Escaflowne | Nefarious Reviews

Japanese Title: Escaflowne

Related: Vision of Escaflowne (original series)

Similar: Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure

Watched in: Japanese & English

Genre: Fantasy Action Romance

Length: 1 movie

Positives:

A dark and imposing atmosphere makes for a menacing Escaflowne machine.
Action is more brutal and gory than the original series.
Great soundtrack with new and returning tracks.

Negatives:

Minimal characterisation and character development.
The romance is sudden with no validity.
The magitech is all but gone, the best part of the lore.

Note: while this review is spoiler-free, I do recommend watching the original series before the movie.

In my previous review, I said Vision of Escaflowne was a character piece with its drama, flawed personalities and tenuous alliances. Escaflowne the Movie, on the other hand, is far from. In the process of cutting down a twenty-six-episode series to a single movie, the creators decided on sacrificing the characters in favour of the war angle.

The premise of Escaflowne is still the same. Hitomi is summoned to Gaea where she meets Van and his allies as they fight to protect the machine Escaflowne, hoping to use its power to defeat the enemy.

The greatest change is with Hitomi. She is depressed, dropped out of the track team, and doesn’t like her place in life. Her power of precognition from the series is gone, as is the theme of fate and fighting destiny; this makes her even more passive than before, if you can believe it. Replacing her future sight, is her role as the Wing Goddess, whose power coupled with the blood of a Draconian like Van gives mastery over the god of war, Escaflowne. Van starts as a war veteran, savage, gladiatorial in appearance, having already lost everything he holds dear at the hands of his brother. Van and Hitomi’s relationship is shallow, void of subtleties that made it work in the series. She is suddenly interested in him with little interaction, and he reciprocates later after a single conversation. Not exactly Pride & Prejudice, is it?

Much of the cast is back, though like Hitomi, they take a lesser role in the proceedings. Allen is still the leader of the allies from countries decimated by the Black Dragon Empire (Zaibach in the series). He doesn’t teach Van caution and battle strategy this time, losing what made him a good character – this applies to all characters really. They contribute to the war effort, but they don’t affect the character of the narrative. Dilandau is still bloodthirsty, yet without his emotional dependencies, he’s just a psycho, not a complex character. I get the impression that the writers assumed you had seen the series to fill in the character complexities for yourself.

Intervention against Hitomi’s insistence on wearing a school uniform in war.

The greatest disappointment is the replacement of magic technology with simple magic. Escaflowne is organic, powered by blood; gone are the intricate mechanics of the machines, all those whirring gears and taut cables. Yes, Escaflowne’s increased size and beating heart makes for an imposing figure, but it would have been nice if they hadn’t sacrificed so much in the process.

Forgetting comparisons to the original, Escaflowne the Movie is still a decent fantasy war film and worth a watch for fans of the series to see a different take on the world. The heavy atmosphere as the music swells during the action with Escaflowne is a sight to behold, at the very least.

Art – High

The dark visuals and less stylised characters (spearhead noses are gone) give the Escaflowne movie a more adult look. Improved animations for the smaller details. The loss of magitech reduced visual creativity and variety, however.

Sound – High

Keeps the same iconic chants while bringing several new hymns and oriental instrumental pieces to the dire setting. Awkwardness is fixed from the series’ English dub.

Story – Medium

While the savage nature of Van and Gaea is an interesting take on Escaflowne, without the character arcs and drama, this story has less to offer than the series.

Overall Quality – Medium

Recommendation: Watch this if you liked the series and want an alternate take. Escaflowne the Movie brings a darker, adult look to the tale of Van and Hitomi with some heavy and imposing moments.

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Awards: (hover mouse over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)

Positive:

Negative:

Japanese Title: Tenkuu no Escaflowne

Related: Escaflowne the Movie (alternative version of series)

Similar: Avatar – The Last Airbender

Gundam SEED

The Twelve Kingdoms

Watched in: Japanese & English

Genre: Fantasy Action Adventure Romance

Length: 26 episodes

Positives:

Van, the [actual] protagonist, is a strong character with his head on straight.
The world has a great blend of magical technology and medieval roots.
Surprisingly deep with its character webs and backstories. Cat-women with literal luck flowing through their veins are a cool idea.
The mech duels have a sense of weight and power behind them.
A soundtrack that inspires epicness.

Negatives:

Hitomi, the [supposed] protagonist, doesn’t do enough considering her position in the series.
Certain aspects of the animation shows their age.
English dub sounds awkward during moments without music or effects.

When Hitomi is practicing sprint at high school one evening, a beam of light opens a portal, summoning a young warrior and a dragon on to the track. The warrior, Van, slays the dragon and teleports back to his planet of Gaea, accidentally taking Hitomi with him. Having slain a dragon, Van ascends to the throne of his kingdom, but alas, the Zaibach Empire obliterates Fanelia. They seek Van’s unique mech, Escaflowne, powered by the heart of a dragon. His country in ruins, Van must flee, bringing Hitomi with him and hopes to rebuild upon his return with allies.

Vision of Escaflowne was the first series to show me that the anime had a high level of sophistication with fantasy. Until I saw this, it was nothing but superpowers, sci-fi, or high school settings when in the real world. The universe of Escaflowne is fully realised with more depth than necessary, which is exactly what every good fantasy has – detail and more detail. We see several kingdoms of different cultures, each based on the major empires of our medieval time, fictional races such as Beastmen, and magical technology that fits in the world. The standout in lore for me is the mecha (referred to as Guymelef) with their Da-Vinci-like inner workings. They are extensions of the warrior, each movement tracked one-for-one by an exoskeleton of gears and cables. Every movement, every swing of a giant sword has weight behind it, selling the size and power behind these machines.

On their adventure, they meet a wide array of characters, most notable of which is Allen, a charming knight from the neighbouring kingdom of Asturia. Hitomi swoons at the sight of him. He may look like a ponce, but he’s a good character. He breaks the mould of his archetype by understanding that there is nothing honourable in fighting a losing battle, just stupidity. Similarly, the main villain hounding Van and crew, Dilandau, fits into the young and bloodthirsty psycho category, but his emotional dependence on the subordinates he abuses brings an extra layer to his character.

Most impressive of all though is Van. I like his indifference to Hitomi at first. A girl doesn’t instantly distract him when he has responsibilities as king. It shows a maturity uncommon in young adult anime. Hitomi has several instantaneous crushes throughout the series, which also make sense, as the greatest dilemma she has faced so far in life is getting her first kiss. Van’s care for her, at first, doesn’t extend further than owing her for warning him of danger with her power to see the future. While Van is impetuous and inexperienced as king, he has no delusions about what it means to be king and knows his responsibilities to Fanelia. It’s good to see the writer didn’t make him a high school kid that we are somehow supposed to accept is king. He is competent; I like competent characters.

Hitomi is a bit of a let-down, sadly. Her power of precognition and the fact that she operates outside of the destiny machine used by the Zaibach emperor to control the tide of battle is crucial to the plot and Van’s quest, but she doesn’t do much beyond that. She spends much of her time as an onlooker to the battles. And for the love of magic, are you seriously going to stay in a school uniform for such a dangerous journey?

Vision of Escaflowne is very much a character story with its relationship dramas, flawed personalities and tenuous alliances. Van and Hitomi must contend with fate in a war-torn world littered by death.

Art – High

The art is good, despite age, though not on the level of Trigun or Cowboy Bebop. Fight animations look great (love the PoV shots from within the cockpit) with weight behind the attacks, but smaller details, like mouth movements, are comparatively poor. Why does everyone have a nose that could spear a rhino?

Sound – High

Excellent soundtrack of chants and choir with the occasional light string or flute pieces. The dub is awkward during several moments without music. You can “hear” the dubbing; the voices seem to come from forefront of the screen, not the characters. It’s alright, but the Japanese spatial audio is better. Also, in Japanese you get Tomokazu Seki (Sagara in Full Metal Panic, Brandon in Gungrave) as Van, one of the best in the business.

Story – High

Van’s struggles to reclaim his kingdom with a group of allies by his side make for an engaging war story infused with fantasy. Hitomi could have stood around a little less as the protagonist.

Overall Quality – High

Recommendation: An easy anime to recommend. Vision of Escaflowne is a classic of anime that mixes action and romance in a world of magic technology and mysticism bound to the machine of fate.

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Awards: (hover mouse over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)

Positive:

Negative: None.