Magic Knight Rayearth

Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, and Fuu Hououji are strangers brought together by fate when they meet during a seemingly normal field trip to Tokyo Tower. Accompanied by a great flash of light, they hear a mysterious woman's plea to save "Cephiro," and the junior high heroines are suddenly swept away by a giant flying fish. Afterwards, they arrive in an unknown land, where they encounter a man called Master Mage Clef.

Clef informs the girls that they were summoned by Princess Emeraude to fulfill their destinies as Magic Knights, restoring peace and balance in Cephiro. The formerly lively and peaceful land has been in disarray ever since High Priest Zagato imprisoned the princess, who acted as Cephiro's pillar of stability. The Magic Knights reluctantly accept Clef's words as truth and embark on a journey to save Cephiro from the clutches of evil.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Edit

Background

Although the first season is a near-direct adaptation of the first arc of the manga, there are several small additions, including the anime original character Inouva.

Magic Knight Rayearth's opening theme song, Yuzurenai Negai, was awarded the "Best Theme Song" at the first ever Animation Kobe Awards in 1996.

Episode Videos

Edit

Related Anime

Adaptation:	Magic Knight Rayearth
Sequel:	Magic Knight Rayearth II
Alternative version:	Rayearth, Magic Knight Rayearth Pilot

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

Ferio

Supporting

Yamazaki, Takumi
Japanese

Zagato

Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta
Japanese

Clef

Supporting

Sasaki, Nozomu
Japanese

Emeraude

Supporting

Ogata, Megumi
Japanese

Ascot

Supporting

Takayama, Minami
Japanese

Presea

Supporting

Shinohara, Emi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Hirano, Toshiki

Director, Storyboard, Chief Animation Director

Urakami, Yasuo

Sound Director

Oobari, Masami

Episode Director

Motonaga, Keitarou

Episode Director

Edit

Opening Theme

"Yuzurenai Negai" by Naomi Tamura

Edit

Ending Theme

"Asue no Yuuki" by Keiko Yoshinari

Reviews

Dec 9, 2008

Retro8bit

Recommended

Magic Knight Rayearth was a fresh new take on the female warrior/magical style back in the 90's, that still holds up very well today.

Story: 7/10
Basically we follow three high school girls who get sucked in an alternate dimension, and need to defeat the main enemy oppressing the land, and thus make it home in one peace. Its pretty straight forward in that regards, but along the way they end up meeting endearing friends and allies that assist them in their mission(s). You will also be treated to nice little back stories on a majority of the main characters, and learn their strengths and weaknesses alike. ... There will also be little side quests that the girls have to go on, that steer way from the main plot in order to keep things a bit more fresh and preventing it from growing stale. The plot twists that happen are pretty surprising as well, both with the over all storyline as well as with the characters, but I won't say what because I don't wanna spoil it for ya. The ending, while not truly epic or anything like that, is a most satisfying experience. The action scenes are also pretty nice, very fluid and thought out, even if it may show a bit of repetitious during some of it. However it is not all without its flaws; the most frustrating thing I found with the story is that it tended introduce one too many fillers at some points, and at those times I just wanted them to get on with it already! They also implemented a bit too many characters for this number of episodes, some of the villians we never really got to know much about, and seemed to be their only to keep the cast number large. Wasn't that bad and they worked out a majority of the character's story sequences as much as possibly could. So while it does have a few fillers and may tend to drag on a bit. It has great character interactions, moving moments and good action scenes. I feel I should mention that although it does have a good number of combat and action scenes, it does play about 30% or more of the series in a somewhat more cutesy and comical approach. Nothing too major, but they are there.

As far as offensive material goes, there is some blood in this title. Now while a good portion of the episodes can get away without showing any of the red stuff. There still are a few scenes where the girls get stabbed and blood is dripping down from them, or running along their wound. It never really comes off as exaggerated, but is still there none the less.

Artwork: 8/10
Most people may frown when looking at the clarity of it today, but the colors and detailed background were truly at their best when this came out. Nothing ever feels truly over done with it, and does make you feel attached to the scenery. The character design is also pretty charming to look at, they each have a scenes of style and flare to where you can tell that Clamp (makers of it) really made an effort to give them a nice appeal. My only complaint with it was the facial expressions, they seemed a bit too stiff at times, and I sometimes found it hard to connect with what they were feeling during the appropriate moments.

Soundtrack: 6/10
Like the artwork, it does show its age as well. Most of it does match well with what is going on, and does have an ere to adventure and struggle, even though the only real main memorable background music plays during the battles, all else of it is pretty discrete and sparse. I loved the opening and closing to this, both are sung by the same singer and are played out like a high pitched kinda of bouncy magical girl beat. I can tell you now though, it certain won't appeal to all, as some may find it a bit too cheesy and girly. Now regarding the voice actors, I think they did a pretty good job of giving the right girl the right role. While some voices may feel a bit over exaggerated, (especially regarding some of the villains) I think they pulled it off pretty well.

Characters: 9/10
I really dug them, they each have a certain amount of depth and likeness to each. As the story progresses you get to know them more and more, along with what their greatest attribute is, as well as greatest fear. They compliment one another very believable-ly, and you really get a sense of the friendship they all share, as they struggle to make their way home! Nobody ever comes of as a pest or cliche, which really make you believe the story that it implements. Again I only felt that they added a tad too many people for its episode length.

Bottom Line: 8/10
Magic Knight Rayearth remains a good solid watch that should still appeal to a well rounded majority of anime fans out their, while it does contain a few filler style episodes and a few repetitive fight scenes, if you can get past that then you'll be fine. It overall remains a fun and enjoyable little series that will satisfy you once it ends, all while leaving you with a sense of remorse because its over.

Please keep in mind that this review was regarding the first season of Magic Knight Rayearth, the second one is a whole new ball game, and I felt it just didn't live up to the first one. Just so you are aware of which one I was speaking of.

Open

Gift

Jan 14, 2015

ktulu007

Mixed Feelings

Welcome back to magical girl month. Let's talk about Clamp again. Yes, the same studio behind xxxHolic and Cardcaptor Sakura. Now, I've already talked about their most famous magical girl series and, although I could look at one of its films, this month let's look at the other major one, Magic Knight Rayearth. One of the odd things about Clamp is that their anime adaptations all seem to be handled by different studios. Cardcaptor Sakura was a Madhouse production, Production IG did xxxHolic and this series was handled by TMS, a studio that's done a lot of famous stuff like Lupin, Detective Conan, Sonic X ...

Open

Gift

May 15, 2020

Hyouron

Not Recommended

Ahhh, Magic Knight Rayearth. Reeking of nostalgia, when magical school girls were all the rage and believing in the self and one’s will, against all logic, was all a heroine needed (never mind the will of the antagonist). Way back, even prior to the establishment of stereotypical characters. Have to give it some credit for being those foundational series before the importance of character growth and narrative became as established as it is today. It’s also so difficult to be harsh on the loopholes, flatness of characters, and inconsistent storylines when it was a children’s show. Though it was there when anime had just started ...

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Variety Shoujo Starter Pack for Beginners 2

by satansbitch6669

50 Entries · 1 Restacks

ENFP MCs part 1

by zhuumie

50 Entries · 6 Restacks

ENSON

by Yue_kun

32 Entries · 10 Restacks

More recommendations

Recommendations

View All

More news

Recent News

Q4 2018 Anime & Manga Licenses [Update 12/31]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of anime and manga licensed in the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2018. Fall 2018 anime which were licens...read more

Sep 28, 2018 4:43 PM by Snow | Discuss (28 comments)

North American Anime & Manga Releases for February

Here are the North American anime & manga releases for February Week 1: February 7 - 13 Anime Releases Beelzebub Part 2 D-Frag! Complete Collection Blu-ray &...read more

Feb 6, 2017 11:41 AM by Sakana-san | Discuss (7 comments)

More discussions

Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Magic Knight Rayearth Episode 18 Discussion YukiPwns00 - Jan 4, 2011	13 replies	by Radnitzky1890 »» Apr 17, 12:03 AM
Poll: Magic Knight Rayearth Episode 12 Discussion Mon_Diamond - Oct 15, 2011	16 replies	by Radnitzky1890 »» Apr 10, 12:30 AM
What genre does Magic Knight Rayearth fall in? funtime43_tr - Mar 31	2 replies	by Puntosmx »» Apr 2, 7:18 PM
Poll: Magic Knight Rayearth Episode 11 Discussion YukiPwns00 - Dec 31, 2010	12 replies	by Safrichh »» Mar 2, 7:48 PM
Poll: Magic Knight Rayearth Episode 10 Discussion Shocked - Dec 6, 2013	12 replies	by Safrichh »» Feb 13, 8:28 PM

Recent Featured Articles

7 Fantasy Anime for Those Sick and Tired of Game Mechanics!

Fed up with game mechanics in your fantasy anime? Then this list is for you!

by Unnamedhero

72,031 views

Top 15 Retro Games Based On Anime Which Will Make You Feel Nostalgic

Do you have an older game console sitting in the cupboard, basement or attic? Perhaps it's time to dust it off, plug it in and start enjoying it once again. We're about to discover some fascinating retro games based on anime franchises we've grown to love over the years.

by MisterD98

94,632 views

Recommendation Collection Games Game Adaptation Naruto

Magic Knight Rayearth

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Shidou, Hikaru

Ryuuzaki, Umi

Hououji, Fuu

Mokona

Ferio

Zagato

Clef

Emeraude

Ascot

Presea

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Magic Knight Rayearth

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Streaming Platforms

Synopsis

Background

Episode Videos

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Related Anime

Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

Interest Stacks

Recommendations

Recent News

Recent Forum Discussion

Recent Featured Articles

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-