Escaflowne - The Movie

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Anime movie
title Escaflowne - The Movie
Original title エ ス カ フ ロ ー ネ
transcription Esukafurône
Country of production JapanJapan Japan
original language Japanese
Publishing year 2000
Studio Bones
length 98 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Kazuki Akane
idea Hajime Yatate, Shōji Kawamori
script Kazuki Akane, Ryota Yamaguchi
music Yōko Kanno, Hajime Mizoguchi
synchronization

Escaflowne - The Movie (OT: Japanese エ ス カ フ ロ ー ネ , Esukafurōne ) is an anime film from 2000, the plot of which tells a new version of the television series The Vision of Escaflowne . In the production from the studio Bones led Kazuki Akane Director.

action

After the inheritance of rule over his clan went to Prince Van and not his older brother Folken, Folken moves with the army of the Black Dragon over the planet Gaia. He wants to destroy everything to put an end to all suffering on Gaia. To be able to use the mighty dragon armor "Escaflowne", which can destroy everything, he still lacks the "winged goddess". This is Hitomi, a school girl on earth. She keeps having visions, is unsettled by them until she finally follows the visions and is transferred from Folken to Gaia. There she finds herself again in Escaflowne and is then taken in by Van and his followers. Van wants to put a stop to his brother and now has Escaflowne, which he can also use thanks to Hitomi. But Hitomi is now looking for a way back to earth and Folken sends Dilandau with his soldiers to bring Hitomi and Escaflowne into his power.

Dilandau attacks Van and his entourage and during the fight, Hitomi and Van are separated from the others. But Van Dilandau can defeat and both escape. Dilandau is punished by Folken, but then equipped with magical armor that has just been salvaged to carry out his task. Meanwhile, Van and Hitomi seek shelter in the mountains in the home village of Van's servant and friend Merle. They promise each other that they will always want to stay together. Together with their loyal followers, they go to Folken to finally defeat him.

When they are near Folken's fortress, Folken and his priestess Hitomi try to convince them of their goal with visions. But she doesn't want anything to happen to Van and Gaia destroyed, even if this means further suffering. Eventually there is a fight in which Hitomi can help Van with her visions. He can also call Escaflowne through her and fight Dilandau in his armor in his new armor. Van wins, but he gets out of control with Escaflowne and threatens to destroy everything. But Hitomi can bring him back to his senses and both now face Folken. He does not allow himself to be dissuaded from his plan, but is killed by one of his own subordinates who wants to take revenge for the oppression of his people. Folken's fortress is falling apart. In Merle's village, Hitomi and Van promise to continue to be connected to each other, and Hitomi should return to earth.

production

After the success of the 1996 television series The Vision of Escaflowne , a film adaptation was announced, but was not completed for a long time due to funding problems. Studio Bones and Sunrise produced the film, which tells an alternative version of the plot of the series. The director was Kazuki Akane , who also wrote the script with Ryota Yamaguchi. The character design was created by Nobuteru Yuki , while Junichi Higashi was responsible for the artistic direction. The music composed Yōko Kanno and Hajime Mizoguchi, including the opening title First Vision . The end credits were accompanied by the song Yubiwa ( 指 輪 ), sung by Maaya Sakamoto.

synchronization

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) German speaker
Hitomi Kanzaki Maaya Sakamoto Julia Meynen
Van Fanel Tomokazu Seki Robin Kahnmeyer
Merle Ikue Ōtani Christin Marquitan
Folken Lacour de Fanel Jōji Nakata Bernd Vollbrecht
Dilandau Albatō Minami Takayama Claudia Urbschat-Mingues
Millerna Aki Takeda Antje von der Ahe

publication

Escaflowne was released in Japanese cinemas on June 24, 2000. The film was shown for the first time in the USA at the Anime Expo 2000. Translations followed, including into English, French, Spanish and Italian. The film was released on DVD by Dybex in 2009 under the title Escaflowne - The Movie .

reception

The critics of Animerica consistently praise the outstanding quality of the animations, the plot and the characters are clearly different than in the series. However, this has met with a divided response. For some, the film is very good in its own way, for others the good animation has been wasted on a weak, action-heavy plot.

The MangaZone also points out the great differences between film and series. Kazuki Akane and Ryota Yamaguchi have made loneliness, (self-) isolation and depression the main theme of the film, the film is darker, more depressing and more brutal. The characters are made darker and harder, the atmosphere is shaped by Akira Kurosawa's samurai films . The character design, which makes the characters look older and more realistic, goes well with it. There are also fantastic animations and a suitable soundtrack. As an independent film, Escaflowne is a first-class fantasy experience, but fans of the series are often offended.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b MangaZone , p. 21
  2. ↑ Fred Patten: Watching Anime, Reading Manga - 25 Years of Essays and Reviews , p. 139. Stone Bridge Press, 2004.
  3. ↑ Animerica , Vol. 9/6 , p. 86

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