Tonight, we reach the finale of the first El-Hazard OAV series. For those hungry for more El-Hazard, there was an El-Hazard TV series that aired in Japan last year. Though the characters look and act mostly the same, the storyline is different. One major change is that Fatora is no longer in the series. More importantly for this fan, Ifurita's character has been made comical and is replaced by a younger Rune Venus as Makoto's love interest. Despite these changes, the TV series has remained fairly popular in its own right in Japan. It is likely that Pioneer will release the 26-episode TV series in the US eventually. There was also an eight-part radio drama that ran during the summer of 1996 that focused on Fujisawa-sensei and Miz's wedding. Fortunately for this fan, production on a second El-Hazard OAV series has begun with release scheduled for sometime in Winter '96. Given Pioneer's American release schedule, the first episodes should reach us sometime in Spring '97. |