Escaflowne

Rindesayu · Post by **Rindesayu** » Sat May 15, 2004 8:56 am

Wow... couldn't believe no one's mentioned it yet.

I have yet to see the 26-episode series (which I've heard is absolutely freakin' brilliant; possibly one of the best anime of all time), but I have the movie on DVD (like with Utena, it's an alternate re-telling of the story that was in the series). It's a pretty good flick overall, but the story and characterization are really thin, and the ending is a disappointment. Superb visuals, good entertainment, but if you're looking for epic storytelling, three-dimensional characters, and conclusiveness.. you'll be let down.

Ni-ban Neko · Post by **Ni-ban Neko** » Sat May 15, 2004 9:05 am

The TV series is better than the movie. The movie changed a lot of details from the TV series, and really, it's hard to fit a manga series (I want to say it's 10 volumes, but I could be wrong) into 2 hours. I haven't ever seen one done well.

Post by **Tiff** » Sat May 15, 2004 10:37 am

I've seen the first episode of the show, and that's it.

I've heard that the movie actually isp retty sucky, and that they change Hitomi's character drastically, making her into somewhat of an angsting wimp.

From the first episode I saw, I couldn't stand Merle the moment she came on the screen. So..irritating.

Rindesayu · Post by **Rindesayu** » Sat May 15, 2004 10:47 am

Yeah, Hitomi is an angst-ridden wimp in the movie. They don't even give a reason for her perpetual misery. She's just depressed for no reason. She's not as bad as Evangelion's Shinji Ikari, though.

Tyra · Post by **Tyra** » Sun May 16, 2004 3:03 am

I liked the series (it sucks that I didn't see all the episodes

) but I've never seen the movie.

Lady of the Light · Post by **Lady of the Light** » Sun May 16, 2004 5:38 pm

Tyra wrote:I liked the series (it sucks that I didn't see all the episodes ) but I've never seen the movie.

Same here. Seen some of the series dubbed, not all of them, and haven't seen the movie. I liked the series immensely, though. Dryden rocks my world!

ParaKiss_Groupie · Post by **ParaKiss_Groupie** » Sun May 16, 2004 7:41 pm

I have the movie. I hated it. I hated the art, the story, the dialogue, the characters, the ending.... I hated every aspect of the movie with the exception of "Yubiwa" and "Sora's Folktale," two really pretty songs.

Post by **Tiff** » Sun May 16, 2004 7:41 pm

Speaking of escaflowne art..I really, really cannot stand the way Hitomi's drawn. It's the nose. The nose just...ugh. It's pointy and...big. It annoys me x_x

peachvampiress · Post by **peachvampiress** » Sun May 16, 2004 8:07 pm

Tiff

Speaking of escaflowne art..I really, really cannot stand the way Hitomi's drawn. It's the nose. The nose just...ugh. It's pointy and...big. It annoys me x_x

I know what you mean @_@. Her nose looks like a ski slope (actually, all of the characters look like that).

RoastedTwinkies · Post by **RoastedTwinkies** » Sun May 16, 2004 9:32 pm

peachvampiress wrote:Tiff
Speaking of escaflowne art..I really, really cannot stand the way Hitomi's drawn. It's the nose. The nose just...ugh. It's pointy and...big. It annoys me x_x
I know what you mean @_@. Her nose looks like a ski slope (actually, all of the characters look like that).

I agree. Her nose is far too pointy.

Cardcaptor Takato · Post by **Cardcaptor Takato** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:30 am

I saw the entire series and the movie and I read some of the shounen manga. The tvseries was definetly far more detailed than the movie was, but I like the animation in the movie more than the animation in the tvseries, especially the character designs, how they don't have those annoying pointy noses from the tvshow. I liked the general plot for the movie, but the way they excuted it was wrong. The first 30 min. of it was pretty enjoyable, but after the first battle it just started to get boring. I was also dissappointed that they didn't use the minor characters any. They were just sort of there for eyecandy or something. Still, the animation and musical score for the movie were nice, but I kind of wish I had bought the soundtrack instead of wasting $30 on the DVD.

Rindesayu · Post by **Rindesayu** » Mon May 17, 2004 7:31 am

All the characters' noses are pointy in the series, but they say it grows on you as you keep watching, and I agree with them when they declare it a nice change from the usual tiny anime noses.

FoxFire · Post by **FoxFire** » Tue May 18, 2004 9:16 pm

I've seen all 26 episodes of the series on subtitled VHS, and I liked it though it's not towards the top of my favorite anime. What I didn't like about it was that it was so serious and melodramatic all the time. People criticize Evangelion for being too serious, but at least it had some humor in the earlier episodes. I can't think of any funny moments in Escaflowne. And I can't say I cared too much about any of the characters. I didn't dislike any of them (besides for Merle) I just didn't find any of them terribly interesting and they seemed to perfect, especially Allen Schezar.

I don't want to sound like a hated though. Most of it was very well done and the plot interesting, and I liked the use of Tarot card symbolism throughout the series (I am into Tarot cards but not seriously just for fun). I would recommend it, but not too strongly.

I've also seen the movie but I couldn't get into it and I can barely remember it now. The series is definately better.