Which El Hazard Universe do you prefer?

[nirvana]

Hi there! First time poster on the forums but long time fan of this amazing adventure! Props to Rob Jinnai for creating such a marvel of a fan site. *A chorus of Jinnai laughter to be heard!*

But, I would like to pose this question to all my fellow wanderers out there: Which El Hazard Universe/Storyline would you prefer out of them all?

For me, it would have to be the manga storyline. Probably because Makoto is "very forward" with the ladies. That and the designs for the characters are my favorite ones. (OVA style Priestesses and Ifurita, Wanderers Rune Venus, etc. )

[Helio Perroni Filho]

But, I would like to pose this question to all my fellow wanderers out there: Which El Hazard Universe/Storyline would you prefer out of them all?

Probably the OAV storyline. I say "probably" because the manga scores a way close second: it combines some of the best elements of both the OAV and TV storylines, and gets to develop Ifurita's personality much more. If only the ending wasn't so rushed...

[mark_engels]

Probably the OAV storyline. I say "probably" because the manga scores a way close second: it combines some of the best elements of both the OAV and TV storylines, and gets to develop Ifurita's personality much more. If only the ending wasn't so rushed...

Wot he sed.

MJE

[Spanner]

The OAV storyline is far and away my favorite, provided you clip off such nuisances as OAV2 and The Alternative World. (Eh, they weren't TERRIBLE, but I truly feel they were the wrong way to handle the OAV legacy.) Of all the El-Hazard series, they did the best of balancing the Adventure, Humor, Character Development, and Overall Setting of El-Hazard.

The Manga version was pretty good, but was far too focused on Ifurita and Makoto. All the other characters were pretty much shunted aside, and were little more than background characters. This is all well and good for Ifurita and Matoko fans, but I found it dissatisfying after having gotten to know the others from the OAV and TV series. The Manga would have been great, if it had been about ten times longer, and given everyone the treatment they deserved.

The El-Hazard: The Wanderers series was fabulous, though had too much filler. It was also, perhaps, a little too much on the zany side. Jinnai was great, as always, but it was a lot harder to take him seriously as a villain. The romance aspect of the story was kind of boring, too. The best thing to come out of that series, though, makes up for a lot of it, and that's TV Ifurita, quite possibly my all-time favorite anime character. She's just so adorable.

Don't get me wrong - they're all great. The OAV just happens to be, in my opinion, the best treatment of the material.

[nirvana]

The OAV storyline is far and away my favorite, provided you clip off such nuisances as OAV2 and The Alternative World. (Eh, they weren't TERRIBLE, but I truly feel they were the wrong way to handle the OAV legacy.) Of all the El-Hazard series, they did the best of balancing the Adventure, Humor, Character Development, and Overall Setting of El-Hazard.

The Manga version was pretty good, but was far too focused on Ifurita and Makoto. All the other characters were pretty much shunted aside, and were little more than background characters. This is all well and good for Ifurita and Matoko fans, but I found it dissatisfying after having gotten to know the others from the OAV and TV series. The Manga would have been great, if it had been about ten times longer, and given everyone the treatment they deserved.

The El-Hazard: The Wanderers series was fabulous, though had too much filler. It was also, perhaps, a little too much on the zany side. Jinnai was great, as always, but it was a lot harder to take him seriously as a villain. The romance aspect of the story was kind of boring, too. The best thing to come out of that series, though, makes up for a lot of it, and that's TV Ifurita, quite possibly my all-time favorite anime character. She's just so adorable.

Don't get me wrong - they're all great. The OAV just happens to be, in my opinion, the best treatment of the material.

Wow...you've said a mouthful! And yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with you about clipping off OVA 2 and Alternative world from the first OVA's legacy...

[tuffy]

That would be the first OVA one.  El-Hazard 2, despite its fun first episode, starts feeling like a pale imitation of itself once Kalia and Ifurita 2 make their appearances.  The Wanderers also has some fun moments.  But with 26 episodes to work with, it was a mistake making Jinnai both incompetent and the only major antagonist.  I think having some lengthy arcs where Jinnai and other villainous factions posed a real threat would've improved the series considerably.

[Saucer]

Probably the OAV storyline. I say "probably" because the manga scores a way close second: it combines some of the best elements of both the OAV and TV storylines, and gets to develop Ifurita's personality much more. If only the ending wasn't so rushed...

Yeah, I'm going to have to go with that as well. ^_^

[von_eisenberg]

hmm
ok, today is the first time i ever hear there is a manga series of EH
so i can only speak about the others
so my favourite storyline is the ova
ok, it was the first i saw and maybe this is the reasons why it's the true El Hazard story for me
i just like the characters in it
more than in the other ones, doesn't mean i don't like them too

[Icy EyeG]

hmm
ok, tody is the first time i ever hear there is a manga series of EH

Welcome to the forums!  
The manga it's not very well known, but you can find the books (3 volumes) at Amazon or eBay.

Come to think of it, this was a bump of two and a half years....  

[von_eisenberg]

thx
i think i'll have a look at amazon
maybe i can get hands on the mangas

[Triple_R]

That would be the first OVA one.  El-Hazard 2, despite its fun first episode, starts feeling like a pale imitation of itself once Kalia and Ifurita 2 make their appearances.  The Wanderers also has some fun moments.  But with 26 episodes to work with, it was a mistake making Jinnai both incompetent and the only major antagonist.  I think having some lengthy arcs where Jinnai and other villainous factions posed a real threat would've improved the series considerably.

Well, I felt that Wanderers Jinnai was very competent and posed a real threat in the episode Operation: Abduction, and also very late in the series.

Still, I'll admit he was played mostly for laughs in the first half of the Wanderers, and that was probably a mistake, agreed. By the time he became a serious threat, a lot of Wanderers fans probably weren't taking him seriously at all any more.

Overall, I perfer the OVA (largely since the antagonists were presented as serious, and very competent, militaristic threats), but there were elements of the Wanderers that I perfered.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually perfered Makoto/Wanderers Rune Venus to Makoto/OVA Ifurita. The Makoto/Wanderers Rune Venus romance just felt more natural, and much better fleshed out to me, than the Makoto/OVA Ifurita romance did.

Also, I perfered the Wanderers ending to the OVA one.

I think that the original El Hazard OVA made a big mistake in completely decimating the Bugrom Empire, and hence making them totally unsuitable as an antagonist army for Jinnai and Diva to use in OVAs 2 and 3. This resulted in a short OVA 2 that was all about Ifurita (version 2) vs. Kalia, and a weird OVA 3 that relied a bit too much on brand new characters.

Wanderers wisely left room for a good sequel by leaving the Bugrom Empire largely in tact. It's too bad that the OVA didn't do the same, because if it did, I think that OVAs 2 and 3 would have been better for it.

Still, the El Hazard OVA has excellent drama, great villains that are both dynamic and constant serious threats, and a fantastic pace with out filler episodes (which Wanderers admittably was a bit bogged down with at times).