The Vision of Escaflowne
Encyclopedia
is a 26-episode
Japanese anime
television series produced by Sunrise Studios
and directed by Kazuki Akane
. It premiered in Japan on April 2, 1996 on TV Tokyo
, with the final episode airing on September 24, 1996. Sony's anime satellite
channel, Animax
also aired the series, both in Japan and on its various worldwide networks, including Hong Kong, Taiwan
, Southeast Asia
, and South Asia
. The series is licensed for Region 1 release by Bandai Entertainment.
Deliberately blending elements from both shōnen and shōjo genres, the series follows a teenage high school girl named Hitomi, who finds herself pulled from Earth to the planet Gaea when a boy named Van appears on the high school track while battling a dragon. In Gaea, she is caught in the middle of a war as the Zaibach Empire attempts to take over Gaea. Van (King of Fanelia), with aid from Allen (an Asturian Knight), commands his mystical mech Escaflowne in the struggle to stop the Zaibach Empire. Hitomi's fortune telling powers blossom in Gaea as she becomes the key to awakening Escaflowne and to stopping Zaibach's plans.
While the anime series was in production, two very different manga retellings were also developed and released: a shōnen version of the story entitled The Vision of Escaflowne and a shōjo retelling titled Hitomi—The Vision of Escaflowne. In addition, a second shōjo adaptation called Escaflowne—Energist's Memories was released as a single volume in 1997. The story was novelized in a series of six light novels by Yumiko Tsukamoto, Hajime Yatate
, and Shoji Kawamori
. A movie adaptation, Escaflowne: The Movie
was released on June 24, 2000, but bears only a basic resemblance to the original series. Four CD soundtracks and a drama CD have also been released in relation to the series.
. As the series progresses, many of the characters' pasts and motivations, as well as the history of Atlantis and the true nature of the planet Gaea, are revealed.
first proposed the series after a trip to Nepal
, during which he visited the foggy mountain region and picture a hidden world where an epic focusing on both fate
and divination
should be set. When he returned, he proposed the series to Bandai Entertainment and Sunrise Studios
. According to Kawamori, his pitch
for the series was simple: "if Macross
was robotic mecha
and love songs, why not a story about robotic mecha and divining powers?"
He worked with Bandai producer Minoru Takanashi to finish fleshing out the original idea. They researched various mysteries for inspiration, particularly stories centered around the mythical land of Atlantis
and the Bermuda Triangle
. As the series began taking shape, they changed the lead character from a male, the norm for an action-mecha series, to a high school girl as the lead character. Nobuteru Yuki
was hired as the character designer, and tasked with crafting a design for Hitomi and the rest of the cast. He would later state that Hitomi was his favorite character because it was the first one he'd ever designed completely from scratch rather than simply being adapted from an existing medium. Initially, Folken and Dilandau were a single enemy commander, but as the story fleshed out, the creators felt the series would be more interesting if there were two with very different personalities.
Initially, the series was planned at thirty-nine episodes, with Yasuhiro Imagawa
brought on board to direct. He is credited with coining the word "escaflowne", a Latin-based derivative of the word "escalation", that would be used in the title. Imagawa saw the series as being a typical shōnen
series that was heavily male oriented and featuring a shapely heroine and dramatic battles. However, he left the project before actual production started to direct Mobile Fighter G Gundam
. Without a director, the series was put on hold and Kawamori left to work on other projects. After two years sitting on the shelf, Sunrise revisited the project and brought in relative newcomer Kazuki Akane
as the new director. In order to broaden the potential audience, Akane decided to add more shōjo
, or girl-oriented, elements to the series. The suggestive elements were removed, several of the male characters were given more bishōnen
—"beautiful boy"—appearances, and the plot element around the tarot cards were added. Akane also gave the character of Hitomi a complete make over, taking her from being a curvy, air-headed, long-haired girl with glasses to the slim, athletic, short-haired and more intelligent and confident girl seen in the final series.
With the series character designs finalized and the story set, Yoko Kanno
was selected to write the songs for the series, including the background songs which she co-wrote with Hajime Mizoguchi
. Initially they found it difficult to score the series as the plot itself was still being reworked around the new concept, but the plot changes were finished in time for them to prepare the score and give the film the desired final "epic touch." Sixteen-year-old Maaya Sakamoto
, fresh from a small role in the anime adaptation of Mizuiro Jidai
, was selected not only as the voice of Hitomi, but also to sing the Escaflowne theme song. Kanno is noted as saying that Sakamoto is an ideal interpreter of her work. After this project, they continued to collaborate on many other works and some consider her work on The Vision of Escaflowne to be the launching point of Sakamoto's career.
As the series entered into production, the budget required it be cut down to twenty-six episodes before work began on the final scripts and animation began. Not wanting to cut out any of the characters or the already elaborately planned plot lines, the series was instead forced to fit into the shorter length and cover more of the story in each episode than originally planned. This can be seen some in the first episode, where in the credits were cut in favor of adding more exposition. While a few scenes were deleted, as a whole each episode was left with a feeling of giving the viewer a great deal more information than in many anime series, and it added to the series epic scope. In the retail Japanese video release, some of the deleted scenes were restored to the first seven episodes.
on April 2, 1996 where it aired weekly until it completed its twenty-six episode run on September 24, 1996. Bandai Entertainment North American division, which licensed the series for home video distribution under its AnimeVillage label, first released the series with English subtitles, across eight VHS
volumes, including a box set, from September 15, 1998 to December 15, 1998. In August 2000, Fox Kids
began broadcasting the series in the United States. Produced by Haim Saban
, these dubbed
episodes were heavily edited to remove footage, add new "flashback" sequences to remind the audience of the events that just occurred, and to heavily downplay the role of Hitomi in the series. The first episode was skipped altogether, and the series soundtrack produced by Yoko Kanno was partially replaced with more techno themes. This modified version of the series was a ratings failure and canceled after ten episodes. Fox explained that they edited to meet their own target audience, to comply with broadcast standards, and to fit the allowed timeslot. The Canadian television channel YTV acquired Fox's dubbed version of the series for broadcast. Following Fox's planned broadcast schedule, they premiered the series on September 11, 2000 with the second episode. YTV aired all of the episodes Fox Kids dubbed, concluding with the series true first episode in February 2001. Bandai began releasing the dubbed version to VHS in 2000, discontinuing the releases in February 2001 after only four volumes had been released.
Bandai later released the entire series, unedited and in the original episode order, to Region 1 DVD
. Spanning eight volumes, the releases include the original Japanese audio tracks with optional English subtitles, and the uncut English dubbed track. Bandai also later released the series in several different box sets, including a Limited Edition set released on July 23, 2002, a "Perfect Collection"—which included the Escaflowne
feature length movie—released October 26, 2004, and an "Anime Legends" box set on April 11, 2006.
Three pieces of theme music are used for the series. , performed by Maaya Sakamoto
, is used for the series opening theme for the entire series, except the first episode in which no opening sequence is used. Performed by Hiroki Wada
, "Mystic Eyes" is used for the ending them for the first twenty-five episodes, while the final episode uses Yoko Kanno
's instrumental piece .
, who not only voiced the main character of Hitomi Kanzaki, but also performed the opening theme song "Yakusoku wa Iranai" and other songs from the series. Yoko Kanno
and Hajime Mizoguchi
composed and produced the series' musical themes and background, incorporating a variety of styles including contemporary, classical, and Gregorian chant
.
Four CD soundtrack
s have been released in Japan by Victor Entertainment
. Escaflowne: Over the Sky was released on June 5, 1996, with sixteen tracks, including the series' full opening and ending themes. The second CD, Escaflowne Original Soundtrack 2, was released on July 24, 1996 and contained an additional seventeen tracks.
Released on September 28, 1996, Escaflowne Original Soundtrack 3 contained an additional fifteen tracks. The fourth CD soundtrack, The Vision of Escaflowne: Lovers Only, was released in on January 22, 1997 and contained twenty tracks, including the original TV length opening and ending themes and the ending theme used for the final episode of the series. Despite the relative popularity of the soundtracks, they have not been licensed for release outside of Japan and are only available by import
ing them.
magazine from Kadokawa Shoten
. Despite the anime series itself being on hold, Sunrise gave artist Katsu Aki
the existing production and character designs, resulting in the first manga series having the heavy shōnen feel and curvaceous Hitomi that was originally planned for the anime series. Given free rein to change the story however he wanted, Aki's version is a violent saga focused primarily on fighting and has Hitomi transforming into a "curvaceous nymph
" that is the power source of the mecha Escaflowne. The series premiered in Shōnen Aces first issue on October 24, 1997 and ran until November 26, 1997. The thirty-eight chapters were collected and published by Kadokawa across eight tankōbon
volumes. It was licensed for released in North America by Tokyopop
with the first volume released on July 10, 2003. The Tokyopop English editions were also imported for distribution in Australia by Madman Entertainment
.
In 1996, with the premiere of the anime series, Messiah Knight — The Vision of Escaflowne was created. This shōjo oriented adaptation was written by Yuzuru Yashiro and serialized in Asuka Fantasy DX
from April 8, 1996 through January 18, 1997. Unlike the first manga, it focused more on the interaction of the characters and severely toned down the violence to the point that the mecha are not used for battle at all and Escaflowne only appears near the end of the series. It was abruptly canceled after only 10 chapters and the end of the anime, due to the slowing popularity of the series. The individual chapters were released in two tankōbon volumes, at which time the series was retitled Hitomi — The Vision of Escaflowne.
A final manga retelling, Escaflowne — Energist's Memories, was a collaborative effort of various manga artist
around Japan to create 15 "mini-stories" related to the anime series. The single volume manga was published in January 1997 under Kadokawa's Asuka comics DX shōjo imprint. Artist's who contributed to the volume include: Tammy Ohta, Yayoi Takeda, Kahiro Okuya, Daimoon Tennyo, Kazumi Takahashi
, Masaki Sano, and Kyo Watanabe.
, and Shoji Kawamori
collaborated in the writing on a novelization of the Vision of Escaflowne anime series. The light novel
chapters were originally serialized in Newtype
, and the illustrations were provided by Nobuteru Yuuki and Hirotoshi Sano. The individual chapters were collected and released in six individual volumes by Kadokawa
under their "New Type Novels" label between June 1996 and August 1997.
. Featuring character re-designs by Nobuteru Yūki
, the film focuses on the relationship between Van and Hitomi and their personal issues. The characters themselves are also given different personalities, with the film Hitomi changing from a cheerful girl in love to a depressed, suicidal schoolgirl who is suffering from self-induced feelings of loneliness and alienation. With Van being a violent, hot-headed man. In the film the world of Gaea has a more Asian design than the heavily European influenced television series.
A video game based on the series, also titled The Vision of Escaflowne was released to the PlayStation
system by Bandai Games
in 1997. A limited edition version came packaged with a small collector's book and 26 tarot cards. The action-adventure game had an altered plot line and featured additional characters.
.
Egon Loo, writing for Animerica
, considered it an "epic fantasy" with some of the "most dramatic music in any soundtrack, anime, or live-action", and a "breathless pacing" that result in its being an "acclaimed masterpiece."
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
Japanese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series produced by Sunrise Studios
Sunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
and directed by Kazuki Akane
Kazuki Akane
is a Japanese director of Japanese animation. Until the early 2000s, he was a staff member of the anime studio Sunrise, where he collaborated with Shoji Kawamori to direct his most famous work, The Vision of Escaflowne...
. It premiered in Japan on April 2, 1996 on TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
, with the final episode airing on September 24, 1996. Sony's anime satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
channel, Animax
Animax
is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
also aired the series, both in Japan and on its various worldwide networks, including Hong Kong, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, and South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. The series is licensed for Region 1 release by Bandai Entertainment.
Deliberately blending elements from both shōnen and shōjo genres, the series follows a teenage high school girl named Hitomi, who finds herself pulled from Earth to the planet Gaea when a boy named Van appears on the high school track while battling a dragon. In Gaea, she is caught in the middle of a war as the Zaibach Empire attempts to take over Gaea. Van (King of Fanelia), with aid from Allen (an Asturian Knight), commands his mystical mech Escaflowne in the struggle to stop the Zaibach Empire. Hitomi's fortune telling powers blossom in Gaea as she becomes the key to awakening Escaflowne and to stopping Zaibach's plans.
While the anime series was in production, two very different manga retellings were also developed and released: a shōnen version of the story entitled The Vision of Escaflowne and a shōjo retelling titled Hitomi—The Vision of Escaflowne. In addition, a second shōjo adaptation called Escaflowne—Energist's Memories was released as a single volume in 1997. The story was novelized in a series of six light novels by Yumiko Tsukamoto, Hajime Yatate
Hajime Yatate
is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Sunrise animation staff.-Name:"Hajime Yatate" is considered named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi:-Credited series:...
, and Shoji Kawamori
Shoji Kawamori
is a Japanese anime creator, screenwriter and mechanical designer, having created or co-created such notable series as The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, The Vision of Escaflowne, Earth Maiden Arjuna, Genesis of Aquarion, Macross 7, and Macross Frontier. He is currently executive director at the...
. A movie adaptation, Escaflowne: The Movie
Escaflowne (film)
is an anime film produced by Sunrise and animated by Studio BONES. Directed by Kazuki Akane, the film is a re-telling of the twenty-six episode anime television series The Vision of Escaflowne...
was released on June 24, 2000, but bears only a basic resemblance to the original series. Four CD soundtracks and a drama CD have also been released in relation to the series.
Plot
The series focuses on the heroine, Hitomi Kanzaki, and her adventures after she is transported to the world of Gaea, a mysterious planet where she can see Earth and its moon in the sky. On Gaea, Earth is known as the Mystic Moon. Hitomi's latent psychic powers are enhanced on Gaea and she quickly becomes embroiled in the conflicts between the Zaibach Empire and the several peaceful countries that surround it. The conflicts are brought about by the Zaibach Empire's quest to revive the legendary power from the ancient city of AtlantisAtlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
. As the series progresses, many of the characters' pasts and motivations, as well as the history of Atlantis and the true nature of the planet Gaea, are revealed.
Production
Shoji KawamoriShoji Kawamori
is a Japanese anime creator, screenwriter and mechanical designer, having created or co-created such notable series as The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, The Vision of Escaflowne, Earth Maiden Arjuna, Genesis of Aquarion, Macross 7, and Macross Frontier. He is currently executive director at the...
first proposed the series after a trip to Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, during which he visited the foggy mountain region and picture a hidden world where an epic focusing on both fate
Destiny
Destiny or fate refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual...
and divination
Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
should be set. When he returned, he proposed the series to Bandai Entertainment and Sunrise Studios
Sunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
. According to Kawamori, his pitch
Sales pitch
In selling technique, a sales pitch is a line of talk that attempts to persuade someone or something, with a planned sales presentation strategy of a product or service designed to initiate and close a sale of the product or service....
for the series was simple: "if Macross
Macross
is a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
was robotic mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
and love songs, why not a story about robotic mecha and divining powers?"
He worked with Bandai producer Minoru Takanashi to finish fleshing out the original idea. They researched various mysteries for inspiration, particularly stories centered around the mythical land of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
and the Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
. As the series began taking shape, they changed the lead character from a male, the norm for an action-mecha series, to a high school girl as the lead character. Nobuteru Yuki
Nobuteru Yuki
is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and animator. He began as a doujinshi artist under the nom de plume The Man in the High Castle and Yubic , both references to the works of American science fiction author Philip K. Dick...
was hired as the character designer, and tasked with crafting a design for Hitomi and the rest of the cast. He would later state that Hitomi was his favorite character because it was the first one he'd ever designed completely from scratch rather than simply being adapted from an existing medium. Initially, Folken and Dilandau were a single enemy commander, but as the story fleshed out, the creators felt the series would be more interesting if there were two with very different personalities.
Initially, the series was planned at thirty-nine episodes, with Yasuhiro Imagawa
Yasuhiro Imagawa
is a Japanese anime director and screenwriter.-Selected works:*Mister Ajikko *Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still *Gin Rei...
brought on board to direct. He is credited with coining the word "escaflowne", a Latin-based derivative of the word "escalation", that would be used in the title. Imagawa saw the series as being a typical shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
series that was heavily male oriented and featuring a shapely heroine and dramatic battles. However, he left the project before actual production started to direct Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Mobile Fighter G Gundam
Mobile Fighter G Gundam, known in Japan as , is a Japanese animated television series directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa . Created to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the franchise in 1994, it is the first of the Gundam series to be set in an alternate continuity from the original "Universal Century"...
. Without a director, the series was put on hold and Kawamori left to work on other projects. After two years sitting on the shelf, Sunrise revisited the project and brought in relative newcomer Kazuki Akane
Kazuki Akane
is a Japanese director of Japanese animation. Until the early 2000s, he was a staff member of the anime studio Sunrise, where he collaborated with Shoji Kawamori to direct his most famous work, The Vision of Escaflowne...
as the new director. In order to broaden the potential audience, Akane decided to add more shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
, or girl-oriented, elements to the series. The suggestive elements were removed, several of the male characters were given more bishōnen
Bishonen
is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth ". The equivalent English concept is a "pretty boy".The term describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man whose beauty transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation...
—"beautiful boy"—appearances, and the plot element around the tarot cards were added. Akane also gave the character of Hitomi a complete make over, taking her from being a curvy, air-headed, long-haired girl with glasses to the slim, athletic, short-haired and more intelligent and confident girl seen in the final series.
With the series character designs finalized and the story set, Yoko Kanno
Yoko Kanno
is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...
was selected to write the songs for the series, including the background songs which she co-wrote with Hajime Mizoguchi
Hajime Mizoguchi
is a cellist and composer.Mizoguchi started playing piano in 1963, at the age of 3, and the cello in 1971. From 1978–1985 he attended the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music where he majored in violoncello...
. Initially they found it difficult to score the series as the plot itself was still being reworked around the new concept, but the plot changes were finished in time for them to prepare the score and give the film the desired final "epic touch." Sixteen-year-old Maaya Sakamoto
Maaya Sakamoto
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...
, fresh from a small role in the anime adaptation of Mizuiro Jidai
Mizuiro Jidai
is manga series which was serialized in 1991 by Shogakukan Inc. in the shōjo manga magazine Ciao. An television anime version ran for 47 episodes in 1996/1997 on TV Tokyo. During the run of the anime a continuation of the story called "Shin Mizuiro Jidai" was run in Ciao Magazine. The series was...
, was selected not only as the voice of Hitomi, but also to sing the Escaflowne theme song. Kanno is noted as saying that Sakamoto is an ideal interpreter of her work. After this project, they continued to collaborate on many other works and some consider her work on The Vision of Escaflowne to be the launching point of Sakamoto's career.
As the series entered into production, the budget required it be cut down to twenty-six episodes before work began on the final scripts and animation began. Not wanting to cut out any of the characters or the already elaborately planned plot lines, the series was instead forced to fit into the shorter length and cover more of the story in each episode than originally planned. This can be seen some in the first episode, where in the credits were cut in favor of adding more exposition. While a few scenes were deleted, as a whole each episode was left with a feeling of giving the viewer a great deal more information than in many anime series, and it added to the series epic scope. In the retail Japanese video release, some of the deleted scenes were restored to the first seven episodes.
Anime series
The Vision of Escaflowne premiered in Japan on TV TokyoTV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
on April 2, 1996 where it aired weekly until it completed its twenty-six episode run on September 24, 1996. Bandai Entertainment North American division, which licensed the series for home video distribution under its AnimeVillage label, first released the series with English subtitles, across eight VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
volumes, including a box set, from September 15, 1998 to December 15, 1998. In August 2000, Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
began broadcasting the series in the United States. Produced by Haim Saban
Haim Saban
Haim Saban is an Egyptian born Israeli-American television and media proprietor. With an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 104th richest person in America.-Biography:...
, these dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
episodes were heavily edited to remove footage, add new "flashback" sequences to remind the audience of the events that just occurred, and to heavily downplay the role of Hitomi in the series. The first episode was skipped altogether, and the series soundtrack produced by Yoko Kanno was partially replaced with more techno themes. This modified version of the series was a ratings failure and canceled after ten episodes. Fox explained that they edited to meet their own target audience, to comply with broadcast standards, and to fit the allowed timeslot. The Canadian television channel YTV acquired Fox's dubbed version of the series for broadcast. Following Fox's planned broadcast schedule, they premiered the series on September 11, 2000 with the second episode. YTV aired all of the episodes Fox Kids dubbed, concluding with the series true first episode in February 2001. Bandai began releasing the dubbed version to VHS in 2000, discontinuing the releases in February 2001 after only four volumes had been released.
Bandai later released the entire series, unedited and in the original episode order, to Region 1 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. Spanning eight volumes, the releases include the original Japanese audio tracks with optional English subtitles, and the uncut English dubbed track. Bandai also later released the series in several different box sets, including a Limited Edition set released on July 23, 2002, a "Perfect Collection"—which included the Escaflowne
Escaflowne (film)
is an anime film produced by Sunrise and animated by Studio BONES. Directed by Kazuki Akane, the film is a re-telling of the twenty-six episode anime television series The Vision of Escaflowne...
feature length movie—released October 26, 2004, and an "Anime Legends" box set on April 11, 2006.
Three pieces of theme music are used for the series. , performed by Maaya Sakamoto
Maaya Sakamoto
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...
, is used for the series opening theme for the entire series, except the first episode in which no opening sequence is used. Performed by Hiroki Wada
Hiroki Wada
H-wonder is a composer and arranger born in Japan. He first debuted in 1995 under his birth name, .In June 1998, he stopped being a solo artist and changed his name to h-wonder and became a composer...
, "Mystic Eyes" is used for the ending them for the first twenty-five episodes, while the final episode uses Yoko Kanno
Yoko Kanno
is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...
's instrumental piece .
Soundtracks
The Vision of Escaflowne is the debut work of Maaya SakamotoMaaya Sakamoto
is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...
, who not only voiced the main character of Hitomi Kanzaki, but also performed the opening theme song "Yakusoku wa Iranai" and other songs from the series. Yoko Kanno
Yoko Kanno
is a composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks for many games, anime films, TV series, live-action movies, and advertisements...
and Hajime Mizoguchi
Hajime Mizoguchi
is a cellist and composer.Mizoguchi started playing piano in 1963, at the age of 3, and the cello in 1971. From 1978–1985 he attended the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music where he majored in violoncello...
composed and produced the series' musical themes and background, incorporating a variety of styles including contemporary, classical, and Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
.
Four CD soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s have been released in Japan by Victor Entertainment
Victor Entertainment
is a subsidiary of Japan Victor Company that produces and distributes music, movies and other entertainment products such as anime and television shows in Japan. It was formerly known as...
. Escaflowne: Over the Sky was released on June 5, 1996, with sixteen tracks, including the series' full opening and ending themes. The second CD, Escaflowne Original Soundtrack 2, was released on July 24, 1996 and contained an additional seventeen tracks.
Released on September 28, 1996, Escaflowne Original Soundtrack 3 contained an additional fifteen tracks. The fourth CD soundtrack, The Vision of Escaflowne: Lovers Only, was released in on January 22, 1997 and contained twenty tracks, including the original TV length opening and ending themes and the ending theme used for the final episode of the series. Despite the relative popularity of the soundtracks, they have not been licensed for release outside of Japan and are only available by import
Import
The term import is derived from the conceptual meaning as to bring in the goods and services into the port of a country. The buyer of such goods and services is referred to an "importer" who is based in the country of import whereas the overseas based seller is referred to as an "exporter". Thus...
ing them.
Manga
Three alternate retellings of The Vision of Escaflowne have been released in manga form, with first two manga series developed at the same time as the anime. Due to the radical changes in the anime series during production, these two manga series are very different from the original anime series and each other. The first series, also titled The Vision of Escaflowne was one of the first manga series to appear in the then new Shōnen AceShonen Ace
is a monthly shōnen manga magazine in Japan published by Kadokawa Shoten, started in 1994. Unlike the big shōnen weeklies with circulation figures in the millions, Ace is aimed at a less mainstream audience, and has a particular emphasis on anime tie-ins...
magazine from Kadokawa Shoten
Kadokawa Shoten
is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...
. Despite the anime series itself being on hold, Sunrise gave artist Katsu Aki
Katsu Aki
, pen name , is a Japanese manga artist best known for his works The Vision of Escaflowne, Futari Ecchi, and Psychic Academy. Mine Yoshizaki is one of Aki's former assistants.-Manga creations:...
the existing production and character designs, resulting in the first manga series having the heavy shōnen feel and curvaceous Hitomi that was originally planned for the anime series. Given free rein to change the story however he wanted, Aki's version is a violent saga focused primarily on fighting and has Hitomi transforming into a "curvaceous nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
" that is the power source of the mecha Escaflowne. The series premiered in Shōnen Aces first issue on October 24, 1997 and ran until November 26, 1997. The thirty-eight chapters were collected and published by Kadokawa across eight tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes. It was licensed for released in North America by Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
with the first volume released on July 10, 2003. The Tokyopop English editions were also imported for distribution in Australia by Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
.
In 1996, with the premiere of the anime series, Messiah Knight — The Vision of Escaflowne was created. This shōjo oriented adaptation was written by Yuzuru Yashiro and serialized in Asuka Fantasy DX
Asuka Fantasy DX
Asuka Fantasy DX or simply Fantasy DX was a Japanese shōjo manga magazine. It was previously distributed by the Kadokawa Shoten, but then it was cancelled...
from April 8, 1996 through January 18, 1997. Unlike the first manga, it focused more on the interaction of the characters and severely toned down the violence to the point that the mecha are not used for battle at all and Escaflowne only appears near the end of the series. It was abruptly canceled after only 10 chapters and the end of the anime, due to the slowing popularity of the series. The individual chapters were released in two tankōbon volumes, at which time the series was retitled Hitomi — The Vision of Escaflowne.
A final manga retelling, Escaflowne — Energist's Memories, was a collaborative effort of various manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
around Japan to create 15 "mini-stories" related to the anime series. The single volume manga was published in January 1997 under Kadokawa's Asuka comics DX shōjo imprint. Artist's who contributed to the volume include: Tammy Ohta, Yayoi Takeda, Kahiro Okuya, Daimoon Tennyo, Kazumi Takahashi
Kazumi Takahashi
was a Japanese novelist and scholar of Chinese literature in Showa period Japan. His wife was fellow writer Takako Takahashi.-Biography:Takahashi was born in Naniwa-ku, Osaka, and was a graduate of Kyoto University. While still a student, he contributed to the Gendai Bungaku literary magazine...
, Masaki Sano, and Kyo Watanabe.
Novels
Yumiko Tsukamoto, Hajime YatateHajime Yatate
is a pseudonym for the collective contributions of the Sunrise animation staff.-Name:"Hajime Yatate" is considered named after a quote of Matsuo Bashō's Oku no Hosomichi:-Credited series:...
, and Shoji Kawamori
Shoji Kawamori
is a Japanese anime creator, screenwriter and mechanical designer, having created or co-created such notable series as The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, The Vision of Escaflowne, Earth Maiden Arjuna, Genesis of Aquarion, Macross 7, and Macross Frontier. He is currently executive director at the...
collaborated in the writing on a novelization of the Vision of Escaflowne anime series. The light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
chapters were originally serialized in Newtype
Newtype (magazine)
is a monthly magazine publication originating from Japan, covering anime and manga . It was launched by publishing company Kadokawa Shoten on March 8, 1985 with its April issue, and has since seen regular release on the 10th of every month in its home country...
, and the illustrations were provided by Nobuteru Yuuki and Hirotoshi Sano. The individual chapters were collected and released in six individual volumes by Kadokawa
Kadokawa
-Companies:*Kadokawa Shoten, a publishing house, or its subsidiaries**Kadokawa Shoten Pictures, the film production branch, at various times called Kadokawa Daiei Motion Picture Co., Ltd., Kadokawa Herald Pictures, Inc. and Kadokawa Pictures, Inc....
under their "New Type Novels" label between June 1996 and August 1997.
Movie
is a ninety-eight minute anime film released in Japan on June 24, 2000 that retells of the story in the Vision of Escaflowne. The film was produced by Sunrise, animated by Studio BONES, and directed by Kazuki AkaneKazuki Akane
is a Japanese director of Japanese animation. Until the early 2000s, he was a staff member of the anime studio Sunrise, where he collaborated with Shoji Kawamori to direct his most famous work, The Vision of Escaflowne...
. Featuring character re-designs by Nobuteru Yūki
Nobuteru Yuki
is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and animator. He began as a doujinshi artist under the nom de plume The Man in the High Castle and Yubic , both references to the works of American science fiction author Philip K. Dick...
, the film focuses on the relationship between Van and Hitomi and their personal issues. The characters themselves are also given different personalities, with the film Hitomi changing from a cheerful girl in love to a depressed, suicidal schoolgirl who is suffering from self-induced feelings of loneliness and alienation. With Van being a violent, hot-headed man. In the film the world of Gaea has a more Asian design than the heavily European influenced television series.
Other media
Victor Entertainment released one drama CD for the series, Escaflowne Original Drama Album, which was released on December 18, 1996.A video game based on the series, also titled The Vision of Escaflowne was released to the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
system by Bandai Games
Bandai
is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...
in 1997. A limited edition version came packaged with a small collector's book and 26 tarot cards. The action-adventure game had an altered plot line and featured additional characters.
Reception
Though well received, The Vision of Escaflowne was not as popular in Japan as producers hoped. Outside of Japan, however, it was a worldwide hit. In the United States, it outsold Gundam on video tape, and the first volume of the English DVD release of The Vision of Escaflowne was the fourth best-selling anime DVD for the month of September 2000. The series aired in South Korea where it enjoyed consistently high ratings. Producers noted that it was the worldwide success that led to the eventual creation of the anime film, EscaflowneEscaflowne (film)
is an anime film produced by Sunrise and animated by Studio BONES. Directed by Kazuki Akane, the film is a re-telling of the twenty-six episode anime television series The Vision of Escaflowne...
.
Egon Loo, writing for Animerica
Animerica
Animerica is a quarterly digest published by Viz Media. It initially started as a monthly magazine featuring reviews of anime and manga titles, as well as related works. After a preview issue was released in November 1992, the magazine's first issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993...
, considered it an "epic fantasy" with some of the "most dramatic music in any soundtrack, anime, or live-action", and a "breathless pacing" that result in its being an "acclaimed masterpiece."