Escaflowne the Movie

[MKTerra]

Hmm, could've used more story :/

Or rather, I think it really needs to be in series format to tell the story well. There wasn't enough time in the movie to develop the characters much.

Also, needs more mecha! There's only two in the movie :p

Escaflowne's dragon wings look strange without full membranes.

Edit: Oh yeah, and did Hitomi have Sango's voice? Folken had Naraku's.

[Sanagi]

It's really a textbook example of the problem with movies based on series... It's weighed down by the plot baggage of the series but never manages to go into enough depth to make it worthwhile.

Also, Folken's hair is just plain scary.

Nice music, though. And I really like the scene with the sort of crayon-ish art style. Very pretty and touching.

[Guts/Batman]

I loved the music in Escaflowne. Freakin awesome. Especially the "Black Escaflowne" music.

I didn't know too much about the plot as I was not a fan of the show before I got it but I loved the movie.

[Paploo the Ewok]

Edit: Oh yeah, and did Hitomi have Sango's voice? Folken had Naraku's.

Hitomi's always had Sango's voice, cause she played Hitomi first ^_^ . Kelly Sheridan is also the voice of Barbie in MainFrame's direct to video movies, and had a role on CardCaptors. She's appeared in several Ocean dubs.

[Steve]

I loved the music in Escaflowne. Freakin awesome. Especially the "Black Escaflowne" music.

I didn't know too much about the plot as I was not a fan of the show before I got it but I loved the movie.
Yeah, the soundtrack was excellent.

My favorite had to be Sora.

The music and designs are pretty much what stood out most about the film.

[Inkthinker]

Beautifully animated, but gah... that script. Agh. Sooo... much... teeny... nonsense...

The action is really well-done, though.

[Hiromi]

Escaflowne the Movie would have done so much better if they had more time to flesh out everything. And if they hadn't turned Folken from an awesome character into a villian it was hard to work up any sympathy for. That said it was fairly good.

[Lubichev]

Wasn't that just the intro to the series? I guess there will be more story line fleshed out as the series moves along. I recorded it and was only able to see the first fight scene (which frigin' rocked)so far but saw potential. Anime likes to take its time with storyline anyway. I'm excited to see more of it.

[Hiromi]

No, the Escaflowne movie has nothing whatsoever at all to do with the series, its an alternate universe.

[Lubichev]

Oh well then. Someone lied to me. LIARS!

Then it sucks then, huh.

[Kaiden]

Then it sucks then, huh.

You're preaching to the choir.
Even though I'm sure it was slaughtered, I grew up on the series when it aired every Friday on Fox Kids (in other words, when it was worth watching), and it was awesome.
The movie had me hurling my guts out the next day.

[MKTerra]

You're preaching to the choir.
Even though I'm sure it was slaughtered, I grew up on the series when it aired every Friday on Fox Kids (in other words, when it was worth watching), and it was awesome.
The movie had me hurling my guts out the next day.Hrm, didn't Fox Kids cut the series off a few episodes in? I was annoyed, till I heard later that they had substituted Yoko Kanno's soundtrack with their own (which, given my impression of her reputation, struck me as akin to "augmenting" the Mona Lisa).

[Kaiden]

Hrm, didn't Fox Kids cut the series off a few episodes in? I was annoyed, till I heard later that they had substituted Yoko Kanno's soundtrack with their own (which, given my impression of her reputation, struck me as akin to "augmenting" the Mona Lisa).

I didn't know about dubbing at the time, so I thought that how it was written. But somehow, I still prefer the series over the movie. The Characters looked better, IMHO.

[Hiromi]

Ugh, please don't speak of Fox's horrendus attempt at airing it. Lessee horrid VAs, they skipped the first episode and thus nothing made much sense, then cancelled it without finishing it.

[Kaiden]

Ugh, please don't speak of Fox's horrendus attempt at airing it. Lessee horrid VAs, they skipped the first episode and thus nothing made much sense, then cancelled it without finishing it.

Forgive me for going by first impressions and not knowing what dubbing was at the time.

[Guts/Batman]

I think there was a time everyone of none of knew was a "dub" was. If you didn't know about dubs before you posted then now ya know, but if ya did just be a bit more clear in yout post and you don't have to be called out on it.

I watched a lil of Fox's attempt at Escaflowne the series and it didn't make sense. I don't remember it too fondly (which is a good thing). My interest in Escaflowne right now is merely in the movie and not the series.

I might be missing out, yes, but I have lots of other things on my priority list before I will add the series to the list.

[Domo Goddess]

I watched the movie, but I didn't quite understand what was going on.
I do like the series opening song though ( I can't remember the name at the
moment ! )

[Inkthinker]

The movie actually didn't appear to me to be butchered at all... it got plenty bloody, and dealt with mature themes appropriate to it's late-night airtime.

[Pikachu]

Before "Cowboy Bebop" was re-run a million and a half times on Cartoon Network, "Escaflowne" the series was the first great Anime series with depth and emotion brought to the U.S. Granted Fox killed the series down right before it ever had its day in the sun, but the un-edited DVDs are amazing. Personally I rank "Escaflowne" as the best series just because of its top notch music, and the story is very adventurous, characters are developed amazingly well for how many seperate story strands and tangents going on, and the final outcome is the most beautiful conclusion to a story ever. It's practically literature!

The movie was pretty, and the new character designs rocked! I only wish it was a new story and not a re-telling of the series in any way, shape, or form, but alas... it tried to say too much and lacks substance. Nice colors though. Much darker than the series was.

Pika!

[The Drunkard Kid]

The movie was pretty enough, though I'm not too fond of the nose/lip structure of this style, and the fight scenes were awesome. The music was just plain amazing, and I agree with the sentiments regarding the crayon and pencil segment.

OTOH, I'm not really all that fond of the depressed teenager version of Hitomi, and seeing the Princess in short shorts was just weird to me (though I haven't watched more than a few of the first episodes of Escaflowne, so perhaps she adopted that style later on). It should have been an OAV series cause two hours, commercials inclusive, is not anywhere near enough to make the relationship between Hitomi and Van seem anything but extremely forced.

[Xero Kaiser]

The movie actually didn't appear to me to be butchered at all... it got plenty bloody, and dealt with mature themes appropriate to it's late-night airtime.

I don't don't CN touched the movie at all, actually. I have the DVD and it didn't look like anything was missing. all the dismemberments, decapitations and even the horse getting ripped in half was left in.

it's nice to see them give a show the appropriate rating and just leave it the hell alone :D

[jadegiant77]

God, that was the boringest sack of sh*t i ever had to sit through!

[MKTerra]

This review of the Escaflowne movie climax got a laugh out of me :D
The movie was win in the first scene, then fail all throughout the rest.

Actually, it might've been decent had they lengthened it to develop some of the other characters and not completely fizzed out on the climactic "battle".

Folken: Van, now we must fight to the death!
Van: Hrm, no. I'm tired of fighting.
Hitomi: He's tired of fighting!
Folken: You're tired of fighting?
Hitomi: You caused all his sorrow!
Folken: I caused all his sorrow?
Van: I'm tired of fighting!
Folken: Well... fuck.
Jajuka: Furry revenge! *stab*
Van: Brother!
Folken: I redeem myself by remembering you calling me that as a child. *dies*
Van: Well, that was pretty pointless.
Sora: I told him this would happen.

[Inkthinker]

Heh... ZOMBIE THREAD!!

It rises from the grave!!

I liked the TV series a bit better, just because it does have better plot and characterization, and the mecha are more mech and less bio (really, did we have to go totally Eva with the whole biomechanical thing?), but the TV series did turn me off right towards the end with the whole revelation of Hitomi's "power".

[Effect]

If I recall correctly what FoxKids tried to do (this is me looking back at what they showed compared to my dvds of the series), and this was really stupid of them if this is really the case, was edit the series in such a way that it made Van look like THE main character when it's really Hitomi.

That's why their version was so chopped up I believe. Those beginning episodes have nothing that needed to be cut, very G rated if I recall. They were all about Hitomi as they established what her life (her friends, her crush on the captain of her track team, etc) was like before Van appeared chasing the dragon.

[yeoman]

If I recall correctly what FoxKids tried to do (this is me looking back at what they showed compared to my dvds of the series), and this was really stupid of them if this is really the case, was edit the series in such a way that it made Van look like THE main character when it's really Hitomi.

That's why their version was so chopped up I believe. Those beginning episodes have nothing that needed to be cut, very G rated if I recall. They were all about Hitomi as they established what her life (her friends, her crush on the captain of her track team, etc) was like before Van appeared chasing the dragon.

IIRC I heard at the time that Fox didn't realize they'd bought a show that was equal parts Romance and mecha, and thus was having it edited such that the action was far more prominent. If this made Van more visable, it's because he was the one in the driver's seat of the mecha.

[Sanagi]

If I recall correctly what FoxKids tried to do (this is me looking back at what they showed compared to my dvds of the series), and this was really stupid of them if this is really the case, was edit the series in such a way that it made Van look like THE main character when it's really Hitomi.

That's why their version was so chopped up I believe. Those beginning episodes have nothing that needed to be cut, very G rated if I recall. They were all about Hitomi as they established what her life (her friends, her crush on the captain of her track team, etc) was like before Van appeared chasing the dragon.Yep, Fox took a show that was the perfect blending of boys' anime and girls' anime, and, demonstrating the same savvy that led to Futurama's cancelation, they edited out the girl stuff.

They also screwed around with Yoko Kanno's soundtrack, putting in their own cheesy techno, which is grounds for public flogging in my book.

[Effect]

Messing with the music is frustrating. However I will say there are times when that does improve things or at least change them for the better. Dragon Ball Z is an example of this I feel. There are times when the music added by Funimation actually improved certain fights over the original japanese version that had no music and was just yelling. Some of Funi's music made some of the fights more intense. Though they did their fair share of damage. Gohan going SSJ never should have had it's music changed at all. Spirit vs. Spirit or whatever the real name of that song is was perfect for that scene. Win some and you lose some I guess.

Escalfowne's original music was great all around though, no matter what langauge you watch it in.

[Young Avenger]

I remember seeing the Escaflowne movie on Adult Swim and it bore me to hell. It couldn't hold my interest.

As for the series, I liked it until they discovered Atlantis. All the crap with the fate alternation engine took all the enjoyment out.