Airing in Japan from April 2, 1996, to September 24, 1996, Escaflowne tells the extraordinary tale of Hitomi Kanzaki, a rather ordinary high school girl that has more to her than meets the eye. You see, she has an incredible knack for fortune telling (she’s usually right with her results), and has a special pendant that keeps perfect time, but also has strange dreams of another world. The dreams turns out to be true, as one night a mysterious swordsman is transported onto her school’s track. He’s trailing a dragon that also somehow arrived in our world, and after promptly slaying it, he returns back to his world of Gaea, somehow taking Hitomi with him. After arriving in the world of Gaea, Van (the mysterious swordsman) tells his reluctant companion a little bit about his world, and also tells her about how Earth is known as a different name, and carries with it some stigma.
It’s when she arrives on Gaea that Hitomi discovered that her tarot abilities become empowered, enabling her to predict the future more accurately than before. She also discovers that the pendant she wears has unlocked latent psychic abilities, but she has little time to dwell on them. The dangerous Zaibach Empire is on the move, taking over surrounding territories, and destroying any who don’t side with them. After Van’s homeland is obliterated, Hitomi escapes with her comrade, and they set out to stop Zaibach’s spread of destruction. Eventually, they join up with a ragtag group of individuals (composed of a knight, thief, wily merchant, and a love-struck princess) who eventually get caught up in all of this. Oh, and Van’s childhood friend Merle (who’s a catgirl) tags along as well.
The first positive of Escaflowne is something that I don’t think I’ve talked before, and that’s the director. Kazuki Akane has been known for directing some of the more iconic animes series in the world, including Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and for obvious reasons, this show. Mr Akane has always managed to sculpt a series that comes across his table into an epic series, filled with depth, wonder, and all manner of good things, despite some shortcomings that aren’t necessarily his fault (see later).
The next positive are the characters. Let me be the first to say that Escaflowne has one of the most diverse casts I’ve ever seen in an anime. From the outside, Hitomi appears to be a very frail girl. That false frailty, however, hides a very strong individual, who’s quite the capable track runner, possesses a kind heart, and a quick mind. Van is a swordsman who’s haunted by the devastation of his home, and carries the burden of being his homeland’s kingdom, but can put his nose to the grindstone & cast aside petty things for the greater good. Even Merle, who’s mostly there for comic relief, has some depth to her. When things seem bleak, she heals those who are hurt or sick, and always seems to have a joke or two up her sleeveless sleeves (don’t ask), or a comment that embarrasses somebody.
The other cast of characters are varied as well. The knight is torn between his own desires & beliefs, and the duties to his country. The thief is a sneaky, smarmy individual, but he knows the lay of the land (much like Van), and always finds some info that’s needed for a specific situation. The merchant always has the good required, but has secrets hidden underneath his gilded persona, and the princess is a cauldron of emotion, constantly shifting from happy, sad, angry, etc. It’s these kinds of characters that drive a show forward, whether they’re the good guys or the bad guys.
Escaflowne’s third positive is the mix of genres. Unlike most of the shows I’ve reviewed, Escaflowne is manly a fantasy & sci-fi show, and that’s okay, because these two genres are the key focus of this show. Sure there’s moments of comedy, drama, and tragedy, but fantasy & science fiction take the center stage in Escaflowne. Right off the bat, we introduced to a character that is attuned to the arcane forces, and when Hitomi travels to Gaea, she comes across the same forces that she feels & uses. At the same time, she also comes across medieval giant robots, and ships that float in the sky, which composes the majority of the sci-fi elements. These also themes of metaphysics within Escaflowne, as the topics of dreams & fate frequently pop up and drive the story along. Speaking of story...
The story is this show’s next positive. Much like the characters, there’s a lot more going on under the surface. While the early episodes are a little slow, once Hitomi, Merle, and Van meet up with the other characters, things quickly accelerate, and the viewer is given more & more of the story & sub-stories. There are many moments that’ll catch you off guard, but there’s also a few moments that you’ll see a mile away (more on that in the negatives).
The animation is Escaflowne’s sixth positive. For a mid 90s show, Escaflowne looks damn good, and considering that animation during this time was fluctuating, that’s saying something. The character design are what you’d expect from a fantasy/sci-fi anime, but many of them have different clothes & armor, which signify where they come from. The faces, while a little flat at times, have a fair amount of detail. The giant robots look really good, as these behemoths stand over anything in front of them, and the various air ships fly about as gracefully as a butterfly, and as fast as a hummingbird. The equally various towns, cities, & ruins all look great, and at times seem slightly believable.
Voice acting is another thing that Escaflowne does well. Despite some of the plain sounding voices, everybody else sounds like they want to do this! Hitomi sounds very innocent most of the time, but she can evoke some hidden strength with her words when the situation demands it. Van almost always sounds like a strong, no nonsense individual, but when his emotions get a hold of him, his voice can waver. As for the bad guys, Van’s brother (long story) has a snarky, sinister undertone when he speaks, and on of the Zaibach war leaders talks like a raving lunatic.
The final positive of Escaflowne is it’s availability & pricing. Although the version I have is no longer available (I have the 2002 release of the whole show & movie. Before anyone asks, I’ll review the movie soon), there’s more recent editions that are available, more specifically the 2009 edition. There’s plenty of the 2009 collection over on Amazon, where pricing for a new copy starts at 24 dollars. There’s a small amount of used copies that start at 17 to 18 dollars, but the difference between the two is relatively small, so the deciding factor of a purchase will more than likely come down to if you want to save a few dollars or not.
Escaflowne is a damn good show. A near perfect one, in my opinion. It’s got so many good things going for it, it’s hard to find anything bad about it. However, there are bad things to find, and two of them in particular come immediately to my mind. So, without any interruptions, let’s take a look at them.
The first negative are some of the secondary character reactions to the situation at hand. When I saw what went on, I came to the conclusion that most of the characters in this show are incredibly naive, and will believe just about anything that’s told to them (an episode about halfway through really shows this off). On top of that, there’s moments when the characters (both primary or secondary) are just downright stupid. I can’t tell you how many moments there were when I wanted to find a brick wall, and proceed to bash my head again. Luckily, the stupid moments went away quickly, and there wasn’t too much damage done to my head.
The next negative isn’t quite as bad, but it is a little bit important. During the production of Escaflowne (which I’ll put up later as a separate), the original episode count was 39. However, due to some changes, the 39 episodes became 26 episodes. Because of this change, there’s no filler episodes. Even 1 or 2 filler episode would have been great, especially since there’s enough comedic elements that the potential is there.
Escaflowne gets a 8.5 out of 10. Kazuki Akane directed this, the cast is great, the concentration on fantasy & sci-fi works, the story is also great, animation quality is good, voice acting is also good, and it’s easy to find & buy, but there’s just some odd moments, and there’s no filler episodes.
See you all next week, when we’ll be getting serious with Sam again. Until then, stay otaku!
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