Line #29 YMMV/MagicKnightRayearth


1	!!For the manga and anime series:
2
3	* AdaptationDisplacement:
4	** Among [[RetroGaming retro gamers]], the Sega Saturn game is what comes up when the series is brought up, for the game is significant as the console's final U.S. release.
5	** The OVA series is the only incarnation of the franchise known among some casuals and many non-anime fans who first rented it on VHS and [=DVDs=] during the early years of anime localization in the States when it was still a niche.
6	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: In the manga, did Zagato [[spoiler:actively kill Alcyone or simply stand by as she died of her wounds]]? Her cry for "mercy" could be interpreted either way.
7	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: All three opening and ending themes.
8	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The breast discussion in the second season is almost this, but for the {{Foreshadowing}} [[spoiler:about "Presea's" birthmark, a clue that she's not who she says she is]].
9	* DracoInLeatherPants: Zagato. Yes, his true motivation wasn't evil, but he still did plenty of evil things to try and achieve it and was incredibly callous to his own follower, Alcyone.
10	* EsotericHappyEnding: Autozam and Chizeta's problems are left unresolved in the anime.
11	** The Saturn game ends with the Magic Knights being comforted by Cleff and the spirit of Emeraude, with both assuring them they did the right thing before returning the girls to their world, but the fate of Cephiro remains uncertain.
12	* {{Fanon}}:
13	** Fans and reviewers will often describe Fuu as shy or a wallflower, even though her very first action in the series is to walk up to a complete stranger and give her a gift. In fact, she shows no inclinations towards shyness or timidity through the entire series. Being thoughtful and an avid gamer does ''not'' overlap with shyness, people. Plus she's next to Hikaru and Umi for most of the story, and ''most'' people would look quiet and reserved next to those two.
14	** The assumption that Hikaru is poor because she doesn't go to a fancy private school like Umi and Fuu and her house is a kendo dojo. But it's definitely a BigFancyHouse anyway, just a more traditionally Japanese one--which means the Shidous are just as loaded as the Hououjis and Ryuuzakis.
15	** Some fans from Latin America think that the Pillar of Cephiro can [[AlwaysFemale only be a woman]], as Eagle is depicted as female in the Spanish dub.
16	* FanPreferredCouple: Although Umi/[[spoiler:Ascot]] is kind of a BetaCouple (though [[AllLoveIsUnrequited it's almost only on his side]]) in Part II, Umi/Clef is a very popular pairing in the fanbase because of the way their initial antagonism gives way to mutal respect and concern. Doesn't hurt that Umi admits having to feelings for him in the anime, even if they appear to be one-sided (Umi never confesses her feelings and Clef doesn't seem to notice).
17	* FridgeBrilliance:
18	** Eagle Vision has white hair, golden eyes, and a black outfit. The same coloring as a Bald Eagle. Which is the animal symbol of the United States of America- the country that Autozam represents. While the Middle East (represented by Chizeta) and China (represented by Fahren) are older cultural/geographical zones with many distinctive symbols, the USA is rather young and does not have those many distinctive elements. The Bald Eagle is one of the few easily recognizable ones.
19	** You can easily spot that Presea in Season 2 [[spoiler:is not even Presea at all but Sierra before the dialogue with Clef]]: In the manga Season 2, Presea would still continue to express her annoyance to Mokona, in the anime, [[spoiler:Sierra had a more normal relations with Mokona and never tried to threaten it with punishment.]]
20	* GeniusBonus: One of the dub names for Fuu is "Anemone", which may seem an odd choice because anemone is most commonly known as a sea creature. However, it is also the name of a genus in the buttercup family, which are known by the common name of ''windflower''.
21	** Aside from Mokona, everyone in Cephiro's dimension is named after a car.
22	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
23	** Or should we say, Latin Americans Love ''[[CompletelyDifferentTitle Las Guerreras Mágicas]]''. It's not without reason: in Mexico it aired in between the 6th or 7th rerun of ''[[Manga/SaintSeiya Los Caballeros del Zodiaco]]'', ''Manga/DragonBall'' hadn't hit yet, ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' was silly, ''Manga/SlamDunk'' was on a chaotic rotation, ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' took ages to get anywhere, and ''Anime/BtX'' also had a hectic airing. And in Perú, the series was aired two years before getting the first part of ''Manga/SailorMoon'', and a fair amount of people could see its Peruvian airing from other Latin American countries via parabolic antennae in some neighborhoods. ''Rayearth'' was in comparison a well balanced, well written, [[MultipleDemographicAppeal both-genders-appealing]] soap opera with action and adventure. The tune was catchy too, and it was one of the first anime series to air with its intro mostly intact since since ''Anime/MazingerZ''.
24	** It's also popular in the Philippines with those who grew up watching it in TheNineties and The2000s. There were reruns of the anime even in TheNewTens and you can find Filipino musicians that covered both Japanese and local versions of the first [[AnimeThemeSong theme song]] in Website/YouTube.
25	* HarsherInHindsight: The second opening of the anime features a shot of Rayearth and Regalia about to fight in front of Tokyo Tower, but [[BaitAndSwitchCredits it never happens, since the Rune Gods never materialized on Earth.]] About two years later, ''Anime/RayearthOVA'' was released and it turned out that Rune Gods fighting on Earth is bad for the planet.
26	* HilariousInHindsight:
27	** The anime is somewhat (in)famous for having the fantasy world characters named after cars. At least two decades later, [[Literature/ReZero there is a]] pretty famous TrappedInAnotherWorld series having only the Japanese-origin character [[MeaningfulName somewhat]] named after a car.
28	** Hikaru's ACupAngst becomes this in the English dub when her voice actress Creator/JulieMaddalena would later voice the very busty Yumi Omura in another CLAMP anime adaptation, ''Manga/{{Chobits}}''.
29	** As with the above but on a brighter side. In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT'', it's this LighterAndSofter version of the Magic Knights that would fight in the Earth sphere, and unlike the OVA, the Earth is a CrapsackWorld to begin with but there are other heroic entities protecting it. Doubly so for ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars30''.
30	* HoYay:
31	** Eagle and Lantis.
32	** Also, Eagle and Geo Metro. But Eagle ''is'' [[EvenTheGuysWantHim that pretty]].
33	** Averted in the Spanish dub, where Eagle is depicted as female. And hilariously, while they tried to avert HoYay... that dub actually ''created LesYay between girl!Eagle and Hikaru.''. [[DubText Oops]]?
34	** Presea's attention to Hikaru early on, and Hikaru's practically drooling over Fuu for at first. CLAMP is well known for this, though.
35	** Innouva is in love with Zagato, just like Alcyone - minus the AxCrazy, add IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.
36	* JerkassWoobie: There are two, but their state is a rather big spoiler.
37	** [[spoiler: Alcyone betrayed Cephiro, Clef and Emeraude all in the name of her love for Zagato and has a sadistic streak, and even in the anime, isn't above tricking and manipulating her own allies. Zagato completely ignores her, calls her useless for her constant failures despite her loyalty and left her for the dead as he prepared for his final demise against the Magic Knights, rendering every of her crimes in the name of love useless. Second season rolls in, and Alcyone came back as a BrainwashedAndCrazy minion of Debonair, but her love for Zagato remained. When she was broken from her trance, she became some sort of EmptyShell that could only react to Lantis because he looked like Zagato and pretty much crossed the DespairEventHorizon, thinking that she has no more reason for existing since Zagato is gone and her life has been nothing but being thrown away like trash. And just when she found the motivation to exist by revealing Debonair's location, her Geas kicked in and erased her from existence, but even after all those, she ''still'' loved the Zagato that threw her away. ''Geez.'']]
38	** [[spoiler: Nova was born from Hikaru's anguish and sorrow that accidentally got thrown away into Cephiro and was picked up by Debonair, whom she sees as a mother figure. All she wanted is just to play with and be loved by Hikaru again, except thanks to Debonair's teaching, she thought that the way to do it is to hate anything Hikaru loves and kill them messily so she gets to keep Hikaru all for herself. In the end, she's only a girl who wanted to be accepted by anyone and is loyal to her dear mother Debonair... who proceeded to throw her away the moment she failed her mission. Thankfully Hikaru has figured herself out at that point, forgave Nova and accepted her back.]]
39	* MemeticMutation:
40	** The [[AnimeThemeSong Unyielding]] [[TitleDrop Wish]] came true [[labelnote:explanation]]When the Magic Knights were confirmed to be coming to ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT'', the fandom not only rejoiced, but also cracked jokes using the title of the awesome theme tune that would represent as the girl's battle theme in-game.[[/labelnote]]
41	** Hikaru is the Queen of Mecha [[labelnote:Explanation]] [[Website/FourChan /m/]] has declared TheHeroine Hikaru Queen of /m/, as she's considered to be the perfect female HotBlooded character. [[/labelnote]]
42	*** Hikaru is the miracle of the universe [[labelnote:Explanation]] Yet another variation on the "Hikaru appreciation" meme, started by a notorious anonymous shitposter (usually known as the "Hikarufag") in the [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars /srwg/]] general on [[Website/FourChan /m/]]. [[/labelnote]]
43	* MisBlamed: Some fans weren't happy with director Toshiki Hirano for the changes to the second season compared to the original manga, but CLAMP encouraged Hirano to take the show in a different direction since the manga was still ongoing and they didn't want him to spoil it. The manga's main writer, Nanase Ohkawa, even [[SelfAdaptation wrote the script for the anime's second season herself]].
44	* MoralEventHorizon:
45	** Alcyone was crazy and probably psychotic, and dragging herself on the ground because of the wounds Umi inflicted on her, [[spoiler: but did she really deserve to be abandoned by Zagato]]?
46	** Debonair [[spoiler: abandoning and then trying to kill the local JerkassWoobie, Nova, who can be considered as her daughter. And then killing Eagle ''and'' Alcyone - and in the second case, when she was ''this'' close to a HeelFaceTurn.]]
47	* {{Narm}}:
48	** The way the beam of light shoots from Mokona's jewel to Umi's forehead when she learns her first magic spell looks a little odd.
49	** Lantis' introduction in the anime. He comes in carrying an unconscious woman. Everyone in the room completely fails to notice her, even when he puts her down on a couch and explains that she was hurt trying to get into the castle. Then they all freak out because he has a tiny bit of blood on his hand--even ''Fuu'' completely overlooks the '''unconscious''' person with unknown injuries in favor of something that looks little worse than a cat scratch.
50	** It's somewhat difficult to feel bad for Ascot crying over his monster friends dying, considering he constantly sends them to die by ordering them to attack the girls.
51	* OneTrueThreesome:
52	** Given how close the girls are, how much they care about each other, and their frequent hand-holding, whenever LesYay shipping happens it often involves all three of them.
53	** Thanks to Hikaru's all-loving nature and Eagle and Lantis' preinstalled HoYay, they're also a popular threesome.
54	* {{Padding}}: Because the manga's story moves very fast, the anime had to add new things to fill 20 episodes. Most of this is CharacterDevelopment and further exploration of Cephiro, which many consider to be beneficial since it allows viewers to see the world that the girls have to save. However, there is some blatant padding when the trio discusses topics that have already been covered and flash back to things that happened ''the last episode.''
55	* PeripheryDemographic: The attractive female casts, SwordsAndSorcery, and HumongousMecha elements have attracted a share of male fans as well. (A few of them insist that it ''is'' shonen for GirlShowGhetto reasons, but they're incorrect. It's a shoujo story ''with'' giant robots.) The HumongousMecha element also made the show very famous amongst ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' fandom that they wished for its appearance in any SRW games, [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT a wish that was only fulfilled 20+ years after the series aired.]]
56	* RomanticPlotTumor: For some, the Hikaru/Lantis romance in the second season of the anime is this due to it being both the crux of the story and ironically not being developed much aside from Hikaru just saying on a few occasions that she loves Lantis.
57	* {{Squick}}: Really, ''any'' shipping between the Magic Knights and the men of Cephiro can get this reaction if you think about it hard enough. This is because the people of Cephiro can use their willpower to change their appearances, including physical age, meaning it's possible that all potential pairings could be between 14 year-old girls and adult men. This is most obvious with Umi/Clef, as the latter is explicitly stated as being over 700 years old.
58	* TheScrappy: Primera the fairy isn't very well liked by the fans, due her SmallNameBigEgo behavior and her [[DieForOurShip constant meddling between Hikaru and Lantis.]]
59	* TakeThatScrappy: Whenever Primera tries to get between Hikaru and Lantis, Mokona intervenes by doing things like chasing her away or chewing her up and spitting her out.
60	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Hikaru's brothers, Umi's parents and Fuu's sister only appear in the first episode of season two.
61	* ToyShip: Aska and Sanyun.
62	* ValuesDissonance:
63	** In her first appearance, Presea dons a stereotypical Native American outfit for a gag when talking about how she'll punish Mokona for making a mess of her study.
64	** Aska wants to be beautiful. She is asked "beautiful- but for whom?". This series was created in Japan, where gender roles are tighter than in the West, and where a woman was likelier to want to be beautiful to please someone else. In the USA, being beautiful for herself and wanting to be healthy in order to do the things she enjoyed would have been satisfying enough.
65	** There is a ''very'' dated moment in the second season of the anime where Umi gently scolds a young boy for trying to look up her skirt and Mokona responds by ramming his face directly into her ass, which is treated with great hilarity.
66	* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: The original story is something like Emeraude calling three girls from another world to save Cephiro. Seems simple enough, right? Well, it's ''not.'' [[spoiler: The real reason the Knights were summoned was that only someone from another world can ''kill the Pillar.'' And they have to go through with it. It ''really '' [[BreakTheCutie tears Hikaru up]], and in the anime it [[LiteralSplitPersonality splits her into two parts]], [[TheEeyore a girl about to cry]] and [[TheVamp her evil half]].]] There's also how there are numerous female characters that dress skimpily and the OVA has nudity. Despite this, the manga and anime belongs to the ShoujoDemographic, as the manga ran in the shoujo magazine ''Magazine/{{Nakayoshi}}''.
67	* TheWoobie:
68	** The three Magic Knights [[spoiler:after killing Emeraude]].
69	** Also [[spoiler: Sierra]]. Say what you will in regards to [[spoiler: the plot holes surrounding her appearance]], but [[spoiler: her inadequacies in regards to her dead yet still beloved older sister as well as her feelings for Clef]] are ''very'' powerful Woobie material.

Context YMMV / MagicKnightRayearth