The month of El-Hazard continues with El Hazard the Magnificent World 2, a sequel that has everything you’d expect but still manages to fall short of recapturing the magic of the original.Magnificent World 2 begins with the wedding of Mr. Fujisawa and the water priestess Miz, something that was mentioned during the conclusion of the first OVA, but as usual things get crazy and our heroes set off on another journey across the world of El-Hazard. Along the way they’ll meet a few new characters and some familiar faces, but for the most part it’s just another big adventure with the original cast. Considering that's probably why many would ever buy this OVA in the first place perhaps that's not such a bad thing.The storyline is basically a rinse and repeat version of the first OVA, Jinnai finds yet another demon goddess and everyone has to stop a super weapon from destroying the world. It’s not completely identical, there are some mild twists, but for the most part it just feels like the creative team took the easy way out and decided to copy the original formula as much as they could rather then expand on the universe in a meaningful way. The story doesn’t start off particularly strong and there’s never a point where it really kicks in, you get the sense that they put this project on cruise control to capitalize on the property doing just enough to please hardcore fans but too little to actually make this anime anything special. At times it just felt tedious, which is pretty amazing considering the series is just two hours long, and I’m not sure whether the concept just can’t entertain for more then one OVA or if it’s just being handled poorly.But El-Hazard 2 does have a some positives, namely the fact that the entire cast is intact and they’re as likable as ever. It’s interesting to see how the characters who were originally from Earth have integrated into Rashtarian society. All three have minor cosmetic changes and seem to be making a realistic transition into a new life in that dimension. The other characters have minor touch-ups as well but nothing really substantial, everyone’s motivations are basically the same as before but it’s tough to fault anyone for that decision. One of the original OVA’s biggest strengths was its interesting cast, the sequel leans on them heavily and they provide a great deal of entertainment despite the unoriginal story.My biggest complaint with El-Hazard 2, outside the conservative storyline, is the drop in production value. The original wasn’t a landmark achievement in animation or sound but it was at least solid in both areas with some occasionally memorable work sprinkled in as well. The sequel’s animation quality dips pathetically at times and at best it’s only as good as the first OVA’s lowest quality scenes. The soundtrack lacks the catchy tone of the original so the synthesized music comes off very badly. It never really sets the mood well, at times it does manage to blend into the background nicely, but at its worst the music can really draw your attention away from the action and that’s never a good thing.I rarely go into detail about dialogue but I have to mention it this time around, it’s just that poor. To be fair the entire show isn’t filled with terrible lines, the majority of the time it’s passable, but at it’s worst it can be painfully bad. There is a scene where an argument is going on, one of the protagonists says Makoto shouldn’t go because it’s dangerous, he says he wants to, and they immediately agree. Not a reluctant “It’s our only choice” but literally just “Yes”. The fact that it occurs during what should be the emotional climax of the show makes it even worse. Some anime simply have terrible dialogue throughout, El Hazard 2's worst moments are few and far between but in some ways that's even worse. After an hour of decent lines, hearing an awful exchange during a key scene can jerk your mind away from the action in an instant. The dub quality is actually pretty good, most of the English cast has been retained, but when you ask them to deliver barely passable dialogue there’s not a whole lot they can do with it.El-Hazard 2 seems to have all the necessary elements of a good sequel but it just comes together very poorly. The story is recycled, the animation quality is sloppy, and the dialogue is sometimes atrocious. Overall it’s just a movie-length epilogue that feels unnecessary. El-Hazard 2 is strictly for fans of the first OVA who are clamoring for more adventures from this group regardless of quality. For anyone else, just watch the original and don’t bother with this one.Final Score: 7.2Storyline: PoorAnimation: PassableSoundtrack: PoorDub: GoodAlso Try: El-Hazard the Magnificent World
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