Shidou Hikaru, Ryuuzaki Umi, and Hououji Fuu (yes, those names aren't obvious)* are three fourteen-year old girls from very different worlds. Hikaru's family runs a kendo dojo, and Umi and Fuu are both from financially blessed families. While on field trips to Tokyo Tower, the girls meet for the first time - then, they are surrounded by a blinding white light, and a crying girl's voice, saying, "Please, save Cephiro - Magic Knights!" Landing on a giant fish, the girls realize instantly that they are not in Tokyo anymore - but rather, they were summoned to the land of will, Cephiro, in order to save it. In Cephiro, everything is decided by the strength of will - and the one with the strongest will is Princess Emeraude, the "Pillar" of Cephiro. Praying constantly for the prosperity of Cephiro, Princess Emeraude was suddenly abducted and locked away by her own High Priest, Zagato. Unable to pray, the land of Cephiro begins to decay without the power of the Pillar. These three girls are told this, and that the only way to return to Tokyo is to save Cephiro, and to do that, they must save the princess, and to save the princess, they must defeat Zagato. However, he is the most powerful sorcerer in all Cephiro, save Emeraude herself. To kill him, they must become the Magic Knights and 'don' the three Rune Gods, which are actually huge mechas made in the image of a wolf, a dragon, and a phoenix/really big bird. So, the girls undertake the mission, learning to use magic powers - Hikaru with fire, Umi with water, and Fuu with wind - but even their mission is not as it seems.
*"Ryuuzaki Umi" is literally translated as "Sea of the Dragon Blossom (credit Iridescent Ultramarine. "Hououji Fuu" should be "Phoenix of Wind", or something. I don't remember the direct translation of "Shidou Hikaru", but Hikaru has something to do with light.
The plot was boringly predictable for nineteen episodes, and then pow! It exploded in the final battle during episode twenty. The ending was everything I could have hoped for and more, but unfortunately, the nineteen leading up to it were worse than boring - they were absolutely horrible. It was a fairly boring, predictable plot, and then the characters didn't change at all - maybe Hikaru wasn't as optimistic, and Umi less whiny, but overall, they show no change in growing up or anything at all until season two - but I'm reviewing season one. Besides that, some parts of it were worse than dumb, such as the whole thing with Ascot taking forever to realize he was messing up, and other plot elements. I would say the first season is only worth watching for the ending. However, if you like it to be predictable, let me be the last one to say this one isn't worth watching.
[Arc Two - Episodes 21-49]
SPOILERS - If you already know the end of Season One, then go ahead and read this. Otherwise, reading this will absolutely ruin episode twenty.
Shidou Hikaru, Ryuuzaki Umi, and Hououji Fuu have all returned to Tokyo. However, after killing Princess Emeraude in episode twenty, the girls were all in a depression. Worried half to death over Cephiro, the girls make another trip to Tokyo Tower, and the same bright light that summoned them the first time surrounds them again. Landing on that same flying fish, the girls are welcomed back into Cephiro - or what remains of it. The entire world is ravaged by earthquakes, and the entire population is in a castle in the sky, forged from the wills of the strongest sorcerer's in Cephiro. The Pillar is dead, and Cephiro needs a new one, or it will simply crumble away. While staying in the floating castle, the girls are told by High Mage Guru Clef that other countries are approaching Cephiro. If one of those people from another country has the strongest will needed for Cephiro, they can become the Pillar. If that happens, they could will the gates of Cephiro open for their home country to invade. Horrified, the girls take it upon themselves to defend Cephiro as the Magic Knights, long enough for a new Pillar to be found. But while the countries of Chizeta, Autozam, and Fahren are attacking, how can they possibly find someone to be the Pillar, knowing the tragedy that will most definitely come?
The plot definitely got more interesting here. After all, a whole load of characters were thrown in here - the princesses of Chizeta, the princess of Fahren and her two attendants, and the battleship from Autozam. Inevitably, the most important of the three is the chief commander of the Autozam battleship, Eagle Vision. Twining the lives of the four separate countries together, battles happen quickly and spectacularly, added with the worst part of Cephiro - the fear itself. Several plotlines are running through second season, making it much better than it was before. However, even though most of the episodes were good, it would have benefited greatly using some of those filler episodes to add more drama to the emotional battles everyone was going through. As it was, some of the characters seemed rather shallow, even though the matter at hand was serious. The most disappointing thing was episode forty-nine, which I think was a complete waste of my time. What amuses me is that in first season, only the battle was really worth watching, while in second season, only the episodes leading up to it are worth watching.
The main three characters have definitely grown up, changed, and matured for the better. Having gone through an absolute horrific trauma, the girls make this dramatic change from the first twenty episodes. It would have been fine if they had just left it alone, but Hikaru and Umi suddenly fell in love with two other people. It was as if having left them love-less for the first season, they decided to make them both just crash and fall in love. Umi's crush came out of absolutely nowhere, and Hikaru's was about as realistic as Sailor Moon falling in love with Sailor Pluto, or something along those lines. Those two 'romances' were horribly put together and took a lot away from the quality of the show. In fact, other than Fuu's romance and Ascot's crush on Umi, about three other love triangles were brought crashing in on your head in just two episodes. Nothing gradual about this, and it certainly made me think that this was rather like a soap opera. They would have done better to leave the romance out.
Otherwise, second season was fairly enjoyable and I can't say that you shouldn't watch it. However, it is rather brainless and stereotypical at times (it's the fear that makes monsters! Don't be afraid!), and so I would recommend not thinking.
