![]() Asking a person to self-sacrifice, even for the good of an entire world, is WRONG. The girls are torn up when they discover the truth about WHY they had to kill Emeraude, and the entire plot of part 2 surrounds the flaws of the Pillar system. When Emeraude falls in love with Zagato (and act that calls upon her to wish for her OWN happiness and the happiness of the person she loves), Cephiro falls into chaos, and the Magic Knights are called upon to kill her, rather than let the world crumble. Cephiro’s “pillar” system dictates that one person (the pillar: Princess Emeraude in part 1) must dedicate their lives in total self-sacrifice to prayer in order to keep Cephiro in balance. As though nobility for women only comes from nurturing and giving up literally all we have: our very lives. They are martyrs, dying for their sons or husbands or countries. Women in narratives are often called upon to be self-sacrificing. It is a complete rejection of the “women are catty and always fight” bullshit that media so often pushes. Women are strong when they rely on each other in this narrative. Together, these three girls draw strength from each other. ![]() Alone, none of them would have prevailed. In order to unlock their “Manshin” (legendary spirit mecha things), they have to prove the strength of their hearts, and for each of them, they do this by saving the others from danger. Other characters actually comment on how quickly this bond formed.Īnd that bond is the source of their strength. They even decide to call each other sisters in the FIRST volume. These three instantly become best friends. Yet, there is never any inter-personal conflict between them. Our heroes, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, had never met before they were transported to Cephiro. Not just literal sisterhood, but solidarity between women in general. MKR holds true to that. There are two big feminist themes that run through the series: sisterhood, and the rejection of self-sacrifice. It is very feminist in nature, and female-centric. For those unfamiliar with the series, it is a 6 volume manga by Clamp (the same creations as Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, Tsubasa, and many others.) It is your classic Magical Girl series three normal japanese girls are transported to a magical kingdom, given magical powers, and tasked to save the world. In a bought of nostalgia, I recently re-read the entire Magic Knight Rayearth manga series (part 1 and 2). This post DOES contain spoilers for the ENTIRE series. I have only seen a few episodes of the anime, and that was like, 8 years ago, so this reading is manga based only. Magic Knight Rayearth: The strength of sisterhood and the rejection of self-sacrificeįull disclosure: The following reading is based on the MKR and MKR 2 manga, not the anime. ![]()
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