WARNING- these character reviews contain MAJOR SPOILERS. So if you have not seen/read the first season/3 volumes of Magic Knight Rayearth and would not like to be spoiled, please go watch this wonderful work of art first.
1) Zagato- He simply kicks arse! The most complex antagonist, and possibly character, that I have yet to see in anime. I thought I could never like a series because of its "villain", but Rayearth changed my mind. He has the coolest motivation of any antagonist I have ever seen: save the life of the woman he loves by going against the system. He was the only one who cared for Emeraude as an individual and not just as the Pillar of Cephiro. Plus he looks really cool in those outfits, especially the white OVA one, plus his hair is longer than mine. We even have the same personality type! I refuse to consider him evil, he is just ANTI. He fought for his Emeraude till the end. See, us rationals can fall in love madly too!
2) Emeraude- And let Zagato be lonely? Naaaah! She chose romance over service. You go girl! She may not seem super-out-of-the-ordinary when she is disguised as a little girl, but once we see her true form, watch out! She looks cool in her "warrior" outfit with the boots, and so beautiful in her dress as an adult. She may have been a cooperator instead of ANTI, but she still rules. Her passion when she fights the Magic Knights is incredible. And in Dream, you see how much internal conflict she had- part of her heart wanted to save the world from the destruction following her falling in love with Zagato, and part of her heart just wanted to be with him and only him. She has very high moral standards, and is an idealist who aspires to be altruistic and benevolent to keep the harmony in Cephiro. She could have completely destroyed Cephiro, ran away to Autozam/Chizeta/Fahren and be free, yet she chose instead to cross over so that she could be with her beloved Zagato. Awww! In her own words, it is "infinite boundless love". I'm in love with Cephiro's royal couple.
3) Eagle Vision- Can you say Bishonen? He's the cutest Rayearth guy, IMHO. And he is sensitive and very complex. Plus I like him even better when I figured out that Autozam represents the USA. I really like his single and TV series image song. I made up a girlfriend for him in my fanfics, but I still think that he would have been an excellent match for Hikaru. The OVA corrupted him though, but the OVA is not the real CLAMP story, so I don't care (he does look cute in it though).
4) Presea- she looks so hot in that white dress. It's funny when she tries to torture Mokona and Umi. Plus she can show a sensitive side in her love for Clef. And she is always on the Magic Knights side, so her heart aches when she found out the truth about the Legend.
4) Caldina- "Money, money, money, money, money!" She's hysterical!Plus she's the first character to reveal to the Magic Knights that Zagato is NOT out to take over Cephiro and that things are NOT the way they appear to be. She should be a showgirl!
6) Fuu/Anais- I would have to say that she is my favorite of the 3 Magic Knights. Probably because she is the smart one. However, I am more aggressive than her, and I do like art better than math. She looks like Emeraude and Kotori, btw.
7) Ferio- he reminds me of Link from The Legend of Zelda in several ways. It's cool how he is not possessive of his older sister Emeraude, and is glad that she is happy now that she crossed over instead of being pissed off at Zagato or the Magic Knights.
8)Rayearth, Selece, and Windam- mechas with souls. For many years I wondered if Voltron had a soul. Plus these 3 Mashin know the truth.
9) Hikaru- she has her pros and cons. I like her because she is hyper and likes animals. She may seem simple at first, but then you realize she becomes more complex (although she is not hiding anything really). I like her better in the manga also, since the focus on her is not so big nor obvious.
10) Umi/Marina- I like her aggressiveness and self-confidence. I don't like the fact that she is the least scientific one of the three. I like her blue outfit, her being the comic relief, and the fact that I chose her to be the American one (Hikaru would be Japanese and Anais would be French). I support Umi x Ascot.
11) Clef- you may be surprised why I ranked him relatively low. Well, if he was the third most powerful person in the land, then why the heck did he not try to save Emeraude? OK, so he did not have the feelings for her that the second most powerful person had. At least he tries to make the Magic Knights feel better when they returned to Cephiro. My opinion of Clef has gone up a lot. He did try to prevent Emeraude from calling the Magic Knights, but being a cooperator, he did help them. And I like the fact that he reminds Emeraude that she is human and cannot be perfectly altruistic all the time. I support Clef x Presea.
12) Lantis- my opinion of him has increased, since he did strive hard to rid Cephiro of the system that made his brother and Emeraude unhappy. But he's still the normal brother. And the anime focused WAY too much on the Hikaru-Lantis-Nova issue.
13) Mokona- "Pu, pu, pu! You're Mokona and you say Pu!" . Pretty good critter. Wish she could speak instead of just saying Pu. But if she really is who the manga says she is, why could she not do more to save Emeraude?
14) Tarta- the cooler one of the two Chizeta princesses. I like her better than Tatra because she is more aggressive and competitive. Plus she's got a killer body and neat hairstyle.
15) Ascot- as a little kid he was not particularly interesting. He just served Zagato because he let him keep his beasts in the castle, without ever questioning what did Zagato want. But he gets interesting in the second season because he grows up to impress Umi. He deserves to end up with Umi imho.
16) Primera- "Lalalalala! I'm Primera and I'm a fairy!" Maybe it is because I have not finished seeing/reading Rayearth, but what is her importance to the plot? Other than competing with Hikaru for Lantis.
17) Innouva- he is the only one of Zagato's minions who knows the truth. Other than that, not particularly interesting per se.
18) Geo Metro- too macho and muscular for my tastes. But at least he is a good friend to Eagle.
19) Zazu Torque- can you say girl-crazy teenybopper? Maybe Hikaru should have hooked up with him. Lantis is too old for her.
20) Tatra- too ditzy. Reminds me of Phoebe from FRIENDS. I prefer her sister Tarta. I do not hate her, though.
21) LaFarge- he was brainwashed, for crying out loud. He did not even have a personal motivation to fight the Magic Knights. He makes a good match for Caldina, on the other hand. Both look pretty cheap to me.
22) Nova- she may be an interesting concept. But she only serves to convolute the plot more. And her boss is a one-dimensional villain.
23) The entire country of Fahren- now don't go accusing me of hating Chinese people! The Fahrenians as individuals simply aren't all that. Aska is a prima donna with an annoying laugh whose motivations for taking over Cephiro are totally for herself (as compared to Autozam being too polluted or Chizeta being overcrowded). Chang Eng and Sang Yung are just plain stupid. NEW-at least Fuu was able to change Aska's mind and let her know that how good is it to be beautiful if she cannot be beautiful for someone special.
24) Alcyone- her only saving grace is that in the anime she does ponder why is Zagato not threatening the Princess if he really wants to take over Cephiro. And in Dream, Lantis is kind to her. Other than that I despise her. She reminds me of Kaolinite. And she IS a middle-aged lady. I read somewhere that Caldina is 27 (or corresponds to a 27-year-old woman), if so, then Alcyone is at least 35 (or corresponds to one). Zagato can do SO MUCH BETTER than her. And how much can she really love Zagato if she confuses Lantis with him and they are not even twins? Didn't like her end in the anime- if she accepdted that Zagato loved Emeraude, why didn't she fight for her life? In my fanfics, she has had more men than years of her age, and bullied Zagato back in school even though she is 10 years older than him, and still hooks up with many guys in the afterlife. And once I dreamed she tried to get me drunk!
25) Debonair- can you say one-sided villain? She just wants to take over Cephiro, as far as I have seen. No wonder she was not in the manga- she is just an anime character to fill episodes and prolong the anime. Plus she is ugly and I hate her long fingernails.
Favorite Rayearth songs- "Lullaby" (2nd ending theme), "The Unyielding Wish" (1rst opening). I like both the original and the English translations- they were actually very well done. IMHO, "The Unyielding Wish" is not about the Magic Knights' dream, but about Emeraude's dream.
I have both Rayearth manga artbooks and the Rayearth Materials Collection. My favorite pictures are those featuring Zagato and Emeraude in her adult form, preferibly together. My least favorites are those of Chang Eng or the anime-only villains.
I have seen all the episodes (dubbed, plus a few subbed) and read all the manga. I also have ALL the Magic Knight Rayearth vocal and BGM CDs. And I was able to get all 3 Magic Knight dolls, plus I also have a gag doujinshi anthology.
Rayearth HAS replaced Sailor Moon as my favorite anime/manga of all time. Besides both being shoujo anime, one big similarity I found was that my favorite characters for both are not the main characters.
NEW- Please check out my Rayearth Fanfic- A Lover's Dream
Part I- Childhood
Part II- Pillar
Part III- Eternity. Warning- Hentai!
Rayearth Fan Art:
Some Cephirean characters going to school
Presea and Clef embracing
Talk more about Rayearth on my Education and Anime/Manga message board.
This New Ring
of Magic Knight Rayearth site is owned by
Heidi.
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