Story & Playability

Magic Knight Rayearth begins with three middle school girls, Hikaru, Umi and Fuu, visiting Tokyo Tower on a school field trip who get sucked into the mystical, fantastical world of Cephiro. It is a fairly early entry in the "protagonist(s) get whisked to another world and must save that world" genre, but CLAMP does an excellent job in pulling it off. First off, the story is split into two distinct story arcs, so distinct that the second arc is titled "Magic Knight Rayearth 2". Each story arc takes only 3 volumes of manga to tell, making the story line sharp and concise, without the waffling and long side stories that characterize some other stores in this genre (such as Fushigi Yuugi). In book 1, they find their weapons and armor, in book 2 and the first half of book 3 they find the Mashin (giant robots that will enable them to fight) and in the second half of book 3 they face the final battle. How's that for concise? The second story arc wanders a little more, when the three return to Cephiro to save it from three new enemies who would otherwise take advantage of the situation Cephiro found itself in at the end of the first story arc. The second story arc is mostly a series of battles between the Cephiro citizens and the citizens from three other worlds and doesn't have much of a progression, but since there are only three volumes of manga in which to explore this arc the lagging is not too evident.
Of course, CLAMP is well-known for their dark, dramatic story elements. People can and will get seriously injured, hearts will be broken, and you can't be sure that love or good will triumph. Still, you expect that sort of stuff from a CLAMP story. The twist at the end of both story arcs are a little obvious, but in general do not detract from the story as a whole. It's the classic "rise of a hero" (in this case, heroines) plot, but with enough interesting people and settings to make it a fun read for anyone who enjoys the fantasy and shoujo genres.

Rating: 7

Graphics

The art is quite lovely in Magic Knight Rayearth, which uses the thicker, darker, more detailed artwork that characters many of CLAMP's earlier works (Clamp Campus Detectives, Tokyo Babylon, the earlier volumes of X). The character designs are quite varied and so are their costumes - the Knight's armor is constantly changing as they pass through their trials, for example. Utilizing the fantasy world basis, CLAMP dresses many of its Cephiro characters in long flowing robes, except for the swordsmen/women who thankfully don much simpler clothes suitable to fighting. Everyone in Cephiro also seems to be endowed with 25 pounds of gems and jewelry, but it just adds more detail and flavor to the surroudings.
The surroudings themselves are also intricately rendered. From the dense trees in the Forest of Sorrows to the decidedly bizarre Spring of Eterna to the imposing shrines of the Mashin to the elegant castle of Cephiro, each location is brimming with details that make them distinct, rich environments.
Magic is also beautifully drawn. CLAMP has a wonderful way of drawing magic so that you can easily tell which element (wind, fire, water, ice, etc) is being used, just by using soft curls (for wind) to sharp curls (for water) or twisting curls (for fire.)
Attention to detail characterizes much of CLAMP's early works, and Rayearth is no exception. It takes little to get lost in the world of Cephiro.

Rating: 9

Sound

I'll use this portion to look more in depth at the characters, since the sound category is irrelevant to manga :)
The one pitfall of having a short story length (compared to many of CLAMP's other works) is that there simply isn't enough time to both develop the characters and get through all the relevant story points. In this case, CLAMP constantly introduces new people, yet except for a few, they are relegated to playing small supporting roles. They are all potentially very interesting people with their own triumphs and heartbreaks, but there is no time to delve into their stories.
Even the main characters don't have a whole lot of time for character development. As they go through the various tests and trials it's hard to get a sense that they're really growing up and maturing into their roles, as their personalities at the end of the story are not all that different from their personalities in the beginning. Additionally, these personalities are rather cookie-cutter: Hikaru (fire) is optimistic and friendly, Umi (water) is often cold and prone to anger fits, Fuu (wind) is quiet and a peace-maker. The reader can easily find at least one of the three to relate to and empathize with, but their personalities are not nearly as interesting as the cast of Cephiro, people of whom we get little insight to.
Compared to the other elements of Rayearth, the character/character development is rather a let down, but it is still enough to give the story of Rayearth a solid footing.

Rating: 6

Fun

Rayearth is a wonderful manga for fans of the shoujo and fantasy genres. Yet, unlike many shoujo stories, Rayearth is more about action than romance, so it's a great story when you're tired of hearing "Tamahome... Miaka..." for the 9572nd time. Its short length, especially as the series is split into two distinct story arcs, makes it a quick read without needed a lot of commitment of time and money. The story mostly benefits from this short length as there is no room for long filler that stretches your patience. It is an appealing story with the classic Heros' Quest premise, with the classic CLAMP dark twists, set in the beautiful, lush environment of Cephiro. There is a large cast of intriguing characters, although for many you only the merest glimpse of who they are or who they might become. Still, this is a minor issue in an otherwise delightful package of artwork and story. CLAMP did a great job with Rayearth, and I would recommend it to just about any fan of shoujo, fantasy, or CLAMP, as it's a great highlight from their earlier works.

Rating: 9

Final Verdict

7.83 (good)