Magic Knight Rayearth

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Magic Knight Rayearth

TOKYOPOP's release of Magic Knight Rayearth I Volume 1
魔法騎士レイアース
(Mahō Kishi Reiāsu)
Genre Magical girl, Mecha, action/adventure
Manga
Author Clamp
Publisher Flag of Japan Kodansha
English publisher Flag of the United States Tokyopop
Demographic Shōjo
Magazine Nakayoshi
Original run November 1993 – February 1995
Volumes 3
Manga
Magic Knight Rayearth II
Author Clamp
Publisher Flag of Japan Kodansha
English publisher Flag of the United States Tokyopop
Demographic Shōjo
Magazine Nakayoshi
Original run March 1995 – April 1996
Volumes 3
TV anime
Director Toshihiro Hirano
Studio Flag of Japan Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Licensor Flag of the United States AnimeWorks
Flag of France IDP
Network Flag of Japan Yomiuri TV
Original run October 17, 1994 – November 27, 1995
Episodes 50 (49 episodes and 1 special)
Original video animation
Rayearth
Director Keitaro Motonaga, Toshiki Hirano
Studio Flag of Japan Kodansha
Licensor Flag of the United States Manga Entertainment
Flag of France Kaze
Released 1997
Episodes 3
Anime and Manga Portal

Magic Knight Rayearth (魔法騎士レイアース Mahō Kishi Reiāsu?) is a Japanese manga series created by Clamp, a mangaka team made up by Satsuki Igarashi, Ageha Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi and Mokona. Rayearth combines elements from the magical girl and mecha anime genres with parallel world fantasy.

The manga was adapted into an anime series in 1994 and a OVA in 1997.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Hikaru Shidou, Umi Ryuuzaki, Fuu Hououji are on a field trip to the Tokyo Tower with their respective schools. The girls are blinded by a flash of light and hear a voice calling for the Legendary Magic Knights to save Cephiro. They fall through the sky into another world, Cephiro. Once there, they meet Master Mage Clef. Clef explains, "[In Cephiro], one's will has the ability to change reality for better or worse. The dark fears in people's hearts become monsters, while a well-intended wish can do miracles. One person, the Pillar, whose will is stronger than anyone else's, is responsible for maintaining through her prayers the well-being of Cephiro."

In the first story arc, the current Pillar, Princess Emeraude, has been captured by her high priest, Zagato. The three girls are charged with the task of saving the Princess by activating the three Rune-Gods (魔神 Mashin?). They are given a bizarre creature named Mokona to guide them on their journey. When the girls finally reach Emeraude, they learn that she had fallen in love with Zagato, hindering her ability to pray solely for Cephiro's well-being, and had summoned the Magic Knights to kill her since no one on Cephiro could harm the Pillar.

The second story arc deals with the complications caused by the first season's climax: three warring planets, Autozam, Fahren, and Chizeta, have begun their attempts to conquer Cephiro and a new Pillar must be chosen before the whole planet is destroyed. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are once again summoned to Cephiro. In the manga it is later discovered that the mysterious Mokona is responsible for their being summoned back to Cephiro, and he is, in fact, the creator of both the Earth and Cephiro. In the anime they return to Cephiro because of their (especially Hikaru's) strong desire to do so.

Eventually, Hikaru is chosen to become the new Pillar. However, she rebels against the Pillar system, deciding that the fate of the planet should not be the responsibility of only one person, effectively preventing that person from ever being able to live and love freely.

Hikaru, Fuu and Umi return to earth, but still can visit their loved ones in Cephiro.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of Magic Knight Rayearth characters

Hikaru Shidou (獅堂 光 Shidō Hikaru?) (Lucy Shido or Lucy González) is an eighth-grade girl, small for her age and often teased for her boyishness. She is headstrong, determined and loyal. She is the Magic Knight of Fire. She is in love with Lantis, Zagato's younger brother.

Umi Ryuuzaki (龍咲 海 Ryūzaki Umi?) (Marina Ryuzaki or Marina Santana) is the only child of a rich family. She is quick-tempered and at first uncaring, though perhaps the best-suited for the task at hand, but is also the most reluctant. She is the Magic Knight of Water. She is also in love with Master Mage Clef

Fuu Hououji (鳳凰寺 風 Hōōji Fū?) (Anemone Hououji or Anais Araujo) is the voice of reason. She is also highly intelligent, though this goes more for booksmarts than streetsmarts. She often has moments where she doubts herself, but ends up coming out strong in the end. She is also in love with Ferio. She is the Magic Knight of Wind.

Mokona is a seemingly intelligent rabbit-like creature with a gem on his forehead. It travels along with the three knights and helps them to find their way to find the runegods.

[edit] Publication

The manga was originally serialized in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine between November 1993 and April 1996. Since then, the manga has also been released in the United States in English by TOKYOPOP (initially named Mixx) in six volumes, with three volumes in each series. The English version of the manga was at first issued in a flipped left to right format, but was re-released in the original right to left format.

[edit] Adaptations

[edit] TV Series

The anime series aired first on Japan's Yomiuri TV on October 17, 1994 and ended on November 27, 1995. It was directed by Toshihiro Hirano and co-produced by Yomiuri TV and Tokyo Movie Shinsha (now TMS Entertainment). The anime actually had 2 seasons, lasting 49 episodes altogether. The TV series is licensed in the U.S. by Media Blasters and is dubbed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment. It was released on both VHS and DVD. The DVDs contain both the Japanese and English language tracks, as well as bonus features including interviews with the English voice actors (Julie Maddalena (Hikaru), Wendee Lee (Umi/Emeraude), Bridget Hoffman (Fuu), Kaeko Sakamoto (Mokona) and Lex Lang (Zagato/Lantis), respectively) on each disc in the first season[citation needed].

[edit] OVA

A three-part OVA was released in Japan a few years after the end of the manga and the TV series. The OVA was named simply Rayearth and its story was quite different from the original. The characters are all the same, but the relationships, places and events changed radically. Here we find that Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are already friends who go to the same school and will soon be leaving for high school. Suddenly, a strange fairy (which turns out to be Mokona, the creature from the original series) appears in front of them. At the same time, strange monsters and wizards start to appear in the city of Tokyo. One of them is Clef, who tries to guide the three girls in order to let them become the Magic Knights, awaken their Mashin and fight against the evil wizards from Cephiro, who are trying to invade the human world. The OVA is licensed in the U.S. by Manga Entertainment.

[edit] Media

 It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article. (Discuss)

[edit] Volumes

ISBNs are for the most recent release.

Magic Knight Rayearth
Magic Knight Rayearth II

[edit] Episodes

First season
Second season

[edit] Theme songs

Opening Themes

Three opening themes were used in the series and one in the OVA Rayearth:

  • Episodes 1-20: "Unyielding Wish" (「ゆずれない願い」 "yuzurenai negai"?) by Naomi Tamura (田村 直美 Tamura Naomi?)
  • Episodes 21-42: "I Can't Hate You" (「キライになれない」 "kirai ni narenai"?) by Ayumi Nakamura (中村あゆみ Nakamura Ayumi?)
  • Episodes 43-49: "Still Embracing Light and Darkness" (「光と影を抱きしめたまま」 "hikari to kage o dakishimeta mama"?) by Naomi Tamura
  • OVA: "All You Need is Love" by Naomi Tamura

Media Blasters' English DVD release used "Hikari to Kage o Dakishimeta Mama" as the opening for Episodes 21 through 42. The original openings from episodes 21-42 is included as an extra on the DVDs, and is only in Japanese.

Ending Themes

Three ending themes were used:

  • Episodes 1-20: "The Courage Leading to Tomorrow" (「明日への勇気」 "asu e no yuuki"?) by Keiko Yoshinari (吉成 圭子 Yoshinari Keiko?)
  • Episodes 21-42: "Lullaby - Let me embrace you tenderly -" (「ら·ら·ば·い〜優しく抱かせて〜」 "ra ra ba i ~ yasashiku dakasete"?) by Minako Honda (本田 美奈子 Honda Minako?)
  • Episodes 43-49: "It Will Shine Someday" (「いつか輝く」 "itsuka kagayaku"?) by Keiko Yoshinari

Media Blasters' English DVD release used "Rarabai ~ Yashiku Dakasete ~" as the ending for Episodes 43 through 49. The original ending from episodes 43-49 is included as an extra on the DVDs, and is only in Japanese.

In the English releases, Sandy Fox sang both the opening and the ending themes in the English dubbed version.

[edit] Videogames

Magic Knight Rayearth, an adventure RPG set in the first TV season, was released for the Sega Saturn. A Super Famicom role-playing game was also released.

There are also five other, less known video games based on the series: a Sega Pico title called Magic Knight Tanjou, two short RPGs for Game Boy, plus a raising sim and another RPG for Sega Game Gear. These were all exclusively released in Japan, except for the Saturn game, which was a localized release in the US.

[edit] External links

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Magic Knight Rayearth by Clamp
Characters
Other
v • d • e
Clamp
Members
Debut (1989)
Manga of the 1990s
Manga of the 2000s
One-shots
Light novels
Others
Collaborations
See also
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Knight_Rayearth"
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