Rating: 
Summary: Order this series!.
Review: If you've ever loved comedy, drama, adventure, action, and just a REALLY great story, this series is for you. Everything is top notch; characterization, animation, design, and the story will take your breath away. It's also one of the few anime where I thought even the dub was really well done. El Hazard makes us remember what great storytelling is like.
Rating:
Summary: The Magnificent TV Series
Review: In 1999 I borrowed the entire Magnificent World series on video, I recently bought it on DVD and it rocks.
If all you want is to zone out and watch a comedy set in a fantasy world, this is the thing to watch, if your looking for something deep and involving without going into the depths of a series like Evangelion you got it all right here.
Hilarious, Sad and colourful it's a must watch, even if you don't like Tenchi Muyo SHOCK HORROR!!!(same director by the way) this is ten times better and well worth looking at.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent series
Review: ive seen alot of anime, but el hazard has to be one of the best. my only regret is that it was so good that it ended too soon. if ur looking for something with humor action and even some romance, i highly recomend el hazard.
Rating:
Summary: kra's side
Review: on a scale of 1 to 5 this movie is a million the animation and the main character are awsome.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning...
Review: Pay no heed to the heathens who would dare to say this series is anything but the best. If you love anime, and you love beautifully done anime then this is definitely the series for you.This series ranks right along with Tenchi Muyo as being a very creative, very well drawn and beautiful series. It is also hilarious! The jokes are great and timed perfectly. Although I must caution that the content of the series is definitely of a PG-13 to R rating, don't buy this for your kids if you aren't cool with that. The basic plot of this series (if you have never seen it before I am trying to write this so not too much of anything is given away) is a group of ordinary people from Shinanomi High School in Japan get transported to a far and distant world called El Hazard. Upon arrival we find a young boy who gets thrust into the "hero" spot of the series, and his teacher, who is sort of a cross between comic relief, and a sidekick. Then there is his rival, and evil bastard of a high school student who happens to hate the "hero," so he teams up with the Bugrum, a group of large humanoid bugs that can talk. And we find a few more people get sucked into the world as well, as an added bonus they all get super powers upon entering the world. The teacher becomes super fast and strong, and the evil bastard gets the power to communicate with the Bugrum and so on. The world is in the middle of a power struggle between the Bugrum, and the alliance of nations against them. We also learn that these nations have had wars with each other and everyone else frequently in the past, and have developed some pretty nasty weapons, including a demon or two. Over all this is a great series, and one most any anime fan will love to own, enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Distinctions
Review: Please, do distinguish between El Hazard II and El Hazard: The Alternative World; they were both produced after the first OAV and El Hazard: The Wanderers TV series. All of these series are various breeds of El Hazard. The full El Hazard II is rather difficult to come across in the States, even on VHS, as opposed to the Alternative World, which may be ordered from Amazon.com. The Wanderers is available for cheap on low-grade VCD from such places as... As for the Alternative World, well, buyer beware! Recommended only if you really have the cash to spare. Quality far lower than the other El Hazard series. The Wanderers, however, is a very nice series, lightening the tone and taming some of the raunchier jokes of the original OAV. I look forward to this DVD release, as it makes El Hazard available to the DVD audience, as well as re-releases the wonderful original OAVs. Highly recommended. At under ..., it's well worth your money. If you like such animes as DUAL and Tenchi Muyo, definitely pick up a copy. IMHO, -Erudite
Rating:
Summary: The Fujisawa & Jinnai show
Review: Plot: Makoto, a high school student, ends up in a basement room at his school where a mysterious woman awakens and tells him she's been waiting for him for a long time. Makoto has no idea what's going on as she uses the last of her strength to send him to another world, a world called El Hazard. Makoto's teacher Mr. Fujisawa, his friend Nanami and his rival Jinnai also get sent to El Hazard. Makoto is mistaken for the missing younger princess of the country, Fatora, and is talked into impersonating her (which in itself is very funny). The adventure continues from there. My thoughts: Very, very funny. Has two of the funniest characters in anime, Mr Fujisawa and Jinnai (and one very funny platypus-ish-thing in the first episode). Mr. Fujisawa and his drinking/smoking is hysterical, as is Jinnai and his laughter (my favorite anime villain). Those two characters alone are worth watching El Hazard for, but they aren't the only good ones. There's also Shayla-Shayla, Allielle, Fatora, Nanami, Miz, all who are funny also. All around well done, 10 times better than the El Hazard TV series, "The Wanderers". I agree with the reviewer that mentioned the dub is good, Fujisawa and Jinnai especially well done. I gave 4 stars instead of five because it is very funny, but there were a few parts in the last episodes that I thought dragged a little and weren't as funny as the rest of the series. To me there also didn't seem to be much depth or development to the characters. There's also that outfit Makoto wears that makes him look like a girl, it just bugged me. Not for children, I would say 15-16 and up because of the drinking/smoking, a little nudity, and adult situations.
Rating:
Summary: magical story will provide you with an escapist holiday
Review: Romantic story featuring life long rivalry between two guys, Motoko and Jinai. Motoko is a golden boy who has brains, looks, honor, sanity and a pleasant personality. Jinai has none of this, but makes up for it with ambition. The two, along with a couple other people get transported to another world, El Hazard, and continue their rivarly. ElHazard is a place that is like earth, but with differences like:
* beautiful powerful priestesses who maintain order
* a medeival society built after the collapse of a advanced civilization.
* A race of intelligent insects known as bugrom trying to take over. The character development that occurs as the characters try to adjust to their new world is what makes this series work. Lots of unpredictable relationships as well (It's not clear from the start if any of the goddesses will fall in love with any of the characters, and if so will that love be returned). Technically it's pretty good. The animation style has a surreal magical feel to it. The magical feeling is similar to the organic feeling one finds in the Tenchi Muyo OVA series. Sound track very good as well. Not many DVD extras though. This DVD Box set presents good value in that it contains both the original series and it's sequel. Does not contain the third "El hazard Alternative World" or "Wanderers" kid friendly TV re-write of the story. But, as with Tenchi, the original series is the best. Caution: Some naughtiness in two "playfully lesbian" characters. Lots of jokes about sex, but nothing really happens. Not suitable for little kids though.
Rating:
Summary: Fine Stuff
Review: The EL HAZARD original anime video (OAV) opens by focusing on the hero
of the series, Makoto Mizuhara, a charming, bright, talented Japanese
high school student. Things come easily to Makoto, which makes him
thoroughly hated by his schoolmate Katsuhiko Jinnai, an aspiring junior
fascist with big plans (TODAY SCHOOL PRESIDENT -- TOMORROW THE WORLD!) Makoto doesn't mean to cause Jinnai any trouble, but he always shows up
Jinnai without trying, and so Jinnai concludes that Makoto is his
lifetime rival. As if Makoto wasn't enough trouble, Jinnai's cute,
mercenary sister Nanami is also making trouble for him. All this is
more or less observed by one of the teachers, Mr. Fujisawa, a likeable
fellow who is a lush and chain smoker but oddly prudish. Then, one night, Jinnai plots a scheme to deal with his "rival"
Makoto, which misfires and ends up dropping Makoto into a mysterious
cavern under the school grounds. There Makoto encounters the statue
of a beautiful icy woman who looks like a demigoddess. Much to his
surprise, the "statue" awakens ... and then the adventure begins,
transporting Makoto, Jinnai, Nanami-chan, and Fujisawa-sensei across
time and space to El Hazard, The Magnificent World. El Hazard resembles a science-fiction take on the Arabian Nights, where
the humans are at war with the insectlike Bugrom, and the Phantom Tribe,
a humanlike race with powers of illusion, is playing both sides off
against each other. The women, who mostly run things in El Hazard,
are uniformly beautiful: Princess Rune Venus; Fire Priestess
Shayla-Shayla; cute little Alielle, an adolescent lesbian handmaiden
with a roving eye; Diva, the queen of the Bugrom; and the Demon Goddess
Ifurita. Makoto and the others quickly become involved with the people
of El Hazard and the war. That's about as much as I can say about El Hazard without giving things
away, and I would hate to do that because this OAV of four tapes / seven
episodes has a very entertaining script. It neatly winds together
comedy, adventure, and romance into a blend that goes down nicely,
and tends to avoid most of the aimless plot excursions that plague anime
series. To be sure, the artwork / production values are competent but not
particularly impressive. There is also the question of whether
open-minded non-anime watchers could sit through it and enjoy it, which
is a true measure of the quality of anime. I couldn't say for sure,
but it does snap along nicely and has a good shot at it. However,
I have to warn that this OAV has a few mildly racy scenes that
make it inappropriate for kids, though it seems generally acceptable
for adolescents. All things considered, I give it four stars, which I consider a high
grade. Not perfect, maybe not world-class, but definitely worthwhile,
and even memorable in spots. The closing credits for the last
episode have to be one of the most appealingly romantic things I've
ever seen in my life -- and I'm not particularly a romantic! Incidentally, VIZ Comix did a three-volume paperback set on
El-Hazard. While it's not bad, it's not up to the same fun
and sparkle as the anime, and if you like the anime I'm not
sure I'd recommend the manga. If you've read the manga and
are wondering if you'd like the anime, please be aware that
while the story elements are generally the same, the plots
are generally not -- they're basically different stories set
against the same background and using the same characters.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully produced Boxset
Review: There is no doubt that the original "El Hazard" is one of the best of American released animes. The comedy is raunchy and clever, the characters are funny and the story finds the touching human element in a wacky sex comedy. Top notch all the way around. "El Hazard 2" loses the "clever" part and just focuses on the "raunchy." It is not bad, but it is nowhere near the quality of the original. Worth watching, but not really worth buying on it's own. The boxset itself is the real showcase. It is just so...pretty. The artwork is outstanding, and the whole thing is a real presentation. I am not usually sold by nice packaging, but this one did it for me. A great series, and OK series wrapped up in a fabulous package. Not perfect, but worth having.
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