Manga Review: Magic Knight Rayearth II Vol. 1

                                         Magic Knight Rayearth II Vol. 1Review

The second half of the Magic Knight Rayearth series starts off with Hikaru, Umi and Fuu having a hard time dealing with what they had to at the end of the first series so the three girls meet up at Tokyo Tower and are brought back to Cefiro. Once the girls return to Cefiro they are told by Presea, Clef and Ferio(who the learn is a prince) that the world is falling apart without a pillar the girls feel that they are responsible since they were forced to kill Princess Emeraude even though no one blames them for doing what they had to do. The girls soon learn that people from other worlds are coming to Cefiro in order to become the new pillar and take over the Cefiro the girls decide that they want to fight to defend Cefiro.

The girls fight in their mashins against Eagle of Autozam in his FTO which is a giant mecha much like the girls mashins it seemed like the girls would loose the fight until a man named Lantis comes into the middle of the fight and puts a stop to it. After the fight the girls meet up with Caldina, Rafaga, and Ascot who have all seen the errors of their ways with the help of Hikaru, Umi and Fuu from the battles they had with them in the first half of the series and are now friends. Also Ascot has aged himself quite a few years because he has a crush on Umi but she's completely oblivious to this despite the fact that he's pretty obvious about it. After this the girls are told that Lantis is Zagato's brother and that he had been away in Autozam for quite sometime prior to Princess Emeraude's death.

That night when Umi can't sleep she goes and talks to Clef about how she's sorry that when she first arrived that all she cared about was getting back home and that she didn't really grasp how serious the situation was. Clef assures Umi that her reaction was normal and that there's nothing for her to be sorry about but he feels like he should apologize for keeping the truth from her and  not helping her but Umi assures him that he did help them with giving them Mokana for guidance. Also that night Fuu also can't sleep and ends up talking to Ferio she apologizes for not trusting him when they first met but he tells her it was fine since she was just trying to stay alive. Ferio then gives Fuu back the ring that he gave her in the first half of the series after Fuu mentioned that she looked for it when she got back to her world, she was very embarrassed when she said this and also very cute, Ferio mentions that he wants Fuu to have it since his sister told him to give it to someone special. Their interactions are very sweet and I love these two just as much as I did in the first half of the series. Hikaru also wakes up that night and she ends up apologizing to Lantis about the part she played in his brothers death and even offers to let him hit her if he wouldn't hurt Umi and Fuu. But Lantis doesn't feel any need to punish any of the girls and tells Hikaru he doesn't blame them but Cefiro.

People from the worlds of Fahren and Cizeta are also coming to Cefiro in hopes of becoming Cefiro's new pillar. By the end of the volume the girls learn that the way Cefiro chooses it's pillar is by that person being able to find a certain path that will lead to a test they must take. I overall loved this volume and I still love the beautiful art work as well. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume.

Top 5 Female Friendship in Fiction

I'm just making this list because it's been a while since I did a list that wasn't a part of some meme.

1. Sakura and Tomoyo(Cardcaptor Sakura): I just really love this friendship because they both clearly love each other, they both have so much faith in each other and while they are different in quite a few ways the two of them just end up admiring each other for those differences. I love how Sakura values Tomoyo's emotional support so much through out the series and that she was able to trust Tomoyo with her secret right a way. I love how Tomoyo has this complete unwavering faith in Sakura and all of her abilities and that she wants more than anything is for Sakura to be happy. I just really love this two and I think they have a beautiful friendship.

2. Faye and Melissa(Secret Circle): I love their friendship because they have this good understanding of each other and they there for each other when they need to be. I really love how Faye can be a bit protective of Melissa such as when she started seeing Nick and Faye thought he wouldn't treat her right so she made sure to confront him about it to make sure he treated her right. I love how Melissa can see that although Faye can come off as a bitch a lot of the time that she does truly care about her but she just isn't always the nicest person. I loved how the two of them would have fun together with their magic as well and I love the chemistry that the two of them share as well.

3. Hikaru, Umi and Fuu(Magic Knight Rayearth): I love how fast these girls bonded and I loved how within a day or two of being transported into to this strange world that they all learned to work together and started to see each other as sister. I loved how all three of them would never turn on or abandon each other to save themselves but that they were all willing to die in order to save the other two. I also loved how they all had different personalities but were still able to come together so quickly and I loved how the whole story was mostly about their friendship with each other.

4. Holly J and Fiona(Degrassi: TNG): This two are a bit different from the rest of the friendships on the list since when they first met they didn't get along at all but that all changed in season 10 when Fiona went to Holly J when she felt she had no one else to go to. I love that these two became friends because before this Fiona didn't have any friends and none of Holly J's friends really appreciated her overachiever personality. I really just loved how their relationship developed and how much the care for each other and see the good in each other and are there for each other whenever they're going through something.
5. Sophie and Jenna(Hex Hall): Even though I've only read the first book of the series so far I have to say that there friendship is my favorite part so far. I love how they are both outcasts with Sophie's dad being the head of the council and Jenna being a vampire although both these things makes it hard for them to make friends with anyone else it doesn't stop them from being friends with each other nor does the fact that Sophie could have had the chance to have more friends if she wasn't friends with Jenna. I love how when people started to accuse Jenna of killing people that Sophie trusted that Jenna would never do something like that no matter what anyone else said. I also love how the two are able to tease each other and do normal teenage girl things such as have fun getting ready for the dance despite their supernatural status.

30 Days of Female Characters: Day 29: Favorite Group of Ladies

Day 29: Favorite Group of Ladies: Hikaru, Umi and Fuu(Magic Knight Rayearth)

I'm not exactly sure what this day meant by favorite group of ladies but I decided to do my favorite female trio. I love the relationship that develops between Hikaru, Umi and Fuu because they bound with each other extremely quickly and they love and protect each other no matter the situation. I loved that despite the girls all being very different from each other that doesn't keep them from developing a close friendship and thinking of themselves as sisters. I also just really love all three girls as individual characters as well.

Manga Review: Magic Knight Rayearth Vol.3

                                              Magic Knight Rayearth Vol.3 Review

In this volume the Hikaru, Umi and Fuu look for the meshins the magic knights will need to defeat Zagato and free Princess Emeraude. Umi is the first to find her meshin which was found under the sea and in the form of the dragon and was named Ceres. Ceres says that Umi will have to prove the strength of her heart before it will be her's, Umi proves the strength of her heart by protecting her friends from Ascot's monsters and by making Ascot see that if the monsters are really his friends he shouldn't make them fight for Zagato's cause. Ceres then goes into her armor after it transformed again but before that Umi sees that it's true form is a giant robot.

Then Fuu is able to find her mashin on the floating mountain, it's original form is a bird and it's called Windom. Windom tells Fuu that she must also prove the strength of her heart. Fuu proves the strength of her heart with how she is willing to die for her friends if need be and by overcoming Caldina's spell. She's also able to inspire Caldina(who only works for Zagato because he pays well) quite a bit with her speech about friendship. Fuu's armor also transform and Windom goes into her armor after showing it's true form of a  giant robot.

Hikaru is then able to find her mashin in a volcano who's original form seems to be a wolf and is named Rayearth, Rayearth tells her to prove the strength of her hurt. Hikaru is able to prove the strength of her heart by protecting her friends at the expense of her own well being and by being able to free Dal Rafaga from the mind control that Zagato put him under. Then all three of the girls armor transforms again and they are put in the robot form of their meshins and are off to defeat Zagato.

Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are able to combined their powers and defeat Zagato who had built his own mashin, with his last words Zagato wishes for Princess Emeraude's freedom. The girls then goes inside the castle to free Princess Emeraude only to find out that Princess Emeraude looks much older than she had when she originally appeared to them and to their surprise she's extremely upset about Zagato's death. Princess Emeraude then tries to kill Hikaru, Umi and Fuu who are still very confused by these turn of events only to have the younger version of Emeraude appear and explained that the reason for Cefiro troubles is because Princess Emeraude(who as the pillar of Cefiro is only aloud to pray for peace of Cefiro) fell in love with Zagato and she summoned the legendary Magic Knights because only those from another world could kill her. Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are forced to kill Princess Emeraude because if they don't she'll destroy all of Cefiro .The volume (and first half of the series)concludes with the three girls being transport back to Tokyo tower and hugging each other and crying.

While I overall loved the volume and the first half of the series as a whole, I find the end to be very sad and it makes me glad that I know there's a second half of the series. I liked that Clamp took the risk of not having the bad guy be who you thought they were but I feel heart broken for what Hikaru, Umi and Fuu had to do. I still love the series characters, plot and artwork. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume or series.

Manga Review: Magic Knight Rayearth Vol.2

                                                Magic Knight Rayearth Vol.2Review

The second volume of the series starts off right were the first one ends with the girls meeting Ferio who at first the girls are unsure if they can trust him but they decide he's most likely not an enemy do to the fact that he saved them from getting killed and Mokona seems to like him. After finding out the Ferio also wants to go to the Legendary Fountain of Eterna as well but doesn't know the way Fuu convinces him to come with the girls as there bodyguard since he seems like a good fighter and monsters attack often in the Forest of Silence.

Just as they make it out of the Forest of Silence, Umi is attacked and seriously injured by Alcyone(the evil sorceress from the first volume) so Hikaru of course decides to avenge her her friend with the magic she learned in volume 1. Umi wakes up during a point in the fight were it looks like Hikaru is going to loose and through Mokona Guru Clef is able to teach Umi magic that was able to defeat Alcyone and save Hikaru. Once Umi completes the spell she collapses because she's still badly injured and then Fuu is able to learn magic the same way Umi did and she's able to heal Umi.

 After seeing all this Ferio figures out that the girls are the legendary magic knights and after they ask he tells them what he knows of the story. Ferio leaves soon after this because the only reason he wanted to go to the Fountain of Eterna was because he wanted to see if he could become a magic knight because he also wanted to save Princess Emeraude but since he now knows that Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are the knights he now knows that only those three can be the magic knights. Ferio gives something to Fuu and kisses her hand before he leaves which makes Fuu blush a lot.

The girls then arrive at the Fountain of Eterna and after figuring out how to get into it. They go in and are faced with some that they love and after they acknowledge that in real life this person would never hurt them they are able to defeat it and receive Escudo. With the Escudo Presea is able to make the girls the weapons that they'll need to defeat Lord Zagato and save Cefiro. The girls then go on their way to find the mashin.

I loved this volume and I loved to see that the girls think of themselves as sisters. I also liked meeting Ferio and I like the relationship between him and Fuu. I liked learning about how everything in Cefiro works do to the will of someones heart and I find it interesting that the monsters are created from the fear of the citizens of Cefiro are feeling. Please tell me your thoughts on this volume.

Manga Review: Magic Knight Rayearth V.1

                                           Magic Knight Rayearth V.1Review

Magic Knight Rayearth is a magical girl series created by Clamp meaning the art is beautiful as always. The series about how three 14 year old girls Hikaru, Umi and Fuu, are transported into the magical land of Cefiro and are then told that they were summoned by Princess Emeraude in order to become the ledgendary magic knights and save the kingdom. The girls accept this task after they learn they can't return home until they save Cefiro.

The girls are given magic by Clef but he only had enough time to teach Hikaru how to use before being attacked by Alcyone a sorceress that works for the evil Lord Zagato who has taken over Cefiro. The girls are instructed to go to Presea who will make them weapons after they gather the right materials for her while she lends them some of her other weapons for their journey to retrieve the materials as well as Mokona who will guide them.

I love all of the girls and I love that they are all different from each other but have developed a deep friendship very quickly with them calling each other sisters by the end of the volume. I love Hikaru for being being super eager to complete the task of being a magic knight and I like that she accepted it so quickly. I like her special bond with animals and how she can communicate with them. I love Umi for being pretty, good at fencing and I like that she isn't really accepting any of this because I feel like at least one character should take a while to accept this situation. I love Fuu for being really into RPG and think of their situation in terms RPG, I also like that she comes off as being both smart and a ditz, Fuu is my personal favorite.

I overall love the series I find the plot to be very interesting, I order all the characters that aren't evil including the side characters and the art is really beautiful. Please tell me your thoughts on the series in the comment section below.