El-Hazard Review Page
El-Hazard
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CommercialAdventure4Pioneer Ent.| 9.4 | | | | |
Company Line:
Meet MAKOTO Mizuhara, an ordinary if over-achieving Japanese high school student. Meet Katsuhiko
JINNAI, a not-so-ordinary high school student (Well alright he’s insane). After Makoto exposes Jinnai's attempt to
fix the student body elections, Jinnai determines that Makoto is his destined rival and therefore must die (kids
today can be so tense). Playing on Makoto’s crush on his sister Nanami, Jinnai lures Makoto alone to the school
yard at night. But before Jinnai can turn his bizarre fixation to nefarious reality, the entire school yard is bathed in a
weird, paralyzing glow. Makoto is summoned by a mysterious woman who transports him to the Magnificent World
of El-Hazard.
But Makoto is not alone. Caught up in the backlash of the transport are Jinnai, Nanami and (this is
where the first of the "mature themes" warnings comes in) their exuberant, macho, alcoholic, pacifist history
teacher, Mr. Fujisawa. Each of the intrepid dimensional travelers are caught up in the dramatic struggle of
El-Hazard's human population against the fierce Bugrom. In desperation, they are preparing to utilize their last
trump, "The Eye of God" a weapon of terrible power, and potentially disastrous unpredictability. The Eye is
controlled by the principality of ROSHTARIA and only the twin princesses of Roshataria, Rune Venus and Fatora,
can activate the deadly weapon. The bad news is - Fatora, is missing. The good news (?) is - Makoto is a dead
ringer for her! Makoto protests. His manly pride is threatened. A brief stay in Roshtaria’s dungeon however,
convinces him he'd rather be drag than dragged. He agrees to undertake a quest to the priestesses of Mount
Muldoon, controllers of the Eye.
Reviews:
CsK Subbed Version 9.4
El-Hazard Review
El-Hazard is quite simply one of the best OVA series to be released on these shores. This fantastic four tape set,
released by Pioneer, will quickly become a gem in your anime collection. Although some may find the premise of
characters being transported into a different world stale by now. I personally love to see what these new worlds will
have to offer in terms of inhabitants, cultures, and landscapes. El-Hazard delivers on every level an anime
adventure fan could ask for. The storyline is intriguing and complex yet it never slows to a crawl or gets overly
confusing. There is always a strong supply of humor and the characters are quite likable.
However, the real star of El Hazard is the dazzling artwork and animation. Pioneer claims the artists who did Tenchi Muyo also worked on
El-Hazard. I find this hard to believe because El-Hazard is just so much better looking than Tenchi. I am positive
the artists for El-Hazard also worked on "Oh! My Goddess" and "Your Under Arrest". Just take a look at Makoto
and Keiichi(from "Oh! My Goddess"). They look like twins separated at birth. The only real flaw to El Hazard has
nothing to do with the OVA at all. The problem with El-Hazard was that it was turned into a TV series in Japan and
major story changes occurred. Although this won’t ruin your enjoyment of the El-Hazard, it is disheartening to know
that much of the OVA series is invalidated by the TV series.
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9.69.09.37.6|
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