Escaflowne DVD is anime with extras

Escaflowne: The Ultimate Edition DVD

Directed by Kazuki Akane

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Escaflowne: The Ultimate Edition DVD

Directed by Kazuki Akane

The three-disc DVD “Escaflowne: the Ultimate Edition” bundles the film version of the popular anime series with a host of DVD extras. The film follows the trials of a Japanese teen-age girl named Hitomi who, on the verge of suicide, is whisked away to the mythical world of Gaea after hearing a call for help from a mysterious stranger. Upon her arrival on Gaea, Hitomi is heralded as a goddess and placed under the care of a young prince named Van. Thought to be the “Wing Goddess,” Hitomi is informed that only she can summon the Escaflowne. Escaflowne is the name for a mystical suit of armor that can only be controlled by Van, and is destined to either save or destroy Gaea. “Escaflowne” originally aired in Japan as a weekly television series that lasted for 26 episodes spanning six months. The problem with squeezing 26 half-hours’ worth of story into a 90-minute film is that most of the character development is lost. This is where Escaflowne really fails as a film. The large ensemble of characters is hurriedly introduced, and the convoluted plot leaves no time for the audience to build an emotional connection with the characters. Lacking an attachment to Hitomi or her bodyguard boyfriend Van, the audience does not care whether Gaea is destroyed or saved. The resolution of this plot point is the building block for all of the film’s tension, but it is meaningless without a character you care for. The second disc contains all the extra material, which should provide an extra treat for fans of the series and fans of amine in general. Along with the standard collection of trailers and promotional materials, the second disc includes a series of interviews with the film’s creators, photographed at the Korean/Japanese anime trade show in 2000. Participating in the interviews are the film’s director and writer, Kazuki Akane, and some of the principal voice cast including both the Japanese and American voices of Hitomi. While the interviews are slightly engaging – the differing viewpoints of the two women who voiced Hitomi are standouts – the real gem of the extras disc is the footage from the North American premiere of “Escaflowne” at Anime Expo 2000. These scenes give the viewer a true sense of the immense popularity of anime, both here and in Asia. The second disc is also notable for the extensive collection of sketches and storyboards, which detail the evolution of character designs, the weapons, the sets, the lavish and fantastical mechanical designs for the modes of transportation, and the Escaflowne armor. The third disc, soundtrack of the film score, is essentially a throwaway for American audiences because the scoring is quite generic, and the lyrics are in Japanese. “Escaflowne,” the film, plays out like a poorly written Final Fantasy video game, but “Escaflowne: The Ultimate Edition” DVD boxed set provides an interesting documentation of the process of creating an anime film from the first storyboarding sessions to the first time it was shown to an audience.