El Hazard: The Alternative World

Original Title: 異次元の世界エルハザード
Romanized: Ijigen no Sekai Eru Hazaado
Literal: Alternate Dimension World

Plot Synopsis

The El Hazard crew from the OAVs is back for more dimension-hopping fun. Miz has finally managed to tie the knot with Mr. Fujisawa, which means that she'll be retiring, and the new Priestess of Water is on the way. The young priestess-to-be, Qwaoor, is as sweet as could be, but has an extreme dislike of bugs (pity the Bugrom) and after a little mishap, takes a liking to Makoto...

And then a weird old guy in a trans-dimensional orb who claims to be the Master of the Universe has a little chat with Jinnai and the whole crew ends up getting scattered across another alternate world. Oops. Now the Earth folks aren't the only strangers in a strange land. With floating farms, a slightly unhinged emperor and his cold-as-ice general, and the Spring of Life that powers their capital, what a strange land it is.

One group is enjoying peaceful farm life, another is captured by a bunch of bugs, while at the Imperial Palace the Emperor has gotten it into his head that Makoto can fix the dying Spring of Life... or else. Then there's Fatora, Allele, and Allele's dead ringer (and male) cousin Parnase (what is it with lesbians looking like the guys in this series, anyway?), a dangerous team in any world.

Quick Review

Rating: 3.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2006-07-23

El Hazard: The Alternative World picks up where the El Hazard OAVs left off. Yes, that's right: At last, continuity! On the positive side, this sequel develops the characters in new and interesting ways, offering more maturity and depth for Makoto, a more filled-out Nanami and the new "sweet girl" Qwaoor, and more fun with the now-married Fujisawa and Miz. On the negative end, it's marred by a plot spread thin over several unrelated groups, a Jinnai shortage, and a horribly abrupt, painfully unsatisfying end. At least the production values and interesting world are more or less up to par for the series, and the quality Japanese voice cast is back and in tip-top shape. Oh, and there's a hilarious romp of a bonus "purification ritual" episode tacked on to the end that makes up for the lack of humor and lesbian hijinks elsewhere.

El Hazard: The Alternative World is not the place for the unfamiliar to start the series, and it's not quite the sequel fans of the OAVs might wish for, but by and large established fans should enjoy this addition to the series. If nothing else, give praise that it offer some sort of continuity.

US DVD Review

A fine, if not fancy series of DVDs. Each disc includes a chapter index, English and Japanese stereo audio tracks, an English subtitle track, and a very sharp video transfer. Special features are minimal, though.

There's also a box set of the whole series.

Content Guide

With the exception of occasional lesbian hijinks, there is a minimum of serious violence and occasional adult theme or bit of undetailed nudity. Pioneer appropriately rated it 13-up. Note, though, that the bonus episode at the end has a lot more mature humor (and undetailed nudity) than the rest of the series, and would be 16-up on its own.

Violence: 2 - Violent on occasion, but mostly cartoony and no real body count.

Nudity: 2 - Undetailed and minimal nudity. The bonus episode, however, ranks a 3 for undetailed but plentiful skin.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - An off color joke here and there. The bonus episode has its share of very raunchy humor, ranking a 3.

Language: 2 - Nothing of note.

Notes and Trivia

Although this is a TV series, it follows the storyline of the two OAV series. It does not relate to the first TV series, which is out on its own, re-using the same characters in for an entirely unconnected plot. The final episode was not included when the series originally aired on TV Tokyo; it was included as a "too hot for TV" bonus with the video release.

Availability

Available in the US from Geneon on four hybrid DVDs, as well as a box set of the whole series. Was originally (back when Geneon was Pioneer) also available on four subtitled or dubbed VHS tapes released alongside the DVD volumes, now out of print.

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