El Hazard - The Magnificent World Boxed Set

A generic but entertaining adventure

"El-Hazard: The Magnificent World" is an anime very much in the "Tenchi Muyo!" mold: a romantic comedy/adventure in which blank-slate protagonist Makoto is thrust into a sci-fi scenario and gets to play hero while being chased by multiple women. Though the characters in "El-Hazard" aren't developed as deeply as the "Tenchi" crew and the show occasionally suffers from awkward pacing, "El-Hazard" has a charm all it own. The mysterious antiheroine Ifurita is compelling, and the kids' hard-drinking teacher Fujisawa is consistently funny. Most impressively, "El-Hazard" tells a complete and satisfying story, tying up its seeming plot holes with an ingenious last-episode twist. Usually these types of shows start strong, only to end up limping through anticlimaxes and false endings. Even the romantic tension is unambiguously resolved!

The dub is also pretty darn good, though it tends to get overly shouty, especially in the segments centering on Jinnai. Can't the guy ever just speak in a normal tone?

"El-Hazard" is hardly the type of show that will change your life, but if you like "Tenchi" or other anime in this vein, this box set is probably a good bet. (The set actually contains two separate shows: the original "El-Hazard" OAV and its 4-episode sequel "El-Hazard 2." The sequel is an inconsequential side story that unfortunately doesn't really add any value.)
April 19, 2006

Not worth $107

I purchased my version of El Hazard from a zShop for 19 bucks and I am SO glad that I did.
That said, the first series is worth watching for two main reasons: overt lesbianism and Jinnai. The former is self-explanatory while the latter (Jinnai) is without a doubt the best character in the series (despite the fact that he is the antagonist). You can't say that any of the characters are very deep or well developed, but throughout the first series Jennai is by far the most satisfyingly fleshed-out character, as well as the most ammusing and true to his nature. This superiority is all the more appearant when he is contrasted with story's main character who is shallowly developed and in no way engaging.
And this is what makes the second series (all four dismal episodes) so tragic: they nerfed Jinnai. He could never have been called a genius in the first series, but he was decidedly intelligent, cool, pragmatic, supremely self-confident and an effective leader (even though he was also manic and delusional). In El Hazard II, as if in response to the world recoiling at the sight of a humorous though competent villain, they have turned Jinnai into a slapstick-idiot persuing his increasingly nebulous ambition with foolish abandon.
I suggest purchasing El Hazard through...alternate means,... watching the first series and discarding the second. Let's face it: even lesbian humor gets old when the writing sucks and the characters are empty. November 11, 2005

Awesome. A must have for anime comedy fans

Being a big fan of anime comedy (the intelligent, yet lame humor) I was eager to see El Hazard "The magnificent world". Because of the high price of the set, I had some hesitation (because of some poor reviews on Amazon).

Well, I have to say that the bad reviews are wrong. This DVD series was totally awesome (although I admit it started a bit slow). I promise the more you keep watching, the better it gets. The plot is highly intelligent (involving dimensional and time travel) and the characters are very interesting (with distinctive special powers).

Some say the humor in El Hazard is juvenile (but I would argue no more juvenile then southpark), and seriously what good comedy isn't juvenile?

Some also say that the story is sometimes too redundant (because many episodes involve a doomsday device), to which I respond "Do we call the original starwars trilogy redundant because they involve the death star"? no, ofcourse not.

yes this DVD set lacks some extras, but I think Pioneer did a great job. The DVD menu presentation is beautiful, and the box is very elegant too. Hopefully you can get this set for around 40 dollars on Ebay (beware of bootlegs). It's very hard to find a good authentic set. The sequel "alternative world" which I just ordered, individually should cost around 30 dollars if you shop smart.

For my fellow anime comedy fans, I also reccomend "Niea under 7" and "His and Her Circumstances".

animation=5
plot=4
music=4
characters=5
comedy=4

Total= 4.4 Stars August 3, 2005

Excellent series

ive seen alot of anime, but el hazard has to be one of the best. my only regret is that it was so good that it ended too soon. if ur looking for something with humor action and even some romance, i highly recomend el hazard. June 8, 2004

A vortex of idleness sucked me into this one...

After reading the reviews of El Hazard, I was curious. Seeing that a used import copy of the full series was available through Amazon, I figured I'd take a stab at it for 25 bucks (better than _110_ for the American version). The import version is fine, but the series is like chewing on glass. Good skin, bad banana.

The Amazon.com review summarizes the plot well, I won't reinvent the wheel. The first two episodes had me hoping it would pick up. The humor was ok, the characters were underdeveloped and one-dimensional, but had potential to actually go somewhere. But by the third episode, it was clear that the guys who invented the series had no idea what to do with it. Nudity's fine in and of itself - but here it's just a cheap distraction from a poor storyline.

The poor synth music that is supposed to support the atmosphere in the series just added to my misery.

Around the fourth and fifth episode, when the main character Makoto (who was whisked away from earth to El Hazard) finally meets another main character, Ifurita, the series approaches interesting. Then the writers demonstrate that 'interesting' is beyond them.

El Hazard's artwork is occasionally beautiful - I can't sell it short when it has earned that. The second series _is_ better than the first, but it's like a revision of the first series, and that's why. Most people can learn from their mistakes, so it's no credit to the studio that they improved on a product from scattered fragments to mostly broken.

A comedy should have more humor; an action movie should have more (and better) action. A romance or a drama should have some realistic characters and some multilayered relationships. A porn should be erotic, and an epic should be at least slightly ennobling. This series fails, and it fails on at least 6 levels. It is pure escapism - at least, it aspires to be; it won't even help you escape. Buy 12 Kingdoms, and stick it out past the first few episodes of that (it becomes excellent), or buy Cowboy Bebop or Evangelion. If you've seen all them, wait for something else worthy - don't capitulate to low standards from Anime Studios. May 14, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...