Escaflowne: The Movie (2002)

I must admit I haven't seen the series, so I'll comment on this as a stand-alone production.I understand that the characters are nicely developed in the anime series, but you shouldn't base a film on that assumption. The characters looked very interesting, but apart from Lord Van, Hitomi and to some extent Folken the characters are presented but not introduced. You have some gist of what they are about and a feeling that maybe if you watched the series you could connect between with the secondary characters.Unfortunately the storyline itself is also rushed and the Hitomi/Volken/Van relationship has been totally blown and borders on being ridiculous. the emotions being thrown between these characters are unbelievable, even corny, and the jumpy script gives it no justice. Basically it felt like it wanted to be more intelligent than it actually was.On the plus side is great animation and some very interesting scenes full of exquisite ideas.

For those who have seen the Escaflowne television series know that it was a beautifully complex shoujou anime with plenty of action, adventure, and romance.The movie, however, is a completely different animal. Most viewers try to compare the television series to the movie, and thus usually disregard the movie as trash, as it is not a faithful retelling of the series. So, if you haven't seen this movie yet, but have seen the series, remember they are two completely different creatures, each wonderful and unique.The most noticeable change is in the character design. Nobuteru Yuuki (who also did the designs for Chrono Cross, X, and Record of Lodess War) slightly altered the character's distinctive looks from the TV series. They now closely resemble the characters from Chrono Cross (the similarity between Millerna and Kid is the most obvious). The plot was also trimmed of the intricate subplots to fit into a decent running time, and thus some of the characters from the series do not appear. The biggest change is the inclusion of more action and violence, so we're talking flying body parts and lots of blood spraying. This was done to attract more males to the fanbase as the TV series had a fanbase that was 80% female.Other things, however, haven't changed. Yoko Kanno and her partner Hajime Mizoguchi return with an excellent score of blended nationalities to give it a truly unique sound that makes it seem as if we are really listening to the music from another world.Overall, the movie is an excellent example of anime at its best. Between the quality of the animation and overall production, this movie is a must see for anyone who loves any form of animation.

Several things bothered me while watching this film. One of the first thing i noticed was the animation - the faces on the characters were horridly drawn, making it hard for facial expressions to appear believable. The animation in itself was fine, however the way the people were drawn was distracting. Secondly, the plot was disorganized and scattered; making the film hard to follow for even fans of the Escaflowne TV series. The closing doesn't redeem much of the films' weak points - I wouldn't recommend this for those new to Escaflowne or those who are fans. It would be disappointing either way.

Escaflowne the movie is my favorite Anime feature film. This film, albeit darker and a bit more brooding story, it still contains the wonderful pastel colors of the OVA television series, and is one of the finest pieces of traditional animation I've seen in years. Also most of the original voice cast returns for this feature. In my personal opinion, the Escaflowne American voice cast is right on par with their Japanese counterparts. The only series I can openly say this about. Yoko Kano once again writes a wonderful musical score, reminding us why we fell in love with the series to begin with. It's sadder music with a more mystical feel, but fits the mood of the feature film. The characters and their costumes were redesigned, but if you found the long pointy noses and girly look of the men of the OVA to be laughable, then the movie will strike you with awe. The realism of the character design was upped for this big budget feature, and even though the story and universe is a bit altered, it's still a treat to be back with Hitomi on her adventures in Gaea once again.