El Hazard: The Magnificent World Review by aznwolfe
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	Audience:	16+
	Genre:	Comedy/Adventure
	Usual Running Time:	50-70 min. per tape
	Average Cost:	$19.98 Sub/24.98 DuB
	Contains:	Animated Violence, Mature Situations (homosexuality)
	Music:	B
	Animation:	B
	Plot/Storyline:	D
	Rating:	C-

Makoto, a high school boy, is transported to a magical and mythical world called "El Hazard" along with Nanami (a classmate), Mr. Fujisawa (history teacher), and Jinnai (Nanami's brother who has a major grudge against Makoto) when he finds an unusual woman named Ifurita hidden in his school. Strange yet attractive, she addresses him quite familiarly, saying that they will meet again. In El Hazard, they discover that each of them have a specific magical ability. Nanami has the ability to see through illusions.  Fujisawa obtains super-strength --as long as he's not drunk. Jinnai is able to communicate with the bulgroms (ugly monster-type things). What about Makoto? Well, I'm not really sure what his ability is except that he looks exactly like Fatora--the younger sister of princess Rune Venus and that he is somewhat spiritually linked with Ifurita. --For those who haven't seen El Hazard, you probably won't be able to understand my ramblings. ^_^*

Anyway, Makoto, Nanami, and Fujisawa meet a lot of interesting people during their stay. (Jinnai is off on his own, brewing up evil plans..) They encounter Rune Venus, the princess of El Hazard (I believe), who is in need of help.  It turns out that her sister Fatora is missing. When she sees the major resemblance between Makoto and Fatora, she convinces him to take her place until she is found. Meanwhile, Jinnai meets the evil Diva, who has her own plans of conquering El Hazard and obtaining the "eye of god". Thinking that Jinnai was sent from the gods, she lets him take control of her armies and such. Later, Makoto finds out that Ifurita is a demon-god. Whoever holds the key has power over her, and surprisingly enough, Jinnai has the key. Most of the series revolves around Makoto trying to switch her over to the "good" side.

I've watched this anime series quite a while ago. When I first saw the video tape cover of El Hazard, I thought it looked pretty good and I decided to check it out. My impression? Not worth the money. In subbed version, animation and music quality is good, but the storyline and characters suck. I've tried not to grade El Hazard so hard, considering the fact that I don't quite care for the series. Especially when the ending didn't turn out the way I wanted it to and several scenes are perverted (and pointless). The series, strangely enough, reminded me of the "Tenchi Muyo!"  series: Almost all the girls are in love with the main character, and of course, he is indecisive. Hmm..sound familiar? FYI: El Hazard & Tenchi was made by the same creator so maybe that's why we see some likeness between the two. The scene with Makoto and Alielle was disturbing.  But what really bothered me the most was that the keyhole is located on Ifurita's backside, above her rear. o_0 Hey man, I think that was really unnecessary. I'm not trying to bash El Hazard, though. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people out there just loved the series, but for some reason, I didn't. I guess if you're into hentai, you might like this. So, parents be warned: not recommended for kids.

Image was not created by me. 1998.