"Peace has finally settled upon Roshtaria, and long awaited wedding between Fujisawa and Miz is about to commence. The groom is having doubts however and seeks solitude. Meanwhile the evil Jinnai discovers Kalia, a Demon Goddess, who he aims to utilise in his quest for world domination Kalia has plans of her own though, which the Fujisawa search party become more mixed up in, when they crash land near a mysterious forest, confronting an unexpected friend from the past..."
VHS version: Language: English Label: Pioneer Volume: 1 2 Running time: 60 mins 60 mins Certificate: 12 12 Catalogue no.: PIO 10053 PIO 10054 Price: £12.99 £12.99 Release Date: 2nd Aug 1999 2nd Aug 1999 Volume 1 limited edition (includes soundtrack CD): Language: English Label: Pioneer Running time: 60 mins Certificate: 12 Catalogue no.: PIO 10055 Price: £14.99 Release Date: 28th June 1999
Once again we return to the land of El-Hazard for this second series. It is the time of Mr. Fujisawa's wedding to the Priestess Miz. As the wedding proceeds, a slight hitch occurs - Mr. Fujisawa bottles out and runs away. It is left to the old gang from series one, now including Princess Fatora, to track him down. Meanwhile, the few remaining Bugrom soldiers, their Queen Diva and Jinnai search for a new base, and a new weapon, so they can start causing trouble again. As the search party tries to find Mr. Fujisawa, the end up in a secret place that contains an old friend that was thought lost.
El-Hazard I is one of my favourite anime series, and I eagerly went out and bought this video, and I honestly wasn't disappointed. All of the charm of the original series has been retained, and it remains as enjoyable as ever. These first two episodes seem to focus on the comedy aspect more heavily than any episodes of the first series did, and the addition of Princess Fatora as a regular character is simply brilliant (witness how she tries to be bed nearly every female in the search party by pretending to be Makoto - Shayla's reaction is side-splitting). Jinnai is as over the top as usual, but apart from that, almost everything on this tape is near perfect. The dub is as good, if not better than the first series, and really the only problem with the music. The opening and closing music has been changed (which is especially bad for the closing music, as the first series song is a classic) and the actual score is self seems underplayed and pushed into the background.
Grade: A - Absolutely brilliant. Another top class Pioneer release. [Daniel Fawcett]