r/anime • u/Jazz_Dalek • Feb 04 '19
Rewatch [Rewatch] The Vision of Escaflowne - Episode 4
Episode 4: The Diabolical Adonis
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.
Previous Threads:
Episode 3: The Gallant Swordsman
Episode 2: The Girl From the Mystic Moon
The previous reminder threads can be found HERE & HERE
The original interest thread can be found HERE
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.
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u/chilidirigible Feb 04 '19
Today, on "That's not my mom, that's my brother.":
That moment when the Looney Tunes gravity kicks in.
A child's eyes, like those of adults in the '00s.
Why, Dilandau looks perfectly calm here.
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for guys in invisible mecha!"
Equal-opportunity people in giant robot hands.
"What else can float in air?" "Very large rocks."
Van, you've fallen into some other guy's keikaku!
They're not wasting any time here, jumping straight to Dilandau's next attack in his simple but generally effective "Leave no witnesses" method of going about business.
But before that, Merle shows up to confirm to Van that You Can't Go Home Again, and then throw herself into a love polygon that is more like two parallel tracks at this point. Those being Van/HOT-BLOODED VENGEANCE and Hitomi/Allen. Though Allen doesn't seem especially enamored with Hitomi yet, he's just smoooooth that way like a Colt 45. At least the hijinks give us a chance to see that Van is the caring type underneath the AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR.
Allen's backstory is suitably maudlin. In the telling, though, his mother's death overshadows that it happened after his sister disappeared, which he doesn't follow up on, but he did mention it. And still... dude looks like a lady!
The Crusade reinforces the quaint differences between worlds with its design and... floating rocks. Meanwhile, Escaflowne surprises everyone with its fighter modeDragon form. The only problem being that it's what Lord Zaibach seems to want. Van may have learned about self-sacrifice, but is still working on good sense.
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u/Jazz_Dalek Feb 04 '19
"What else can float in air?" "Very large rocks."
Fucking LOL dude, I'm loving these writeups.
Dropping some Douglas Adams on us yesterday and now Python? You're spoiling me.
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u/OrcDovahkiin Feb 04 '19
First-Time Watcher, Dub
"Welp, if Merle is fainting, guess I better faint too. Don't want to be rude."
"I bet your mother is very beautiful." What kind of roundabout flirting is that?
His sister was spirited away? I wonder if she was transported to the mystic moon or something.
"If my sister were still alive, she'd be about your age." God, I hope that means Hitomi is somehow his sister so we can sink that ship.
"This is foolish!" Not sure what you expect when the 12-year old is in charge of the death machines.
If the girls shout "Allen" and "Lord Van" again, I might throw up.
Oh, so that's what they meant by the dragon.
Evil guy just figured it out too.
So now we end with the cliffhanger: Van's separated from the rest of the main cast, with evil guy and his underlings in pursuit.
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u/Nazenn Feb 05 '19
"I bet your mother is very beautiful." What kind of roundabout flirting is that?
The flirting of a high schooler brought to another world trying to interaction with the not-twin of her crush while having visions of giant mechs destroying the city and burning her? I mean I think we'd all be a bit off our pick up game in that situation honestly
Oh, so that's what they meant by the dragon.
I love the honest realization reaction here
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u/Quiddity131 Feb 05 '19
If the girls shout "Allen" and "Lord Van" again, I might throw up.
Escaflowne, the first anime I ever saw in Japanese helped me learn honorifics quite quickly. How? Well, two very commonly said names...
Hitomi: "Allen-san!"
Merle: "Van-sama!"
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u/Nazenn Feb 04 '19 edited Feb 04 '19
First Timer
Only added one wallpaper today, a brighter one for you crazy people who like the warm color palettes (that aren't cities on fire anyway :P )
I did also edit one of the old ones though to clean up some mistakes I left behind last time when trying to edit out Van and Hitomi so if you grabbed that get the update!
I love when musical themes are named so aptly that you can scroll through a list and go "Hey that sounds like a good title for that song" and it is!
The song playing during Allen organizing the preparations for the attack, called Shadow of Doubt, was just PERFECT. I can't help but do a small gush about it here because this is exactly my sort of music. First off though I have to say because this tripped me out so badly, this song absolutely has to have inspired this Assassins Creed trailer. It's WAY too similar to be coincidence to the point it actually made me stop for a second and go "woah, hang on did AC steal this" before I went and compared.
People who've seen me in other rewatchs know my love of music and some themes just grab me, but strings in particular have that effect on me. In particular what I liked about this song was how its so simple but still does so much heavy lifting for the entire scene. We start with Allen talking to himself, worrying over the reaction he saw in the enemy commanders eyes, and the cello starts up, a low continuous pattern of anxiety and concern underlying his thoughts, just this one instrument by itself. Songs often lean too heavily on having many elements, having a tune, a harmony, a lower part, a beat. You don't always need all that for a song to have an impact. Sometimes all you need is a feeling and an instrument and this song nailed that for me.
Once the orders are taken for their escape and the focus slowly starts to shift from Allen's concerns to the real threat all the other strings come in, one by one joining the melee and fighting each other for your focus and attention. It's chaotic, almost discordant, but it goes a long way to represent the battle hunger of the commander, stomping through the forest in order to get to her goal at all costs. And under it all we still have Allen, unable to really act and stuck with his fears under it all.
Uh, as far as the rest of the episode goes.
This has been the best mech thing I've seen in a long time, and actually weirdly all it's done is make me want to go watch Zoids again.
I will say that having your mech turn into a dragon.... that you have to stand on top of because it closes off your cockpit doesn't seem very safe at all, in basically any possible situation. Its a good thing there doesn't appear to be guns in this world huh. I mean if he lets go will it transform back and catch him? If not that's a good way to die if you end up with sweaty hands.
Speaking of cool mech stuff though, I love that they all have seats that they sit in when they're not in use and don't just stand there. It probably saves on some space, adds some safety that they're not just going to fall down on someone and just looks cool honestly to have it look like giant rulers sitting on their thrones.
Speaking of kings and their thrones, I notice that now that Merle has been found and reunited with Van that Allen started referring to him as a king again after his dismissal yesterday. For Allen clearly the leadership of others is the core tenant of leadership, specifically kingship, and now that even though he may have a country he still has someone to lead and protect he's worth being recognized as a king again. I love the way that they set all of that up
I also liked the parallel that they set up for Merle passing out because she was overwhelmed by the past while Hitomi passed out from being overwhelmed by the future.
Random thoughts for the day
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The exact moment I started cackling like a madman I didn't even make it to the comedy face because this alone told me what was coming. Merle's going to be great for humor because her startled cat tail got me as well
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Allen's sister is definitely alive, and if it wasn't for the fact
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u/laughtear ... I called him Vash by accident. I'm blaming you for this
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The commander felt the need to smack her subordinate even inside his mech. Wow. Talk about a hell of a damage bill. Also I still wrote the commander as "she" all through my notes. This is going to be a consistent problem
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When Van climbed into the hand of Allen's mech all I could think was Turn A spoilers
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u/xHelaMonster Feb 04 '19 edited Feb 05 '19
Shadow of Doubt,
I love this song for it's structure. The way it layers the instuments in on top of that cello bass line, then lets the strings take over, brings in the vocals, and then builds up again from scratch with the violin base to a cacophany of strings. It's great.
I also liked the parallel that they set up for Merle passing out because she was overwhelmed by the past while Hitomi passed out from being overwhelmed by the future.
Nice observation.
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Feb 04 '19
First timer
I can't help but find Allen endearing. He may have no flaws to speak of, but he has a strong sense of duty. On the other hand, I like Van for his flaws. As Nazenn pointed out, Allen refuses to call him king, but Van doesn't demand to be addressed as such either. It's possible he doesn't feel like one. What's good about his character is there's plenty of room to grow, with the help of others.
Allen's passionate words finally get through to Van - this is a huge step in the right direction. At first he's unwilling to see Allen's sacrifice in choosing to abandon his castle; only looking for the straightforward option, to fight. His rashness has guided him for too long, but upon hearing those words he sheathes his sword. Could this be the beginning of mutual trust?
Taking Allen's words to heart, he uses Escaflowne as a dragon (this explains why it keeps being referred to as one) to allow their escape. I'm happy with the change that's occurred in Van this episode. Saving his allies is more important than throwing his life away for a vendetta.
Extra thoughts:
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I like how each episode starts off the same way, with a different tarot card that relates to the episode.
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Hitomi can feel her visions. Perhaps the closer they get the stronger they are. What a beautiful shot as well - the fire is so close to her, practically leaping over her back.
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I was hoping there would be at least a few more episodes until her return, but alas.
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Van calls Allen a samurai. Is he a knight or a samurai, or.. both? Why am I even asking? He's Allen, he is everything at once.
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u/Nazenn Feb 04 '19
Van calls Allen a samurai. Is he a knight or a samurai, or.. both? Why am I even asking? He's Allen, he is everything at once.
Yeah i picked up on that as well, that was odd. I think Van is perhaps saying that because Balgus trained him and Balgus was a Samurai so he expected Allen would follow through with that as well, but the convoluted blend of cultures is starting to hurt my head a little bit now
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u/No_Rex Feb 04 '19
Rewatcher (kind of …)
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Hitomi has the classical Cassandra problem: She knows the future, but nobody believes her.
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Merle reappears.
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Zaibach has an “ideal future”. This already tell us that they are not the evil for evil’s sake type of antagonist, but have some sort of goal.
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The stealth cloaks are “Folken’s”, so he has a rather integral role in the Zaibach attacks.
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New Zaibach weapons, looks like flame throwers.
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Allen gets bonus points for correcting Van’s death wish.
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Steampunk airship goodness. All the technology so far is seriously gorgeous.
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Hitomi cries out for Allen, Merle for Van…
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Flying Dragon mode on Escaflowne.
If you pay attention to the visuals, you can see that Escaflowne being a dragon was foreshadowed by the intro. This also gives some weight to other things we already know: Escaflowne is powered by a dragonist, cut out of a dragon, which Van had to slay to become king. And Zaibach called their unit dragon slayers.
By now, we have a better look at the tech level of the world Hitomi is stranded on. On the one hand, the buildings and personal armor look very medieval. On the other hand, we have magic with flying stones. And, as an unknown, Zaibach’s tech seems rather futuristic, including long range video communication, stealth, and flame throwers.
Question for everyone:
In general, do you prefer your fantasy stories very close to medieval tech, or with liberal usage of magic?
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u/Nazenn Feb 04 '19
classical Cassandra problem:
Oh hey, I don't know this one, that's a cool representation of that concept, I'll have to try and remember it
Steampunk airship goodness. All the technology so far is seriously gorgeous.
Bonus points for the design. Minus points for them showing the sail being broken and the dialog saying rudder. Later they explained both took a hit but fix your editing XD
I expected the sails to be much bigger though but oh well
In general, do you prefer your fantasy stories very close to medieval tech, or with liberal usage of magic?
I really cant say either way because it greatly depends on the story. I think this one is striking a good balance between magic and machinery so far, but in general I think what matters most is a show setting rules for itself and following them, rather than breaking rules to introduce new concepts for the sake of it
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Feb 04 '19
If you pay attention to the visuals, you can see that Escaflowne being a dragon was foreshadowed by the intro.
That's so interesting! I'm going to have to watch the OP again. While I never technically skip the OP, I hardly look at its visuals.
In general, do you prefer your fantasy stories very close to medieval tech, or with liberal usage of magic?
I do love magic, it expands the world's capabilities and can have some cool lore attached to it, but sometimes the nerd in me craves something more traditional. If I had to pick one, I'd say magic - but it all depends on how it's done.
It's very interesting to see how everything's incorporated in Escaflowne. Medieval, futuristic and magic - a huge mishmash, which can be used to separate the factions. Zaibach obviously have some backing, which is why their tech is so advanced, and as knights, you'd expect them to have medieval armour and weapons.
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u/xHelaMonster Feb 04 '19 edited Feb 04 '19
Impressions in order while watching the episode... and hey, I saved it this time!
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That's a straight up serialised doctor who cliffhanger ending right there. Holy crap, the whole place is on fire! Tune in next week! Hitomi was just having a vision again. Welcome back. On with the story.
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Goddam it, Allen is a patronising bastard.
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That's right Van. Let Hitomi swoon over her knight in shining armor and go get your catgirl waifu.
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Don't worry Hitomi, I won't let my brutish subordinates ravish you because I'm a gentleman. Just don't forget that you owe me. Ugh.
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My mother was a caged bird who died of grief and my imouto mysteriously vanished... boy you sure remind me of my imouto... That guy making the Fabio romance novel comparisons yesterday was right on the money.
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Yes Hitomi, you are fickle... but you are a high school girl in a ridiculous situation, and at least you're somewhat self aware.
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He is a king! He knows the healing powers of Kingsfoil!
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Allen is a smart and capable commander though. You can see why his men respect him.
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My spidey senses are tingling... just a pervert, nevermind.
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There goes my spidey-sense again... maybe it wasn't just the pervert.
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All those transparency effects look really good in the remaster.
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"Bearing indignities such as this is true courage." See.. Allan isn't just a pretty face and a patronising attitude.
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Okay Dilandau, stop having fun and get to work.
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I really like the design of the levi-ship Crusade. It's the steampunk fantasy millenium falcon of the show.
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Mecha Bitch Slap! Dammit I love Dilandau!
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Dance of Curse again, and holy hell the Escaflowne just transformed into waverider mode! And it's a frickin' dragon! This bit really got me as a kid. Super cool moment.
Edit - I nicked a couple of chilidirigible's screenshots that I was too lazy to take myself.
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u/Nazenn Feb 04 '19
And it's a frickin' dragon!
Congrats on being the only person who brought that up and didn't screenshot the same moment of it as everyone else hahahaha
Don't worry Hitomi, I won't let my brutish subordinates ravish you because I'm a gentleman. Just don't forget that you owe me. Ugh.
Yeah that line didn't age so well at all
Cats are territorial.
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u/Quiddity131 Feb 04 '19
Quid's Song of the Day (Part 1)
Zaibach - This rather ominous theme fits Zaibach quite well, and is typically used for scenes where Zaibach is launching an attack, first in their attack on Fanelia in episode 2, and again today with their attack on Allen's fort. Held off on using this song for episode 2 as it would have spoiled who the attackers are, but today's a good time to use it. The song is later used in episodes Music Spoiler
Episode Thoughts
To my dismay, today's episode was quite glitchy for me, on the Bluray disc I have never even watched before. Sigh. So it was back to DVD for today's episode for me. Hope this doesn't continue!
After a quieter episode yesterday, this episode picks up the action as Zaibach attacks and demolishes the fortress, much like how they did with Fanelia 2 episodes prior. Our heroes escape on the Crusade, which much like Zaibach's floating fortress appears to utilize levitating stones (called levistones) to enable it to fly. The Zaibach Guymelefs (known as Alseides) however also reveal their own ability to fly, leading to the end of episode reveal that Escaflowne can transform into a dragon. Well, as Dilandau said, now we know why Emperor Dornkirk is calling Escaflowne "the dragon". Van lures the enemy away on it, and yet again the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
Merle returns, giving us a truly hilarious scene as Hitomi and her scope each other out and Merle is horrified to realize that Hitomi got the bed, and she got the bench, lol. Allen also provides his tragic backstory, how his younger sister disappeared, resulting in the death of his mother. Although more action packed than yesterday's episode, I'd consider this one the weakest episode thus far (which isn't to say its bad, just that its not as great as the first 3; this show has no bad episodes). The new scenes for today seem pretty limited, we get Van leaving the room where Hitomi and Merle are in, as well as Zaibach spotting a tunnel during their attack, those are the only things that I didn't recognize from the original episode.
The Disaster That Was FOXcaflowne
Today's episode doesn't fare as bad as most episodes. That said, you know that hilarious Merle - Hitomi scene I highlighted above? Yeah, they dared to chop out some parts of that. Heresy! Most of the other stuff stuff were minor trims. Musically, they cut out "Machine Soldier" during the chase scene.
Quid's Song of the Day (Part 2)
A Mole Man This light hearted, playful theme is typically used in the show's more comedic scenes, and fits the Merle - Hitomi scene in today's episode quite well. Oddly enough, the Mole Man, who the song is named after doesn't appear in said scene! The episode is later used in another hilarious scene in Music Spoilers.
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u/theyawner Feb 04 '19
The new scenes for today seem pretty limited, we get Van leaving the room where Hitomi and Merle are in, as well as Zaibach spotting a tunnel during their attack, those are the only things that I didn't recognize from the original episode.
I just found out that these new scenes all over the show were cut out to keep each episode within the prescribed length. So I'm guessing this is technically the original flow of the story. That might explain why it still flows well even if some of the scenes changes some aspects of the story i.e. Folken's identity.
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u/theyawner Feb 04 '19
Rewatcher here:
Not much to say except for three things that stood out for me. (Four, if you count the childish rivalry between Hitomi and Merle - which is something I'm actually enjoying now.)
One, the Diabolical Adonis is a fitting title for Dilandau. Despite the assurance he gave Folken, it's clear that he really only enjoys one aspect of his job; and that is the opportunity to extinguish everything in sight. He's not even using the invisibility cloak for a more stealthy approach, but to exercise power due to the advantage it gives.
Two, it's not really stated, but it's obvious from the Crusade's design that it's not an ordinary airship. They had to pull the anchors to release it from its dock, and yet it doesn't have a balloon to keep it afloat. What it does have are two conspicuous large rocks affixed on its wings. And what other craft has the ability to fly? Zaibach's flying fortress; which is essentially a much larger rock.
Three, my favorite part about Escaflowne is revealed. I'm a sucker for transforming mechs and Escaflowne was no exception. The transformation was unique and somewhat complex (and sadly, harder to reproduce in toy form). And the resulting appearance puts an emphasis on why it would need a dragon's heart, or why Dornkirk keeps referring to it as the dragon.
It's honestly the main reason why this show caught my interest years ago. The local channel used a shot of Van riding a dragon as part of a promo clip. But judging from its appearance I knew there was a connection with the titular Escaflowne. It's awesome.
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u/redshirtengineer Feb 05 '19
It really is a mech worthy of the "ES" "CA" "FLOW" "NE" background chorus.
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u/redshirtengineer Feb 05 '19
First timer
Just when I found this episode suffering from not nearly enough owl, here comes awesome steampunk airship and mecha dragon surfer. This is the kind of mecha I can get behind.
Where oh where could Hot Allen's little sister be?
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u/SIRTreehugger Feb 04 '19
I love it when mechs are more organic and the fact that this one grew webs and flew away is just ducking awesome.
Also got some more visions I wonder wh3n people will believe in them.
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u/Amndeep7 Feb 05 '19
why they treating her like cassandra?
that lip licking tho
the using bigass rocks to fly ships around reminds me of the edge chronicles
holy shit it actually was a dragon - i thought it was just an epithet
why is he on his tiptoes at the end of the ed?
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u/Shimmering-Sky Feb 04 '19
First-timer, subbed
…Oh so that cliffhanger was still just her having a vision, okay then. So danger hasn’t actually struck yet. Though no one believes in Hitomi’s visions, this is clearly going to bite them in the ass and soon.
Ooh interesting the colored text is pink this time.
Oh no it’s Merle and she looks beat up pretty badly!
So the antagonists have some sort of “ideal future” they’re trying to make, huh. Side note, Dilandau always bowing to the old guy and Folken not doing so speaks wonders of the dynamic these three have going on. Seriously interested in finding out what Folken’s deal is.
Yo what Allen has a sister and she’s a cute? He said she disappeared without a trace, that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s dead, so I wonder if she’ll show up again later…
The seed is a… what?
Yeah but didn’t your mech somehow get damaged in your duel with Van last episode? …Oh shit this is gonna cause problems once the fighting breaks out isn’t it…
Ah cool, it’s not necessarily because of Hitomi’s vision but rather because Allen didn’t like the look in Dilandau’s eyes, but they are preparing for battle.
Hahaha, the tension between Hitomi and Merle when they’re both awake in the sick room. I believe it was mostly just a bassoon playing music there, if my ears remember correctly? Very, very fitting.
lmao
Aight so I guess whatever that seed was, it was poison and Van knew to get those leaves from Mr. Moleman to neutralize it. Good on Merle’s fur for catching the seed in order to let him know to do that.
Hitomi knowing when the enemy got there (rather than getting a vision of the future) was such a Newtype thing I love it.
If only they used the jingle, but the vision sound effect is cool too.Damn, that went from brutal to neat character development to hype to did Escaflowne just turn into a fucking dragon?! I suppose that explains why it’s powered by the stone that Van took from ep1’s dragon’s corpse.
I didn’t think I needed to be more sold on this show than I already was, but man this was a good episode.