Product Details

• Actors: Tetsuya Iwanaga, Ryôtarô Okiayu, Rio Natsuki, Kôji Ishii, Yuri Amano
• Directors: Hiroki Hayashi
• Writers: Ryoei Tsukimura
• Format: Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Geneon [Pioneer]
• DVD Release Date: August 7, 2001
• Run Time: 245 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005BJPK
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #72,970 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "El Hazard - The Magnificent World Boxed Set" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The seven-episode OAV El Hazard: The Magnificent World began the popular comedy-adventure that encompasses the 13-part broadcast series El Hazard: The Alternative World and the four-episode OAV El Hazard 2: The Magnificent World. Director Hiroki Hayashi is the co-creator of Tenchi Muyo, and both series focus on strong, outrageous female characters who fight for the affections of a dense but well-intentioned hero; in this case, Nanami and Shayla-Shayla over Makoto. Makoto lacks Tenchi's charm and secret powers, but the hard-drinking teacher Mr. Fujisawa balances the flakiness of Tenchi's father with genuine strengths. In the ruins beneath Shinanome High School, Makoto encounters Ifurita, an ancient, mysterious entity who transports him to the parallel world of El Hazard. She also takes the scheming Jinnai, Jinnai's irrepressible sister Nanami, and Mr. Fujisawa. The Earthlings find themselves in an elaborate sword-and-sorcery tale involving the Eye of God, a super-weapon created by an earlier civilization. Balanced against this threat are comic interludes that include Makoto posing in drag as the Princess Fatora and Jinnai making himself ruler of the insectlike Bugrom. The plot has an odd, circular structure in which the climax sets up the action in the first episode. El Hazard 2 picks up the action, but much of the story feels like a rerun: the characters deal with similar problems, and the threat comes from another terrible weapon, "the Trigger of Destruction." The many fans of El Hazard will welcome this set, even though it contains no supplemental material. Rated 13 and up for drinking, mild profanity, and violence. --Charles Solomon

Product Description

Encounter a world of wonder and fantasy! Three high school students and one of their teachers are mysteriously transported to the magical world of El Hazard. There, they discover hidden talents, lost technology, an empire of sentient bugs, and enough adventure to fill a lifetime! The long-awaited DVD compilation of the seven original El Hazard OVAs and the four OVA's from El Hazard 2 are finally here! From the writer of Tenchi Muyo and the animation studio behind Bubblegum Crisis, Tenchi Muyo and Ah! My Goddess comes another side-splitting comedy of epic proportions filled with beautiful women, strange enemies and action-packed adventure!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Mildly Disappointing Release of an Incredible Series..., August 7, 2001

By	Carl Malmstrom (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews

El-Hazard, next to Tenchi, is the most enduring series AIC has put out and this boxset is the first time that the original OVA (i.e. direct-to-video) series has been available in DVD format in the US. However, also like the Tenchi Muyo phenomenon, none of the sequels, follow-ups, and 'reimaginings' have had the same impact as the original.

In a nutshell, El-Hazard is the story of a high school student who, along with two classmates and a teacher, get transported to another world across space, time and possibly dimensions. The prevent one war between two races on the planet they arrive at, cause another and ultimately find themselves intimately involved with a doomsday device from that planet's distant past. This is an incredibly synoptic description of the series, but to get acrosss the full nuances of the series, I could write for pages. Needless to say, though, that the story itself has far more humor, adventure, romance and generally neat storytelling than my description implies.

As for the DVD set itself, though, Pioneer has missed a few great opportunities here. While the addition of a 5.1 Dolby track is excellent (the difference is noticeable even on my archaic TV), the other extras leave a bit to be desired. There's an art gallery, creditless openings and endings and an explanation of all the different worlds across which the El-Hazard metaseries takes place. It's all pretty standard stuff. No 'making-of' section, no look at the development process, no original trailers, and no interviews with the creator, producer, etc. - in other words, none of what really makes special DVD editions shine.

...

While the packaging is gorgeous, the sound great and the video everything you'd expect from a DVD, I honestly wouldn't recommend picking it up unless you (a) have a system that will do serious justice to the extra quality, (b) don't have the original OAV on tape or laserdisc or (c) for some reason really like El-Hazard 2 - in which case you'd be getting a decent deal. Serious otaku will probably disregard this advice, but serious otaku will have probably already long-since ordered the set before reading this review anyway. So, in short, the series is, as always, wonderful, but Pioneer really could have done a better job with this DVD release. Perhaps someday they'll rerelease it on DVD at a lower price with more bells and whistles...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite anime comes to DVD!, August 13, 2002

By	Jonathan T. Backer (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

El Hazard is my favorite anime title?

Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Evangelion, Escaflowne, FLCL, Ranma, and Tenchi are all wonderful, but pound-for-pound (dollar-for-dollar), you can't beat El Hazard. There is more entertainment in the first 7 OAVs of El Hazard than in most SEASONS of other anime titles. It takes everything I like about anime and does it RIGHT. While it doesn't break any new ground, it is the most sucessful mixture of action, adventure, comedy, drama, and romance that I've ever seen.

Unlike Tenchi (which many compare it to), El Hazard has NO plotholes or last minute story changes. Like Tenchi, El Hazard has memorable characters (everyone loves Shayla-Shayla), great artwork and a "just plain fun-to-watch" aspect to it.

Also, while I don't usually like English dubs, the English dub of El Hazard is phenominally good! Yes, even better than the original Japanese. The voice-work of Jinnai and Fujisawa are especially brilliant.

Boxed sets can be expensive (I know, I own a LOT of them), but the El Hazard boxed set is hands down, the BEST purchase I've ever made on one. I guarentee you'll love it!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully produced Boxset, April 23, 2002

By	Zack Davisson "All Good Things" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There is no doubt that the original "El Hazard" is one of the best of American released animes. The comedy is raunchy and clever, the characters are funny and the story finds the touching human element in a wacky sex comedy. Top notch all the way around.

"El Hazard 2" loses the "clever" part and just focuses on the "raunchy." It is not bad, but it is nowhere near the quality of the original. Worth watching, but not really worth buying on it's own.

The boxset itself is the real showcase. It is just so...pretty. The artwork is outstanding, and the whole thing is a real presentation. I am not usually sold by nice packaging, but this one did it for me. A great series, and OK series wrapped up in a fabulous package. Not perfect, but worth having.