Magic Knight Rayearth II

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Mahou Kishi Rayearth II

Japanese: 魔法騎士（マジックナイト）レイアース II

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Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 29

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 10, 1995 to Nov 27, 1995

Premiered: Spring 1995

Broadcast: Mondays at 19:30 (JST)

Producers: None found, add some

Licensors: Media Blasters, Discotek Media

Studios: TMS Entertainment

Source: Manga

Genres: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Themes: Isekai, Mecha

Demographic: Shoujo

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.51¹ (scored by 15,579 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1659²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #3496

Members: 30,295

Favorites: 136

External Links

Official Site, AnimeDB, AnimeNewsNetwork, Wikipedia

7.51

Ranked #1659Popularity #3496Members 30,295

Spring 1995TVTMS Entertainment

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Episodes: /29

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Synopsis

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]

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Background

Magic Knight Rayearth II was released on DVD by Media Blasters in seven volumes on March 25, 2003. The series was later remastered and released on Blu-ray and DVD by Discotek Media on January 31, 2017 and February 28, 2017 respectively.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Magic Knight Rayearth 2
Prequel:	Magic Knight Rayearth

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

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

More staff

Staff

Urakami, Yasuo

Sound Director

Motonaga, Keitarou

Episode Director

Kamegaki, Hajime

Episode Director, Storyboard

Matsui, Hitoyuki

Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

	1: "キライになれない (Kirai ni Narenai)" by Ayumi Nakamura (eps 1-22)
	2: "光と影を抱きしめたまま (Hikari to Kage wo Dakishimeta Mama)" by Naomi Tamura (eps 23-29)

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Ending Theme

	1: "ら・ら・ば・い～優しく抱かせて～ (Lullaby ~Yasashiku Dakasete~)" by Minako Honda (eps 1-22)
	2: "いつか輝く (Itsuka Kagayaku)" by Keiko Yoshinari (eps 23-29)

More reviews

Reviews

Oct 18, 2009

29 of 29 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

Galactic_Kitten (All reviews)

37 people found this review helpful

Magic Knight Rayearth 2 is the telling of the second arc of the manga. While it differs from the manga, it is still a good story. The tone of the series becomes much darker in this season, and it deals much with the past of the pillar. We see the sorrowful role the pillar really is.
This is emphasized by the three nations invading the crumbing Cephiro, each who have their own reasons for invading, but eventually, two of the three decide the better, and actually help to save Cephiro during the final battle.
Besides the invading nations, there is the mysterious Nova and her read more

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Oct 12, 2008

29 of 29 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 3

ParaParaJMo (All reviews)

32 people found this review helpful

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.

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Jan 23, 2021

29 of 29 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 6

reinako_house (All reviews)

3 people found this review helpful

frustrating is really the only word i can think of finishing this up. i was so ready to love this, the first series, despite the nearly overwhelming love to JRPG tropes and general isekai-ness, was a entertaining series with really great characters, setting and a shockingly good twist at the end. so seeing that the 2nd series all but dropped the JRPG and isekai stuff in favor for a story i found much more interesting was all but good signs, and as a result the first couple episodes are great! the magic knights have all clearly learned and you can feel their bond, the returning characters, well not as active or important, still keep their personality and charm, and then the new characters from the 3 invading countries are all great in their own right, with amazing designs to boot.

but then nova fully enters the story, and she may be one of the worst villains i've ever seen in any media. her theme of self hate is a very interesting one on paper, but the character is horrible. she just repeats the same lines over and over and over again, if you replaced her with a soundboard that just goes "I Love You Hikaru", "I Love Everything You/Hikaru Hates", i genuinely don't think you would see a difference in dialog until the last episode. just a horrible character, and to make things worst, she only has a connection with hikaru. now that would be fine if she wasn't more or less the main villain of the series, certainly the one with the most screen time. so that leaves umi and fuu with nothing to do for what is ultimately the main plot of the show.

rayearth 2 as a whole mainly focused on hikaru and officially made her the main character, which i was pretty weary of. sure in the original show she was always kind of the leader, but her, umi and fuu all got the same amount of development and it never felt like that development came at the expense of others. but again, i did really enjoy hikaru in the original series, and it's more serious plot, i'm fine with their being 1 main character for a more focused story. but that focus is just so boring and overbearing that it honestly kinda ruins the show. i already mentioned nova and how any scene with her is pretty horrible, but the love triangle between hikaru, lantis and eagle is just so boring. like wow.

hikaru is a interesting and entertaining character with lots of chemistry with fuu and umi, along with most of the first series' characters. lantis is a cool character with a interesting background and relationship with clef. eagle vision is a classic ogata character of being intelligent, charming and calm, along with a lot of fun interactions between himself and his crew, plus a cool (and very homoerotic) former friendship with lantis. you add these 3 characters together and it's just such a impressive slog. hikaru has no chemistry with these two, she works with lantis once and barely has any screentime with him afterwards but never stops talking about him. with eagle sure she spends more time with him, but it's not really anything interesting or substantial and robs eagle of his much more interesting relationships with geo and lantis, and hikaru of her relationship with fuu and umi. hikaru just becomes the most boring character in the show when with these 2, which is where the bulk of her screentime comes from, along with the nova stuff. it's even more frustrating because this show can do romance and they do it well in the 1st series. fuu and ferio's relationship added a ton to her character and didn't come at the expense of hikaru and umi, or fuu's relationship with them.

it's even more frustrating because everything not focusing on those 2 things is fantastic. aska is a hilarious character with a pretty understated romance with sung yang, along with a adorable friendship with fuu. umi is a absolute bad ass against tatra and tarta, who themselves are a amazing comedic duo and bring the coolest fight scenes to the show. well the returning characters besides clef are all much more minor but their protection of the castle and interaction among themselves and with the magic knights are all great little bits of world building. hell even the 3 magic knights, the times where they interact and are together (which is honestly very rare), are still fantastic characters and have a very real bond.

but again, that's just where even more of the frustration comes from. all the stuff i liked and found interesting, is not the main focus, it's not even really hugely important to the main story. sure umi taking on both of tarta and tatra is a awesome scene and great for her character, but it really has no connection to the story the show wants to tell, which is of hikaru and her relationship with nova. sure fuu talking it out with aska until they can agree to drink tea is a funny and a heartwarming scene that shows the strength of fuu's character, but it ultimately has nothing to do with the love triangle that the show is much much more interested in telling. it's just so frustrating, i feel like i can't get glimpses of the show i wanna see and am loving, and then get snapped back to what the show is actually interested in telling.

so in the end, i just kinda view the whole thing as a disappointment. there is so much promise and potential, that gets so close to be fulfilled, but is never able to. i am very interested in reading the manga version, seeing as nova isn't a character there and i have more faith in CLAMP for a engaging romance. but as for the anime, yeah i would say it's ultimately weaker then the 1st series, which is such a shame.

i still cried at it ending though ;_;

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Sep 17, 2021

29 of 29 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 7

banichan (All reviews)

2 people found this review helpful

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.

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Poll: Magic Knight Rayearth II Episode 23 Discussion Mon_Diamond - Nov 5, 2011	4 replies	by commonxreaction »» Yesterday, 10:41 AM
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Magic Knight Rayearth II

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Characters & Voice Actors

Shidou, Hikaru

Ryuuzaki, Umi

Hououji, Fuu

Mokona

Lantis

Vision, Eagle

Ferio

Nova

Zagato

Clef

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Magic Knight Rayearth II

Alternative Titles

Information

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Synopsis

Background

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Opening Theme

Ending Theme

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