The reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth finally takes our trio of main characters on the first steps of their quest in Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins”. If you’ve read or seen any traditional sword and sorcery fantasy story, then this part of the journey will look familiar to you. It even comes with the introduction of the adorable mascot character thing. CLAMP fans will recognize this particular mascot, since Mokona has been CLAMP’s mascot for the majority of their stories, making it a good way to begin our trio’s quest.
Magic Knight Rayearth (2026) Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins”: Details in Brief
Magic Knight Rayearth (2026) Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins” is the second episode (you can read my review of Ep. 1 here) of this isekai sword and sorcery, magical girl, and mecha fantasy adventure anime series. Said anime is the third anime adaptation of the 1993 manga series of the same name by CLAMP (Cardcaptor Sakura, xxxHolic, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle) after the 49-episode Magic Knight Rayearth (1994) and the three-part OVA series (1997).
E&H Production (Ninja Kamui, Red Cat Ramen) is the animation studio responsible for the animation, while TMS Entertainment (Lupin the Third, Detective Conan, Anpanman) is responsible for production. Yui Miura is the director behind the anime, with Shigeru Murakoshi as the writer, Satomi Watanabe as the character designer, and Yuki Kajiura, Takumi Ozawa, and Shiho Terada all collectively composing the music you hear in that anime.
Speaking of that music: the opening theme song for this 2026 reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth is “Otome no Tsurugi” (乙女の剣; ‘A Young Lady’s Sword’) by Toaka. Meanwhile, “Hoshiakari” (星灯; ‘Starlight’) by Yurina Kawaguchi is the ending theme song.
You can watch this modern reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth exclusively on Crunchyroll.
Magic Knight Rayearth (2026) Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins”: The Good
Every fantasy quest must begin with a single step, but Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins” actually begins its quest with a single flight. Literally, with Hikaru (voiced by Ayane Sakura (JP)), Umi (voiced by Rumi Okubo (JP)), and Fuu (voiced by Rie Takahashi (JP)) riding on the back of a giant griffin as they try to escape the attempts of the evil sorceress Alcyone (voiced by Mamiko Noto (JP)) to turn them into frozen kebabs. It’s quite a bit more of a tense beginning to a quest than normal, but that’s what makes this quest perfect for action junkies. It’s essentially an action-packed opening to a grand adventure to save a princess, with an entirely female cast being the heroes. What’s not to like about that?
Especially since E&H Production and TMS Entertainment’s animation teams are determined to make that fight scene as good-looking as possible. The animation in that scene is not only highly detailed, but also feature some very smooth animation that enhances that detail, and indicates a lot of money is in the anime’s budget for those extra frames to make the animation look smoother. This is especially apparent when Hikaru fires off her first magic spell. The lines of flame arrows melting the great shards of ice as they meet in midair just looks amazing with that animation quality.
And Now Mokona Gets the Spotlight
All with the second half of Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins” essentially being a more slice of life-ish kind of story. With our heroic trio accidentally breaking and entering into someone’s house in order to get help. That act of crime introduces them to Presea (voiced by Emiri Katō (JP)), who they apparently badly need to forge the weapons they need for their fight against the local dark lord: Zagato (voiced by Yūki Ono (JP)).
It also introduces them to the local mascot: Mokona. Fans of CLAMP’s manga and anime will readily recall this little, squishy, rabbit-like thing. It has shown up in numerous CLAMP stories, from Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle to xxxHolic. It has basically become one of CLAMP’s mascot characters, and one of their more mischievous one to boot, as you can tell by the little thing having fun just tossing papers around all over the place. Even then though, you can see hints that Mokona might play a more important part in the plot than it might seem at first glance, as is the case with Mokona in other CLAMP stories. Its conversations with Hikaru, while seemingly one-sided, feel like a Chekhov’s Mokona being handed to you to ponder over. We’ll just have to wait for future episodes of Magic Knight Rayearth to find out if this is the case.
Magic Knight Rayearth (2026) Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins”: The Bad
Unfortunately, if you were expecting the entirety of Ep. 2 “The Legend Begins” to be action-packed, then you might be disappointed. Only the first half of the episode is action, with the second half basically being story-focused downtime. If you want even more action than what we’re already getting here, then you will need to look elsewhere.
Anime Recommendations
Fortunately, if you long for more fantasy action or just blood and violence in anime form in general, then you only need look to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, TRIGUN STARGAZE, Daemons of the Shadow Realm, and / or Kagurabachi for that. However, if you want more story-focused anime to chill to after that action, then you might also like Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, Journal with Witch, Witch Hat Atelier, Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia, The Apothecary Diaries, and / or Sasaki and Peeps.
What did you think of this week’s episode of this modern reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth? Tell us your squishy thoughts in the comments section below.
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