Umi Ryuuzaki

Umi Ryuuzaki (龍咲 海 Ryūzaki Umi) is a fictional character from the anime/manga series Magic Knight Rayearth (created by Clamp). She is one of the three protagonists of the series, and represents the element of Water. Umi is an elegant, yet a bit of a short-tempered girl with flowing long blue hair. She's voiced by Konami Yoshida in the Japanese version of the anime and Wendee Lee in the English version of the TV Series and by Amy Birnbaum in the English version of the OVA..

Season 1
Like the other two main characters, Umi was also on a school trip to Tokyo Tower, her school consisted mostly of girls - daughters of rich people like herself. At one moment, she suddenly heard voices calling her, referring her as a Magic Knight. In that moment, she was transported to another world, Cephiro, along with two other girls from different schools, Hikaru Shidou and Fuu Hououji.

The girls met Master Mage Clef, who was made fun by an irritated Umi, due to his size (despite being extremely old). When Clef told them the plight of Cephiro, which started from the imprisonment of Princess Emeraude by High Priest Zagato, and the only way to save her is that the three girls must become Magic Knights, Umi initially refused, pressured with the fact that she had to attend a fencing tournament by the next week. However, the girls were soon sent away to escape Zagato's minion, Alcyone, after Clef instructed them to go meet Presea at the Forest of Silence. Alcyone gave pursuit, but was driven away by Hikaru. Without any other choice left, Umi decided to tag along.

After being sent to the Legendary Spring of Eterna by Presea to obtain the Escudo Minerals, along with a white creature named Mokona (whom Umi really didn't get along with), the girls stumbled upon a town where the people live in constant fear. At that moment, Umi was suddenly attacked from behind by Alcyone and received fatal wounds. Watching Hikaru fight a losing battle, Umi felt desperate and wished she could cast magic. Clef contacted her telepathically and eventually granted her magic. Using her new magic, Water Dragon, Umi defeated and drove Alcyone away. She's later healed with Fuu's newfound magic, Winds of Healing. In the manga, however, the encounter occurred right before separating with Ferio.

The girls managed to obtain Escudo and brought them back to Presea, but right after she created the weapons, she was killed by another of Zagato's minions, Ascot. The girls continued with their journey to their next target to become Magic Knights is to revive the Rune-Gods. As they journeyed, they gradually became best friends.

In the anime, Umi was constantly haunted with the fencing tournament. She often had nightmares about her in the tournament, but for some reason, she was always defeated even though it was obvious she had the edge. When she woke up, she wished her journey was the dream instead. When the girls were attacked again by Alcyone, Umi accidentally evaded it and because she wished so hard to return, she was stuck in an imaginary world created by her heart, which looked like the real world except that everything did not move at all. After she heard Hikaru's screams, Umi realized that she had to help them and was able to return to Cephiro. When fighting Alcyone alone, her sword evolved and she dispatched Alcyone single-handedly. At that point, Umi put aside her desire to return to the real world quickly, and dedicated herself to save Cephiro first.

Umi was the first to revive her Rune-God, Selece. Her test involved about whether she had to choose over helping her friends, who were under attack by Ascot, or embrace with the ritual to achieve the Rune-God's power. Eventually Umi chose the first and declared that she didn't need a Rune-God if it meant to desert her friends. This, however, was the purpose of the test and she passed it. Selece awoke and granted his strength to the Magic Knights, but he would vanish until the other Rune-Gods awakened. In the manga, during the test, Umi became angry at Ascot about misusing his beast friends as monsters, to the point that she eventually slapped him. Even so, she still kindly asked him to be their friend, and Ascot eventually accepted the offer, defecting from Zagato's side. In the anime, this event takes place in a journey shortly after reviving Selece.

Eventually, the girls were able to revive all the Rune-Gods and defeated Zagato. However, this just incited the anger of Emeraude, who had fallen in love with Zagato. The Magic Knights were attacked, and after Emeraude told them the whole truth and the purpose of her summoning was to kill her, the girls had no choice but to kill her. Emeraude was at peace and the girls returned to their world. However, their hearts were filled with grief due to the shockingly sad event.

Season 2
Returning to Earth, Umi wasn't quite as her usual self, as she was prone on staring into a blank space occasionally. Strangely, her parents misinterpreted her situation and suggested that she finds a boyfriend. Of course, Umi dismissed it. She later made a personal trip to Tokyo Tower, reuniting with Hikaru and Fuu. When Hikaru wished that she could get back to Cephiro, Umi and Fuu also agreed and suddenly they were transported to Cephiro. Due to the lack of Pillar (Emeraude's position) the world was in crumbling state and three other worlds, Autozam, Chizeta, and Fahren, attempted to take over. The girls must defend Cephiro and look for a new Pillar before Cephiro crumbled.

Umi helped in defending Cephiro from the invaders, and found herself fighting the Chizeta faction the most. Ascot also developed romantic feelings to her, although Umi was interested in Clef.

In the anime, this was given more depth. When Hikaru's sword was snapped by Nova, Umi and Fuu had to fend off the invaders themselves. However, Umi was captured by the Chizeta faction. She developed a rivalry with and fought with the two sisters, Tatra and Tarta. A small friendship was formed between them, but eventually Umi escaped. Later, she was challenged by the two sisters. Umi fought both of them one by one and was able to best them, solidifying their friendship. Umi would later join Hikaru and Fuu to destroy the culprit behind the chaos, Debonair. After they succeeded, Cephiro returned to its tranquil state and the girls were able to return with satisfaction.

Love Interests
Literally, in the anime Umi was quite interested with Clef, and at the end of it, she almost declared love to him, but she feared it was unrequited. On the other hand, Ascot developed a heavy crush on her and helped her a lot. He even said he didn't mind his love being unrequited, as long as he could feel that way. In the manga, Umi didn't show any obvious interest in either Ascot or Clef but both are still considered 'her' love interests.

Family
Umi was born from rich parents. She's the sole daughter of the family and her parents doted on and spoiled her, resulting in her having great affection for them. This was also the cause of her early spoiled and uncaring personality during the start of the series. However, the situation demanded Umi to mature on her own, and she did develop her own personality.

Spells
Umi specialized in Water Magic. Her magics include:


 * "Water Dragon" (Mizu no Ryuu): This is Umi's first spell that was created in order to save Hikaru from Alcyone. With it, Umi calls forth a Dragon of Water that's able to attack the enemy. It's also suggested that this spell can change the atmosphere by causing rain.
 * "Sapphire Whirlwind" (Aoi Tatsumaki): Umi's second spell. This spell calls forth a Whirlwind of water. This can be used to attack an enemy, however, once it was used to save the Chizeta Princess Tarta from falling off a dueling arena.
 * "Icicle Blades" (Koori no Yaiba): This is Umi's last attack spell. With this spell, Umi rains down a barrage of ice and water at the enemy. This is her only ice-based elemental spell, however it is arguably her most powerful.

--Because Umi is attributed to water, Umi is built more for speed and affecting the enemy.

Trivia

 * Umi Ryuuzaki means "Sea of Dragon Blossom".
 * An interest note about her name:龍咲 海, the character 龍 literally means dragon; whilst the character 海 means sea. Umi's name indirectly indicated that her powers are related to sea (or water), this also reflects her Rune God which is a dragon.
 * Umi's parents made a cameo in Clamp's other work, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle.
 * As stated before, Umi didn't really get along with Mokona and was often seen chasing him around, sometimes trying to pummel him with hammer. This served as one of the series' running gags.
 * Usually a fictional character with the power over water or ice was portrayed as a character with calm and cool demeanor, just like Fuu. Umi, however, had a short temper and wasn't quite as calm as other water/ice users.
 * Her hobby is baking cakes, though we never really see her doing it in the anime/manga. But, on the contrast of it, her least favorite food is sweet foods, which obviously includes cakes.
 * In the manga, she is apparently a fan of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, Denny's, and MOS Burger (she becomes panicked at the thought that Cephiro does not have any of these). The brand names were removed from the anime dialogue, presumably to avoid trademark infringement. However, she does say words like "restaurants".
 * In the 2nd half of the series, she tried to eat Mokona.
 * Although we only find this out in the anime, she doesn't like to wear outfits that expose her midriff.
 * Umi, along with Fuu and Hikaru, appears in chapter 222 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, as the classmates of Sakura.

Appearances
Manga
 * Magic Knight Rayearth'''
 * Volume 1: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334642-0; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-082-0
 * Volume 2: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334643-9; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-083-9
 * Volume 3: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334644-7; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-084-7
 * Magic Knight Rayearth II
 * Volume 1: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334659-5; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-266-1
 * Volume 2: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334660-9; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-267-X
 * Volume 3: Japanese Edition: ISBN 4-06-334661-7; English Edition: ISBN 1-59182-268-8

Anime
 * Rayearth
 * Rayearth 2 (known as the second part of Rayearth in Japan)
 * Rayearth Anime Art Book (available only in Japan)
 * Rayearth anime script book (available only in Japan)

Other
 * OVA
 * Rayearth Art Book I
 * Rayearth Art Book II
 * Rayearth games
 * Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle