Shinpi no Sekai El-Hazard

After Makoto Mizuhara agrees to testify against the boisterous student council president Katsuhiko Jinnai for bribing school clubs in the recent student council elections, Jinnai chases him down in an attempt to silence his self-proclaimed rival. Suddenly, during the chase, time stops for everyone—except Makoto. Perplexed, he wanders around the campus until he notices a light coming from the school's closed-off basement, where an ancient relic had just been uncovered.

Makoto is walking toward the artifact surrounded by strings of light, when out of it comes an otherworldly woman who claims she has been waiting for ten thousand years to see him. Weakened by the passage of time, she uses her remaining power to transport a confused Makoto to another world, which she refers to as El-Hazard. However, others who are still at school are also caught in the spell, namely: Jinnai; Masamichi Fujisawa, the alcoholic teacher; and Nanami Jinnai, the headstrong sister of president Jinnai.

The fantastical and magnificent world of El-Hazard awaits these four individuals where they will become entangled in the story of its inhabitants and embark on an adventure filled with laughter, danger, and even romance.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Jinnai, Katsuhiko Main

Okiayu, Ryoutarou Japanese

Ifurita Main

Amano, Yuri Japanese

Shayla, Shayla Main

Sakurai, Tomo Japanese

Fujisawa, Masamichi Main

Ishii, Kouji Japanese

Mizuhara, Makoto Main

Iwanaga, Tetsuya Japanese

Jinnai, Nanami Main

Natsuki, Rio Japanese

Venus, Rune Supporting

Inoue, Kikuko Japanese

Relryle, Alielle Supporting

Kozakura, Etsuko Japanese

Mann, Afura Supporting

Yoshida, Miho Japanese

Venus, Fatora Supporting

Ishimura, Tomoko Japanese

Inoue, Hiroaki Producer

Hasegawa, Yasuo Producer

Morijiri, Kazuaki Producer

Hayashi, Hiroki Director, Storyboard

Reviews

Jan 31, 2026

patkarunungan

Recommended

Series One of El-Hazard: The Magnificent World is something I had been putting off watching. It's both an old-school isekai as well as harem. What made me watch it in September of 2025 arises from my disappointment with a certain harem anime in Spring of 2025.

Is this anime as good as advertised?


§ Overview

Mizuhara Makoto, together with his teacher, Fujisawa Masamichi; his friend, Jinnai Nanami; and his rival and older sister of Nanami, Jinnai Katsuhiko, is summoned to El-Hazard to rectify that world.


... § Notes


1. Many of the people who had watched this when they were young speak of this anime as though it's an 8 out of 10 anime. I think nostalgia plays more on that rather than its objective merit of peakness. Yet, it is not without merit. There are things that it does so well, and things that it misses.


2. The summoning doesn't require death or reincarnation. The people going into the isekai are transported. This is one of its strengths as it stands in contrast to how modern isekai summon the protagonist. Clearly, this anime is made with wonder in mind.


3. The visuals are not impressive, even if it's an OVA. What I mean by that is that its storyboarding and cinematography could have been better. Its shots of castles, as our otherworlders come to it for the first time, could have been made visually imposing as though it's an overwhelming presence.


4. Its art style is superb. What I like about old-school anime can be seen here with how the look of the characters feels unique. Even Makoto, who is supposed to have a generick look, does appear to stand out compared to a number of protagonists today.


5. Its harem aspect is underdeveloped, though I prefer this one to its sister series, Tenchi Muyou. Why? Makoto and others are busy with the plot to collect different love interests. This OVA is only thirty minutes per episode for a total of seven episodes.

The adventure aspect is acceptable. It's not the best, but in the context of isekai, it feels good as Makoto is not overpowered.


6. Finally, the main highlight of this anime is the best girl. I won't spoil you on who I consider the best girl. I'll give you the hint. The dynamic between best girl and Makoto is similar to that of Bell and Artemis in the Familia Myth film. Arrow of the Orion. Since I like the latter, I'm inclined to also like the former.


§ Conclusion

It's not as great as I had anticipated, but it's still better than the previous anime I was disappointed with. If you're tired of modern isekai, give this one a try.


NOTA BENE: A grade of 6 out of 10 means that I find this anime slightly above average, and I enjoyed watching it.

A 6 means a decent score and one notch above average. If you're the kind of viewer who treats anything below a 7 as irredeemable, I'd encourage a broader, more nuanced approach to rating.

My enjoyment spectrum lies from 4 to 10. If I have scored an anime below 4, I actively dislike it.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jan 28, 2026

rallyntando

Mixed Feelings

This 7-part OVA looks fantastic. The backgrounds specifically are extremely good. The music is also above average, as are the character designs. The animation quality is high: ambitious and well-crafted. The worldbuilding is way better than I expected it to be. The alternate world of El-Hazard (terrible name as many have already mentioned) is intriguing and 'believable' with inspired creative design elements throughout. (The one exception being the kind-of gross cat armor which really looks bad and is quite distracting on screen.) I really enjoyed getting to see the world unfold more and more each episode. Ancient buried technology is almost always a winning ... ingredient, as are massive looming doomsday devices.

The plot and the characters are the stumbling blocks for my enjoyment. Some of the characters are fantastic, others are mixed, and a few are just annoying/cringe the whole time. It's the attempted mix of goofy humor with serious interdimensional plot contrivances which both helps and hurts the final product. The story overall is so close to being good, and with a few small tweaks and adjustments it could be much more special.

I have zero nostalgia for this property, have never heard a single thing about it before watching, but do feel like it was a worthwhile watch for me. Despite the absolutely incredible visual style, I hesitate to emphatically recommend it because of the uneven tone and character work, and the slightly unsatisfying story.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 20, 2025

Avinash1999

Not Recommended

Preliminary (3/7 eps)

Most isekai nowadays are pretty mid. As an isekai fan, I'm always looking for ones with good quality.

I came across this anime by chance — since it's an older one with good animation quality, I thought, why not give it a try?

I watched the first three episodes, but I didn’t enjoy it.

The type of story just doesn’t appeal to me. I kept wondering what this ridiculous story was about — maybe it meant something back in the day.

Another thing I didn’t like was the pacing. It’s not terrible, but still feels pretty slow.

And most importantly, I didn’t feel anything — no humor, no thrill, nothing ... that makes me want to keep watching.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Here are the North American anime, manga, and light novel releases for August. Week 1: August 3 - 9 Anime Releases El Hazard: The Magnificent World [incl. El Hazard ...read more

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Jun 24, 2019 2:38 PM by Snow | Discuss (23 comments)

	Poll: El Hazard: The Magnificent World Episode 2 Discussion mozgow - Jan 5, 2017	4 replies	by Ingrimni »» Jan 11, 5:03 PM
	Poll: El Hazard: The Magnificent World Episode 7 Discussion Rei_III - Oct 1, 2016	13 replies	by almightybismarck »» Nov 22, 2025 2:30 AM
	Poll: El Hazard: The Magnificent World Episode 6 Discussion mozgow - Jan 6, 2017	2 replies	by almightybismarck »» Nov 18, 2025 7:26 PM
	Poll: El Hazard: The Magnificent World Episode 5 Discussion mozgow - Jan 6, 2017	2 replies	by almightybismarck »» Nov 13, 2025 7:32 PM
	Poll: El Hazard: The Magnificent World Episode 4 Discussion mozgow - Jan 6, 2017	3 replies	by almightybismarck »» Nov 11, 2025 8:00 PM