Magic Knight Rayearth: Review #1

Hello my magnificently wonderful mahou shoujo lovers! Boy, am I pooped. I woke up super early this morning. It was raining really hard and it was thundering and lightning outside. I'm a super light sleeper, so it couldn't get back to sleep until the storm stopped. Blogging is the only thing keeping me awake in this computer class as I've already taken my history exam (I'm pretty sure I aced it ~.^).

Okay, I know if the very first entry that I stated that I would be reviewing some mahou shoujo anime as a main premise to this blog. I have not been procrastinating, yet it's be a little hard to get a hand on anime when i have so little money in my pocket *weep*. So, out of the goodness of her heart, one of my best friends gave me something magical! But, it's kinda old though, so bear with me *sweatdrop*

As the first subject of review I chose the classic Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP. I had not seen it before due to the Sailor Moon's overshadowing popularity. I had often heard it was very good and had really wanted a chance to see it. I feel a little guilty about watching the anime without having read the manga in it's entirety.
It's my usual routine to help me judge an anime more efficiently. I hope you guys don't mind ^_^;.

Magic Knight Rayearth is about a three girls, on a field trip with their separate schools, are sucked into a crumbling land known as Cephiro and are asked to save it. To do so they have to become the Legendary Magic Knight, obtain the three Mashin (Rune-Gods), and save the Pillar know as Princess Emeraude (Emerald, I think is the proper translation) from the evil clutches of High Priest Zagato.

The plot line is a basic mahou shoujo plot, but it was the art on the DVD box that intrigued me. Though I could tell it was the manga art (CLAMP= Amazing) as opposed to the anime art, it still made me really want to watch it. I popped the DVD and settled in to enjoy the first disc. Among the first things I noticed, was the character and for some reason, I felt Umi had been cheated. Everyone in the crowd seemed to have a whole head while she, unfortunately, did not. I ventured on guessing that was probably why she was so cranky all the time (though it made me wonder what Sailor Moon's Rei Hino's excuse was). Also, to be honest, Hikaru looked a lot like a character of the same name from Angelic Layer, though the cuteness factor did not waver in the least. The world of Cephiro, on the other hand was beautiful. From the waterfalls to the trees, it seemed to just scream utopia.
The randomness of the girls' arrival into Cephiro irked me a little. Yet, I eventually understood that it only demonstrated further the lands urgency to have their presence there. I did enjoy the contrast of characters and how they resembled there names so well without adhering strictly to their meaning: Umi, meaning sea, seems to be a very cool and calculating thinker, though gets riled up at a moments notice; Fuu, her name having a wind reference, is always very calm and uplifting and has that cute sweetness that most otaku (fan) boys love (the glasses and RPG knowledge seem to only add to this); Hikaru, meaning light and possesses fire abilities, is a rough and tumble tomboy who is full of energy and naive cuteness, though this hardly gets in the way of telling the other two girls what to do and them listening to her.
The plot, so far, has built to a point where I want to keep with it. No it's not life-changingly compelling, but I'm still entertained with it nonetheless. I'm slightly disappointed that it lacks in henshin sequences, since the girls are always in their Magic Knight garb, but I love the attacks, especially Fuu's Healing Wind! It's sooo cool!

Well, that wraps up this review. Class is almost over with and I gotta get to my next exam. I'll watch a few more episodes later and give another thought. In the meantime, give me a few choice mahou shoujo anime to look into or even a comment or two. I'd love to hear from you and might be inspired to write more! Have an awesome day.

~DJ Melody