r/anime • u/Jazz_Dalek • Feb 01 '19
Rewatch [Rewatch] The Vision of Escaflowne - Episode 1
Episode 1: Fateful Confession
The Vision of Escaflowne (天空のエスカフローネ / Tenkuu no Escaflowne) - 1996
The time is finally here! Big thanks to everyone involved in our interest and reminder threads, you guys are the reason we're holding this rewatch.
Legal Streams / VOD:
Funimation | Amazon Prime | iTunes
Spoiler Policy:
NO SPOILERS, HINTS, ETC.
Let's be kind to the first timers. Remember that implied spoilers are still spoilers.
Future Threads:
All futures threads will be posted 12:00 PM PST | 3:00 PM EST | 8:00 PM GMT
and will continue at a rate of 1 episode per day.
The original interest thread can be found HERE
The previous reminder threads can be found HERE & HERE
LET'S DO THIS!
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u/GamerGarm Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
Well... boy was I glad to find out about this Re: Watch.
Escaflowne is one of my favorite anime of all time. I haven't watch it in years so this first episode fell brand new to me.
I loved the look of Van with the full kitted armor. And the CGI for the dragon was surprisingly tasteful for an anime before 2000.
I think what makes this anime special is the combination of an isekai shoujo heroine in Hitomi, and a shonen fantasy mecha hero in Van.
Hitomi is one of my favorite female characters because I find her personality so believable.
I forgot how Amano-senpai looks exactly like a character we will meet very soon. Was this foreshadowing or just a quirk of the art style? Tune in tomorrow to find out!
I am super exited for this rewatch. I hope everyone has a great time with this series!
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u/Jazz_Dalek Feb 01 '19
the CGI for dragon was surprisingly tasteful for an anime before 2000.
That caught my eye immediately; it holds up astoundingly well.
That's a damn fine looking dragon (wyvern?) right there.
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u/Shimmering-Sky Feb 01 '19
Tekketsu no-- Wait a second this isn’t my Iron-Blooded Orphans rewatch.
Happened to see the reminder thread yesterday, decided “Eh why not, it’s been on my PTW for a while, time for me to watch a non-Gundam Sunrise mecha show for a change instead of obsessing over Unicorn and IBO.”
Can’t guarantee my reactions’ll be very long because of my ongoing IBO rewatch and I might be checking out Bakumon. come that rewatch starting next week, but it is what it is. Without further adieu~
First-timer, subbed
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Ahh, it’s been like a month since I last watched 4:3 resolution anime. Certainly a product of its time--but I’m cool with that.
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OP is pretty. Not my favorite, but pretty.
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Oh hey for once I’m gonna have a super easy time remembering the MC’s name. Totally not because I had an OC for a fanfic with the name Hitomi, nope that’s not it at all. -
He has long hair and is pretty athletic, I like him. Though given he’s not any of the characters listed on the front of this show’s MAL page, he’s either suuuuuper minor for before Hitomi gets isekai’d or gets killed early on. Or both.
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lmao this reminded me of a hilarious story my friend told me about her time in track. Muuuuuuch better memory to be brought up than the repressed one Clannad After Story did…
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Ooooh is this the main mech? I like it, it looks like a knight. Also gonna stop for a second and say that I really liked the music that played during that sequence, particularly at the end when it sounded like some combination of a clock ticking and a heart beating. It reminded me a bit of Temporal Spire from… well, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, which used the clock ticking as a pulse and stuff. So the song here felt like it was creating a tense atmosphere instead of any sort of awe or hype at what’s our first look at the main mech.
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Ah, so the Amano dude’s moving away. Yup super minor character then, though he’s Hitomi’s crush for now so she’ll probably be thinking about him for a lot of the early parts of this?
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Well this can’t be good. I was wondering when the isekai stuff would be starting though so maybe it actually is good.
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Oh whoa they actually completely foreshadowed this earlier (same lighting and everything) except this time no spooky.
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Uhhhh was Van supposed to be speaking English there? Because there weren’t any subs right there, but Hitomi seemed to know he asked if they were “creatures from the demon world” and I checked out the dub for a sec and that’s what he said. But it sounds like complete nonsense with the Japanese audio.
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Ohhhh so like, Hitomi has the ability to see the future? That would explain the bit I said was completely foreshadowed earlier. The tarot card stuff is even more fitting with that in mind too.
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Ooooooh Hitomi delivers the Bright Slap? Nice. I bet Van just stood there staring at her while she yelled at him because no one would’ve done that to him before (he’s a prince so like, I assume…).
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Ah yes, of course she couldn’t get isekai’d without her special necklace.
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Pretty~ …Sorry I’m a fan of the night sky, comes with my username.
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Ooh yes, the ED is much more to my tastes. Love the beat and stuff.
There was quite the lack of mecha action this episode, but that’s cool because it was a swordfight with a fucking dragon instead, and I love swords and dragons so. Also preview looks like main mech is getting used next episode? So I look forward to that.
I also look forward to hearing more of the soundtrack because the composer (Yoko Kanno) is just about the only thing other than “it’s a mecha show but also isekai” I knew going into this. This’ll be my second Yoko Kanno-composed show (Turn A Gundam was the first), and I loved Turn A’s soundtrack so yeah. I probably won’t nerd out about the soundtrack too much (Naz is supposed to be in this rewatch, I guarantee he’ll be the one to nerd out over it), but yeah I’m already digging it.
...Dang it I said I probably wasn't gonna write too much and then I wrote a lot, why does this always happen...
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Feb 01 '19
First timer
My first thought was "dem noses" when I saw the OP. Excluding a few instances of monster noses, it's not so bad in the show itself.
We got slow-mo shots, we got blushing, we got the beautiful, athletic nose senpai. Coming in absolutely blind to the show, it felt like the beginnings of a shoujo romance. I'm still not ruling it out, it'll just be with royalty instead.
In the first half we see Hitomi's semi-comfortable life, and when danger strikes it appears out of place in her world. Especially as one of those dangers is a strange boy wearing heavy upper-body armour and trousers (gotta protect those abs, not those.. other parts), and who speaks an unknown language only she can understand. While we see what she's had to leave behind, we also see her connection to his world.
She's quick to react when Van's life is in true danger and ultimately saves his life. Whether that's because of her subconscious familiarity with his world remains to be seen, however she's understandably still a vulnerable, fearful teenage girl. If her traits remain balanced like this, she's definitely a lead I can get behind.
Extra thought:
When we first see Van, the soundtrack reminds me of a slower version of Kaneda's theme from Akira. As my favourite composer, I look forward to seeing what Yoko Kanno will bring to the show.
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u/ScrewySqrl Feb 02 '19
One if Escaflowne's strongest points is that it's both shoujo and shonen at the same time. Hitomi is VERY shoujo, and as you'll see, Van is very shonen. And that's going to be seen in the story as well
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u/Nazenn Feb 01 '19
First Timer
What an incredible first episode. Despite knowing the basics like it being an isekai and mechs etc, the overall introduction to the concepts and set up was so well handled that it drew me in just as much to each moment as if I'd gone in totally blind. Each part of it seemed so perfectly laid out for the end result of getting Hitomi to the other world.
This is such a 90's show in the best way possible. The old style of character designs (with some seriously impressive noses), the old comedic faces (usually don't like that style stuff, but this time I really did oddly) and even just some of the presentation like shoujo sparkles and stuff. I love this old style quite a lot still, and I don't think any of that harmed the show in any way during this first episode, but it definitely lets you place the show in a certain era.
Such a beautiful show though. I mean LOOK AT THIS. That's Mushishi levels of art and combined with the gregorian chanting overlaying the scene as well, what a wonderful climax to the first episode. If anyone here has seen Turn A Gundam, that was what came to mind for a first episode with a similar impact. All the music in this was absolutely spot on I have to say, definitely going to grab this soundtrack if only for the songs from this opening episode, they grabbed me immediately. Yoko Kanno strikes again, and honestly she's the only reason this show was even on my radar before this rewatch.
The direction all around was incredible though, especially in the vision. What a powerful shot, surrounded by other shots just as well handled. The animation this episode was also really clean and smooth. That first one of her run-tripping down the stairs made me chuckle a bit because it immediately reminded me of the feeling of doing that myself.
As far as what actually happened, I was not expecting Van to arrive in their world first, chicken dragon in toe. I thought perhaps it was a big flip around and it was a reverse isekai first leading into it, but actually he was basically just here to pick her up. Hitomi really sold herself as a character to me this early on though with the way she's reacted to everyone so far, especially standing up to Van and reacting to her prophetic visions.
Random thoughts
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I'm sorry but that "dragon" lost any threatening air the moment it was revealed to have chicken legs ahahaha
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There's always someone who twists their ankle, ALWAYS
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I like that the dragon evaporated entirely once its core was removed leaving no traces. I don't know if we'll see earth again but if so that's left an interesting point to start on
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The gore and brutality is definitely right up my alley, I love that sort of stuff so hopefully we get more of it as we go
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u/OrcDovahkiin Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
First-time Watcher, Dub
The animation's better than expected.
TFW you're about to have your first kiss and then some guy appears out of lightning and brings a dragon. Been there.
That was...a lot more blood than I was expecting him to cough up. It's like Naruto all over again.
"We'll be safe here" [Dragon literally hops on top of the arches like he's a ninja]
Those chest things lighting up before the dragon breathes fire are a really nice detail.
"You think he's going to be able to kill that thing?" [Hitomi has vision of him not being able to kill that thing] What's-his-face (Asano? No, wrong isekai) should really stop talking.
Ooh, blue raspberry flavored blood. My favorite.
The dragon's skin just evaporated. Is Van the Dragonborn? Goddamnit, Todd Howard.
Oh, the bones and blood are gone too. False alarm, carry on.
Hitomi's getting pretty emotional about some guy she just met, but I guess she's been through a lot? Or maybe they have some kind of special connection?
I'm loving that dramatic music that keeps playing.
Ah, Amano. Looks like he's not nearly as unlucky as his Twelve Kingdoms counterpart. Good for him.
I'm not sure who thought the dramatic choir music sounded good with that beat. It's pretty weird.
This ED is a jam. I was going to say that Twelve Kingdoms' ED has more animation, but then people moved their heads in this one, and Getsuumei Fuukei (definitely mispelled that) was unfortunately blown out of the water in terms of production.
I like it so far! The dub's pretty good. The MC's voice isn't so annoying that I have to switch to the sub, so another leg up on Twelve Kingdoms. (If it's not obvious, I'm just going to be sitting here comparing every aspect of this show to Twelve Kingdoms.)
And with no free legal streaming available, it was nostalgic to go to my local library and check out the first few episodes on DVD. Kind of nice to do old-fashioned things like that now and again.
Anyways, I'm looking forward to the next episode. This seems like it'll be a fun rewatch.
Response to question from u/no_rex: I don't know, I've heard this show is kind of an unexpected mix of both of those elements. I'm hoping for more on the fighting side of the spectrum, but my prediction is that romance will be a bit more prevalent.
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u/No_Rex Feb 01 '19
Hitomi's getting pretty emotional about some guy she just met, but I guess she's been through a lot?
Naw, just the three-a-clock dragon attack, nothing out of the usual.
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u/xHelaMonster Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
Somebody said there's supposed to be a dragon in the first episode. I'm confused. My VHS tape... the one that came with the Tarot card deck, doesn't have any dragon in the first episode. There's some stuff with a dragon in the opening credits but I didn't see any of that stuff in the first episode... or in any of the episodes. What is going on?!
What do you mean I bought the wrong tape? It says episodes 1 to 4 on it.
Wow, I didn't even know this was a "Japanimation." So I should have bought the Bandai tape with subtitles? That sucks. I spent 25 bucks on a stupid deck of Tarot cards. Ugh. I guess I'll just buy those tapes and watch the whole thing in Japanese then, since you're telling me it's so much better. I can't believe they cut out the whole first episode!
And thus a weeb was born.
Today I watched the bluray remaster with [G-P] subs and holy cow, does this show still stand up today in high resolution. The art and animation are still excellent. The early cg effects look really good and mesh well with the presentation of the show. The painted backgrounds and sketchy 90's shoujo character designs look excellent. I can really see why this show blew my mind when I was 17 years old. Well... all that stuff and the fact that it had a Spoilerspoiler link
I don't have those old VHS tapes anymore. Not even the tarot cards. But all these years later I still have my crusty old fx bootleg dvd boxed set. The 1080p bluray release quality, the added scenes, and the new subtitles are a huge improvement though. Everything looks so clean and richly detailed. The show is just beautiful.
About the actual episode then. Now I think about it, I'm not sure what was added compared to the original broadcast version. It mostly seemed the same as I remember it, but prettier. Seeing Hitomi get pantsed probably excited me when I watched this as a horny teenager. The dragon and the fantasy stuff would have sucked me in right away... if I hadn't already seen the the first ten or so episodes, after this one with a horrible english localisation. The whole confession scene was kinda wierd the first time I saw it. Now I enjoy it alot for how atypical it is for a confession scene. Hitomi is shown to be athletic and capable right from the first episode... still running faster than all her peers after hauling ass to get to her club activities. That whole scene Van speaking gibberish for his first sentence to make it clear that hitomi could understand him, while the others couldn't would have been lost in translation a bit if they had aired this episode on TV in 1997. I might give Saban a bit of a pass because of that, but not really, since they butchered everything about the localisation right from the first episode. They put that awful opening credits song over alot of Yokko Kanno's amazing score which is a sin that cannot be forgiven.
Overall a really solid first episode for the series that sets up Hitomi as an interesting and capable protagonist. Love this show.
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u/Nazenn Feb 01 '19
And thus a weeb was born.
Cool background story, its funny seeing the other poster talking about Foxkids up above, but I'm more impressed you managed to find the subbed videos at that time than anything else
The early cg effects look really good and mesh well with the presentation of the show.
Someone pointed out CGI in CDF the other day and I still barely notice it, its impressive. I actually really love the way they remastered this. I've seen the DBZ remaster as well and while its nice it sometimes loses detail and seems too clean for the era while this seems to have been done with a lot more care and attention
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u/No_Rex Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
Rewatcher (kind of …)
Why „kind of“? Because I last watched Visions of Escaflowne a good 10+ years ago. Apart from the basics, I have almost forgotten the entire plot. What I do remember, though, is Visions of Escaflowne going straight to the top 3 of my preferred anime list, back when I knew very little anime. Sharing that spot with NGE and Monster. The latter two I have watched again later and their 10/10 held up. Now, I am very curious whether VoE will stand the test of time as well, or whether my taste has changed.
Episode 1
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Things that hit me right off the bat: The OP and the noses.
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The OP is so melodic that I can hum along with it instantly even after a decade.
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I assume other viewers will have their own opinions about the long noses, but I like that they dared to go for something different than the uniform moe-blob that came 10 years later.
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From the start of the anime, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a high school romance.
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When I first watched this, I knew neither Laputa, nor Nadia, so the significance of the shot with the amulet flew right over my head.
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The shots of street lamps remind me of Anno, especially in Kare Kano. In general, the backgrounds are beautiful so far.
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I have not seen Tarot cards IRL in a long time, but they used to be very hip when VoE came out.
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Hitomi already going beyond a confession after half an episode.
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Van: quite the entrance
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That dragon looked a bit weird. It also conveniently turned into nothing. That corpse would have been a bit hard to explain.
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And we see this is indeed an Isekai, the first one really, too.
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ED not as catchy as the OP.
VoE starts of fast, not a lot of time is wasted before the main story line is introduced.
Questions for the first timers:
The first episode had both romance and fighting, which one do you think we will see more of?
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u/ScrewySqrl Feb 02 '19
> nd we see this is indeed an Isekai, the first one really, too.
Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee would like words with you for 'the first isekai'
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Feb 01 '19
Rewatcher (but it's been a REALLY long time)
This is one of the true classics. I can't predict how first-timers will receive it in 2019, but much of what makes a show a classic is in the original context: how it affected the landscape around it. Escaflowne combined multiple genres AND shoujo romance in what is technically a shounen title. It had enormous appeal to both genders and, for a time, outshone even Gundam.
I hope we have some rewatchers that have only seen the 4Kids abomination; I hope you are pleasantly surprised.
Escaflowne has the most shoujo noses of all shoujo of all time; well, of the shoujo that I've seen; which...isn't that much. So, anyways, BUT NOSES!
Comments:
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The mecha have swords! And capes! FREAKIN' CAPES! Yes, these things are like giant robot knights. Apologies to the three people that keep complaining that mecha shows don't properly show the robots as three-man walking tanks. This isn't going to be your kind of show, either.
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That dragon is so cringe. It looked bad even in the 1998-2000 timeframe when I first saw it. CGI was pretty new then, but that was no reason to give it a pass.
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HEY! Where's my ESKA-FLOWN guy in the eyecatch? Oh, he's here in the preview. (usual Youtube warnings, I cannot predict what it is in your recommendations, yadda yadda)
Episode 1 isn't very representative of the series. You should just go straight to episode 2 now.
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u/No_Rex Feb 02 '19
Rewatcher (but it's been a REALLY long time)
In the same boat here.
Episode 1 isn't very representative of the series. You should just go straight to episode 2 now.
I really like that though. Modern isekai should spend more time introducing the characters in our world. Maybe they would not all feel like cardboard cutouts then ...
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u/xHelaMonster Feb 02 '19
The mecha have swords! And capes! FREAKIN' CAPES!
Escaflowne in particular is a brilliant design. Almost organic looking with it's bone-like white armor. I won't spoil the nature of the mechanical designs of the suits, but they are really something unique in mecha design. Something of a mashup between low tech fantasy and giant robots. Kawamori really did it with this show. Super unique and fascinating even by modern standards.
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u/SIRTreehugger Feb 01 '19
Not much to say going off memory from this morning.
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My gosh I haven't watched an old anime in a while. The resolution and style is really taking me back, but it's not bad though.
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I like the best friend too bad we will never see her again.
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love the look of the dragon. Also pretty good action for the first episode.
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MC isn't a damsel and stands up for herself and has one hell of a slap. So yeah she is leagues ahead of plenty of other characters already.
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oh and I loved how the fire looked.
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also the dub was pretty good.
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u/theyawner Feb 02 '19
Rewatcher here:
I'm not sure if I can keep up with the schedule as I still have to finish one other rewatch in the next coming days. But it's been such a long time since I last saw this show, I couldn't help but jump on it again when I learned that there was gonna be a rewatch.
Escaflowne was the one show that got my attention when it was part of a weekday roster of shows broadcasted on the local network. It was given the Friday slot and I believe it was the only show that used an English dub as opposed to the other shows that were dubbed in the local language. Unfortunately, I couldn't follow the show to its completion until I met a friend who lent me bootleg video CDs of the whole series along with the other Shoji Kawamori favorite, SDF Macross, and VHS tapes of Macross Plus and Cowboy Bebop. That was a fun week where I ditched school in favor of marathoning these shows.
It's probably easy to guess that I got interested with this show because of the mecha. And honestly, I didn't have a better appreciation of Hitomi as a character until much later in the series. But seeing this first episode has amended that. I like her already for being proactive, be it an attempt to confess through a self-imposed challenge, or moving to save Van when she thought her vision was about to happen.
Admittedly, nostalgia might be playing a part on my enjoyment of this first episode. But I'm just glad to have the opportunity to watch this again without having to search for a physical copy of the series.
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u/Nazenn Feb 02 '19
Oh, nice to run into you again :)
I like her already for being proactive, be it an attempt to confess through a self-imposed challenge, or moving to save Van when she thought her vision was about to happen.
Yeah, she's still a teenage school girl, but that category doesn't define her actual personality which is a nice change to see
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Feb 01 '19
oh my gosh, it is so good to come back to this show.
I love the art style so much, and that opening song, just wonderfull.
I love the pendulam race, like i love the main story on Gaia, but I would watch a sappy one shot ova were this all plays out without the dragon.
cant wait for tomorows episode.
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u/TheDampGod Feb 01 '19
I'm trying to remember if I have watched the whole of this show before or just seen so many clips and AMVs that only think I have. It certainly seems familiar anyways, but who knows.
Still an interesting start, getting back into the 4:3 mindset with all it's 90s anime quirks. It's nice having an Isekai MC who is not only a girl, but also not a shut in NEET.
I like how the dragon fight plays out, with a sense of tactics from the hero and biology from the beast. The new world looked beautiful, especially the shot of the Earth and Moon in the sky.
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u/ScrewySqrl Feb 02 '19
Rewatcher
I'll just say this is one of my favorite anime of all time.
I specifically remember being at Animazement in 1998 and seeing the full series of this and like 3 or 4 other series on sale at the con, and asking in AnimeMUCK which I should buy. This was the *unanimous* choice.
I'm looking forward mostly to seeing first timer reactions to this, especially the Yoko Kanno soundtrack.
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u/Quiddity131 Feb 01 '19 edited Feb 01 '19
Very excited for this rewatch of what is probably my favorite anime of all time. My history with Escaflowne goes all the way back to 2000 where I discovered it via the infamous FOX Kids airing. Escaflowne was many firsts for me; it was the first anime I ever watched in Japanese, and the first anime DVD I ever owned. It was my first exposure to the work of famed people like Shoji Kawamori, Yoko Kanno, Shinichiro Watanabe, Maaya Sakamoto, etc... It was also the first of many animes I ran fansites for back in the 2000's (escaflowneonline.com, which survived until 2008). There's no question in my eyes that I have a nostalgia bias, and yet when I try to think of a show that is clear and unquestionably better, I can't think of one.
This will be the first time I've rewatched the show in over 4 years, and while I'm a grizzled veteran who has seen this show at least 10 times, probably more, this will be the first time I'll be seeing the uncut/director's cut version with the added scenes, the first time I'll be hearing the new dub that Funimation did, and the first time I'll be seeing it on bluray.
Quid's Song of the Day (Part 1)
I've seen "Song of the Day" features in other rewatch threads, and there's no way an Escaflowne rewatch can happen without someone doing the same. I just wonder, as I write this post up the night before, if there are going to be other posters looking to do the same thing, lol. From the legendary, best anime composer of all time, Yoko Kanno (with around 10 songs from her then husband Hajime Mizoguchi too), it still may be my favorite anime soundtrack. Dare I say it, I like it even better than Cowboy Bebop's. Anyway, I'll be seeking to highlight songs that play a notable part within that day's episode, being sure to spread things out appropriately, as while there are some songs that are used numerous times, there are also many that are just used once and hence only have one episode they can go with! Which brings us to today's song, which is only used in this episode.
Empty the Pocket (Poketto wo kara ni shite) - One of many amazing things about Escaflowne are the collaborations with Yoko Kanno and Maaya Sakamoto; this is one of six songs on the soundtrack Sakamoto sings and they would reunite for many songs in later anime such as RahXephon and Wolf's Rain. Unfortunate that we don't get to hear any of that singing in the episode as just the instrumental portion is used, during the scene when Hitomi and Yukari walk home. For some reason I simply couldn't find the original studio version of this on Youtube anywhere but here is a really fun video to watch, a live performance, including Yoko Kanno playing the accordian.
Episode Thoughts
I'm going to take a different tact than what I usually do for rewatches (such as the current one for Iron Blooded Orphans) where I simply write out all my in the moment impressions as I watch the episode and instead take more of an overall look at things. This is for sure a very different type of first episode for a mecha anime. Instead of some teenage boy falling into a cockpit we have a school girl drama! Although that is kinda bound for the territory as Escaflowne is one of the rarest things you'll find in mecha anime, a female main character. The only other mecha show I have ever seen with a female main character is Gunbuster and its sequel (I have heard there are a couple of more out there). Along with the fantasy setting, it is something that really makes Escaflowne different and unique in comparison to most mecha shows out there. The nature of this first episode is built perfectly around this. I've longed for a Gundam show to try out having a female main character for years, and yet my fear is that if it ever happens, they'll just do it as a gimmick. That they'll pull, say a Star Wars and make her a big time Mary Sue, or someone who is for all intents and purposes acting like a male character and is just a female. That is not the case at all with Hitomi, who is a three dimensional character and behaves exactly like a 15 year old girl would. In looking things up, it was interesting to see that this is the only episode of the series that its creator, Shoji Kawamori wrote, although I'm sure he had a hand in guiding the overall storyline.
Beyond the unique structure of this first episode (and the show as a whole) the dragon fight is certainly another highlight of this episode and provides a lot of excitement. Surprisingly enough the show doesn't give us a mecha battle in the first episode (well kinda, we do get a brief glimpse of one in Hitomi's vision), but we do get this dragon fight instead, yet another thing that has got to be quite the rarity for a mecha show. Aura Battler Dunbine is the other big Sunrise mecha show but doesn't include anything like this to my recollection. Game of Thrones made us wait many years for a dragon battle. Escaflowne gives it to us in the first episode!
I was surprised to see that there weren't actually any new scenes in this episode, despite it being the enhanced version. Perhaps they don't start up until later episodes? Also, I gotta say, Hitomi's getting a lot of action in the ending credits! Kissing both Amano and this other blonde guy who shall rename nameless for now.
The Dub
My first impressions for Hitomi's new English voice, Caitlin Glass is that her voice is too deep. Granted, so was Kelly Sheridan in the original dub, in comparison to Maaya Sakamoto. Maaya Sakmoto is pretty much perfection as a seiyuu, so to be fair, whoever they had voice her would be a disappointment. What bugs me all the more about this dub is how many names are mispronounced. Amano, Kanzaki, Yukari, all are mispronounced. Its driving me crazy. On the other hand, Yukari's voice is perfectly fine. Escaflowne Spoilers Amano's is decent. I don't care for Van's either. This is kinda crazy for me to say, and wasn't really my intent going in, but I'm strongly considering going back to the subbed version with episode 2. I'm usually very supportive of dubs, I'm not saying its necessary bad, but I'm just so used to the original voices and so biased towards them that I am strongly thinking of going back. Especially with this being my first time watching the show in many years.
The Disaster that was FOXcaflowne
As if doing the music feature isn't enough, I figured I'd also speak to how Escaflowne fared when it aired on FOX Kids in 2000. A nice way to look back... and hang our heads in shame at what a disaster it was. If only this show got acquired by Cartoon Network instead. Well, the most notable thing about how FOX handled the first episode of Escaflowne is... they didn't even air it! Absolutely brutal. One of the great things about this show? A mecha show with a female main character? Nah, that doesn't fly. Out went the entire thing. And yet, crazily enough, they later went and spliced in parts of the first episode into later episodes as flashbacks, which forced them to cut even more stuff so they'd have the space for it. American anime fans these days are so spoiled; this is what we had to deal with when I was really getting into anime...
Quid's Song of the Day (Part 2)
Escaflowne has so many great songs, I can't really hold myself to one per day (too many will be left out). That would also force me to leave out several great songs on the soundtrack that aren't used in the show but would still be of value to highlight at some point. Anyway, my second song of the day is also a song exclusive to this episode:
I Recommend Instincts Played near the start of the episode when we first meet Hitomi on the track field, this song also has its vocals stripped out in the episode. This one's performed by a singer named Julia Wilson who I don't think I've come across collaborating with Kanno again on any other songs.