Friendship is magic – a review of the comic book “Magic Knight Rayearth” vol. 2-3

The Dreamland Warriors continue their mission to save Princess Emeraude. The next stages of their journey are ahead of us.

Magic Knight Rayearth has two series, so volumes 1-3 are a closed story. In the first volume, we got to know the world, the heroines, their allies and the main antagonist. Now it’s time to continue the adventure and the grand finale.

Before you set off, you should collect … equipment

In order to become Magic Knights and save Cephiro, the protagonists of the manga must properly prepare. As in a Japanese RPG, the girls are given a series of tasks to complete, thanks to which they will be able to acquire the necessary weapons and skills. In the following chapters we follow their attempts to find the raw material to create the right weapons, observe how one after another they learn to wield magic, and finally find and awaken the legendary Machine Souls. On their way, side heroes appear, as well as other emissaries of the mighty Zagato.

Following the adventures of female warriors is enjoyable, but it’s a bit of a shame that the characters and the world haven’t been developed a bit more. The plot consists of repetitive elements: quest, meeting with an NPC, boss fight, obtaining a trophy / power, the next level. This regularly implemented scheme makes the story a bit boring – and there are only three volumes! What may also discourage more sensitive readers is the amount of scenario sugar. At each stage of the journey, the protagonists learn that you have to fight with your heart, and the source of strength is the emotional bond with your loved ones. The whole thing is saved by the fact that the authors do not take their work extremely seriously and constantly introduce humorous elements, for example by endowing one of the opponents with an Okinawan dialect (in the Polish version, charmingly translated into the Poznań dialect).

Coherent whole

To tell the truth, it is difficult to judge the second and third volumes of Magic Knight Rayearth separately from the first, as the whole is of a very equal level. There is no change in the quality of the drawings or plot construction in the following chapters. Evidently, the concept of the entire series was planned from the very beginning. After reading a few chapters, you can already form an opinion about this comic and in contact with the rest, it is unlikely to change it.

In fact, MKR could easily be published in two larger volumes, one for each series, because it is best to read the whole thing in one go. Especially that the manga does not contain a summary of previous events or a reminder of the characters. On the other hand, the “3 in 1” edition would deprive us of some of the beautiful pictures from the dust jackets. Well, something for something. Nevertheless, the proposal from Waneko looks very good, both in terms of aesthetics and quality of the translation.

Sugar, sweets and various pretty things

Magic Knight Rayearth is a cute fantasy for those who don’t mind a bit sweet dialogue and a sloppy story. The creators draw inspiration from the games, so the structure of the story is quite schematic, but the humor, illustrations and the lack of plot lengths effectively make the reading more attractive. In these gloomy times full of ugliness, anti-heroes, dark worlds and nihilistic punch lines, it’s nice to read a comic book full of optimism, positive emotions and pretty drawings for a change. Naive escapism (in small doses) also comes in handy.