The Vision of Escaflowne came out in 1996 and it stood out for several reasons. It was not the first mecha, or robot anime, that was retro or took place in a non-modern setting, but it did it incredibly well. It had Steampunk elements with its blend of giant robots battling it out and medieval settings and fantasy tropes. Normally this would have been a perfect scenario for a cliched male protagonist. The Vision of Escalowne turned that on its head by not only having a girl as the main character but also making it a robot fighting anime with romance. With music composed by Yoko Kanno and Hajime Mizoguchi, The Vision of Escaflowne would go on to become a classic in anime history.
The premise seem almost cliched now. Hitomi is a typical high school girl with no care other than running track and her school crush who she has of course not confessed to yet. She is popular, studious, and relatively independent for a high school girl. She likes to tell fortunes with tarot cards for her friends and actually has a slight ability to see the future. But lately she has been plagued by visions of another world that is not her own. While out at the track, preparing to confess to her crush, when a dragon suddenly appears on the school grounds. Fighting it is Van, who it turns out is from a world called Gaea.
Once there, she becomes embroiled in a war raged by the empire of Zaibach against the many other nations of the world. The inhabitants of the world are a rich and diverse melting pot of races, and species. The different nations each have their own distinct history and culture.
And of course there are the fighting mechs called Melefs which are about four meters tall and Guymelefs which are about ten meters tall. These are basically specialized armor for elite fighters and look really damn good in action. Check out the video clip below for a sample.
Van, who we are introduced in earlier is s prince about to inherit the kingdom of Fenalia, must deal with the aftermath of the destruction of his kingdom by Zaibach and learn to control the Guymeleth called Escaflowne which is powered by the heart of the dragon that he had slain with the hep of Hitomi. Escaflowne is not just any sort of mech – it is powered by the heart of a dragon afterall. It can transform into a flying mech-dragon. That alone is worth checking out.
But the storytelling is definitely a complex mix and stands above the generic idea of good guys vs, bad guys. Hitomi may start of as a typical high school girl and a little too damsel in distress in the beginning but her character growth through the series is believable. The romantic triangle that she is involved in may be a bit off-putting. Cuz we know it’s always meant to be Hitomi and Van.
The production and storytelling really do hold up considering the age of it. And yes, it is hand drawn animation with may seem jarring to some of you youngins but because it is done traditionally and still looks as good as modern anime, it shows the quality and the care that went into the making of it. This show is a classic in animation even in an age where it seems almost every other anime is about someone getting transported to another world, this stands above that because it does not rely on gaming tropes but good storytelling and characters to
The Vision of Escaflowne is available to stream subtitled on Crunchyroll and dubbed on Funimation Now. Note that these are remastered episodes of The Vision of Escaflowne and some episodes are extended. Funimation created a new dub for this release. I prefer physical media, however, and fortunately it is available as a series box set. The series set does have some of the non-extended episodes in the original Bandai dub available as an alternate track for those who prefer it. I do find the new dub serviceable but there are a few voices I prefer from the old dub.
The Ranting Penguin 