Escaflowne: The Movie (2000)

A grim retelling of the television series "The Vision of Escaflowne".

Directors:

Kazuki Akane, Yoshiyuki Takei (co-director)

Writers:

Ryôta Yamaguchi (script), Kazuki Sekine

Stars:

Shin'ichirô Miki, Jôji Nakata, Maaya Sakamoto

Cast

Credited cast:
Maaya Sakamoto	...	Hitomi Kanzaki (voice)
Tomokazu Seki	...	Van Fanel (voice)
Jôji Nakata	...	Folken Fanel (voice)
Mayumi Izuka	...	Yukari / Sora (voice) (as Mayumi Iizuka)
Minami Takayama	...	Dilandau Albatou (voice)
Kôji Tsujitani	...	Jajuka (voice)
Shin'ichirô Miki	...	Allen Schezar (voice)
Ikue Ôtani	...	Merle (voice)
Nobuyuki Hiyama	...	Oruto (voice)
Hisako Kyôda	...	Old Woman (voice) (as Naoko Kyoda)
Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Shesta (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Felecia Angelle	...	Additional Voices (FUNimation dub) (voice)
Tia Lynn Ballard	...	Sora (FUNimation dub) (voice)
Christopher Bevins	...	Ort (FUNimation dub) (voice)
Ben Bryant	...	Additional Voices (FUNimation dub) (voice)

Storyline

High school student Hitomi Kanzaki, depressed and despondent, wishes to disappear from her world. Her wishes are heard in the alternate world of Gaea where a battle for absolute control is raging! Magically, Hitomi is suddenly transported to this other world and is bestowed with the power to decide its ultimate fate!

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Plot Keywords:

multiple english dubs | one word title | teenage girl | good versus evil | tragic villain | 

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Taglines:

A place you've never seen. A story you'll never forget.

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Genres:

Adventure | Animation | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for strong animated violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Website

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

24 June 2000 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Escaflowne: The Movie

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,692, 27 January 2002, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Bones, Sunrise

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The stadium where Hitomi first meets Folken and is drawn into the world of Gaia is modeled on the historic and famous Kasumigaoka National Olympic Stadium (Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo) in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, where the 1964 Summer Olympics were held. Some of the most distinctive elements in the stadium, such as the colored rows of seats, large scoreboard, lights, and field track are directly visible in the film. The stadium was demolished in 2015 to make way for a new stadium constructed for the 2020 Olympics. Another visible Shinjuku landmark in the film is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, which Hitomi sees from the train while she is out shopping with her friend Yukari.

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Quotes

Van: [to Folken, struggling to get up] Even if...
Hitomi Kanzaki: [worried] Van.
Van: You destroy all of Gaea... your sadness will not go away.
Folken: How would you know?

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Connections

Featured in AMV Hell 3: The Motion Picture (2005)

User Reviews

Only fun for those who have seen the series, if then

First of all, I watched this movie once before I even saw any of the series, so I was fairly confused--especially by the amount of characters who appear for a few minutes and then disappear. I knew it was supposed to be a retelling and not a summary of the series, but even on that level, I didn't really "get" Hitomi's reason for caring so much for Van all of a sudden, why that blonde captain (Allen, as I learned later) was even there, or what the hell Dune (or Folken, take your pick) was all about. The confrontation with Dune was so incredibly anti-climactic that I almost hoped for that old horror cliche of the villain coming back to life a few times to up his kill stats. No such luck, though.

Having just gone through a marathon session with the series (all twenty-six episodes in two days), I decided to watch the movie again this morning. Well, I had fun identifying all the characters from the series, who were all--down to the cat girls--developed into realistic characters throughout the television series, and it was kind of interesting to compare Hitomi's character (in the movie, she's totally depressed but realized the pain she was causing others; in the series, she was lively, but in being so, she missed the signs that she was hurting people). However, the story (which recasts Hitomi as a "Winged Goddess" figure instead of a girl with skills at fortune telling, and Van into an uncontrollably violent person, but sweet and gentle when he's not killing people) isn't all that interesting (and seems to have been more influenced by the Evangelion series and movies than by Escaflowne), and 96 minutes is far too short a time to tell what should have been a sweeping epic. Instead, despite the claims that it is a retelling, it ends up feeling even more like a truncation of the series.

That said, I thought the animation was good (in an anime genre sort of way--I wouldn't expect a lot of other people to care too much for it, the way that even anime haters tend to like Studio Ghibli films), and the design for Hitomi, though not as kawaii as the series, really did fit with the darker tone of the movie.

6/10