魔法騎士レイアース 新装版 3

Definitely the most exciting and thought-provoking volume of Rayearth so far. There's a lot of really interesting character work, the action pairs well with the actual themes of the story, and the ending is really interesting in a way that works at closing up this story or arc but still has me going "damn, I kinda need more".

Looking back at the series as a whole, I do appreciate the tight pacing and the story definitely does what it needs to, but I also feel like the world was maybe a little underdeveloped. It never quite felt Cephiro was an actual society (we see maybe 10 characters total) but at the same time the particular nature of this world does make the vague, ethereal feeling work well for the storytelling and atmosphere so maybe it's not such a problem (I do wish we saw that fish again though). I do think this felt a lot more "otherworldly" than a lot of Isekai that basically amount to "it's medieval Europe but there's magic I guess" and really it's the core trio's growth that matters moreso than the specifics of any lore.

This was probably the trickiest volume for me of the three. There are some ancient beings that use rather archaic language (though they do repeat the same line a lot so take it slowly once and you'll understand their other scenes). There's also a character who inexplicably speaks in an Osaka dialect (which does lead to some great comedy from the hero's reactions) and while I got the general gist of everything she said, it was very much an "I'm going to take the L on exact grammar because I get the point" type of deal. Overall this series has been at a good level for me in the sense that I was able to read it enjoyably and get into a good flow, but there were still parts where I needed to stop and actually learn something.

This was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel series to see where things go. I enjoyed taking in an actual popular classic for once since I tend to pick my manga by whatever random niche interest it relates to and I think it really feels fresh and exciting even compared to modern Isekai stories which can be a bit more formulaic.