Magic knight rayearth overview part four, attack of the filler

When we last left out trio of protagonist girls they had just gained their magic evolving Escudo swords but were left without any further direction luckily the show's mascot character is capable of projecting messages from the show's once ambulatory exposition fountain, Clef (fortunately being turned to stone doesn't stop Clef from fulfilling his role as exposition fountain). He informs dour protagonist girls that they need to find (either the Ma Shin or Rune Gods depending on whether you feel puns or changes made in a dub script are more heinous). Unfortunately this show needs to stretch three graphic novels into twenty episodes so the would be magic knights aren't going to get their in a timely fashion.

I know filler episodes tend to have sub par animation but come on

This filler parade begins with the reintroduction of Ferio, who runs afoul of Zagato's minion Du jour, Ascot. As Ferio is not the protagonist he is quickly overpowered and has to beg for his life by convincing Ascot to spare him if he can lure the magic knights into a trap. He tricks them only to have second thoughts at the last minute, where he then decides to sacrifice himself only to be caught by Ascot's friend cum monster of the week.

You aren't gross and slimy enough to be my minion

The magic knights are a bit disheartened by this turn of events, but Fuu decides that the best course of action is to sleep the whole thing off. This off course is a ruse on her part as she goes off to rescue Ferio on her own in the middle of the night. She has no real plan or reason to go off on her own rather than have all three magic knights attempt the rescue, other than possibly the fear that Hikaru or Umi would rescue Ferio and he would be their love interest instead.  What follows is a strange sort of battle which culminates in Fuu having some ill-defined moment of resolution which results in her sword evolving and her thus being able to beat the monster. Ferio bids farewell to our protagonists and runs off into the monster infested earthquake wracked wasteland.

Remember to check your pets for creepy glowing red eyes

The next episode begins with our protagonists wandering through Cefiro when they happen upon a bunch of dead animals. There is also a rock monster which the magic knights assume is the cause of the carnage. Quick work is made of the monster. There is also a wounded puppy-like animal found which Hikaru immediately latches onto naming it Hikari, the same name as her pet dog back in Japan.

The magic knights visit the tomb of the unknown monster of the week

However this is a trap set by Ascot, as Hikari is actually a beast whose real name is Viggur. One morning while Hikaru is picking flowers with her new friend Viggur transforms into his beast mode. Umi and Fuu show up but are quickly dispatched by the monster as they are not the focus of the episode. Hikaru looks on, wondering whether she should save her friends from an animal she met yesterday. Eventually she caves in and defeats the monster.

The episode ends and everyone is sad, the magic knights and Ascot who is depressed that sending his friends into danger seems not to be working out. However as this episode is essentially filler the events here are never spoken of again.

Magic Knight Rayearth Overview part 3,

Where we left off last time our heroines were still questing for the spring of Eterna where they were hoping to find some Escudo. With nothing but a mascot creature who can only say the word Pu to guide them the going has been difficult but they have made it so far. Fortunately unlike real rpgs where if you get stuck you may have to search for hours before finding the correct way Magic Knight Rayearth refuses to be that boring even when it ventures into filler territory which it will do in this volume.

Fuu investigates a blue line

After yet another wandering monster fight this time involving a water monster that made the Magic Knights glow the trio arrives at what appears to be a glowing blue line hanging in mid air. While most people would have no idea what exactly that could mean Mokona climbs on a rock and instructs Hikaru, Umi and Fuu to do the same. From that vantage point they find that the blue line is in fact the spring of Eterna. Mokona then hops in and after some trepidation the girls do so as well.

I guess Cephiro has decorative jewels on everything

The three are separated and each find them facing something they love, Hikaru finds her dog Hikari, Umi finds her parents and Fuu (this is explained not to be extreme narcissism) herself. In each case the object of the Magic Knight's affections attacks their respective protagonist until a message from Princess Emeraude asks them "would those you love wish you harm?". At that point the Magic Knights retaliate with new spells revealing their adversaries to be pieces of Escudo. Since there is a couple of minutes of running time in the episode left Alcione attacks again informing our protagonists that the fight at the beginning of the episode was in fact a plot to poison the Magic Knights and that the poison should be kicking in just about now. Even brought to their knees the Magic Knights refuse to give up which causes their armor to grow which is the first occurrence of a very important principle in this show; character development equals leveling up your equipment. Needless to say the Magic Knights defeat her which is also the end of Zagato's patience with her.

Filler, the real silent killer

With Escudo in hand or rather neatly stored in their glove jewels where they also keep their weapons the Magic Knights return to Presea to have their weapons made. While in the manga (which I have read so I can reference differences between the two) the crafting of the weapons is a pretty minor event it would make for a pretty empty episode if something else wasn't added to it. As is the case when screen time needs to be filled a monster is sent in to do battle with the Magic Knights but this monster is different from those seen so far.

This monster is the summoned monster of Ascot the next in a series of mini-bosses in this show. In true magic girl mini-boss tradition he summons the monster, points in the direction he wants it to go (in this case Presea) and then decides to take a nap. The monster proves to be tougher than the previous ones as the spells and weapons of the Magic Knights do little more than make the thing evolve. The monster heads straight for Presea and when it rams the wall of the room she was in causing parts of the ceiling to fall on her. The rest of the episode is good news and bad news. The good news is that she finished making the weapons that the Magic Knights need not only to defeat this monster but also save Cephiro. The bad news is that she doesn't survive the ceiling collapsing. So with heavy hearts the Magic Knights bury Presea and vow to save Cephiro once again. Ascot also makes a vow of vengeance against the trio of girls that killed his precious friend.

Magic knight Rayearth overview part 2, enter the secondary characters

Killing monsters without fear of panty shots

While the idea of having a single or small group of teenagers save the world, this or any other, is pretty par for course when it comes to anime the simple truth is that they can never really save the world on their own. They need things like cool weapons, secret training from ancient masters and their own harems if the world is going to be saved from darkness. As of the end of episode 1 all the Magic Knights have is some odd costume breastplates and shoes of different sizes as well as the single fire spell that Clef taught Hikaru. Needless to say unless all their opponents are chained to the floor or lobotomized Hikaru, Umi and Fuu are way over their heads.

Maybe if I am cute enough they will let me go

As fortune and the plot favor the protagonists they have been sent to collect some more of the precious bennies needed to save the world with. What they find is a strange wall in the middle of a forest that opens up when they touch it. Inside they find a creature who looks to be the love child of a rabbit and a marshmallow (Mokona who shares the name with one of the members of the show's creation team, CLAMP) messing up a library. Just then they trigger the building's security system and a cage comes crashing down trapping the trio. Out comes a woman angry enough with whomever has been messing with her library to commit comic torture (Presea) . As it all turns out to be a big misunderstanding and Presea lets the girls go and fulfills her role as dispenser of weaponry. However these are not the true weapons of the Magic Knights; those can only be obtained by finishing the side quest of obtaining Escudo from the spring of Eterna. Those weapons have the ability to evolve which as Fuu points out avoids the problem of having to cart around money that icky monsters have dropped to the latest town's weapon shop to have our heroine's arsenal upgraded.

Oh snap my love interest is dead already

Other than a filler monster fight that wraps up episode 2. Episode 3 Take our protagonists through the forest of silence. It should be noted that in many rpgs that a forest is usually considered the first and generally lamest dungeon that one has to go through in the course of a quest although it is important as a place to gain xp. As to add insult to injury the Forest of Silence is a place where magic doesn't work making Hikaru's flame arrow useless for the time being. Another important thing learned in this episode is that Mokona acts as the party's tent feature as it can manifest food and lodging whenever needed to restore the group's hp. The main conflict occurs with Ferio the mysterious npc that shows up to help our protagonists through the current dungeon. The rest of episode 3 consists of wandering monster fights and Fuu and Ferio bonding in a very Tsundereish way.

Obligiatory reflection on the power of friendship

Episode 4 begins the very same way that most of Episode did, another wandering monster fight interspersed with some musing about the regular citizens of Cephiro fall under the category of scared and rather rude villagers. This continues until the episode's midpoint when the villain from Episode 1 Alcione, shows up to snipe Umi. As she decides to take this fight far more seriously than her previous one as she is able to fight Hikaru into a corner. Mokona's deus ex machina power flares up again allowing Umi to contact Clef who allows her to learn her own magic in time for her to upset the battle raging and save her new found friend. Fuu also learns magic in this manner which she uses to gain the role party cleric, um I mean uses to heal Umi's wounds. Thus ends the first disc of Magic Knight Rayearth which incidentally is the place where I choose to end this post. Look for part in the near future.