I recently watched the first two seasons of the anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. It is, in my opinion, an above average magical girl series that distinguishes itself by taking the genre and its associated tropes seriously. What makes this interesting and pertinent to El-Hazard, however, are a few notable elements of the series that are worth mentioning.
Minor Spoilers!First, instead of the typical magical henshin tools the main characters use mechanical "magical" devices. Secondly, there's an organization called the Time-Space Administration Bureau that patrols the multiverse in dimensional spaceships. And third, the chief antagonist of the first season is collecting powerful items known as Jewel Seeds in order to break through dimensional barriers and reach the world of Al Hazard, the ancient, legendary capital of their civilization that was lost in a great catastrophe ages ago and where the forbidden, forgotten "spells" that can make any wish come true can still be found.
Now, you have magical devices that act like computers, technology that's so advanced it looks like magic, dimensional travel, and an ancient land where dreams can come true called Al Hazard. Does any of this sound familiar? Lamps, Eye of God, the calamity of the Holy Wars, and a land of never-ending adventures known as El-Hazard? Hm, I wonder...
Granted, this could and probably is just a coincidence or possibly a small homage, but I've had fun speculating that the Time-Space Administration Bureau and their MidChildan civilization are the descendants of one of the ancient nations of El-Hazard that was transported through time and space in the aftermath of the Holy Wars and managed to retain some of their science. And one of the most amusing moments of the first season for me was when the head villain announced her plans in a melodramatic speech and powered up her dimensional fortress to reach Al Hazard...or should that be El-Hazard?
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