Alternative Titles
Tenku no Escaflowne; Tenkuu no Escaflowne
Information
Type: Manga
Volumes: 8
Chapters: 34
Status: Finished
Published: Dec 1994 to Jan 1998
StatisticsScore: 6.351 (scored by 234 users)
Ranked: #28912
Popularity: #564
Members: 410 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
fantasy mecha |
SynopsisWhen high school girl Hoshino Hitomi dabbles with tarot cards she suddenly finds herself on a strange world called Gaea. With her new found friend, Van Fanel, the young prince of the devastated kingdom of Fanelia, Hitomi becomes involved in the battle against the Zaibach forces, an evil empire bent on conquering the planet. (Source: Tokyopop) |
Related MangaAdaptation: Escaflowne
Alternative version: Escaflowne - Ishi no Kioku
No recommendations have been made yet. Come on, make one!
| Overall |
2 |
| Story |
1 |
| Art |
4 |
| Character |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
|
Jul 27, 2008? chapters 5 of 7 people found this review helpful Let's make one thing clear right now: I absolutely ADORE the "Escaflowne" anime. I rated it a 10/10. This will influence my review. Not that it matters anyway; as a stand-alone this manga is boring and useless, and in the context of the original TV series, it's even worse. It's a monstrosity. It's not even the same story anymore. It's some generic crap with "Escaflowne" slapped on the cover. It's a bad joke.
That being said, what the HELL IS THIS?
...
I was excited when I heard that the "Escaflowne" manga was going to be brought to the United States. Hey, the anime was good, and I had read some awesome manga that came post-anime ("Evangelion" comes to mind), and you can't have too much of a good thing, right?
That's a moot question anyway. This manga isn't a good thing. It just... sucks.
In the first place, the characters lost their... character. They've gone from beautifully-nuanced individuals to walking stereotypes of shounen-genre robot anime. And the character designs themselves have gone to hell. They're bad. They're boring. They're stereotypical. The story is now some stock lost-prince-reclaims-his-throne garbage, and Escaflowne is just another Most Powerful Mecha(R). The manga does not play up stereotypes for fun and parody as some series do. The manga just has them... and kills them. That's it.
If you enjoyed the "Escaflowne" manga, stay the hell away from this. It will just make your blood boil. If you enjoy robot manga, read something else instead. If you enjoy fantasy manga, read something else instead. If you enjoy shounen manga... you get the point. This isn't worth your time. read more
|
| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Art |
6 |
| Character |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
|
Mar 27, 200834 of ? chapters read 4 of 4 people found this review helpful For those of you expecting a manga version of the anime series, I'd suggest you throw that idea out right now. Other than a shared setting and some similar elements (the Escaflowne, the main character's names), this is an entirely different story.
While the TV series of Escaflowne combined both shonen and shojo elements, this manga is decidedly shonen. The mecha are bigger (Escaflowne itself is about 10 stories tall), female fanservice is everywhere (Hitomi ends up naked no less ...than three times in the first volume alone) and the story and protagonists are more like the characters in InuYasha than the TV series, and Hitomi in particular resembles Kagome with glasses. Dilandau is almost unrecognizable in this incarnation, and it's best to think of this story as an alternate universe not unlike the Escaflowne movie. Van also manages to top the TV series Van in terms of rudeness and can be downright stupid from time to time. Being a shonen manga, the character interactions also lack any sort of subtlety and usually end in yelling.
My main complaint is that the pacing seems odd, with certain scenes taking far too long and relatively little focus on the characters and their development. The fanservice can also be distracting, in particular when Hitomi has to power the Escaflowne and turns into a blond bombshell. This fact can also rub people the wrong way if you're used to the strong, independent girl from the TV series. It's best to remember the intended audience when stuff like this happens, but even knowing that it still seems gratuitous and a bit cheap.
Nonetheless, if you had no foreknowledge of the TV series this is a perfectly fine manga, though at times the art seems slapdash and character designs fluctuate in terms of detail and proportions. It has the mecha battles, blood, and growing relationship between Van and Hitomi from the TV series, but this is an entirely different creature that lacks the gradual buildup and real emotional depth, and at times seems like a slap to the face in terms of developing that they'll be together.
Nonetheless, as far as enjoyment goes, it still manages to deliver at least something of the original. If people want the distilled Escaflowne in the sense of the battles and bloodshed, then by all means check out this series, but if it was the deeper, quieter parts that won your heart, this series is likely to be a disappointment. read more
|
Recent Forum DiscussionNo discussion topics have been made yet, how about starting one?
Related ClubsEscaflowne FanClub, Everyone is EMO, Fan Fiction Guild, SKYclub ~ SKY Animes, Wings, [ S T E A M P U N K .]
|
11-29-08, 9:47 AM |
11-29-08, 6:26 AM |
11-28-08, 4:42 PM |
11-28-08, 9:28 AM |
11-26-08, 1:57 PM | |
11-26-08, 2:54 AM |
11-22-08, 8:32 PM |
11-22-08, 4:59 PM |
11-20-08, 9:09 PM |
11-20-08, 8:23 PM |
|
External LinksWikipedia
|
|
