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wren_in_black 's review for:
Magic Knight Rayearth I, Vol. 3
by CLAMP
The final installment of Magic Knight Rayearth was... okay.
I know I've harped in reviews of the previous two installments that this series suffers from an incredibly short page count. That problem is clearest and most damaging in the last installment. The final battle (Debonair) happens so quickly that it's hard to understand what is going on if you haven't read the summary or watched the anime. The art doesn't provide a lot of clarity here either since the Mashin Rune Gods are so new and we haven't yet had time to learn how to tell them apart. This means it's impossible to determine who does what in the battle. If I didn't know from watching the anime 15 years ago who actually defeats whom, I wouldn't have a clue now.
The final twist also comes with little build up or explanation and I think it would actually be more effective if it hadn't come out of the blue with no warning. Foreshadowing can be powerful, but this series didn't create room for that kind of build up. That means the twist doesn't feel earned to me and feels more like it's just something for shock value.
The last page is also very frustrating for me as a reader. We don't get to see how these three girls deal with what they've just lived through. Their task wasn't what they thought it was and I'd love to see how the trio, especially Hikaru, deal with the weight of what they've actually done - what it means for them and for Cephiro. Instead, we just get "the end".
This is where the allegory of Emaurade's task as the Pillar falls flat. She alone is responsible for the safety and security of Cephiro. This really could have led into an exploration of suffering versus responsibility, and agency versus powerlessness. With a person's will being the strongest force in Cephiro, it seemed like the series was really building up to exploring each person's responsibility to their own selves and also to the world around them. This allegory had so much potential, but it is barely explored in this final volume. Instead, this is all about in your face PLOT. Everything suffers to get the rest of this story on the page as quickly as possible.
Everything suffered in this ending volume - art, characters, allegory, relationships, empathy, even plot itself. This felt rushed and unfortunately ends the series as a bit of a hot mess instead of what it truly could have been.
Even though the plot is different, I recommend the anime after reading to get some decent closure on the story of this series.
I know I've harped in reviews of the previous two installments that this series suffers from an incredibly short page count. That problem is clearest and most damaging in the last installment. The final battle (Debonair) happens so quickly that it's hard to understand what is going on if you haven't read the summary or watched the anime. The art doesn't provide a lot of clarity here either since the Mashin Rune Gods are so new and we haven't yet had time to learn how to tell them apart. This means it's impossible to determine who does what in the battle. If I didn't know from watching the anime 15 years ago who actually defeats whom, I wouldn't have a clue now.
The final twist also comes with little build up or explanation and I think it would actually be more effective if it hadn't come out of the blue with no warning. Foreshadowing can be powerful, but this series didn't create room for that kind of build up. That means the twist doesn't feel earned to me and feels more like it's just something for shock value.
The last page is also very frustrating for me as a reader. We don't get to see how these three girls deal with what they've just lived through. Their task wasn't what they thought it was and I'd love to see how the trio, especially Hikaru, deal with the weight of what they've actually done - what it means for them and for Cephiro. Instead, we just get "the end".
This is where the allegory of Emaurade's task as the Pillar falls flat. She alone is responsible for the safety and security of Cephiro. This really could have led into an exploration of suffering versus responsibility, and agency versus powerlessness. With a person's will being the strongest force in Cephiro, it seemed like the series was really building up to exploring each person's responsibility to their own selves and also to the world around them. This allegory had so much potential, but it is barely explored in this final volume. Instead, this is all about in your face PLOT. Everything suffers to get the rest of this story on the page as quickly as possible.
Everything suffered in this ending volume - art, characters, allegory, relationships, empathy, even plot itself. This felt rushed and unfortunately ends the series as a bit of a hot mess instead of what it truly could have been.
Even though the plot is different, I recommend the anime after reading to get some decent closure on the story of this series.