New from Japan: Anime Film Reviews
Around 1995, Japanese animation (anime) began pouring into North America, Europe and across the globe in video form. Most of these titles were unknown outside of Japan and never covered by animation journals. Whether a title is highly popular or very obscure, a high-quality theatrical feature or a cheap and unimaginative direct-to-video release, they all look the same on a store shelf. Therefore, Animation World Magazine will regularly review several new releases (including re-releases not previously covered) that have merit and about which our readers should know.
El-Hazard: The Magnificent World.
By the end of 2001, the entire El-Hazard anime series will be available on video and DVD from Pioneer Entertainment. The variety of titles and formats is rather confusing however. Below we list the variety of compilations.
El-Hazard: The Magnificent World. V.1, Battlefield of Confusion. V.2, The World of Beautiful Girls. V.3, The World of Thunder. V.4, The World of Endless Adventures.
El-Hazard: The Wanderers. V.1, The Adventure Begins. V.2, The Ultimate Weapon. V.3, The Winds of War. V.4, Final Adventures.
TV series (26 episodes), 1995-1996. Director: Katsuhito Akiyama. V.1 & V.4, 7 episodes/175 minutes; V.2 & V.3, 6 episodes/150 minutes. Price & format: DVD bilingual $29.98 each. Distributor: Pioneer Entertainment.
OAV series (7 episodes), 1995-1996. Director: Hiroki Hayashi. V.1 - 3, 50 minutes; V.4, 75 minutes. Price & format: video dubbed $19.98 each; subtitled $24.98 each. Distributor: Pioneer Entertainment.
El Hazard 2: The Magnificent World. V.1, Awakening of Kalia. V.2, Promise for Reunion.
El-Hazard: The Magnificent World DVD Box Set.
El-Hazard: The Magnificent World. OAV series (7 episodes), 1995-1996. Director: Hiroki Hayashi.
El-Hazard 2: The Magnificent World. OAV series (4 episodes), 1997. Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki. Price & format: 3 DVDs, bilingual, 365 minutes, decorative box & 16-page booklet, $119.98. Distributor: Pioneer Entertainment.
Take a shy teenage boy and surround him with beautiful girls from straitlaced sisters to sexy nymphettes in a fantasy-comedy situation. This formula made the A.I.C. studio's Tenchi Muyo! one of the major anime sensations of the early 1990s (September 1992 for the next half-dozen years). By the mid-'90s A.I.C. felt it was time to try a fresh variation. El-Hazard: The Magnificent World moved the formula from Earth to a fantasy world, most obviously a mixture of the Arabian Nights with The Prisoner of Zenda; although scripter Ryoei Tsukimura admitted to being a big fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars novels, and director Hayashi to being an addict of the Marx Brothers movies.
OAV series (4 episodes), 1997. Director: Yoshiaki Iwasaki. 60 minutes each. Price & format: video dubbed $24.98 each; subtitled $29.98 each. Distributor: Pioneer Entertainment.
Printer-friendly version
Post new comment