Anime Review: El Hazard the Alternative World

Review El Hazard the Alternative WorldWritten by WarpshadowRating fair/ good

The problem with franchises is that inevitably they run dry ending with a substandard installment. Such is the case with El Hazard.

You would think that after the Bugrom empire was decimated and all of the demon gods have been dealt with Makoto would have a chance to live the peaceful life. There is one little issue to deal with being priestess Miz Mishtal being replaced as she is getting married. What might have been a minor event turns into a major problem do to a major disaster due to a strange device that Makoto found and some meddling from Jinnai as the whole crew are cast into another world, again?

El Hazard was a great Oav and like almost every great story has been fodder for sequels. In this case it would have probably been better if they haven't. The chemistry that the characters exhibited in the Oav and to some extent the first television series is confined by the story so the characters never really shine. The story itself is inconclusive and for the most part doesn't need all the characters that it includes. The plot idea is remarkably similar to the first Oav but instead of discovering the characters they run on auto-pilot. The new characters consist of a bland new girl for Makoto, a lecherous emperor and his unrequited love and a poorly defined villain. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody but the most hard-core El Hazard fan and even then they would probably see it as a let down.