El-Hazard: The Alternative World Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

El-Hazard: The Alternative World Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Neil Lumbard February 18, 2023

El Hazard: The Alternative World is an imaginative sequel to the original OVA series. Created by Hiroki Hayashi, El Hazard: The Alternative World expands on the series with more out-of-this-world anime. Produced by Hiroaki Inoue (Armitage III, Blue Gender), Kazuaki Morijiri (Magical Project S, Queen's Blade: Rebellion), and Kinya Watanabe (Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, Place to Place).

 El Hazard: The Alternative World has plenty of charm. Broadcast on TV Tokyo in Japan and featuring animation by production companies AIC (Tenchi Muyo!, Ah! My Goddess) and Pioneer LDC (Akira, Armitage III), El Hazard: The Alternative World is beautifully produced. Fans of the original will undoubtedly want to check it out.

The journey of the mysterious world expands to new realms previously thought impossible as the tale of El Hazard becomes even grander in scope. With the unexpected arrival of a water Priestess named Qawool Towles (Maaya Sakamoto), the tale takes a turn. During her introductory ceremony, the Priestess Qawool is transported to another alternative land – a world unlike El Hazard – with the arrival of Arjah.

A experience that recalls the first trip to El Hazard, Makoto (Tetsuya Iwanaga) and the others are now tossed in to another world with the arrival at the Kingdom of Creteria. Unlike El Hazard, Creteria is a bleaker environment and the state of reality is complex. Can everyone return safely to El Hazard?

In order to return to El Hazard, a puzzle must be solved – one that could perhaps provide them all with the secret key home. The ancient Spring of Life artifact could hold the key but can everyone solve the puzzle before it is too late?

The characters are central to the success of the franchise. Makoto is a fun character and a solid lead for the production. The character certainly has a sense of wonder to him and this helps the storytelling to feel more relatable. The Japanese voice-cast is compelling and the addition of Maaya Sakamoto (one of my favorite musicians) to the production is a wonderful addition to the El Hazard: The Alternative World series.

The character designs by Atsushi Okuda (Tenchi Muyo! GXP, Magical Project S) and Toshimitsu Kobayashi (Demon King Daimao, Spice and Wolf II) are impressive and creative. This is a series showcasing plenty of charm in the design arena. The characters are distinctly well-animated – outstanding efforts by Okuda and Kobayashi.

Under the art direction of Satoshi Kuwabara (The Legend of Black Heaven, Popotan), El Hazard: The Alternative World has a beautiful animated landscape. Kuwabara is a wonderful art director and he brought forth great efforts from the team of animators involved on the series production. This is an imaginative looking anime and the landscape art is full of unique style – enhancing the tone of the production. The efforts of Kuwabara are certainly noteworthy and make the series all the better.

The original score by Seikou Nagaoka (Tenchi Universe, Chaika - The Coffin Princess) is wonderfully creative. The score has a terrific sense of charm. The music enhances the genre elements of the production and these components provide the series with a sense of character that is great fun. Compelling music adds to the sense of wonder.

The cinematography by Hideo Okazaki (Cosplay Complex, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure) isn’t on par with the original and is a less impressive element. Nonetheless, Okazaki did a solid enough job with the material. Though not a knockout success when it comes to the cinematography itself, the lensing and its impact regarding tone is still felt.

Written by Mitsuhiro Yamada (Ninja Cadets, Kurogane Communication), El Hazard: The Alternative World provides an enjoyable trip back to the world of El Hazard. The scriptwriting is creative and enjoyable. Fans of classic anime series will appreciate the sense of comedic timing to the story.

Directed by Yasuhito Kikuchi (Macross Frontier, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime), El Hazard: The Alternative World might not be on par with the original, but on its own merits it is a worthwhile anime which expands on the original, brings back key characters, and expands the cast. The production is enjoyable and well produced and the filmmaking is entertaining. A solid effort by the chief director and the end results are enjoyable.

El-Hazard: The Alternative World Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Nozomi Entertainment, El Hazard: The Alternative World is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The high-definition presentation isn't quite as robust looking as the original OVA series. It appears to be sourced from standard definition material and is an upscaled presentation. The presentation looks marginally better than standard-definition DVDs but is less crisp and clarity is somewhat underwhelming.

El-Hazard: The Alternative World Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The audio quality on the release is reasonably engaging. However, the tracks seem less refined than on some releases and are a bit less immersive sounding. The audio demonstrates a more limited dynamic range – though it fares a little better than the upscaled video presentation.

El-Hazard: The Alternative World Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1:

Textless Opening (HD, 2:00)

Textless Ending (HD, 3:18)

Disc 2:

Episode 13 Textless Ending (HD, 2:48)

Art Gallery (HD, 00:54)

Nozomi Entertainment Trailers (HD, 1:50)

El-Hazard: The Alternative World Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

El Hazard: The Alternative World offers audiences a fun sequel series to the beloved original OVA productions. The animation is creative and the production team provided the series with a lot of imaginative components. The Blu-ray release is sourced from standard definition material and the upscaled presentation looks decent but is a far cry from the exceptional presentation on the OVA episodes.

 The Blu-ray release also lacks meaningful supplemental features and nothing is especially noteworthy about the release is this regard. Nonetheless, fans of El Hazard: The Alternative World will appreciate that the series is now available to own and might consider a purchase on the strength of the series itself. Recommended.