Anime: Tenkuu no Escaflowne

Escaflowne es una de esas series que llegan a cautivar así como a alienar a la gente por las cosas que se le juzgan, algunos la amarán por la enorme epicidad y carácter multigeneros que deja en verguenza inclusive a TTGL, mientras que otros les frustrara por esto mismo, al ocurrir muchos eventos sin mucha anticipación o las muchas cosas que no poseen su debido foco conforme avanza la trama, aunque de eso hablaré más adelante. Desde mi punto de vista estaría mas de acuerdo con el primer grupo, quizás sea porque apagué el cerebro mientras la veía y ne dejé llevar por la emoción del momento, pero desde mi perspectiva aunque la mayoría de las sentencias que recibe son ciertas, sus méritos son los suficientemente buenos como para no hacer al show algún despropósito ningún sentido.

Para empezar esta serie es algo que solo se puede hacer una vez, combina tantas cosas de múltiples géneros a un nivel tanto temático como narrativo que es difícil que no te impresiones a cada instante. Ciencia ficción, alta fantasía, horror, épica, romance, acción, elementos de diversas culturas y un largo etcétera. Todo se mezcla para formar una combinación que no verás en alguna otra animación, que va, en cualquier otro medio se podría decir. Esto también tiene un gran efecto en la serie al durar tan poco, razón por la que a cada momento están ocurriendo cosas, en serio el ritmo es demasiado rápido, los capítulos te los puedes ver de golpe y el efecto de saturación será casi nulo, siempre que te dejes llevar por la emoción y la acción sin fin, a eso tienes que sumarle la animación y la música. Quita que los diseños se ven un poco raros con sus narices estiradas parecidas a las de pinoccio y de resto es un completo orgasmo visual, el movimiento es la mayoría del tiempo es fluido, la ilustración no decae en alguna vez y siempre está bien cuidado, el estilo artístico es muy distintivo y excéntrico tanto en los personajes como en los fondos tan detallados e impactantes sacados de lugares de ensueño, y eso que no contamos a los mechas, tan imaginativos en diseño como en funcionamiento, que participan en cientas de batallas bien coreografiadas. Básicamente es todo lo que uno quiere ver en una serie de mechas, montones de momentos cool en una tierra medieval con toques de de sci fi en medio. Y nisiquiera he hablado de la banda sonora, todas las composiciones son asombrosas, es música que te mantendrá expectante por las increíbles escenas de acción, incluso si lo oyes por separado te encantará, está compuesta principalmente por musica epica con características del medioevo, desde coros religiosos hasta épicas orquestas que quedan a la perfección con cada momento.

Ya hablando de la historia, y quizás algo que a muchos no les gustará, debido a que es un isekai, o sea, una persona del mundo real siendo transportado a uno distinto con elementos ficticios, este tipo de series generalmente son una basura. SAO, Re:zero, Grimgar, Overlord, todos no son más que fantasías de empoderamiento donde uno se inserta en el gary stu sin personalidad de turno que es ultrapoderoso por razones y puedes sentirte importante y poderoso. Escaflowne no es tanto una excepción, y en efecto, la protagonista sirve para que te insertes en ella, es un tipico cliche de anime shojo que solo se caracteriza por ser moralista y poco mas, que solo vino ahi para que tenga roces amorosos con los demás personajes masculinos que son el ideal de muchas chicas que apenas han tenido su primer periodo, esto se expande al resto del cast, todos son personajes algo estereotipicos del shojo que no destaca mucho, el deuteragonista es un amargado como cualquier chico idealizado edgy rebelde que gustan a las chicas, y el otro protagonista tu caballero azul ideal, y asi podria seguir con el resto del cast. No obstante no son malos personajes para nada, todos al menos poseen personalidad, un objetivo que perseguir y alguna clase de conflicto por el cual te lleguen a importar, si a eso le sumas las interacciones entre ellos, fuera del elemento de romance que solo va en círculos y a la final no lleva a nada, terminan por ser muy agradables, plus todos están justificados, es decir, que la razón por la que los personajes actúan como lo hacen es debido a sucesos que le han pasado y logras entender su forma de ser, y esto se extiende a los villanos, no son puros imbeciles unidimensionales, por el contrario, también tienen cosas interesantes que decir y hasta sus objetivos llegan a ser nobles. Algunos personajes incluso llegan a tener un buen nivel de maduración y desarrollo conforme avanzan los capitulos.

Ahora siguiendo con lo de muchos géneros, pues la razón por la que a muchos les parecerá fastidioso por lo sorpresivo y poco anticipado de los eventos que se van produciendo, por lo que si le buscas mucha logica la verdad es que no la encontraras. La serie es un completo caos por ello, a cada momento saltando de un género a otro sin mucha planeación de por medio. No es que sea un desastre rebuscado sin pies ni cabeza, dado que al menos se mantiene una dirección en la serie, junto con el hecho de que la serie busca mas que te entretengas o que hayan un montón de elementos en medio con nulos descansos, que hay tantas cosas en riego como naciones y pueblos siendo arrasados y con todo los elementos puesto en la serie con completa importancia para el progreso de la trama pues, puede llegar a ser algo controversial al poseer dicha ambigüedad encima, la escritura puede ser aleatoria y con el ritmo tan veloz provoca que no puedas sacar una auténtica conjetura de que está pasando, pero por otro lado todo aporta a la serie y está relacionado, además de no perder mucho foco. Bueno por lo menos hasta cierto punto, porque ya para el final todo termina tan rusheado que las revelaciones empiezan a no ser muy bien planteadas y quedan muchas cosas al aire, como el final donde la solución para el conflicto no queda muy clara o cómo y por qué la protagonista volvió a su tierra y no regresó al otro mundo a pesar de haber hecho muchas amistades y amoríos ahí. Si bien es cierto que a la final no se explica mucho y quedan muchos huecos en medio, pues el daño no es que esté tan alargado al nivel de code geass, donde toda su segunda temporada carece de sentido.

Para resumir, Escaflowne es una serie única y muy cool, pero a la vez muy polarizante tanto en sus pros y sus contras. Es simplemente el resultado de meter más cosas de las que pudo masticar, una lástima puesto que pudo ser incluso una muy buena serie. No obstante se merece mucho su recomendación. The Vision of Escaflowne es fácilmente EL MEJOR ISEKAI QUE HAYA EXISTIDO!!!!!!. Si quieres algo con la modestia de un SOL a lo rakugo o apollon, o prefieres algo al nivel de elaboración de LOGH o Gundam, pues ni te acerques, por el contrario si lo que quieres es un viaje emocionante, que te haga sentir emociones al máximo y que te asombre en cada momento, una jornada inolvidable, esta serie es la cúspide de tus deseos.

Critic's Log - Earthdate: March 22, 2013. Review #42: The Vision of Escaflowne.

Sometimes there are things in life that fortune will smile upon, but is it wise to toy with fate? There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. We have the power to change the future. With that said, let's explore the world of Gaea with... The Vision of Escaflowne



High school student Hitomi Kanzaki is a freshman and is talented in Track and Field. She somehow transported from Earth to the magical world of Gaea, where she meets a young prince named Van Fanel, and is caught up in his quest to unite the countries of Gaea against the ominous Zaibach empire. On the way, she discovers an hidden secret and strives to unravel layers of mystery surrounding Van, his past, and the giant machine known as Escaflowne.



To be technical, this is a Sunrise production and this anime is proof that the animation in this show has aged very well. Some poeple don't like some of the character designs in this show because they always point out that the "noses" looked a little odd or something. This didn't bother me too much. The show does look like your typical 90's anime but there was a bit of a game changer regarding the animation because from what I've heard, This anime had not only hand-painted animation cels, but it also had computer-generated special effects which was brand new for an anime to pull something like this off. That was one thing that intrigued me concerning the animation. If the opening wasn't enough, there's more good stuff when it comes to this factor of an anime. The animation is gorgeous.





When it comes to music, Escaflowne was composed by two musicians. One of them was Hajime Mizoguchi and the other is Yoko Kanno (who would later be well-known for her music scores for animes such as Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain, and Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex. This was probably her first major hit of a music score. The score involves orchestra and trust me... This soundtrack was epic. You won't be disappointed. However...Get used to hearing that name "Escaflowne" more often in the entire soundtrack, it's a running motif.





When it comes to the voice acting, The Japanese cast is superb and terrific from start to finish. Hitomi just so happens to be Maaya Sakamoto's debut role and she really makes a first impression for her voice acting talent and she would later become a big name in Japanese voice acting up to the present time. Tomokazu Seki is also pretty good as Van. Shinichiro Miki plays a great Allen. Ikue Ohtani is pretty good as Merle. Jouji Nakata is terrific as Folken, and Minami Takayama sounds like he had way too much fun as Dilandau. The standout extras in the subbed version include Juurouta Kosugi as Dryden, Mayumi Iizuka as Millerna, and the late Masato Yamanouchi as Dornkirk.





Now Before I get to talking about the dub, let's get inside the TARDIS and travel back in time to the year 2000. Escaflowne first aired in the U.S. back in 2000, but it was short-lived.





This would be commonly dubbed the "Fox Kids" version because there were numerous edits to each episode, it had its own exclusive opening which I don't really think suits the show much. The main character focus was switched from Hitomi to Van to make the show appeal to young boys. It was cancelled because of low ratings and trust me when I say this... you're better off with the show in it's complete uncut form. The English dub in the FOX Kids Version was also not very good. I wish the dub could have been better when they actually dubbed the whole series because the Dub of Escaflowne has some of the worst voice acting out there and I tried really hard to get used to this dub but I couldn't. The tones didn't fit most of the time, some vocal tones were placed right but not acted the way it could've been and it was bad right from the first minute, it didn't sound like they were trying hard enough and I immediately went to subs right after the first minute, it really was that bad of a dub, but allow me to say this. Kelly Sheridan is much better as Sango than Hitomi, Kirby Morrow is better as Miroku than Van, Brian Drummond was actually decent as Allen, Jocelyn Loewen was not that good as Merle. Paul Dobson (yes, the voice of Naraku from InuYasha) is actually decent as Folken. The lowpoint of the dub has to be Andrew Francis as Dilandau. You know what, he has had better roles since Dilandau and he is now doing the voice of Shining Armor from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.





My apologies for bringing up this show, but admit it... It has become a popular show, I just so happen to like it because the humor isn't stupid like I'm seeing in other American animated shows these days.





Back on topic, If you are planning on watching this anime dubbed, just go right to the subs on this one, you're better off watching it subtitled than watching it dubbed. I hope someday this anime gets a re-dub, but I'm guessing that's asking too much.



When it comes to characters, they aren't really too perfect when it comes to development but this is redeemable as the show progresses. Hitomi is your average high-school girl who has a crush on pretty much anyone that looks really attractive. Understandable, she does appear to just stand in the sidelines as the conflicts are taking place (Sometimes...) But there are times where she does get involved to confront the issues that would take place. Hitomi is a not the typical "Damsel in distress" She is actually wriitten pretty well in an above average level. There will be a point in the series where she'll realize what she is really doing and I'll let you figure out the rest. Van and Allen are also interesting characters. I like some of the dynamics between Van and Allen. Folken was an interesting case as the show progressed and Dilandau was a bit delightful if you like characters that are insane. Merle is simply the sidekick for the show and I guess she was alright too. The only issue with the characters is that the main cast is developed well but some of the minor characters weren't.





What makes The Vision of Escaflowne remarkable is the story. It starts off pretty decently, but as the story progresses, it gets a bit complex and it even starts being a little thought-provoking too. I was hooked after I finished watching the 14th episode of this show and I wanted to know how the show would end because it was really getting good. It did get more interesting around the second half and it did not disappoint...too much. Escaflowne was on a perfect track record until the show was on its last 3 episodes. If I heard right, Escaflowne was supposed to have a second season but the studio or whoever was behind it told the staff to end the show instead. Apparently that was the case. This all led to Escaflowne having a rushed ending. It was a good ending but the rushed pace is pretty obvious. Does that really hurt the chances of people liking the show after it's done? No, it really is a fantastic series. Fantasy buffs (kinda like me) will very much enjoy the show for how much effort that was put into Escaflowne. Kazuki Akane directed this terrificly for the most part. If you haven't seen The Vision of Escaflowne, then what are you doing, looking at my review? Sit down and give this show a try because I don't say this lightly... It is really an anime classic that truly deserves a viewing.



The Vision of Escaflowne was available from Bandai Entertainment, you know what that means... It's sadly out of print. The manga by Katsu Aki was available by Tokyopop and it is out of print, Another manga named "Messiah Knight - The Vision of Escaflowne" never was released stateside. a third manga named "Energist's Memories" also never made it stateside, The light novel series was also never released stateside. The Escaflowne movie was available by Bandai Entertainment, like the show, it too is out of print.



With all that said, The Vision of Escaflowne is a true work of art because it wastes no second of it's timeframe. The animation is gorgeous even if some people find the character designs a little odd, it has epic music, it has some memorable characters, an interesting story and pretty much anything a Fantasy buff would want to see in a classic anime. It isn't perfect but it does have a very good track record.



I give The Vision of Escaflowne a 9.7 out of 10, it is EXCELLENT!



Feel free to comment below...

Escaflowne was a show that really made an impact on how I looked into animes. It's a superb mix of shounen and shoujo elements and a show that pleases such a wide audience that is rare to see haters or fanboys. The style, the atmosphere, the mecha-like elements, the medieval setting, the cast, everything is well done and perhaps the only true problem of the show is that it tries to say an old cliche'd stuff: "Love is the strongest power". This is certainly the greatest shoujo element of the show but also one of the greatest issues that it faces. After that I started to see that almost every shoujo show with bits of action was not that different from shounen ones, the only difference of most is that shounen usually changes "love" for "friendship".

Today is easy to say that, but in 1996 I was not such a anime-watcher to perceive such things. I watched things mostly because they were different from the usual western animation and rarely took a analytic approach when I put a series on my VHS (yes, it's that old). After rewatching it a few times (about three to four rewatches since I first saw it) my vision of the show remains the same. The events are great, the protagonist helps to create a more warm vision of the whole setting and the show never truly becomes a bunch of action scenes, making the cast more interesting and the intrigues a lot better.

Art & Animation
Escaflowne is a masterpiece of its time and one of those classics that don't feel that old even when you watch it more than 15 years after its release. The art style is very characteristic of the mid/late 90's and you'll probably feel the classic vibe from the first minute, but what's really interesting here is that Escaflowne somehow manages to mix both shounen and shoujo styles in a single show. While the characters are mostly shoujo-like and their design is very simple yet beautiful, the scenario and mechas are extremely detailed and offer more of a shounen feel. This makes for an art that can hardly displease someone, and even if you feel unconfortable at first, after a few episodes you'll forget that you are watching a shounen or shoujo show at all. Animation is great, far better than the average of the late 90's, but is where the show suffers a bit and fails to reach the level of Evangelion and other super-animations of its time.

Sound
Escaflowne is certainly a great show in this department. Much like with animation, everything here is well placed, with a fitting set of background music and a top-quality voice-acting. There's barely anything to complain here perhaps except for an opening that is not as epic as the rest of the soundtrack and some cartoonistic characters with annoying voices.

Story
Escaflowne tells the story of Hitomi, a high-school student that is dragged into another world. Within this new parallel existence, the big empire of Zaibach is slowly devouring all neighbour kingdoms. One of those is the former kingdom of Van, a young swordsman entrusted with a medieval mecha named Escaflowne. Hitomi and Van quickly find themselves as targets to the ambitions of the giant empire, and together they must uncover the mysteries of Escaflowne, the reason why Hitomi was dragged to this world, and a way for her to go back.

1. Shoujo Romance, Shounen Pace
   Shoujos shows are usually about a strong willed girl, a stupid guy that is all cool and looks, is focused on very mundane things, always gives more importance to how beautiful things are, etc. Shounen shows usually have a indecisive but growing lead, a weak cute damsel in danger, is focused on saving the world and killing the villain, always gives more importance to how impactful and big things are, etc.
   
   Escaflowne is something in the middle: it has a strong willed girl, an indecisive but growing lead, is focused on both mundane and big things, gives importance to how impactful things are, etc. If you pay attention, I removed the stupid guy that is all cool and looks and the weak cute damsel in danger, as well as importance on how beautiful things are. This basically means it shoves the worst elements of a typical shoujo and shounen and mostly uses what is best from both worlds.
   
   In addition to the beforementioned elements, we have a very shounen-like pace, meaning you got constant mix of actions and more quiet scenes. However, instead of stupid fanservice in these gaps, we have more intricate and nice development from shoujo characters. Yes, Escaflowne just found such a perfect mix. Why haven't all other shows did the same until now? Because it's hard to find such balance, nearly impossible if you check how many stupid shows we have out there.
   
   All-Element Mix!!
   A medieval fantasy setting, huge badasses mechas, cute romance, great fights, political intrigues, pursuits, comedy, drama, medieval warfare, super powers, power of love, evil villains, complex characters, character development... this is a really big soup of anime elements. They are all found in Escaflowne, which makes it a show that can please a very wide audience and that is hard to copy or even describe. It's a tale about an evil empire, so you have elements of medieval warfare shows. It's not as dark and gory as Berserk because of the shoujo part, but is also not as boring as Loddoss War because it has mechas, drama, and romance. It's a serious show with bits of comedy! What else do you need? Perhaps if it happened in space and had its tale spread in a few decades... nah, let's keep it this way.
   
   Good Use of the Idea
   Normally shows have good ideas, but fail to make them watchable. The idea of a girl dragged into another world is not exactly a great one, and I tell you, it's a tough idea to make something good. Probably recent shows would lose themselves in parallel references, in trying to explain intricate but useless reasons, etc. Escaflowne never tries to be complex, it just takes the girl, throws her in this magical world, always remember to try to get her back, and voi'la! The show is done. Similar stuff happens in Twelve Kingdom, but here we have the young lovers and the focus is all on a single war and a magical giant robot. See, it's not that hard to use an idea and make something good! I can't believe how many shows fail to use a good starting point.
   
   But.. Love is the Answer
   Well, it had shoujo elements, so something bad from there would certainly be used. While the crap elements of shounens are almost absent, the show is sadly one of those that ends as "The Power of Love is the Answer", like many shoujos shows out there. Is not about skill, about hardship, about perseverance, about powerful mechas, determination, anything, what can solve all problems is love! How sweet, huh? But yes, that is present in Escaflowne as well. The show closes with a more fairy-tale feeling, heavier on shoujo elements than before. But don't worry, it only spoil parts of the ending and even there is not enough to bring down the whole marvelous stuff built here. Nonetheless, it's there to remember us that not even here the balance was perfect.
   

Character
You'll find a huge mixture of stereotypes here. You'll have a shoujo protagonist surrounded by romance options, a shounen protagonist who tries to be badass, a cat-girl for fanservice, the bishounen rich guy, etc. I must say that before 1996 these stereotypes were not exactly overused, but they were still easy to find in other animes. Escaflowne suffers from these basic characters initially, but develop them in a great way that you quickly forget about how typical they are and focus more on seeing how believable are their actions and reactions even amidst a fantasy setting. There are some turn of events to help develop the characters more and more, they have enough screen time to develop, and by the end they'll be far more charming and entertaining than in the first episodes. Sadly some of them can be really annoying with terrible personalities or undeveloped pasts, but nothing harmful for the show.

Value
I usually say that the early 2000's were home to some of the greatests shows that used a mixed genre. That's certainly true, but I could also say that Escaflowne was the first show to successfully achieve that and one of the shows that kept up Evangelion's quality through the late 90's. Not only it mixes drama with comedy, tragedy and combats, but it goes beyond and throw girly elements to the mix and still hits the mark. That said, Escaflowne is still a very different show even today and only suffers from a very typical use of "love" power and how it can magically solve things.

Enjoyment
Escaflowne is not exactly combat-heavy or full of twists and turns, but it's extremely enjoyable with a solid plot-line and a great character development that keeps you watching episode after episode. The bits of medieval-mecha stuff makes things far more interesting for the usual shounen audience and the light girly romance is also there to the joy of shoujo audience. That said, Escaflowne can please a very wide group of people, even if it's not exactly a masterpiece of any genre in particular. The great setting however, is a huge point to keep watching and looking for nice developments that change the course of the plot.

Comments
I first watched Escaflowne in a weekly convention that used a small theather to exhibit anime and promote their fansub club and sell VHS. It was one of the first things I've watched there and I quickly got my hands in a VHS copy to watch it fully in my home. I never managed to get the whole show on tape and only finished watching it around 2002 when I had the freedom of the internet. The experience was nostalgic and extremely rewarding. It's hard to believe a show managed to mix so many different, sometimes even oposites elements into a superb fantasy setting.

Now we have Twelve Kingdoms and Serei no Moribito to boost the fantasy genre. But at that time I only knew Rayearth, Inuyasha, Fushigi Yugi, Maze, and El Hazard that were somehow similar, but still none of those mixed the genres like Escaflowne. This mixture, however, is both its main achievement and flaw. It's a flaw because certainly most shounen-focused audience will want a more combat-heavy, tragic, dramatic experience, and a shoujo audience will expect a more romantic and light-hearted show. Escaflowne manages to reach both areas, but it's impossible to truly focus on both at the same time. I had no problems besides the far too girly ending, but even that is torerable when the execution is great.

Must see for all anime fans. Even today Escaflowne is an almost perfect show for everyone to watch.

Set on Gaea, a planet in orbit around the Earth but magically invisible, *Escaflowne* is an entertaining fantasy anime with some elements taken from the mecha genre (it's by *Surise*, there **had** to be mecha in it). It explores a few themes common to many anime, like finding one's path in life and the coming of age, inserting them in an entirely original context. It blends two different genres, *shounen* and *shoujo*, to create something new and unexpected.

Animation
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While a few elements, like a dragon in the first episode, are overly detailed and fail to blend into the rest of the animation -- that particular dragon was overly detailed for the sake of putting some **wow** factor into the beginning of the anime and hook more people -- and while the character design admittedly has a few problematic features -- like long noses a lot of viewers found annoying and ugly -- *Escaflowne*'s animation (by *BONES*) is overall very consistent, technically good and can easily be told from from other animes'.

Indeed, although now it looks dated, *Escaflowne* has one of the most beautiful animations of its time (1996). If you do a quick search for anime released in that period, say from 1995 to 1997, and if you're familiar with most of them, you'll see that only Ghost in the Shell (1995), a movie, had a better animation. Escaflowne is one of the most visually beautiful anime made before 3D really started to be [over]used.

Sound
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The soundtrack is very good overall, perfectly suited to the fantasy genre; unfortunately, near the end of the series the choirs singing "Escaflowne, Escaflowne" all the time are quite boring, even tiring. The Japanese dubbers did a good job, nothing exceptional though. Maybe Marle's dubbing deserves a honorable mention, but she screams "Van-sama!!" so many times she can be annoying, too.

Story
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In most people's minds dragons and mechas are entities that come from entirely different mythologies. In most people's minds, they presuppose very different settings. *Escaflowne*'s makers ignored all this and just went ahead and put them together in the same show.

Making conflicting elements from different genres coexist in the same show, like tarots, mechas and dragons, and blending two opposite genres, shoujo and shounen, may seem an obvious attempt to get as many fans as possible but all those elements are inserted in *Escaflowne*'s world so well, nothing ever feels unnatural or forced. Moreover, *Escaflowne*, unlike many of the anime that try to appeal to as many people as possible, is about as extreme as anything on TV can be. It's violent and gory like the most gruesome shounen, full of love triangles like the cheesiest shoujo but still doesn't feel as over the top as it should.

The comparison with *Ayashi no Ceres* seems almost natural; after all, *Ayashi* did realize, 4 years later (2000), a new fusion between shoujo and shounen. However *Ayashi* didn't blend two different genres, fantasy and mecha, like *Escaflowne* did. *Escaflowne*'s fusion is not just about the target audience, it pervades all of it, the story, the setting and the characters and as far as I know it stands unchallenged in that regard.

Another noteworthy element is the absence of an uber-evil character and the lack of a clear demarcation between good and evil. It may look like there is one during the first half or so, but Escaflowne is deep enough that claiming its story is yet another war of good vs evil would be unfair. Indeed, none of the three possible candidates ends up filling the role of **The Evil One**. Evil comes from everyone and nobody, it's in the relationships between characters and in the conflicts between the futures they try to bring about.

Finally, the rhythm is praiseworthy: Escaflowne is never too fast nor too slow, useless episodes are only a couple or so and there are no real fillers.

Characters
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Van and Hitomi are nothing like anything you may have seen in other shows -- although in the beginning they do look like they're going to be cliches -- and undergo a very interesting development.

The rest of the cast is mostly static and almost uninteresting. Except maybe for Marle, the cast is made of useless characters like Dryden and Millerna or underdeveloped and unoriginal like Folken and Allen.

Dilandau is instead a very interesting guy. He's the "mad character" type, one of the best I've seen so far, but he gets smuggled out of the main story for no good reason. Too bad.

Personal enjoyment
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The second time I watched *Escaflowe* I liked it even more than the first. It's one of those anime I loved most, although I'm not as crazy about it as I am about *Ghost in the Shell*, *Millennium Actress*, the first *Macross* and a few others.

Overall
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While many of the characters are nothing to write home about, the anime is overall very good and worth recommending.

I love this series. Its narrative is a jumbled mess of ideas taken from epic fantasy, romance, mystery, and sci-fi, yet the amazing presentation just makes it worthwhile. I am not blind to its problems. The script is complete chaos, jumping genres every few minutes and ending episodes in inappropriate moments. Tonal whiplashes are abounded but since the action does not take place in some boring high school but rather is a war-torn fantasy realm, it’s easier to forgive it because the stakes are high. It’s not about playing sad music and then ruining everything with slapstick comedy (Your Lie on April).

The genres are blending in with each other much better than an over the top high school dramedy that can either be too high or too low. It’s not a perfect uniformity but it works most of the time. In fact the thing that sticks out the most is the noses. Oh god, those noses, so rare to even see them on anime characters these days.

The pacing is so fast, especially for a 90s series. It’s mostly the result of having to compress the plot because of budget issues but, holy smokes, does it make you feel there is something new happening every 5 minutes. It does make it hard to appreciate every new revelation when it’s pushed to the side for the next revelation following close by, but if you are an impatient viewer seeking a thrill ride, this is the stuff of dreams.

And it needs to be made clear that Escaflowne is a rule of cool type of series. It does occasionally try to be a serious drama and somewhat metaphysical issues but those are just garnish while waiting the next mecha battle with epic chorus music to kick in. And remember, this is the 90s when horrible CGI wasn’t used yet, so everything looks gorgeous.

Having a minimum amount of fillers with every side story and secondary character somewhat being related to the main plot and cast makes it that much more enjoyable if you are a person of plot. The actual plot, not the other one. As good as the plot is, the same cannot be said about the script, which is vague in interpretation or leaves a lot of things incomplete or not properly looked into. The romantic polygon for example is easily the part they didn’t put too much thought into. They just crammed a bunch of shojo stereotypes and called it a day, leaving a multitude of love affairs going in circles and feeling pretty dumb in how they develop and are eventually resolved.

The conclusion is also weird; somehow love breaks destiny and the heroine has to return to her world for no given reason. Even so, every character gets fleshed out, many get some sort of development, and nobody is clear cut good or evil. Everyone has some sort of character flaw which affects the way he thinks and behaves instead of being just a gimmick.

Down to it, Escaflowne is one of the few cases when mixing a bit of everything worked without becoming an unfocused clusterfuck. And although you can use the same excuse for any other show (Code Geass) it still has way less issues than any other Sunrise mecha that is not Universal Century Gundam. Oh, and let’s not overlook how it’s 2 decades old and is still the best isekai anime ever made, easily stomping the garbage that are coming out today. (Re:Zero)

Escaflowne is in the same generation as other venerated anime titles often fondly reminisced upon by fans, kenshin, trigun, cowboy bebop, and fushigi yugi. Where those titles all had specific target audiences, Escaflowne goes broader, not by distinguishing itself from any set Anime genre, but mixing the staples, or cliché’s of several genres together. Nothing about Escaflowne is very impressive at first. The juxtaposition of a Shoujo cast of main characters and mecha/fantasy war at its bloodiest is novel, but neither individual elements are even close to out of the ordinary. Hitomi, the main character is an understandably reluctant heroin who also has, as high school kids often do, a romantic interest that is easily piqued. The 2 male protagonists are opposites. 1 is a smooth player, the other a brash but innocent young man. There is a rather typical demented and obsessive villain, who is kept in check by another level headed villain. The characters are certainly not unique, but to be fair in this regard, how many anime characters are? Evengelion aside, I can’t think of another vaguely popular anime of a similar genre that could boast of a cast that is much fresher.

Story/Characters:

The strength of Escaflowne, and the greatest reason why this is one of my all time favorite anime’s despite how I may have more praises for other titles on paper, is the story. Escaflowne’s story is masterfully paced, rivaled (but definitely not surpassed) only by full metal alchemist in this regard in 13+ episode series’. The number of fillers are often a measure of the tightness in a story, but in Escaflowne’s case, it’d be hard enough to find a filler scene, let alone a filler episode. The story keeps you engrossed in the central plot at all times, never taking a break from it in favor of developing a character’s past with flash backs or developing a relationship with a side plot. There are flashbacks, and there is plenty of relationship development, but it’s always directly related to the events of the story. The plot cleverly weaves the situations of all the characters, heroes and villains together in a way that when we learn of the past of one character, it always ties into at least one other character, and the bigger picture. The imposing empire has a weapon that doesn’t quite control, but can affect fate, which results basically in altered luck. Because our heroin has the unique ability to predict the future, which fixes fate, her mental state is directly related to the effectiveness of the empire’s military. Psychological warfare of all sorts, including romance, is employed against her so that she can’t, or won’t use her ability. Her relationships are therefore always in the center of the story, thus the 2 contradictory elements of its concept, a shoujo cast dealing with love triangles and teenage angst, combines seamlessly with the war setting. Escaflowne plays like a very long movie, and you can easily lose track of how many episodes you have watched in one sitting, but individual episodes retain endings, save for 1 or 2 exceptions, that break at logical points in the story, where there is some resolution along with the cliffhangers. How the story could be so perfectly structured, fluid yet broken into 26 pieces, is beyond me.

The relationships in this series develop so many nuances that the characters transcend how emotionally effective their archetypes may be in any other series’. While the main characters have personalities that are indistinguishable from their mirrors in the same genre, the genuine way they express certain emotions make them uniquely effective despite their clichés. The jealousy expressed is as it is in reality, bitter and painful, where the love and the hate for one person creates utter confusion in the characters’ minds. Love and romance is also distinguished finely, where one is affection pure and sweet, the other is a mélange of one liners, swooning, and loads of baggage. While the central theme of the nature of fate, and mankind’s destiny of bloodshed is vaguely interesting, what truly inspires reflection is how real the relationships between some of these characters feel.

Hitomi is also my favorite shoujo/josei oriented protagonist. They are so often resolved simpletons with near unbreakable wills, but where’s the drama in that? Hitomi is the exact opposite, she is a little moody, indecisive, and usually feint of heart. It’s obvious which mirrors a real high school girl more closely, but that aside, her character gives rise to all kinds of conflicts and makes those instances where she manages to collect herself more inspiring as the accomplishment and the courage is truly highlighted next to her usual, very human cowardice and reluctance. For a main character in a story that centers around villains trying to break her will, a weak, flawed character is perfect.

Sound:

The orchestral score is with good reason one of the most admired sound tracks in Anime. It is absolutely riveting, feature film level in its quality and variety. Instead of many plays on a couple of melodies that most soundtracks use, all the tracks in Escaflowne are unique, ranging from warm unaccompanied strings to a chorus belting menacing tunes that bring to mind apocalyptic images. Soundtracks as comprehensive and expansive as Escaflowne’s no longer exist in TV series’. The opening and endings don’t get nearly as much love, but they are excellent fits for the series. Each reflects the essence of a character and highlights the themes of the series so fittingly that by the end, listening to it will conjure up the emotionally impacting scenes of its climax once again. What more can you ask for in an opening or ending?

Animation:

The character designs take a few episodes to get used to, but a more objective look at the animation quality in terms of fluidity will show Escaflowne as an above average, bordering on excellent title, and animation quality always ages well. Raw production value that yields more detailed, human looking animations and more frames will result in smoother, prettier animation. Advancements in technology don’t significantly change that fact. Just look at the scene where snow white dances with the dwarves in the classic Disney movie. A newer movie like Mulan can’t come close to its humanness in any scene. The color scheme of escaflowne is not as neon-y bright as many modern titles, but there are no fair standards of evaluation in that department since that is as subjective as color preference.



Escaflowne is one of my favorite pieces of entertainment, up there with some of my most beloved movies and books. The telling of this story is truly artistic, and nothing since has measured up, but its overall excellence is also due to the raw emotional value of the complex relationships these characters build and some of their true-to-life expressions of emotions that are rarely seen in Anime.