Escaflowne (film)

Did You Know?

• The first European presentation was on January 19, 2001, during the Future Film Festival in Bologna.
• The film aired on Adult Swim on September 10, 2005, after being available on [adult swim] on demand.

Plot

Hitomi Kanzaki, depressed and wishing to disappear, is summoned to the world of Gaea after a falling-out with her only friend. She finds herself inside Escaflowne, a doomsday weapon destined to awaken at the appearance of a prophesied "wing goddess". The rebels against the Black Dragon Clan believe Hitomi is that goddess. As she grows closer to rebel leader Lord Van, she helps bring about the fall of his vengeful brother Lord Folken.

Production

The film differs greatly from the television series, with character redesigns by Nobuteru Yūki and a focus on the relationship between Van and Hitomi. Hitomi is portrayed as a depressed, suicidal schoolgirl rather than a cheerful girl in love, while Van is more lonely, emotionally reserved, and aggressive. Animation was handled primarily by studio Bones, founded by ex-Sunrise staff, making this Bones' first feature film. Animation director duties were split between studio co-founder Hiroshi Ōsaka and character designer Nobuteru Yūki, with Ōsaka heading production at Bones. Some action sequences served as talent showcases, including a nearly minute-and-a-half opening sword fight animated solo by Yutaka Nakamura. The soundtrack was composed mostly by Yoko Kanno in collaboration with Hajime Mizoguchi. The world of Gaea has a more Asian design than the heavily European-influenced television series.

Home media

Bandai Visual released the film to DVD in a two-disc limited edition set on April 25, 2001, including a 36-page booklet and on-disc interviews. A Blu-ray disc followed on January 28, 2008. Formerly licensed by Bandai Entertainment, the Region 1 DVD debuted on July 23, 2002, in Standard and Ultimate editions; the Ultimate Edition included the CD soundtrack, a Maaya Sakamoto music video, and interviews. A re-release under Bandai's Anime Legends line on September 13, 2005, kept many extras including the CD soundtrack. Another re-release on February 6, 2007, under the Anime Movie Classics label used the original standard DVD cover art and CD. Bandai Entertainment also included the Ultimate Edition in its 2004 Perfect Collection DVD set of the original series. At Otakon 2013, Funimation Entertainment announced it had rescued both the film and the series; both were re-released in 2016 with a new English dub. The Escaflowne OST, released on July 5, 2000, contains twenty-six tracks with vocal performers including Maaya Sakamoto, Shanti Snyder, Midori, Children of Adom, and the Warsaw Chorus. In North America, the soundtrack was included with the Ultimate Edition and Anime Legends releases but never given an individual release. Victor Entertainment released two drama CDs, Escaflowne Prologue 1: Earth and Escaflowne Prologue 2: Gaea, on October 21, 2000, originally broadcast on the Bunka Hoso radio show; both are out-of-print in Japan.