Magic Knight Rayearth is a manga and anime series created by CLAMP. One of the main characters in the series is Ferio, who plays a crucial role in the story. Ferio is a young man who initially appears as a thief in the land of Cephiro. He has a mischievous and carefree personality, often seen stealing from shops and causing trouble. However, as the story progresses, it is revealed that Ferio is much more than just a common thief. Ferio is the younger brother of Princess Emeraude, the ruler of Cephiro.
With this dizzyingly rich novel of ideas, Thomas Mann rose to the front ranks of the great modern novelists, winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1929. The Magic Mountain takes place in an exclusive tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps–a community devoted to sickness that serves as a fictional microcosm for Europe in the days before the First World War.
The Magic Mountain is the answer you want to give if you are asked what one book you would take to a desert island when you love Western culture but don t want to look as basic as those who name the complete works of William Shakespeare. We may find it overly intellectual, but life is full of intellectual engagement for many of us, and if not intellectual then at least populated with ideas.
Ferio is the younger brother of Princess Emeraude, the ruler of Cephiro. He is initially unaware of his sister's role as the pillar that maintains the balance of Cephiro. However, after meeting the three main protagonists, Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, Ferio becomes involved in their quest to save Cephiro from destruction.
Alec Nevala-Lee
(Note: For the rest of the month, I’m counting down the ten works of fiction that have had the greatest influence on my life as an author and reader, in order of their first publication. For earlier entries in the series, please see here.)
Whenever I think of Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, I always begin with the blankets. They’re a pair of lovely camel-hair blankets, “extra long and wide, in a natural beige fabric that was delightfully soft to the touch,” and they’re used by the residents of a sanitarium in the Alps while lounging on their balconies for their daily rest cure, which can last for hours. They certainly sound cozy:
Whether it was the texture of the cushions, the perfect slant of the back support, the proper height and width of the armrests, or simply the practical consistency of the neck roll—whatever it was, nothing could possibly have offered more humane benefits for a body at rest than this splendid lounge chair.
If you can understand the appeal of those blankets—and of their promise of a life spent in glorious inactivity—you can begin to grasp what makes this novel so fascinating, despite its daunting appearance. As I’ve mentioned before, The Magic Mountain may be the least inviting of all major twentieth-century novels: it lacks the snob appeal of Ulysses or Proust, its structure is classical and crystalline, and a plot summary doesn’t exactly make it sound like a page-turner. The first necessary step is a leap of the imagination, a willingness to acknowledge the part of yourself that, like the young Hans Castorp, is drawn to the idea of giving up all ambition, all advancement, all action, for the sake of a life spent in the confines of a comfortable chair. Hans Castorp’s reasoning may not be airtight, but it’s hard to deny its power: “On the whole, however, it seemed to him that although honor had its advantages, so, too, did disgrace, and that indeed the advantages of the latter were almost boundless.”
In the end, Hans, a perfectly healthy young man, ends up staying at the sanitarium for seven years. Of course, what he and the reader soon discover is that this retreat into inactivity is secretly a plunge into something else. Despite its unlikely subject matter, The Magic Mountain vibrates on every page with life, intelligence, and insight. Mann likes to remind us, a bit too insistently, that Hans is “ordinary,” but really, as Harold Bloom points out, he’s immensely likable and curious, and you come to identify with him enormously. The story in which he finds himself has often been called a novel of ideas, and it is, but it’s much more: Mann stuffs it with compelling set pieces—Walpurgis Night, Hans’s nearly fatal misadventure in the snowstorm, the séance, the duel between Naptha and Settembrini—that would be high points in any novel, and it isn’t hard to see why the book was a huge bestseller in its time. Like Proust, Mann has useful insights into a dazzling variety of subjects, ranging from medicine to music to the nature of time, even as he depicts a world in which these ideas are on the verge of being destroyed. The characters are rendered with uncanny vividness, and when you’re done, you feel as if you’ve passed half a lifetime in their company, and the memory is charged with nostalgia, longing, and regret. It took me a long time to come around to this book, and it sat unread on my shelf for years. When I finally started it for real, it was with a distinct sense of obligation. And what I found, much to my surprise, was that it was the novel I’d been looking for my entire life.
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And what are those ideas? Well, we might say that Settembrini is a humanist. He is buoyed by a beautiful hope for a better world, a cosmopolitan world of peace and fairness. Even stricken by illness, he is a member of all sorts of international committees and organisations that aim to improve the world. To give an example of the sort of work he does, he is engaged with creating a volume for The Sociology of Suffering, a series of books that aims to categorise every sort of suffering in the world that it may then be eliminated through the power of reason. Settembrini is the bright light of the Enlightenment, the heroic intellectual that we never have enough of. “Order and classification are the beginning of mastery, whereas the truly dreadful enemy is the unknown,” he tells us. A hero he is, but also limited. There are only so many international organisations that seem to be doing very little other than convening which we can handle.
Throughout the series, Ferio demonstrates his loyalty and bravery, often putting himself in danger to protect the others. His skills in combat and his knowledge of Cephiro's secrets prove to be invaluable to the group. Ferio also develops a romantic relationship with Fuu, one of the main protagonists. Their relationship adds a layer of complexity to the story, as they must navigate their feelings while also focusing on their mission to save Cephiro. In the end, Ferio plays a crucial role in the group's success in saving Cephiro. His selflessness and determination make him a beloved character among fans of the series. Ferio's character arc in Magic Knight Rayearth is a testament to the power of redemption and the strength of familial bonds. Despite his initial role as a thief, Ferio emerges as a hero and a vital ally to the main characters in their quest..
Reviews for "Ferio as an Example of a Well-Written Male Character in Magic Knight Rayearth"
1. Jennifer - 2/5 - I found "Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio" to be incredibly disappointing. The story was confusing and poorly developed, making it hard for me to stay engaged. Additionally, the characters felt one-dimensional and lacked any real depth or growth throughout the series. The animation and artwork were also quite outdated and didn't hold up well compared to newer anime. Overall, I felt like this series was a missed opportunity and simply didn't live up to my expectations.
2. Mark - 1/5 - I couldn't stand "Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio." The plot was convoluted and made very little sense, jumping from one random event to another without any real explanation. The characters were boring and had no real chemistry or meaningful interactions. The animation was also subpar and reminded me of older, less refined anime. I simply couldn't find anything redeeming about this series and would not recommend it to anyone.
3. Sarah - 2/5 - "Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio" was a major letdown for me. The storyline felt disjointed and lacked proper pacing, making it hard for me to understand what was going on. The characters were also uninteresting and seemed to lack any real development or complexity. Additionally, the animation quality was lackluster, especially compared to other anime series of the same time period. Overall, I was disappointed with this series and would not recommend it to fans of the fantasy genre.
4. Michael - 2/5 - I didn't enjoy "Magic Knight Rayearth Ferio" as much as I had hoped. The plot was rather predictable and lacked any real surprises or twists. The characters felt flat and unoriginal, with cliche personalities that we've seen in many other anime series. The animation quality was decent but nothing remarkable. Overall, this series felt like a generic fantasy story that failed to bring anything new or interesting to the table. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone looking for a captivating anime experience.