From the Wayback Machine - El Hazard: The Magnificent World

[cxt217]

Okay, let me preface by saying that I actually liked El Hazard: The Magnificent World 2, as well as The Alternative World, so let the stoning begin, if you are inclined.

After watching all seven episodes of El Hazard: The Magnificent World, I was wondering how I managed to miss this series for so long. It has to be one of the most engaging shows I have seen for a while. While the storyline was hardly original, the way it was presented was entertaining enough, the romance was not entirely cliched, and unlike many series, it actually had a fairly definite ending that allowed El Hazard to stand on its own.

I make mention of the ending because the last seven minutes or so of the last episode were probably one of the most moving scenes I have ever saw in anime. Even after having read an episode summary (Oddly enough, the first summary I read was in the game book released by Guardians of Order.), I was 'wow' watching the scene and that made the ending (Including the credits.) perfect.

As I mentioned earlier, I do like both El Hazard 2 and The Alternative World, but while I can see how you make pausible sequels, the original Magnificent World does a wonderful job of standing by itself.

Admittingly, one of the draws of the show was Dorothy Melendrez as Miz, but the outstanding performances among the VAs definitely went to Bob Marx, who as Jinnai was the perfect stage villain, as well as Lia Sargent (Nanami) and Mimi Woods (Shayla-Shayla) who had their characters to a 'T'. In addition, Tiffany James' performance as Ifurita came in for high appreciation as well - which given she was never in anything other than El Hazard, is unfortunate.

Overall, watching El Hazard has been something that fulfilled my expectation in the best way possible. Probably the only thing that sucks is that Pioneer never released it on separate DVD volumes, only the collection (Though El Hazard is better than Tenchi Muyo! Ultimate Edition - if only because they have chapter stops!), which probably did no small amount at limiting its audience. That is a shame, since more people should watch it.

Regards,

C.T.

[aquapermanence]

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cxt217 said:
In addition, Tiffany James' performance as Ifurita came in for high appreciation as well - which given she was never in anything other than El Hazard, is unfortunate.

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Some sites list Kate Vogt as Ifurita's English voice, which makes me wonder if Tiffany James is an alias or just a sound-alike.

[tuffy]

Well said. Though El-Hazard's pulp sci-fi-inspired plot doesn't sound like much on paper, the series' exotic design, music, memorable cast and Hiroki Hayashi's direction elevate the OVA series into something more than the sum of its parts. It's the sort of series I want to spend more time in, yet it ends so well there isn't a reason to make any more (AIC did it anyway, of course, with limited success... /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif).

I'd like to see Geneon unbundle El-Hazard 2 and sell them individually at a more accessible price. But at this point I think the chances of that are slim.

[cxt217]

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tuffy said:
It's the sort of series I want to spend more time in, yet it ends so well there isn't a reason to make any more (AIC did it anyway, of course, with limited success... /images/graemlins/sweat000.gif).


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I can see how you can do pausible sequels from the original OVA, but the series stands so well on its own that it might as well be self-contained (Which was probably Hayashi's intention.). Admittingly, I did like both Magnificent World 2 and Alternative World, but I do like to see something about how <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Makota did make it back to Earth to reunite with Ifurita</span>. The hard part would be to make a sequel with the same high quality as the original, which neither of the two follow-ups met.

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I'd like to see Geneon unbundle El-Hazard 2 and sell them individually at a more accessible price. But at this point I think the chances of that are slim.

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I was wondering what happened when if the day came Pioneer's license ran out. While musing with how various series would sound if an entirely different cast was used, it would be impossible to imagine the English voice of Jinnai being anyone other than Bob Marx.

C.T.

[Captain Impulse]

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cxt217 said:
I was wondering what happened when if the day came Pioneer's license ran out. While musing with how various series would sound if an entirely different cast was used, it would be impossible to imagine the English voice of Jinnai being anyone other than Bob Marx.

C.T.

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True - few English VAs have ever nailed a performance as perfectly as Bob Marx did with Jinnai. I enjoyed his performance far more than the original seiyuu, hands down.

[bctaris]

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aquapermanence said:
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cxt217 said:
In addition, Tiffany James' performance as Ifurita came in for high appreciation as well - which given she was never in anything other than El Hazard, is unfortunate.

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Some sites list Kate Vogt as Ifurita's English voice, which makes me wonder if Tiffany James is an alias or just a sound-alike.

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Vogt's an old, old pick for the role, part of a cast list or two that floated around for years, but which few ever tried to verify. James comes from the most up-to-date, complete and accurate list from Crystal Acids, which I would put much faith into. She's not an alias for Vogt, either. She does however reprise the role in Wanderers. Debbie DeRosa by the way plays Ifurita in the second Mag World OVA, though.

[cxt217]

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bctaris said:
James comes from the most up-to-date, complete and accurate list from Crystal Acids, which I would put much faith into. She's not an alias for Vogt, either. She does however reprise the role in Wanderers.

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Which seem to be the extent of her performances after the first Magnificent World. While Ifurita was hardly a very dialogue intensive role in the original OVA, I liked James' performance a lot, especially the ending, which makes it a pity that she seem to have disappeared after that.

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Debbie DeRosa by the way plays Ifurita in the second Mag World OVA, though.

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The wonders of a couple years...Though Mimi Woods came back for bother Magnificent World 2 and Alternative World, which was definitely a plus.

C.T.

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cxt217 said:
Admittingly, I did like both Magnificent World 2 and Alternative World, but I do like to see something about how <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Makota did make it back to Earth to reunite with Ifurita</span>.

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This is where I thought they dropped the ball with Alternitive World. They had that <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>dream sequence with Ifurita</span> right at the beginning, which I thought was going to be forshadowing. My suspicions grew when they discovered the <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Eye Of God-like thing</span> in... Oh, bloody hell, been so long since I watched it, I can't remember the name of the place they spent the series in. (Must re-watch it!) I thought for sure that Makoto would somehow <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>find a way to make use of this device to get back to Ifurita.</span>. Since this wasn't the case, what the hell was the point of <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>that dream sequence</span> at the begining?

[aquapermanence]

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Yotsuyasan said:
Since this wasn't the case, what the hell was the point of <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>that dream sequence</span> at the begining?

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The end of the original series, showing <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>Makoto's eventual reunification with Ifurita</span>, established a necessary arc for his character to travel in the sequels. In El Hazard 2, Makoto meets <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>a second Ifurita</span> as well as a person who very much shares his own circumstances and was able to lead a long and fulfilling life. Makoto is encouraged to find his own Ifurita, and he begins his research, leading to the obsessive and enclosed lifestyle we see him in at the beginning of The Alternative World. His <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>dream</span> may be a legitimate premonition, an aftereffect of the double-memories he gained from the time loop in the first series, or simply a product of his overworked mind.

[Loafy]

Great show with one of the best dubs out there. The english VA for Jinnai is perfectly cast but goes above &amp; beyond outdoing the original seiyu in every aspect. It's a shame about the price-point on the set keeping new peopel from discovering this wonderful gem.

[Trollmaster]

This is the second anime series I ever saw. Right after Ranma 1/2 season 1. Those two shows got me hooked on anime. They also mislead me into thinking that all anime dubs are good.

[Loafy]

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BackinBlack said:
This is the second anime series I ever saw. Right after Ranma 1/2 season 1. Those two shows got me hooked on anime. They also mislead me into thinking that all anime dubs are good.

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LOL! My story is quite similar. Ranma1/2 and El_hazard are two series I rented back when I started really getting into anime and helped solidify my intrest. Both have fantastic dubs that I actually find stronger than the originals whih is a rairty in my personal experience.

[Yoda47]

I definetly agree about the ending, very moving and well done.

[aquapermanence]

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Loafy said:
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BackinBlack said:
They also mislead me into thinking that all anime dubs are good.

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LOL! My story is quite similar.

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I was in the same camp. At the time, I basically figured I could rely on Pioneer and Viz to provide solid entertaining dubs for all their shows. Sadly I was terribly mistaken.

[tuffy]

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cxt217 said:
I was wondering what happened when if the day came Pioneer's license ran out. While musing with how various series would sound if an entirely different cast was used, it would be impossible to imagine the English voice of Jinnai being anyone other than Bob Marx.


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Even though dubs have improved a lot these days, it's hard to imagine how a new cast could nail it any better.

Still, given Geneon's indifference towards some of their older properties, I can see how they might let El-Hazard lapse. I like to imagine Media Blasters picking it up, finding some mythical remastered video and re-releasing it across three volumes (2,3,2) with the Pioneer dub for a reasonable price.

[KatsuhikoJinnai]

I'll always love El Hazard --- one of the first shows I picked up. It's admittedly silly and cliched - but the setting was very nice. And characters like Fujisawa and Jinnai really gave it a lot of backbone.