Magic Knight Rayearthレイアース, Mahou Kishi Reiāsu) is a Japanese manga series
created by Clamp, an all-female manga artist team consisting of Satsuki
Igarashi, Nanase Ohkawa, Tsubaki Nekoi and Mokona. Appearing as a serial in the
manga magazine Nakayoshi from the November 1993 issue to the February 1995
issue, the chapters of Magic Knight Rayearth were collected into three bound
volumes by Kodansha, and published from July 1994 to March 1995. A sequel was
serialized in the same manga magazine from the March 1995 issue to the April
1996 issue, and was published by Kodansha in three bound volumes from to
July 1995 to April 1996. The series follows three eighth-grade girls who
find themselves transported from modern-day Japan into a magical world,
where they are tasked with rescuing a princess.
Rayearth combines elements from the magical girl and mecha anime genres with
parallel world fantasy. The manga was adapted into two anime series in 1994
and an original video animation in 1997. Plot
Magic Knight Rayearth focuses on three eighth-grade girls: tomboyish and
headstrong Hikaru Shidou; the quick-tempered and no-nonsense only
child Umi Ryuuzaki; and intelligent and ladylike Fuu Hououji. While on a field
trip to the Tokyo Tower with their respective schools, the girls find
themselves drawn into another world, Cephiro. There they learn that Cephiro
is influenced by one's will and that the Pillar maintains Cephiro through prayer.
The girls are then tasked with rescuing the current Pillar, Princess Emeraude,
from her abductor, the high priest and antagonist Zagato, after which they will
be returned to Tokyo. Guided by the creature Mokona on their
quest, the girls discover their respective element-based magic and
awaken the three Rune-Gods, who can take the form of giant robots that the girls
must pilot. As the girls progress on their journey, they overcome their
differences, learning how to work together and accept each other as
friends. After the girls find and destroy Zagato, they finally reach
Emeraude, but they learn that she had fallen in love with Zagato, which had
hindered her ability to pray solely for Cephiro's well-being, and imprisoned
herself as a result. Feeling responsible for her actions, she summoned the Magic
Knights to kill her, as no one from Cephiro could harm the Pillar. Her dark
side then takes over, seeking to destroy the Magic Knights for killing her love.
After a short defensive fight against Princess Emeraude, the Magic Knights
have no choice but to kill her. They then find themselves transported back to
Tokyo. The second part of the series deals with
the complications caused by Princess Emeraude's death. Set a year later, it
opens with the three protagonists struggling with their guilt and despair
over their role in her death. Meeting again at Tokyo Tower, they find
themselves transported mysteriously to Cephiro again, and discover that only a
single piece of Cephiro remains, which holds a castle where the survivors
gather to take refuge. With the Pillar gone, Cephiro is, for the most part,
defenseless, and the girls are saddened to learn that a new Pillar must be
chosen by the Pillar system before the whole planet is destroyed. Three warring
planets begin their attempts to conquer Cephiro: Autozam, a technologically
advanced world which intends to use the Pillar system to remove the pollution in
its air; Fahren, whose childish ruler Lady Aska plans to turn it into a world
of her whims; and Chizeta, an overpopulated world whose sibling rulers
Tatra and Tarta see Cephiro as a potential colony.
As the Magic Knights help defend the castle, they each agree that the fate of
the planet should not be the responsibility of only one person which,
like Princess Emeraude, effectively prevents that person from ever being
able to live and love freely. What's more, they are certain that when a new
Pillar in chosen, something may eventually hinder them from praying
solely for Cephiro's well-being, cause them to summon new Magic Knights to kill
them, and bring Cephiro to near-destruction again until a new
pillar is chosen, much like Emeraude, which would cause the cycle of events to
continue endlessly. Some of the survivors believe this idea as well,
particularly Lantis, a powerful magic swordsman and Zagato's younger brother,
who wishes to end the Pillar system for those reasons.
Eventually, Mokona narrows the candidates down to two: Hikaru and the
sickly Eagle Vision of Autozam, who is friends with Lantis and, as such, wishes
to end the Pillar system for him with his eternal sleep. As the two undergo
the test to become the new Pillar in a recreation of Tokyo, Mokona reveals
itself to be the creator of Cephiro and its laws, which it had created after
sadly witnessing the violence and destructive nature of the people on its
earlier creation, Earth. It was responsible for bringing the three girls
back to Cephiro. In the end, Hikaru becomes the new Pillar of Cephiro, and
brings Eagle Vision back to Cephiro with the help of Fuu and Umi, against
Mokona's insistence that only one may return. Hikaru then rebels against the
Pillar system, decreeing once and for all that the fate of the planet should
not be the responsibility of one person. Mokona accepts their decision and leaves
with the three Mashin. The manga concludes with the three girls' return
to a new Cephiro to visit their loved ones, as they work with the rulers of
the other planets to solve their planets' problems, and contemplate
Mokana's wish to allow the three protagonists to bring change to Cephiro.
= Differences in the anime adaptation = The first season remains mostly faithful
to the first arc of the manga aside from the inclusion of the original character
Inouva and a multitude of subplots, but the second season shows a rapid
departure. Most notable differences are the creation of two anime-only
antagonists, Nova and Lady Debonair, who were born from the intense despair of
Hikaru and the people of Cephiro respectively after the death of Princess
Emeraude. It is also revealed by the Rune Gods that the girls were summoned
back to Cephiro by their own will, most notably Hikaru's as her strength of
heart also allowed her to become the new Pillar, a position she rejects in a
similar fashion to the manga. Development
During the celebration of the publication of the Soryuden novels,
which Clamp had illustrated, the group was asked by Hideki Yamaguchi, editor
for the Japanese shōjo manga magazine Nakayoshi, to do a series for the
magazine. The editor-in-chef wanted a story that could appeal to elementary
readers and older, while Clamp wished to bring in younger fans. Without direction
from the editors, the group decided on a series combining robots, as they were
fond of robot anime; role-playing games, which saw popularity in Japan at the
time; and fantasy, to counterbalance the robots, which they thought alone would
be off-putting to their target audience. According to Ohkawa, the magazine's
success with the magical girl manga Sailor Moon made it possible for the
group to pitch a serial with robots to its editors.
A friend of Clamp, illustrator Takeshi Okazaki, created the "Rayearth" part of
the title, while Ohkawa thought of the rest. At that point, Clamp had completed
a "basic" idea of the plot. For the names of the characters, they drew on
car names, feeling that they would be interesting and memorable for children,
who might otherwise have difficulty learning the names of characters in
katakana. The inclusion of giant robots gave the artists some difficulty, as the
massive scale of the robots made it impossible to depict the characters and
robots in the same frame. The artists also omitted the cockpit of the robots,
to show their faces instead. Greatly anticipating the ending to the first
part of the series, Clamp found the protagonists' initial adventures in
Cephiro "really easy" to create. Ohkawa noted that, had their target audience
been older or male, they would have considered stopping the series with the
conclusion of part one. The second part, however, proved difficult for the group
to create, as they felt as if they had "written [them]selves into a corner".
Magic Knight Rayearth explores "fate, grim destiny, and sacrifice," as do many
of Clamp's works. According to Ohkawa, who believes in choosing one's fate,
humanity's fate is caused by one's actions; Cephiro is merely an
exaggeration of Earth. Media
= Manga = Written and illustrated by Clamp, Magic
Knight Rayearth appeared as a serial in the Japanese magazine Nakayoshi from
November 1993 to February 1995. Kodansha collected the chapters in three tankōbon
volumes. The first was published on July 22, 1994; the last was released on March
6, 1995. The sequel also appeared in Nakayoshi from March 1995 to April 1996.
In 1997, Tokyopop licensed Magic Knight Rayearth for an English-language
translation in North America, and serialized it in its manga magazine
MixxZine. 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 in later editions. The English version of the manga also at
first continued the volume numbering through the two series, such that Magic
Knight Rayearth II volumes #1-3 were numbered as volumes "#4-6".
It would appear that Tokyopop has lost their license for the series, as Dark
Horse Comics announced at their San Diego Comic-Con International 2009 panel
that they would be publishing the series in a new omnibus edition in honor of
Clamp's 20th anniversary. Dark Horse published the omnibus editions from July
6, 2011, to April 12, 2012. The series is also licensed in French by
Pika Édition. Magic Knight Rayearth
Magic Knight Rayearth II = Anime =
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. The anime had 2 seasons,
lasting 49 episodes altogether. The TV series was licensed in the U.S. by Media
Blasters and was dubbed by Bang Zoom! Entertainment. It was released on both
VHS and DVD. On November 21, 2014, Discotek Media announced they have
license the TV series and will re-release the series on DVD in 2015 and
on Blu-ray in 2016. = 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.
In the OVA, 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
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. In this version, Ferio, who is a sorcerer under Princess Emerude's
command, is not her brother. Eagle Vision fills that role instead, as well
as being the main antagonist after he tricked Zagato to commit suicide in
order to bring upon a false balance to Cephiro. His ties to Autozam are
non-existent in this version, as he is a citizen of Cephiro from the start. He
would put a spell on Emeraude to convince her that Zagato is still alive,
so that the sourcerers of Cephiro can continue to exist on Earth as the two
worlds would soon merge and each sorcerer would battle against the Magic
Knights. Lantis is also introduced right away as being an ally to the Magic
Knights and against Eagle's plans. The only other characters that are in the
OVA are Ascot and Alcyone, with none of the other characters are featured.
The OVA is licensed in the U.S. by Manga Entertainment, who opted to use a
different New York-based voice cast for its English release, which was produced
by Skypilot Entertainment. = Theme songs =
Opening Themes Three opening themes were used in the
series and one in the OVA Rayearth: Magic Knight Rayearth:
Episodes 01-20: "Unyielding Wish" by Naomi Tamura
Magic Knight Rayearth 2: Episodes 01-22: "I Can't Hate You" by
Ayumi Nakamura Episodes 23-29: "Still Embracing Light
and Darkness" by Naomi Tamura Media Blasters' early English DVD
release used "Hikari to Kage o Dakishimeta Mama" as the opening for
Magic Knight Rayearth 2 Episodes 01-22. The original openings from episodes
01-22 were included as an extra on the early DVDs, and was only in Japanese,
however this isn't the case with the remastered sets, in which the dubbed
openings were removed meaning, all three openings are left intact.
Ending Themes Three ending themes were used:
Magic Knight Rayearth: Episodes 01-20: "The Courage Leading to
Tomorrow" by Keiko Yoshinari Magic Knight Rayearth 2:
Episodes 01-22: "Lullaby - Let me embrace you tenderly -" by Minako Honda
Episodes 23-29: "It Will Shine Someday" by Keiko Yoshinari
Media Blasters' early English DVD release used "Rarabai ~ Yasashiku
Dakasete ~" as the ending for Magic Knight Rayearth 2 Episodes 23-29. The
original ending from episodes 23-29 was included as an extra on the early DVDs,
and was only in Japanese, this again was eventually rectified in the remastered
sets, in which, like the openings the dubbed endings were removed meaning all
three endings were left intact. In the early English releases of the TV
series, Sandy Fox sang both the opening and the ending themes in the English
dubbed version. Rayearth:
OVA: "All You Need is Love" by Naomi Tamura
= Video games = A number of video games have been
released that are based on Magic Knight Rayearth. Magic Knight Rayearth, an
adventure RPG set in the first TV season, was released for the Sega
Saturn. It was the last officially released game for the console in the US.
All other games based on the manga were released exclusively in Japan, including
a Super Famicom role-playing game, a Sega Pico title called Magic Knight
Tanjou, two short RPGs for Game Boy, a raising sim, and another RPG for Sega
Game Gear. Reception
Magic Knight Rayearth has been well received by English-language readers.
According to Dark Horse Comics, almost 200,000 copies of the series have been
sold in the United States. The first volume of Tokyopop's re-release of Magic
Knight Rayearth II placed 44th on the list of the top 100 bestselling graphic
novels for February 2004, with an estimated 1,446 copies sold. The first
volume of Dark Horse's omnibus edition appeared at the 83rd place of the list
of the top 300 bestselling graphic novels for July 2011, with an estimated
1,069 copies sold. The second volume placed 109th on the list for April 2012,
with an estimated 942 copies sold. References
General Clamp. Magic Knight Rayearth 1–3. Los
Angeles, California: Tokyopop. Clamp. Magic Knight Rayearth II 1–3. Los
Angeles, California: Tokyopop. Specific
Further reading Divers, Allen. "Procrastination is a
State of Mind - TT". Anime News Network. External links
Magic Knight Rayearth at Dark Horse Comics's official website
Magic Knight Rayearth at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
Magic Knight Rayearth at the Internet Movie Database
Magic Knight Rayearth at TV.com J-pop.com review of OVAs
Animerica review