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| Reviewer: Sam Brown |
Certificate: 15 |
Format: Dubbed |
Distributor: Manga Ent. |
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R A Y E A R T H |
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First of all, this is not the story of the manga (available from TokyoPop.com, formally Mixx). This is the OAV, which, whilst keeping the same characters, bears little resemblance plot-wise to CLAMP's original. Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are about to graduate from school and separate, perhaps for good, despite them making a pact under a cherry tree supposedly inhabited by a fairy to stay together forever. However, the "fairy", Mokona, a blob with a jewel in its forehead which says nothing but "Puu!", takes Hikaru to meet Lexus, the deity of fire. Lexus shows her Clef, a magician from the land of Cefiro, which is about to collide with Tokyo from another dimension to make its ruler, Princess Emeraude, happy. And only the three girls can prevent this. It's CLAMP, so it looks lovely, despite the fact that the girls' school uniform make them look like nuns, although I was surprised when it went into a series of stills for a "running up the stairs" sequence. Aren't OAVs supposed to have better production values? The dub is slightly iffy too, a few of the cast choking on CLAMP's favoured vaguely-twee dialogue (I'm not blaming the translators for this, the manga is much the same, but it works). Spelling mistakes on the cover notwithstanding ("opath"? "Manga Entertainemnt"?!) and the fact that 
the blurb on the back gives away the whole plot, I'm beginning to get
the feeling that Manga are ceasing to give a monkey's.Fast-forwarding through the usual adverts I managed to get through the first five minutes of the actual OAV before realising that I'd got past the point where what I'd paid my money for began. And I'm docking a point for making me have to take the tape back to HMV tomorrow to get a copy that DOESN'T flicker into a different colour register every few minutes, not an uncommon problem with this video from what I read on UMAA. 6/10 - And I wanted to like this SO MUCH! :( Back to Menu |
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| Fantasy Bizarre |  |
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For pans-dimensional adventure you could try El Hazard. Despite the
Ed's objections and pending legal challenge, this is proving very popular...Read the review |
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