Magic Knight Rayearth 1
by Clamp

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Book Reviews of Magic Knight Rayearth 1

Book Review: Beautiful art, good world, but need first two
Summary: 4 Stars

All of the other reviews, plus the previews, give good synopses of the book itself so I'll just go into my review of it. The first manga is, as is often the case, the "introductory"-sort of volume; everyone is introduced, we get general characteristics of the main characters, etc. Therefore you really don't get into the meat of the story in volume 1. I do have to say that I liked, no LOVED, the artwork; a few people here said Clamp went too far with its big-eyed, over-cute characters but I really love this artwork! As it's my first Clamp manga, I have to say I could get into this kind of artwork. :)

I think my biggest gripe with the story as a whole is that it's a slightly overused plotline. Three girls from different schools (all with prep school uniforms) happen to go on a field trip to Tokyo Tower and are sucked into the world by the protector of the fantasy world Cephiro. It reminds me a bit of Dungeons and Dragons, and is an overused plot device. The girls themselves, all approximately 14, are Sailor Moon-like characters, really ditzy and young.

Unfortunately, as I've only read this the first volume (vol 2 is on it's way; I've heard good things about it and want to give it a try) I have no way of knowing how the storyline progresses beyond this book. But I would suggest that, if you have the funds, you buy the first two volumes together so you can get more out of it. I found that I really enjoyed the budding friendship/possible-romance by two of the characters (it's too early to tell), and want to read more about it, but as this just introduced them, and with very little action...

Overall, great artwork, overused plot device (the whole "another world" thing) - why then did I give it 4 stars? Because, despite all this, I've found myself rereading it ever since I got it. It's actually pretty good, but I can't wait to get the next manga because hopefully I'll be able to get into the world a bit more. :-)

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• Subjects > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels
• Manga
• Science Fiction & Fantasy
• Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy