El Hazard: The Magnificent World

This romantic comedy is my favorite anime series. The plot is both serious and rotf funny, especially Mr. Fujisawa, the alcoholic, chain smoking history teacher and Jinnai, the insane student council president. This is definitely a must see!

Possibly my favourite series of all time, El-Hazard: The Magnificent World combines fantasy, sci-fi elements, and comedy into one neat story-driven package.

The basic plot is that 4 people from Earth (3 students and teacher from a Japanese high school) are warped to a strange and fantastic world, known as El-Hazard. Throw in a bit of "Prince and the Pauper" style cross dressing, Marx Brothers references and some "old skool" anime elements, such as magical powers and beautiful girls, and you're in for a great animated ride.

There's a lot to like about this series, but a few of my favourites include the maniac character, Katsuhiko Jinnai, the on-going action and adventure scenarios, and the dramatic Eye of God storyline.

I couldn't really see any down sides to the series, to be honest, but being at my most critical, I'd say some people would be annoyed by Fatora's character ("some" meaning "most") and others would probably be a bit uncomfortable with the risque situations that give the series an excellen t sense of humour.

To point out some more obvious things; the series is rated at PG-13, so it's really suited for teen/young adult viewers. Also, the excellent English dubbed version of the series knocks the original Japanese into dull inferiority.

The ending (and many other scenes in the series) should not be spoiled for anyone, prior to watching, as it was a genuine pleasure to watch.

Absolutely classic. A must see for anyone. 10 out of 10.

Oh El-Hazard! I will never forget the first time that I watched this. It was in the spring of 1996. I was a sophomore in high school. My friends started getting into this really bizarre stuff called anime. There was one show in particular that they were always talking about. That show was, you guessed it, El-Hazard.

I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into when I first popped it into my VCR. But from the second the intro started and the lovely narrator first spoke "It is a place that dwells in the memories of those who still dream of its ancient glory" (words that will always dwell within me) I knew that I was in for something special.

To get to the point, El-Hazard has it all. It's got stellar artwork, lively and interesting characters, comedy (oh my, does it ever have comedy!), an epic (if somewhat common) story, magic, great action, demon goddesses, wonderful music, and a fascinating and beautiful world.

The characters in this show are some of my absolute favorites in all of anime. Masamichi Fujisawa - the alcoholic, chain-smoking history teacher - is my personal favorite, but others like Miz, Shayla, Ifurita, and Makoto are all fantastic as well.

I don't want to say too much more because I might be tempted to delve into spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that this show was virtually single-handedly responsible for setting me on a decades long journey of anime fandom. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a love for anime and/or fantasy.

Oh, and one more thing that can't be overlooked is the quality of the dub. As hard as it might be to believe, especially considering that this came out in the mid-90's, the dub is in my humble opinion far superior to the sub.

Easy 9/10

This is one of my favorite anime shows, and perhaps is one of the most underrated shows around. A wonderful and funny cast of characters, and Jinnai is also cool, even though he is the bad guy, he is very funny, gotta love the way he laughs, a real megalomaniac. And the bugrom he rules are also funny even though they make those annoying sounds. And I like also the teacher Fujisawa, who is portrayed as a drunk person who drinks and smokes a lot, and becomes very strong once he is sober. A good reason to learn to drink moderately, or not to drink at all. And Fatora and Allielle are also funny as the perverted lesbians in this. The main character is also cool and funny, especially when they had him dress up like a girl. And he is in a jeopardy as well, he seems to know about the machines and technology in El Hazard, but can he send them back? or contact Ifruita? And not to mention he is the object of affection to both Nanami and Shayla Shayla, hello Tenchi! Overall this is a good series that should be viewed by any anime fan or non anime fan who is not familiar with anime at all, not much violence in it, but the humor is a bit adult, especially the hot spring part, or Fatora. Watch it. It's great.

They don't make cartoons like this in the United States, one filled with the kind of creativity that this one holds. This 2 and one half hour plus adventure will change the way you view the animated film.

Romance? Its got plenty. Comedy? Mr. Fujisawa will keep your sides splitting. Action? The visuals are nothing short of kinetic. All of these wondeful elements are mixed together in a captivating story of unselfishness and sacrifice. Brilliant!