AKA: 神秘の世界 エルハザード 第2期 (Shinpi no Sekai El Hazard dai-ni-ki), El Hazard: The Magnificent World 2

Genre: Fantasy

Length: OAV, 4 episodes, 30 minutes each

Distributor: Currently licensed by Nozomi/Right Stuf International.

Content Rating: 13+ (fan service, mild violence)

Related Series: El Hazard: The Magnificent World

Also Recommended: El Hazard: The Magnificent World, El Hazard: The Wanderers

Notes: This is the sequel to El Hazard: The Magnificent World, and is included in the same R1 box set as the original series.

Rating:

El Hazard 2 - The Magnificent World

Synopsis

Life goes on in Roshtaria. Except when the wedding party of priestess Miz Mishtal and mountain-climbing teacher Fujisawa finds the groom missing, which promptly sends the team on a mad scramble.

In the mean time, Jinnai and the Bugrom come upon Kalia, another impending danger to Roshtaria and the world of El Hazard.

Review

Ever since I saw El Hazard: The Magnificent World, I've been wanting a sequel, going more into detail about how Makoto was able to breach dimensional barriers to bring back Ifurita from her venture into the world that was once Makoto's home, or, to be more precise, his school. As such, this OAV series disappointed me ever so slightly.

Now, don't get me wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this series for all it was worth, even though it didn't answer all the questions I had. You might consider this to be filler, though definitely a better example of it.

Compared to the first OAV series, the art and animation quality generally holds up slightly better. The original series, though mostly great, is a tiny bit uneven compared to more recent series, and while this holds true with the sequel, it's nothing worth complaining about. Like with any of the other series, it's always nice to be able to see even more of the more remote corners of the world of El Hazard.

The dub is, as usual, great. I'm rather fond of Eddie Frierson's rendition of Makoto, the still rather hapless main character. Nevertheless, it's once again Jinnai who steals the show by being certifiably insane. And in a GREAT way at that.

Where this series falters, though, is in the content. Or perhaps I should say length. Having seen the main OAV's seven episodes and -- later on -- the TV series' full season of 26 episodes, I can't help but feel that this one was too short, like it was put out to satisfy a short-term craving. And while it's not like I find it unreasonable that someone would stumble upon another "demon god" from the old times, I'd rather not see this degenerate into another "villain of the week" series. Whether this holds true in its sequel El Hazard: The Alternative World, I don't know. Well, at least not yet.

El Hazard 2 is not a bad series at all. I just wish there was more to it than this.

This series feels too much like it's not going anywhere for me to give it four stars. It's fairly close, though. — Stig Høgset

Recommended Audience: For teens and above. There is some slight fan service, some minor violence, and a "demon god" going insane, but nothing too objectionable, really.