Rating: Summary: Major changes from the manga, good nonetheless Review: ***Warning: contains spoilers!*** If you have watched season one of MKR, and most of you probably have, the second series has some major deviations from the manga (while the first season pretty much followed the manga). Overall, this season is darker and somewhat more violent than the first season, and the relationships between characters are examined more closely. Ok, now since I properly warned you in the beginning of this review that I am going to reveal important plot points, don't be angry or bitter if you feel all this spoils your precious MKR2 watching experience. First of all, new characters were added, namely the villian characters of Nova and Lady Debonair. I thought these were interesting additions because of how these villians were created. Nova was inadvertantly created by Hikaru just before she left Cephiro after killing Zagato and Emeraude in the first season. Her intense negative emotions about killing Zagato and Emeraude created Nova. I thought bringing this character was an effective way to force Hikaru to deal with the conflict inside of her. Lady Debonair was created in a similar manner, although she was created by the fear and uncertainty of the people of Cephiro. Lady Debonair's character gave the different "factions" (Cephiro, Autozam, Chizeta, Fahren) an ultimate evil to unite against. Isn't that what we like to see, a showdown between the forces of good and evil? While I thought the two aforementioned characters brought some interesting aspects to the series, I thought that it could seem a bit "cluttered" at times, jumping back and forth between what was going on with Nova and Debonair and Chizeta and Fahren and Autozam. The way they kept going back to Alcione was especially annoying to me, but I guess she provided a way for Debonair to invade Cephiro's castle. And Debonair's laughing was VERY annoying... The second major change was the ..The third major change is the absence of any important function of Mokona. True, in the first season he guided Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu while they became Magic Knights. But in the second season he is reduced to just being cute and jumping around and saying his standard variations of the word "puu." ... In the anime however the role of The Creator is never mentioned and the Magic Knights summoned themselves to Cephiro. It was interesting to find out in the manga that Mokona had created Cephiro in response to humans on Earth. Unfortunately, all this was left out of the anime. Also, as a stated in the intro, this season of MKR is darker and more violent. There are more battles and more blood ... But the battles and actions sequences were exciting. The relationships between various characters are more pronounced in the anime than in the manga, it seems that everyone is in love with everyone else. ...Overall, I liked MKR2, despite the major changes. There were changes I thought were improvements but there were changes that I thought were steps backwards, but I love MKR and still loved the anime and thought it was wonderful. Decide for yourself if you can overlook the major changes. Happy watching!!!
Rating: Summary: MKR 2 Review: For starter, MKR is one of the best series in the anime world. It contains friendship, love, truth, and believe. In MKR 2, Hikaru, Umi and Fuu once again return to Cephiro by an unknown force. They found out that once the dream land, Cephiro, is no more. Instead Cephiro is in danger and is crumbling away. With the threat of three neighboring Countries - Autozam, Fahren, and Chizeta trying to become the new Pillar and a new enemy Nova. The three Magic Knights need to fight to protect Cephiro once again.After watching this 7 DVD box set, I personally found that it is quite different from the original Manga series (I read the manga series before the anime series). I am somewhat disappoint that they omitted some of the events and secrets in the series. Also the love relationship and the ending is different from the original Manga series. I suggest those love MKR need to read the Manga series. But, MKR 2 anime series is still a really good animation work and should be treature by anime lover.
Rating: Summary: A Beautiful Package Review: Having already seen the First Season of Magic Knight Rayearth, I already knew I would like the second, but I had no idea I would fall in love with it the way I have. Starting from the beginning, with a beautiful outside packaging (the box is very much like the box sets in Japan, with the covers that pull down) to the musical score (I can't get the theme song out of my head) to the story line, everything that I loved about the first season was better with the second. The second season of Rayearth starts off with the end of the first. I won't spoil the ending of the first set of episodes for those who haven't finished them, but rest assured that questions that aren't answered get answered with this second season. New characters are introduced, and new relationships are forged. The animation is still top quality, as is the sound. The only complaint I had with the story at all was that they don't mention Fuu as much as I would have liked, but what can you do about your own personal preferences? Overall, I highly recommend this box set. It's well worth the money.
Rating: Summary: Hikaru in the spotlight Review: I agree with almost everything the other reviewers said. Although I found the first season to be a little bland and childish, the second season blew me away. The themes are far mature and you can work with it to form your own opinion, I was grateful for the much needed romance factor that was mostly absent in the first season. However, I do not agree with the reviewer who said that Hikaru getting more time than the three knights was a downside. In the manga, sidekicks are generally made into different people, but in the first season of this anime, they basically were triplets. Everything one said, the other mirrored, changing it slightly. I am eternally grateful that the second seasong had less off this, althought I picked up a lot of it with Umi and Fuu(this sidekicks). I also certainly don't have a problem with Eagle's voice actor being a girl, although I think the voice is out of place a bit for such a hottie, or someone so tall ^_^ Happy viewing, you should definetly buy this.
Rating: Summary: Awsome Series to collect Review: If you are a true otaku and you want to finish up on the MKR series then this is the DVD collection for you, as you all know it is almost impossible to get the whole collection for the VHS, either they don't have any of it or they just have parts here and there, but with this you can finally finish the series off with this DVD collection, the music, anime, and the storyline are awsome to behold and the ending was great, of you liked the first season, then you gotta get this DVD collection today.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Anime Review: Let me start by saying that if you are not a fan of Sailor Moon or similair "magical girl" anime, don't buy this set. I give you this warning because of all the people I have met, there have been 2 opinions on "magical girl" anime: love it or hate it. Not much in between. The story starts off just about where the first set left off. Hikaru, Umi and Fuu all feel about about having killed Princess Emeraude in the first season, so they meet at Tokyo Tower to talk about. Well, next thing you know they are sucked back into Cephiro, only to find it is in ruin and there is only one castle left standing. On top of that, there are 3 countries vying for the Pillar System (system in Cephiro where the Pillar (previously Princess Emeraude) sustains the entire world) and are poised to attack. During the course of this anime series I found myself glued to the set, watching an entire DVD (100 minutes each) in a sitting. The story is top notch and the animation is pretty high quality stuff. The only problem I have with this set is the color quality. The color, as it was with the first set, is kind of washed out. I don't know if this is the way it's supposed to look or not, but I felt the colors should have been more vibrant. The dubbed version is pretty well done and it seems as though they tried to match similair sounding voices as those in the Subbed version (both conveniently included in this set). I don;t like how they changed the endings for the "English" version, I think they should have kept the Japanese closings and had the names translated for us at the end of each disk. The 2 different endings are available as extars on one of the discs, so you can see what I am talking about. Which brings me to my next topic: Extras. There are a ton of extras with this set, they even have a storyboard for the opening animation where it plays the opening theme while showing the story boards. If there is one place they skimped on with the first set it was extras. They have rectified this situation. My favorite extra is the outtakes where Umi says "Will you just die alredy?" If you are a fan of the previous set or a fan of "magical girl" anime, pick this set up right away. You won't be disappointed. If you have no idea what I am talking about, first watch an episode of Sailor Moon. If watch it and like it, buy this set. Otherwise steer clear.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Anime Review: Let me start by saying that if you are not a fan of Sailor Moon or similair "magical girl" anime, don't buy this set. I give you this warning because of all the people I have met, there have been 2 opinions on "magical girl" anime: love it or hate it. Not much in between. The story starts off just about where the first set left off. Hikaru, Umi and Fuu all feel about about having killed Princess Emeraude in the first season, so they meet at Tokyo Tower to talk about. Well, next thing you know they are sucked back into Cephiro, only to find it is in ruin and there is only one castle left standing. On top of that, there are 3 countries vying for the Pillar System (system in Cephiro where the Pillar (previously Princess Emeraude) sustains the entire world) and are poised to attack. During the course of this anime series I found myself glued to the set, watching an entire DVD (100 minutes each) in a sitting. The story is top notch and the animation is pretty high quality stuff. The only problem I have with this set is the color quality. The color, as it was with the first set, is kind of washed out. I don't know if this is the way it's supposed to look or not, but I felt the colors should have been more vibrant. The dubbed version is pretty well done and it seems as though they tried to match similair sounding voices as those in the Subbed version (both conveniently included in this set). I don;t like how they changed the endings for the "English" version, I think they should have kept the Japanese closings and had the names translated for us at the end of each disk. The 2 different endings are available as extars on one of the discs, so you can see what I am talking about. Which brings me to my next topic: Extras. There are a ton of extras with this set, they even have a storyboard for the opening animation where it plays the opening theme while showing the story boards. If there is one place they skimped on with the first set it was extras. They have rectified this situation. My favorite extra is the outtakes where Umi says "Will you just die alredy?" If you are a fan of the previous set or a fan of "magical girl" anime, pick this set up right away. You won't be disappointed. If you have no idea what I am talking about, first watch an episode of Sailor Moon. If watch it and like it, buy this set. Otherwise steer clear.
Rating: Summary: A must own! Review: Magic Knight Rayearth...how else can I say, but one of the best animes ever! This is one of those things you must see for yourself to believe the awesomeness of it all. Awesome story, great music, and unforgettable characters.
Rating: Summary: This ain't no Salior Moon .... ! Review: Ok, when I first looked at the video box for MKR season one I said to myself, "Oh no, not another Salior Moon look alike." Not that I hate Salior Moon, but for that fact that it was to girly and intended for for pubescent girls. Well, I deceided to rent it because the plot seemed different and I wanted to watch something else other than Salior Moon with the little girl whom I was babysitting for. (She's a Salior Moon nut!) Well, I was totally wrong. The story line was a bit more advanced and I had a hard time explaining the sad ending to my little friend. However, we both enjoyed it. Now she want's to be exactly like Hikaru and I don't have to listen to the Salior Moon opening song as much. I decided to rent (and I eventually bought) the the 2nd season on DVD and was totally amazed! The characters seemed to mature (bringing new and old love interests) and the ending was as surprizing as the first season. In season two, the girls return back to that magical world to right their wrongs from season one. They get to see all the old characters from season one. As well as a whole onslew of new characters. Our three heros deal with more trying issues than in season one. They each have to face all their fears and insecurites that was left at the end of season one, especially Hikaru. There is also a bit of romance between the characters, and there is somewhat of a love triangle that includes Umi. Like in season one, none of the supossed enemies are really bad, since they each have a hidden agenda. Nothing in this show is really black and white. The best thing about this show is how the girls, as well as some characters mature through out the show (especially Ascott, he matures alot!!) As for the animation, it rather good and done in the CLAMP Style however the dubbed version is a bit to high pitch to me! (I got used to it!) The starting and ending songs are in dubbed english, too! You get seven DVDs containing all of season two, the usual previews and extras on each dvd, and a nice collectors box to carry all the cases in. It even closes (sometimes..it does pop open a few times..not very functional!!) This was a fun series to watch! I highly recommend it it!!! Also, I sugguest you watch the first season in order to understand the 2nd season.
Rating: Summary: This ain't no Salior Moon .... ! Review: Ok, when I first looked at the video box for MKR season one I said to myself, "Oh no, not another Salior Moon look alike." Not that I hate Salior Moon, but for that fact that it was to girly and intended for for pubescent girls. Well, I deceided to rent it because the plot seemed different and I wanted to watch something else other than Salior Moon with the little girl whom I was babysitting for. (She's a Salior Moon nut!) Well, I was totally wrong. The story line was a bit more advanced and I had a hard time explaining the sad ending to my little friend. However, we both enjoyed it. Now she want's to be exactly like Hikaru and I don't have to listen to the Salior Moon opening song as much. I decided to rent (and I eventually bought) the the 2nd season on DVD and was totally amazed! The characters seemed to mature (bringing new and old love interests) and the ending was as surprizing as the first season. In season two, the girls return back to that magical world to right their wrongs from season one. They get to see all the old characters from season one. As well as a whole onslew of new characters. Our three heros deal with more trying issues than in season one. They each have to face all their fears and insecurites that was left at the end of season one, especially Hikaru. There is also a bit of romance between the characters, and there is somewhat of a love triangle that includes Umi. Like in season one, none of the supossed enemies are really bad, since they each have a hidden agenda. Nothing in this show is really black and white. The best thing about this show is how the girls, as well as some characters mature through out the show (especially Ascott, he matures alot!!) As for the animation, it rather good and done in the CLAMP Style however the dubbed version is a bit to high pitch to me! (I got used to it!) The starting and ending songs are in dubbed english, too! You get seven DVDs containing all of season two, the usual previews and extras on each dvd, and a nice collectors box to carry all the cases in. It even closes (sometimes..it does pop open a few times..not very functional!!) This was a fun series to watch! I highly recommend it it!!! Also, I sugguest you watch the first season in order to understand the 2nd season.
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