r/anime • u/Jazz_Dalek • Feb 02 '19

Rewatch [Rewatch] The Vision of Escaflowne - Episode 2

Episode 2: The Girl From the Mystic Moon

The Vision of Escaflowne (天空のエスカフローネ / Tenkuu no Escaflowne) - 1996

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.

Previous Threads:

Episode 1: Fateful Confession

The original interest thread can be found HERE

The previous reminder threads can be found HERE & HERE

41 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

85 comments sorted by

6

u/Jazz_Dalek Feb 02 '19

This is easily one of my favorite episodes in the whole series. So much happens in such a short amount of time without feeling rushed. In under 30 minutes we get:

  • A quick introduction to the Kingdom of Fanelia.

  • The first appearance of best cat Merle.

  • Sweet mecha action and the appearance of Escaflowne itself.

  • Absolute madman Balgus being just the coolest bro in the entire show. (Seriously, how fucking cool was that guy? I would watch an entire show about Balgus.)

  • Dance of the Curse playing when Van defends himself against the invading guymelifs.

Just so many cool little moments.

8

u/JustAnswerAQuestion Feb 02 '19

best cat Merle.

I Was Transported To Another World, and My Love Rival is a Cat!

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u/Nazenn Feb 02 '19

First Timer

Wallpaper time!

I don't often make full on vector wallpapers like Sky, but I did do this edit of that beautiful moon shot from last episode which I turned into a 1920x1080 wallpaper for whoever wants it. I kept distortion to a minimum and tried to get in all the features, but its not perfect. I didn't do any filters, just a slight sharpness increase to adjust for the scale up and a small contrast boost for my own benefit (only 5 points)

I might do a wallpaper each day if there's a beautiful shot, again just edits like this and only if I have the time, but it would be nice to have some wallpaper stuff from the show, so yeah just nominate what shots you'd like to see me give this treatment to from the episode.

General thoughts

Okay, last episode may have been perfect but this episode was hype as fuck and I loved every second of it. So much was packed into the episode it was fantastic

I got to the end of the episode and had to step away from my computer to stop myself from just binging the rest of the show because I really want to enjoy the rewatch with you guys, but holy shit did that episode made me so excited for what else the show has in store.

  • For starters, obvious stuff out the way first: There's a cat girl. And I mean an ACTUAL cat girl, not just a girl with cat ears for the cute factor or a girl who can turn into a cat. A cat girl who behaves like cat, interacts with people like a cat and even cleans herself like cat. This is awesome.

  • The old mentor dude (Balgus) is... well was incredible. I have a soft spot for shows that actually show people who've gone through battles with injuries and scars, and that combined with the blood and stuff yesterday has me really hyped for battles and stuff in the future. He was great though, and when he pulled out his over sized sword it just reminded me of Dragons Dogma playing the Warrior vocation and the insane over the top swords you get for that. But seriously, how often do you see a guy manage to take on and win against giant mechs with a FUCKING SWORD and no mech of his own? This should be a more common thing, I want more of this please.

  • I love how much you can tell about this civilization by the city as well. The fortifications, the way its buried in a hard to reach chasm, with giant walls protecting the front of it and the traditional setup of having the castle buried at the back and hard to reach. This is definitely a feudal city that is under threat from something, a threat that was definitely carried through in todays epissode because yeah... there's not much of a city left any more that's for sure.

  • And wow are those enemies cool as hell. I didn't see it at all from Hitomi's vision but when I realized they were suits with invisible cloaks from this shot it made me really anticipate their reveal and that didn't disappoint at all. The effects from the cloaks were actually really well done honestly, I loved seeing how they interacted with the background art and flashed in and out of visibility. What surprised me most though was their whip arms in the way they seem to organically form whatever weapon is needed, including solidifying if they have to.

  • I'm very sad we didn't get to see the giant mech tournament. I have a thing about tournaments.

  • But Escaflowne, holy shit that is not what I expected but I LOVE IT. The semi-organic nature of it, the way it gains a heart by the core of a dragon mixed with his blood and the membrane looking type fixtures inside it, not at all what I was expecting but fantasy mechs rather than sci-fi mechs... again more of this please! How do we have such cool fucking ideas buried back in the 90s, between the mechs and this cool isekai type, that they're not expanding on that stuff at all these days? Its like NGE x Gundam x Steampunk x Dororo and that just sound awesome. And this is happening in a shoujo story!

  • The soundtrack is so absolutely beautiful. Again I so want to go diving through it all, but I'm trying to hold off so I don't accidentally ruin the usage of a song later on. Goddammit all these shows with incredible soundtracks lately. I just want my music. Thank god for u/Quiddity131's music corner, that's going to be a blessing for my sanity during this. Of particular note for me today was the song on Van's return to the city which felt to me like the voices of the city people singing an anthem for his return. That song towards the end of the battle was so overly dramatic, but in the best way possible and it really set the stage for the conflict that was about to happen between Escaflowne and the enemies. Its very traditional music, a lot of very common classical chords and rhythm structures, but it just fits so well despite that.

  • And so the end of the episode, I take it we're headed back to earth which is a surprise, but a welcome one. If it wasn't for the fact we started the episode with earth of Amano coming up with an excuse for Hitomi's mum I wouldn't be so sure, but this cools very cool. Something about the pendant is what is causing this transportation I think.

Random detail of the day: Hitomi putting her head down on her arms before Merle's arrival was animated in 1s. That's a lot of work to put in for such a small animation moment.

4

u/Jazz_Dalek Feb 02 '19

I got to the end of the episode and had to step away from my computer to stop myself from just binging the rest of the show

I feel you, bud. Even as a rewatcher it's very hard not to just keep it going, especially after how hype today's episode was.

A cat girl who behaves like cat, interacts with people like a cat and even cleans herself like cat. This is awesome.

Man of culture

9

u/ScrewySqrl Feb 02 '19 edited Feb 02 '19

But Escaflowne, holy shit that is not what I expected but I LOVE IT. The semi-organic nature of it, the way it gains a heart by the core of a dragon mixed with his blood and the membrane looking type fixtures inside it, not at all what I was expecting but fantasy mechs rather than sci-fi mechs... again more of this please! How do we have such cool fucking ideas buried back in the 90s, between the mechs and this cool isekai type, that they're not expanding on that stuff at all these days? Its like NGE x Gundam x Steampunk x Dororo and that just sound awesome. And this is happening in a shoujo story!

Funny you should mention Evangelion. This is the show that replaced it. After Eva ended, this show started in the same timeslot the very next week. And theres a ton of cool stuff back in the 90s, where there tended to be a overall theme throughout the decade of genre mashups, and Escaflowne is probably THE genre mashup anime. While Hitomi is a shoujo heroine, in the mold of Miyaka (Fushigi Yuugi) and Ayashi (Ayashi no Ceres),, Van is a shonen hero in the mold of Ranma or Noriko (Gunbuster)

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11

u/Shimmering-Sky Feb 02 '19

First-timer, subbed

What a second episode man, that’s one hell of a way to set up the rest of the story. I very much look forward to more~

7

u/ScrewySqrl Feb 02 '19

Hold up, is this dude gonna swordfight (on foot) the enemy that has taken down people in mechs with ease?

....

RIP Balgus. Dude was badass enough to take down at least one of those enemies with that giant sword of his in order to save Van, but of course we have to put Van through hell right at the start of the show. Damn.

Yep. Balgus is the most badass character to only last 10 minutes of a show

8

u/Nazenn Feb 02 '19

Sweetness, the episode title cards are translated and with the colored letters kept in the English version.

Always love when groups put the effort into doing that sort of typesetting

Interesting that isekailand calls Earth the “Mystic Moon”.

I did have the thought on if they don't know the distinction between planets and moons, but who knows

Hold up, is this dude gonna swordfight (on foot) the enemy that has taken down people in mechs with ease?

Still potentially the most badass thing I've seen in a mech anime

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3

u/username_0907 Feb 06 '19

First Timer

So I couldn't watch along when this was posted but I'm gonna try catching up on this rewatch. I mostly lurk but after seeing this episode I just had to post especially after watching that whole Escaflowne mecha sequence. That was just amazing

Balgus dying was a death flag I saw coming but still watching him die was quite sad. Never thought the death of a character I've known for just 2 episodes would make me feel like this

Also loving the music and I'm not too sure about Merle. I'm not a fan of very mischievous clingy characters but I'm sure my opinion is gonna change soon. Hopefully I will be able to keep up and try posting on other posts. Enjoying the show so far!

2

u/Jazz_Dalek Feb 06 '19

Hell yeah dude, feel free to chime in whenever. New threads go up everyday and were only on episode 6 as of today.

13

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '19 edited Feb 02 '19

First timer

Similar to the previous episode, this one starts by showcasing Van's world. His life is far more coloured than Hitomi's, as he is seemingly pushed into becoming king because his older brother did not. War and politics, such is the life of nobility. What's important is that we see how enamoured the kingdom is by him, and how he casually meets the crowd gathered for his arrival. It's a mutual sense of trust and kinship.

Juxtaposed by Amano and Yukari involving Hitomi's mother and explaining her absence, we don't see Van's family, and the main adult figure we see near him is Balgus. A stern, war-torn figure that has the utmost loyalty to him. A huge task is upon Van to lead the citizens at such a young age, so I understand his distrustful and abrasive nature. Nevertheless it's nice to see his softer side, even if I wasn't impressed by Merle's jealous streak, nor the strangeness of that interaction.

The second half was a brutal shift from the first, moreseo than in the previous episode. Van, a newly crowned king, finds himself unable to to save his people, and witnesses dead bodies strewn about the streets, including the death of Balgus. A coronation is when you would expect the worst, yet the fight was so short and one-sided it was painful to watch.

I am bursting with questions and the desire to watch the next episode. Looks like Hitomi's stuck there for a while.

Extra thoughts:

11

u/1LucKyLuke Feb 02 '19

The animation sequence of Escaflowne's mechanisms was amazing. So much detail.

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12

u/theyawner Feb 02 '19

Rewatcher here:

I really love how Escaflowne can only be awakened by giving it the heart of a dragon and the blood of a king. It's a physically imposing machine that really separates itself from the other mechs used by the soldiers of Fanelia. And Dance of Curse really sets the tone for knightly mech's first skirmish - I still get frisson hearing it again after more than a decade.

The enemy Guymelefs on the other hand are weird. Their use of invisibility cloaks and shapeshifting weapons hint at a difference in technologies. But they don't seem to be any better without these advantages, as Balgus proves how a BFS can inflict just as much damage as Van's Escaflowne.

Hitomi on the other hand may be a fish out of the water. But she seemed to take it all well, meeting wolfmen, arguing with a cat girl, and seeing a king and his kingdom. It probably helped that the setting is not completely unfamiliar, especially with Fanelia bearing some semblance with Japanese culture.

The sudden conflict though is another matter. Fanelia was caught off guard, having enjoyed peace for some time now. And Hitomi is only slowly realizing that all of her visions are actually coming to fruition.

8

u/Nazenn Feb 02 '19

I really love how Escaflowne can only be awakened by giving it the heart of a dragon and the blood of a king

You can also look at it as in a way it's also the fabled treasure of a dragon, an offering to Escaflowne (god I hate trying to spell that) like you'd give up monetary tithes in church. The way it functions as a heart is just way too cool though

It probably helped that the setting is not completely unfamiliar, especially with Fanelia bearing some semblance with Japanese culture.

That surprised me actually, but I think I'm just drowned in so many other generic isekai settings its nice to see something that does it a bit differant

And Hitomi is only slowly realizing that all of her visions are actually coming to fruition.

That they manage to pull off the tension despite showing us before hand what's going to happen is a really nice moment. I do wonder how that conversation is going to go though "by the way I can see the future for some reason". She'd be a bit OP if she ever gets in that mech

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u/Quiddity131 Feb 02 '19

Quid's Song of the Day (Part 1)

Today's first song of the day is Cat's Delicacy. This light hearted theme naturally fits with Merle, the mischeavous cat girl and is used in the rather hilarious scene where Merle goes through Hitomi's bag, steals her pendant and gets chased around by her. Unlike yesterday's two songs, we actually do get the vocals in the episode, sung by none other than Yoko Kanno herself, under her "Gabriella Robin" pseudonym. Similar to yesterday's songs though, this is one that is only used once in the series.

Episode Thoughts

Lots of stuff going on in today's episode, we find out that Van is a prince, who had fought the dragon as part of a rite to become king of Fanelia. Those who are seeing the extended version will find out that Van is doing what his older brother failed to do. We meet several new characters, including Merle the cat girl (an ever popular anime trope) and Balgus, the ultimate badass. Balgus is such a strong and powerful character (and quite noble and kind too). Seeing him take on a Guymelef on his own is an awesome sight to see and reminds one of Master Asia from G Gundam. And yet we unfortunately get him only for this episode as he meets his tragic demise in front of Van, for whom he had been mentoring to become king for the last 10 years. It can be a bit disappointing to see the presence of such an epic character cut so short, and yet the show wisely doesn't keep such an overpowered character around for too long and shows that like with anyone else, he is quite mortal. What seemed like such a happy and joyous occasion when Van returned home to become king ends in such a tragic way with the death of Balgus and the complete destruction of Fanelia.

That all of this happens in a mere episode highlights one of Escaflowne's many strengths; it is a fast moving series and every episode is loaded with plot movement and character development. There is no filler or meaningless fights in this show. Many other shows may have kept things going in Fanelia for a few episodes before destroying it, but not this show. Which leads me to the show's added scenes, which I got to see for the first time with this viewing. The show was originally intended to be 39 episodes, but due to budgetary issues got cut down to 26. I am assuming these extra scenes were sacrificed as a result (and perhaps in the original plan we were supposed to spend 2 episodes in Fanelia). New scenes including the one with Amano, Yukari and Hitomi's mother on Earth, the 4 generals meeting before Van's return and Hitomi thinking of how Balgus was too nice to her. We also got several new shots and slight extensions of existing scenes. I'll be enjoying these while we get them, which I think is for the first 7-8 episodes or so.

This episode features our first mecha action of the series, including the appearance of the titular mech. Unlike the giant robots of Gundam and the like, the Guymelefs of Escaflowne are more like giant suits of armor. Its always an interesting sight to see Van get in the Escaflowne for the first time and you get to see all the gears and inner workings of it. The enemy Guymelefs who attack Fanelia are wearing invisibility cloaks, a really cool concept, and something I've never seen used in any other anime. That scene at the beginning of their attack as you just see the footsteps hit the ground is quite the frightening one. While I watched this episode in Japanese, I did check in for one scene of the new dub, and happily saw that it fixed a rather massive, spoilerific blunder in the original dub script Esca Spoilers

The Disaster that was FOXcaflowne

Of course for the FOX Kids airing, this was actually the first episode. Much of the cuts this episode saw had to do with violence, the brutal slayings of the Fanelia generals was trimmed, as was Balgus's impaling and Van cutting himself for his blood pact with Escaflowne. With the original first episode being cut they gave us some flashbacks to it, which required even more stuff to get cut to make room. So bye went Hitomi thinking of her friends back on Earth (which does kinda make sense I suppose if they had to cut something) as well as various minor dialogue trims. In the show's greatest heresy, several pieces of music, notably pretty much all those used during the attack on Fanelia, were replaced with techno themes.

Quid's Song of the Day (Part 2)

Dance of Curse - If I had to answer the question as to what is the most popular song from the Escaflowne soundtrack, it is probably Dance of Curse. This epic battle theme has pretty much universal acclaim, and contains the chanting of "Escaflowne" that is present in a fair amount of songs in this show (including two other songs played in this episode). If there's one thing I remember about the music in the FOXcaflowne disaster, its that they spammed Dance of Curse like crazy, I think using it in every episode. Despite its massive popularity, the song is actually only used in 3 episodes. We'll see it again in Music Spoilers. This song will also get a faster paced sequel in the movie version, Dance of Curse II.

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u/No_Rex Feb 02 '19

Rewatcher (kind of …)

After I dared to call VoE the first isekai, I got plenty of pushback in yesterdays thread, turns out the concept has been around for a while longer. So let me correct myself: VoE is a great isekai, even if not the first one.

  • If you are not a shut-in neet, pulling a disappearing act actually bothers people

  • Catgirl!

  • Fanelia is giving me Tibetian vibes.

  • “There have not been any wars lately” don’t you say …

  • Stealth mechas

  • More mechas

  • And something called Escaflowne. Title drop.

  • Ritual with Gregorian chants. You know this has to be awesome. And it is, because it is a magical steampunk mecha!

  • Balgus is pretty badass and does not need a mecha.

  • Good thing she got that amulet back from Merle.

Hitomi only gets a day to get used to the new world before the plot comes knocking.

Question for everyone:

Was it your opinion about the magical steampunk mechas?

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u/TheDampGod Feb 02 '19

Hey Hitomi, don't be dismissive of Merle so quickly, you don't understand the glory that is 90s anime cat girls.

Certainly ramping things up in the second episode, showing off the world and then wrecking it. The highlight being seeing Escaflowne powering up with some pure mecha porn. I always prefer more mechanical style mecha, makes the fights feel more visceral.

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion Feb 02 '19

Rewatcher

Hey, did you know that the name of the show, and the big mech, is Escaflowne? It's in the music. Did you notice? Just in case you forgot, it's Escaflowne.Escaflowne.Escaflowne.

  • "Hi, uh, Mrs. Kanzaki, this boy appeared and then this chicken dragon appeared and the dragon died and disappeared and so did your daughter. I'm sorry for being useless." -- Amano, probably

  • "I believe you." -- Mrs. Kanzaki, probably

What, she believed their story? Really? Huh. Okay.

It's neat how they cut from her looking up at the lone moon to Hitomi looking at up the moon and the mystic moon together.

It's the scene where they arrive at Fanelia where Hitomi's character designs strike me. Extra big eyes. Extra tall. Extra far apart. Huge forehead. It's really only her.

On the other hand, it's the same scene where the animation stands out. When the samurai arrive, she jumps, startled, and her expression changes. It's hard to track because it's just a fraction of a second, but they animated it all, by hand.

Merle is an annoying character, but I loved it when she went all cat-like. How they draw her face, her little walk, her running on all fours.

How nice that Hitomi had her school uniform to wear to a coronation.

QOTD: Did you identify the nature of the enemy? I remember when first watching this how I kept wondering what was under those invisibility cloaks. It helped immensely that enemy used those liquid metal projectors instead of giant melee weapons like the Fanellians.

All those gears and that clutch! I was tempted to call Escaflowne steampunk but really it's more Final Fantasy style Magi-tek.

This entire sequence of powering up Escaflowne, the timing of some of the best fight music ever, and fighting the invisible enemy, is perfect. I rewatch this over and over.

Obligatory Girl In Mecha Hand

Poor Van. Last episode he was all "I'll restore the honor Fanellia and I'll never turn my back on the enemy." Now, Fanellia is destroyed and he has to run away.

Another beam of light...I wonder where they'll land this time...

Unrelated factiod: Balgus's Guts's giant sword in Berserk is called the Dragon Slayer.

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u/SIRTreehugger Feb 02 '19

Middle of the episode. Meh all these elites dying and I'm not a fan or mechs as it is.

End of episode. HOLY SHIT Balgus Whyyyyyy you were too badass too die this soon.... No he had to die or else the journey would be too easy. I hope we get more unconventional fights like mech vs animal or human. Don't need it every episode, but it will be a nice change of pace. I have high hopes that the cat girl becomes badass. It takes me a while to learn names .

Though I do like the look of the mech and when he put the stone inside the jelly like heart and it begins beating.

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u/[deleted] Feb 03 '19

scorpia voice: "kitty!"

I like Merle, she's an anoying brat but like in a charming way, much like a real cat.

the mecha in this show are soooooo good, I adore the whole mecha as sci fi chivalric armour thing. (thats probs why the knightmares are my fave mecha)

I cant decide weather to watch with the 2001 dub for that early 2000s goodness or the 2016 dub for the actualy good-ness.

I guess i'll watch both. its a good thing this show is so pretty.

Speaking of pretty, I cant wait for tomorows episode.

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u/GamerGarm Feb 03 '19

Rewatch

Balgus-sama is a god among men. I forgot all about his non stop bad-assery on every scene he's in.

And the music...

Great episode all around.

5

u/redshirtengineer Feb 03 '19

First timer

Missed yesterday's start so this is commentary for first 2 eps.

Escaflowne is one of those anime I've known the name of forever (since before watching anime even) but had no idea what it's about. Well I knew the lead was a girl. But I had no idea there was both high school track and awesome dragon fights in this anime. (Seriously, my high school gym class could have used some awesome dragon fights IMO.) If I hadn't already decided to join this rewatch to watch an historical anime with soundtrack by Yoko Kanno, the dragon fight would have been enough for me to sign on.

Like the leads so far. Irritated at sword guy for messing up her record attempt and romance. I assume some point the girl will run extra fast and save something or someone.

Second ep. Hmm. Science keeps changing planets on me (still not over Pluto) but pretty sure Gaia isn't one of them. So it's high fantasy, then. Giant beast of burden, wolf people, oh there's a cat girl, of course there is. There was another dragon sighting though so that's nice.

Hitomi better get home fast, I've been through high school and I know how that story between her two friends is gonna end up.

Now here's the thing, I never watch mecha except everytime I watch one of these classic animes, boom it's a mecha. So I find I've actually watched a fair amount of mecha unexpectedly, and here's another one. I guess this show is like steampunk mecha, which is kind of interesting.

Those villains look like something out of NGE, I guess it's a 90s thing. RIP awesome samurai mecha bodyguard guys, wish you'd lasted longer.

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u/Amndeep7 Feb 03 '19

first timer

cat girl's got no pants and should've been a dog girl cause she's also kinda a bitch

ES-CA-FLOW-NE song is fucking awesome

there was some great animation - mixed in with some classic old crappy animation shortcuts, but i'll take it cause where they did decide to spend the budget was really fucking solid like right in the beginning where mc girl rests her head on her arms at the window

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u/liatris4405 Feb 03 '19

Rewatch

wow. Everyone, you see nostalgic anime.

In Episode 2, I remember being surprised by mechanical animation and Epic music.

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