Rayearth

The Earth lies darkened and deserted. Despite the best efforts of the film's heroine, Hikaru, the evil-filled castle of Cephiro has taken over the world and stands in the center of a lifeless Tokyo. Before the ice-witch Alcyone can take her revenge on Hikaru, she is rescued by Lantis, a young man who seals her into a magical maze where she is challenged to prove her powers while her friends are hunted down by Cephiro's warlocks.

Fleeing through the silent city, Umi and Fuu must seek out the sleeping Mashin; godlike creatures that will fuse with them to form giant warriors of awesome destructive power. But the Magic Knights are afraid, untrained and alone... will even the Mashin be enough to save them from the evil acts of Cephiro?

(Source: AniDB)

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

Zagato Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Clef Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu Japanese

Emeraude Supporting

Ogata, Megumi Japanese

Yoshioka, Masahito Producer

Motonaga, Keitarou Director

Hirano, Toshiki Director, Storyboard

Kobayashi, Katsuyoshi Sound Director

Reviews

Jun 25, 2010

napolean86

Recommended

This OVA was created as a stand alone adventure, so if you're looking for a manga based movie then forget it. The only things that are the same are names of people and locations. The biggest difference in this movie is character relations. People who are friends or would become friends in the manga and TV series are enimies all the way through the movie. I personally like the movie because it gives a fresh perspective on a proven title, but don't go watching this movie expecting certain people to be the same as in the manga and TV series or you'll dissapoint yourself.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 17, 2024

funtime43_tr

Mixed Feelings

Ok, I think this OVA was an average retelling of the show with few exceptions.

Good stuff: the English dub (in which has Tara Sands, Amy Birnbaum, Lisa Ortiz, and Debora Rabbai as the saving grace es of the dub, the animation is so beautiful.) the characters are giving a fresh new look in the ova and the relationship are twisted into a fresh new eyes.

Bad stuff: the dub script was so literal that the writing sounded so stiff and weird. The plot might be a little confusing to those who never watched the tv show.

Overall, the ova had some very enjoyable moments.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 4, 2021

banichan

Not Recommended

There are some parts of this OVA that are serviceable, and other parts that are just really terrible. The art is nice (and more modern than the original series) and the sound is solid. The first of the three episodes is actually pretty good as a start. If you don't know much about the original series or are open to a new take, the premise (at least the beginning) is pretty interesting.

The show is definitely more grim and dark, in my opinion the result of it being made in a post-Evangelion world. It has the hallmarks of a lot ... of late 90s/early 00s shows (which...admittedly was a lot of my early exposure to anime, so I may be biased) where everything is super edgy and some of the writing is still questionable. It does feel different from the decidedly 80s/early 90s original series, which is more sparsely written but earnest and bright. Still, if you're willing to look at a darker alternate take, in some ways this reminds me of the Escaflowne movie, which I actually really liked.


However.

It becomes pretty clear by mid-way through episode 2 that there's not a very clear direction. The storyline seems to completely unravel and all attempts to round it out at the end of episode 3 feel hasty and illogical. The show goes to great lengths to not explain anything until the very end, at which point a bunch of seemingly random plot points are just tossed at the wall to see what sticks. The original's writing isn't amazing (particularly season 2), but at least there's a consistent storyline and a few characters have arcs, whereas in RayEarth none of that really happens.

Some of this is because the character development is pretty bad. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu have similar personalities to the original, where the development also tends to be somewhat thin, but here their characters don't really get any progress, other than shouting some slogans toward the end. The Cephirans are somehow even less fleshed out than the original, and almost none of their actions really fit together in a logical way. Eagle, who was the best character of the previous show, is made into a generic (and badly developed) villain. Overall, no one seems to have strong motivations, and the show struggles to tie the main existing motivations (the main girls' desire to be/stay friends) with any of the fantasy elements or their views on their powers.

If I had to pick a representation of how this show felt to me, it would be "wut". I spent the latter two episodes confused, and every story choice past episode one just felt more and more random. They try to establish a slight magic system, but it falls apart quickly and fails to explain a lot of other things that happen later. I'm not sure why the girls were naked in the suits either - this seemingly had to do with common tropes in mecha anime at the time? Either way, there were definitely a couple uncomfortable and confusing scenes with the girls in weirdly porn-like poses. The final ending doesn't even really round things out - stuff just happens suddenly with no explanation.

--

That being said, I'm willing to not rate it as complete trash, as the visuals and audio weren't bad for the time period, and I did have fun watching it with my wife in that "bad movie night" sort of way to round out our MKR experience. Would not recommend watching it seriously unless you deeply and unironically love grimdark millenial anime. Watch Escaflowne the movie instead for a decent dark AU version of a mecha fantasy.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Magic Knight Rayearth OVA Episode 1 Discussion Mon_Diamond - Nov 6, 2011	6 replies	by wildhood »» Sep 4, 4:06 PM
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