kasumi from Ranma. But she brings a more humorous tone with how she likes to joke around. Hisakawa Aya who has played Sailor Mercury as Chizeta is not really as recognizable as Inoue Yo. She is more darker toned and tends to sound more angry and serious.

Some of the background music is still the same from the first season. Like instrumental versions of Yuzurenai Negai are still sometimes used and still plays very orchestrated music. A lot of the new background music is well cultural appropriate to some of the characters. Especially that of Tetra and Tarta who represent more of an Arabian kind of background and that kind of music is played to represent them. So I think it’s really well appropriate to the mood as usual.

I can’t really get into the new opening theme, Hikari to Kage wo Dakishimete Mama. Sure it’s still sung by the same singer of the previous song, Naomi Tamura, but because I don’t like the themes of the story, the song also does a good job of telling it but doesn’t have the kind of pacing or the kind of emotion that was appealing that Yuzurenai Negai had. But on the other hand, the video clips does go pretty synch to the song.

Well, in terms of story, on a conceivable sense, it was a great idea. I thought it took a very original and distinctive approach. I really miss the Japanese style RPG like characteristics it had. And as a result, there are no video games based on this particular story arc in considering the fact I do happen to still enjoy the Sega Saturn and Super Nintendo games. And with the art and animation, since the 2nd season aired a week after the first season ended and didn’t have a year break like how other anime seasons do, they really couldn’t do much to have any significant improvement in the design. But the newer characters were fresh, but not really that exciting or distinctive. The music is still alright and didn’t really change too much.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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