The 2026 reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth shows us that friendship is quite powerful in the magic department in Ep. 4 “Our Battle”. It’s a lesson from My Little Pony, but it’s quite applicable to this anime too. Our trio of heroines will need that power, since this is their bloodiest battle to date.
Magic Knight Rayearth Ep. 4 “Our Battle”: Details in Brief
Magic Knight Rayearth Ep. 4 “Our Battle” is the fourth episode (you can read my reviews of Ep. 1, Ep. 2, and Ep. 3 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 Ep. 4 “Our Battle”: The Good
As the title would suggest, the best part of Ep. 4 “Our Battle” are the action sequences. Not only that, but they’re some of the bloodiest action sequences I’ve seen in a while. You wouldn’t even expect it given how shojo this anime looks, with the large eyes, cutesy look, and everything. Even the story’s tone and setting initially made the anime seem like we were going to get something with the violence level of a typical Saturday morning cartoon.
That started to change in the previous episode when we saw Hikaru (voiced by Ayane Sakura (JP)), Umi (voiced by Rumi Okubo (JP)), and Fuu (voiced by Rie Takahashi (JP)) carve apart monsters in surprisingly bloody fashion. This episode ups the ante with even more bloody violence. Seriously, we see our trio cleave apart smaller monsters with their blades, and we even see new guy Ferio (voiced by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (JP)) impale a larger monster in multiple places. The latter kill was actually violent enough to make me wince, and the monster didn’t just disappear into dust either. It remained impaled where it died, and it’s only the camera turning around to focus on the characters that’s the reason why we don’t see it anymore.
Not only that, but this is the first episode in which we see a main character get seriously injured. Umi’s injuries are rather gruesome to boot, complete with rivulets of blood running down from the cuts. It’s a nice way to make the audience realize that things are getting serious in this episode. Surely, this level of violence will be enough to satisfy even the most bloodthirsty of action fans.
Not Just Battle Sequences
Fortunately for story fans, this episode isn’t just a series of battle after battle. There’s quite a bit of character development and character exploration that goes on in between and among the battle sequences. In fact, that character development is so intertwined with the action that it’s impossible to separate them from the other.
The most important theme that this episode emphasizes though is the power of friendship. The various characters emphasize over and over again that this fantasy world of Cefiro is a world where belief and willpower is literally magic. This episode puts that theme into practice by having our heroine trio literally power up over their desire to help each other out. It’s a plot idea that seems like it’s right out of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and it works just as well in this anime as it does for a bunch of talking, magical ponies.
And just like in My Little Pony, their character development is the moment our heroine trio realize that they are indeed friends with each other, with an accompanying boost in magic power. It feels like the culmination of the past several episodes made into a very heartwarming climax.
All with E&H Production and TMS Entertainment’s animation teams providing some gorgeous animation for this episodes as always. You can also tell that they’re big fans of magical girl-style transformation sequences, with Umi and Fuu each getting their own stylishly gorgeous transformation sequences when they realize their magic. It makes me quite excited to see what future episodes of this Magic Knight Rayearth reboot will bring us.
Magic Knight Rayearth Ep. 4 “Our Battle”: The Bad
Alas, my one complaint is that Umi’s injuries aren’t quite realistic enough. Given such deep cuts, you would expect quite a bit more blood, with blood dripping off of the wounds onto the ground. Unfortunately, I think this may have been a budget issue rather than a technical one, since animating blood to that level would require quite a bit more frames than what we already get in Ep. 4 “Our Battle”.
Anime Recommendations
Also alas, if even that level of blood wasn’t enough for you, then you might want to slake your bloodthirsty ways with 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. However, if you want some more story-focused anime to cool down with, then you might want to check out 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 all think of this week’s episode of the 2026 reboot of Magic Knight Rayearth? Tell us your thoughts about friendship being magic in the comments section below.
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