Thoughts on my recent fantasy anime viewings...
So this summer I've now watched three fantasy anime: "Magic Knight Rayearth," "Slayers," and "Dragon Half." All these anime are older (from the '90's or early 2000's), and, most interestingly of all, they were all dubbed in different locales: "Magic Knight Rayearth" was dubbed in California, "Slayers" in New York, and "Dragon Half" in Texas.
The plots of each story are fairly simple.
In "Magic Knight Rayearth" three fourteen-year-olds: Hikaru (voiced by Julie Maddalena), Umi (voiced by Wendee Lee) and Fuu (voiced by Ellen Wilkinson) are transported to a magical land where they must become the magic knights with their special weapons and mechs and save the princess Emeraude (also voiced by Wendee Lee), who has been taken by High Priest Zagato (Lex Lang). Then things get sour. The show comes in two seasons but I've only seen the first.
"Slayers" is actually a parody of fantasy stories, though it works as a straight adventure series too for the most part. It stars a young sorceress named Lina Inverse (voiced by Lisa Ortiz), who goes around having adventures and saving the world with her friends: a swordsman named Gourry (Eric Stuart), a sorceress-in-training named Amelia (Veronica Taylor), and a magician who's also a chimera with stone skin named Zelgadis (voiced variously by Daniel Cronin and Crispin Freeman). The show comes in three seasons, each of which, near as I can tell, has its own self-contained set of storylines and antagonists. Currently I've seen the first season.
And then there's "Dragon Half," which is only two episodes long. "Dragon Half" stars a girl named Mink (Jessica Calvello) who is half-dragon, hence the title. She's hopelessly in love with a handsome swordman and pop idol named (oh, god!) Dick Saucer (Aaron Krohn), but Dick Saucer slays dragons. So Mink decides to go on a quest with her two friends, an elf named Lufa (Jennifer K Earhart) and a dwarf named Pia (Hilary Haag), and their pet mouse, Mappy, to find a potion that can turn her into a full human so she can win Dick Saucer's heart. Oh, and she's being chased by an evil king who wants her dead and said king's daughter Princess Vina (Amanda Winn-Lee), a girl who is part slime creature and who ALSO wants Dick Saucer.... Anyway, it's a firmly tongue-in-cheek show that pokes fun at a number of cliches of the fantasy genre, including dark and troubled pasts (there's a bit where Vina angsts about her mother dying, for example) and, most especially, the use of super-deformed facefaults, which were apparently in vogue when the original "Dragon Half" manga came out.
So, as for comparisons... well, first of all, I don't think you can really compare "Dragon Half" to the other two, because it just seems to come from a completely different philosophy than "Magic Knight Rayearth" or even "Slayers." I will say that it's by far the naughtiest show: in "Slayers" virtually everyone dresses sensibly; and in "Magic Knight Rayearth" you have some characters wearing skimpy outfits but the leads still dress perfectly sensibly; whereas in "Dragon Half" just about ALL the girls (besides Pia) wear skimpy swimsuit-like outfits, and there's even a scene where Mink's bikini top comes off! O:
Regarding "Magic Knight Rayearth" and "Slayers," it's actually kind of hard for me to tell which show I think is better. I don't actually think there's a substantial difference in quality between them, though the animation in "Slayers" does seem to be cleaner. Both shows feature compelling characters, imaginative plots, and really cool magic. I guess episode to episode I would consider "Slayers" to be the superior show. It's just consistently fun and good, and it probably has one of the most original and well thought-out magic systems I've seen in any fantasy, including many serious ones. It is a silly show, but it's intentionally silly, whereas "Magic Knight Rayearth" often struck me as unintentionally silly because it didn't always come together well. "Slayers" also contains virtually nothing that would make me uncomfortable ("Magic Knight Rayearth" doesn't have much to make me uncomfortable either, but it has some things whereas "Slayers" has nothing).
That being said, when "Magic Knight Rayearth" is really good, in some respects I think it is a lot better than "Slayers." The best moments of characterization, and the most intense scenes, in "Magic Knight Rayearth" packed way more of an emotional punch than comparable scenes in "Slayers," and they've stayed with me a lot longer.
What else is there...?
Oh, yeah--mood music!
See the "Magic Knight Rayearth" OP
See the first "Slayers" OP
See the "Dragon Half" ED
The plots of each story are fairly simple.
In "Magic Knight Rayearth" three fourteen-year-olds: Hikaru (voiced by Julie Maddalena), Umi (voiced by Wendee Lee) and Fuu (voiced by Ellen Wilkinson) are transported to a magical land where they must become the magic knights with their special weapons and mechs and save the princess Emeraude (also voiced by Wendee Lee), who has been taken by High Priest Zagato (Lex Lang). Then things get sour. The show comes in two seasons but I've only seen the first.
"Slayers" is actually a parody of fantasy stories, though it works as a straight adventure series too for the most part. It stars a young sorceress named Lina Inverse (voiced by Lisa Ortiz), who goes around having adventures and saving the world with her friends: a swordsman named Gourry (Eric Stuart), a sorceress-in-training named Amelia (Veronica Taylor), and a magician who's also a chimera with stone skin named Zelgadis (voiced variously by Daniel Cronin and Crispin Freeman). The show comes in three seasons, each of which, near as I can tell, has its own self-contained set of storylines and antagonists. Currently I've seen the first season.
And then there's "Dragon Half," which is only two episodes long. "Dragon Half" stars a girl named Mink (Jessica Calvello) who is half-dragon, hence the title. She's hopelessly in love with a handsome swordman and pop idol named (oh, god!) Dick Saucer (Aaron Krohn), but Dick Saucer slays dragons. So Mink decides to go on a quest with her two friends, an elf named Lufa (Jennifer K Earhart) and a dwarf named Pia (Hilary Haag), and their pet mouse, Mappy, to find a potion that can turn her into a full human so she can win Dick Saucer's heart. Oh, and she's being chased by an evil king who wants her dead and said king's daughter Princess Vina (Amanda Winn-Lee), a girl who is part slime creature and who ALSO wants Dick Saucer.... Anyway, it's a firmly tongue-in-cheek show that pokes fun at a number of cliches of the fantasy genre, including dark and troubled pasts (there's a bit where Vina angsts about her mother dying, for example) and, most especially, the use of super-deformed facefaults, which were apparently in vogue when the original "Dragon Half" manga came out.
So, as for comparisons... well, first of all, I don't think you can really compare "Dragon Half" to the other two, because it just seems to come from a completely different philosophy than "Magic Knight Rayearth" or even "Slayers." I will say that it's by far the naughtiest show: in "Slayers" virtually everyone dresses sensibly; and in "Magic Knight Rayearth" you have some characters wearing skimpy outfits but the leads still dress perfectly sensibly; whereas in "Dragon Half" just about ALL the girls (besides Pia) wear skimpy swimsuit-like outfits, and there's even a scene where Mink's bikini top comes off! O:
Regarding "Magic Knight Rayearth" and "Slayers," it's actually kind of hard for me to tell which show I think is better. I don't actually think there's a substantial difference in quality between them, though the animation in "Slayers" does seem to be cleaner. Both shows feature compelling characters, imaginative plots, and really cool magic. I guess episode to episode I would consider "Slayers" to be the superior show. It's just consistently fun and good, and it probably has one of the most original and well thought-out magic systems I've seen in any fantasy, including many serious ones. It is a silly show, but it's intentionally silly, whereas "Magic Knight Rayearth" often struck me as unintentionally silly because it didn't always come together well. "Slayers" also contains virtually nothing that would make me uncomfortable ("Magic Knight Rayearth" doesn't have much to make me uncomfortable either, but it has some things whereas "Slayers" has nothing).
That being said, when "Magic Knight Rayearth" is really good, in some respects I think it is a lot better than "Slayers." The best moments of characterization, and the most intense scenes, in "Magic Knight Rayearth" packed way more of an emotional punch than comparable scenes in "Slayers," and they've stayed with me a lot longer.
What else is there...?
Oh, yeah--mood music!
See the "Magic Knight Rayearth" OP
Click to viewSee the first "Slayers" OP
See the "Dragon Half" ED