Anime You Should See Before You Die: Week 4 - The Vision of Escaflowne

This week marks the launch of CrazySingleLife, a reality blog like no other. So all week here at Rekuru, we’re looking at that silly thing called love. I thought long and hard about what to write about for this week’s installment of Anime You Should See Before You Die and among the teen-angst and high school hijinx love stories, I settled on this. Although perhaps settled is a poor choice of words as Escaflowne is more than fitting for this week, with a deep and involving story as well as enough mech-battling and sword fighting to tide over action fans and shōjo devotees alike.

Released way back when in 1996, The Vision of Escaflowne didn’t make its stateside debut until August of 2000, where it aired on Fox Kids. Unfortunately, much was lost in the translation. Besides a mildly passable english translation, the entire first episode was all but dropped and the episodes that WERE shown were heavily edited to fit the saturday morning demographic. Perhaps the greatest travesty though, adding even more weight to the subtitle over dub debate, is the beautiful soundtrack, produced by Yoko Kanno, which was partially replaced with a more techno soundtrack. Unsurprisingly, this heavily altered version was a ratings disaster and Escaflowne was cancelled soon after.

But enough about the history and my qualms with Fox, if you haven’t seen this anime you’re probably wondering what it’s about. Escaflowne tells the story of Hitomi Kanzaki, a run-of-the-mill high-schooler, who enjoys track and swoons over fellow classmate Amano Susumu. Things take a drastic turn when a mysterious young man, along with a fire-breathing dragon, randomly appear and begin wreaking havoc on the track field, with Hitomi in the middle of it all. Upon slaying the dragon, things get even worse for Hitomi when she, along with the young man, Van, are whisked away to the strange world of Gaea. There, Hitomi finds herself in the midst of a war between nations, with giant robots called Guymelefs, beast people, flying airships, and even Atlantis. I’ve tried not to spoil too much as one of Escaflowne’s greatest assets is its story. The story is rich with characters, all of whom are fleshed out well and given their proper motivations. Even major protagonists are not merely just “badguys” but thinking, feeling people who viewers can empathize with. Whether it’s Van, the brash and hot-headed prince of Fanelia, the cool and gentlemanly Allen Schezar, or even the slightly insane Dilandau Albatou, Escaflowne is littered with many excellent characters that will go down as some of anime’s finest.

At its heart though, Escaflowne is a romance story, complete with love triangles and the like. In fact, love is one of the underlying themes of the show, with many forms of it found throughout. Brotherly love, love between friends, and good old fashioned head-over-heels-in-love all make an appearance in Escaflowne. Even if you’re not much of a romantic, don’t let that scare you away as even the iciest of hearts will find some warmth over the course of Escaflowne. The show does a commendable job at spinning it’s love story, with plenty of knots and tangles along the way to keep the viewer engaged and wanting to see what happens next.

For those that prefer action over lovey-dovey romance, Escaflowne delivers on that front as well with some excellent guymelef battles that will more than satisfy giant mech fans. And of course, one of the title’s main stars is Escaflowne itself, a towering, white knight-like mech that has been passed down through Van’s royal family. This guymelef destroying behemoth is a sight to behold as it slices through its foes like a hot knife through butter and holds some surprises as well as the series unfolds.

If you were one of the few that caught Escaflowne during its Fox Kids run and never finished the series, you really owe it to yourself to finish this excellent anime. And for those (gasp) that have never even seen an episode Escaflowne at all, this should be at the top of your to-do list. Amidst an ever expanding library of titles, Escaflowne stands as one of the greatest anime around with something truly for everyone. Full of deep characters, titanic mech battles, and plenty of romance throughout, this is one anime you need to see.