My favorite manga

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I’ve read this series many times and I find it to be just as entertaining as the first time I read it many years ago.

The story of Magic Knight Rayearth revolves around three girls from different schools that are transported to a fantasy land which seems to follow an RPG setup. There are monsters to defeat, items to acquire, gear to upgrade and a princess to save.

Friendships are formed over the quest to survive in this magical but dangerous land to grant the princess’ wish in order for them to return to earth, with each character having a different motivation behind their actions.

Everything appears straightforward, and although the girls are initially out of their element they soon learn how the world of Cephiro works through the magic of will. Bad ass elemental magic and god-like rune beasts help too.

The CLAMP team offers beautiful illustrations and layouts in this series. Each time the main characters undergo a transformation, physical or spiritual, the detail on each page is impressive.

The manga is set up in a traditional shoujo style (comics mainly aimed towards girls – think big eyes, cute animals, female protagonist) similar to another popular magical girl series, Sailor Moon.

In the name of the moon, Sailor Moon gonna get you~

This format allows readers familiar with the format to enjoy the series while holding certain expectations, such as the inevitable romance, emotional quandaries, and overcoming obstacles with the power of friendship.

What I felt set this manga apart was the varying personalities & motives of each character, the action required to fulfill each quest given to the girls (either fight scenes or prompts towards spiritual growth), and the world of Cephiro full of beasts & monsters; something more easily found in shonen (boy targeted) manga.

It’s a girl & boy friendly fantasy comic, complete with mech suits of armor!

I laughed and enjoyed every victory that the protagonists Hikaru, Umi and Fuu accomplished. There was action and even some sad bits to balance out the cutesy saccharine “you can do it if you BELIEVE” parts of the story which is a trap that this series could’ve easily fallen into.

Yes there are tropes in this series; though once readers get to the end of the first arc in book three and enter the 2nd arc of the story (book 4-6), they’ll see how shit goes down where the girls must now deal with the consequences of their decisions. Saving a planet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

And that ending? The first time I read it I totally did not expect it at all.

Overall I would say this is a pretty solid manga that has a lot of what I enjoy: beautiful artwork with a story that had me hooked.

Should you choose to give this series a read, know that you have my blessing.

BONUS STAGE!

Magic Knight Rayearth was so well received that it encouraged the creation of an anime and OVA series.The anime follows the 1st arc of the story, with good pacing and animation for its time. Nothing spectacular but it was enjoyable watching these characters come to life.

After the anime moves onto the 2nd arc is where it differs from the manga; new characters are introduced and the ending is changed to one that I felt was “meh” in comparison. I was super bummed as I was looking forward to seeing how the finale would be animated.

Still worth a watch, even if this is an instance where the book was better (IMO).

The OVA is another beast entirely.

Because direct-to-video releases oftentimes allow animators time to dedicate more effort than a TV series with strict schedules, the imagery is crisp, bright and shiny. I was hopeful the first time I watched it.

The OVA for this series is three episodes long and while a lot has been packed into the episodes, I did not appreciate how drastically the story had changed. The story was more violent and full of despair, missing that cute comedy that helped define the protagonists & how they deal with success, confusion, betrayal etc. In my mind, the comedy helped break up the seriousness of what they faced and reminded the audience that these are just young girls being asked (rather, forced) into solving other-worldly affairs.

In this series the girls were already good friends before teaming up to save…earth? Plus most of the character’s backstories and relationships were either changed or non-existent. In addition, there was a wasted sacrifice and a vague ending.

I really wanted to enjoy this, but with all the changes to the source material it was challenging to see this as Magic Knight Rayearth.

And with that, I am going to share some of my favorite illustrations based off the series. Gotta keep it positive.

These are collected from the official art-book and make great backgrounds for your devices or desktop.

(I remember that as a kid, not having access to comic shops, I would print these out to decorate my walls with small 8.5″x11″ posters. It’s so great that anime is more accessible these days.)