MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH: NOVA anime cel

Magic Knight Rayearth is a Japanese manga & anime series created by the female manga collective, Clamp (creators of X, Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, xxxHolic, and Tsubasa). Appearing as a serial in the manga magazine Nakayoshi from November 1993 to February 1995 then collected into three bound volumes by Kodansha and eventually published in English alongside Sailor Moon in TokyoPop’s MixxZine, Rayearth is something of a cult classic that lies tonally between Sailor Moon and Vampire Hunter D.

The series follows three eighth-grade girls who find themselves transported from modern-day Japan into a magical world, where they are tasked with rescuing a princess. A friend of CLAMP, illustrator Takeshi Okazaki, created the “Rayearth” part of the title, while Nanase Ohkawa thought of the rest –combining elements from the magical girl and mecha anime genres with parallel world fantasy. The manga was adapted into two anime series in 1994 and an original video animation (OVA) in 1997. It was then adapted as a series of popular video games on the Sega Saturn and Super Nintendo Entertainment System consoles and at the crest of the first, great handheld-gaming wave that was spearheaded by the release of Nintendo Gameboy and Sega Game Gear, making Rayearth a nostalgic touchstone for millennials.

The animated series was fairly faithful to the manga until the second season which introduced two anime-only antagonists: Nova and Lady Debonair. These new characters were created by CLAMP specifically for the anime and Nova in particular became a fan favorite.

Reflecting the culture of the time, Magic Knight Rayearth is dark and gothic with elements of sadism and even schizophrenia, which is unusual for a series ostensibly aimed at younger viewers. Nova is the breakout anti-hero who most epitomizes the diabolic mischief of the series, and key cels like one are legitimately rare. This close-up is as beautiful a cel as you could want from this discerning anime from the season that introduced her.