Apr 7, 2024
Escaflowne is an isekai mecha action show that really really really wishes it could just be an isekai romance show. The first half balances those elements reasonably well and strings the viewer along with a lot of mystery about its world and why the evil Zaibach empire is so bent on finding "Escaflowne". Ultimately that promise is never delivered on in any meaningful way and halfway through the show the shounen action and romance fall completely out of balance and get in each other's way. Everything does reach a rushed yet functional conclusion but the wasted potential is massive.
Pros+
+ Escaflowne is a visual feast if
...
you’re a fan of that certain sort of 90s animation. Sunrise really put their best effort into showing the eponymous Escaflowne transforming and swinging its sword against other Gunda-I mean Guymelefs. Cockpit shots showing gears and pulleys and braided steel are very smoothly drawn.
+ Yoko Kanno’s work on the OST is tremendous. Action and drama are well supported with choral backing and high tension string instruments while gentler moments have flowing piano and gentle violin. Truly an excellent work from a renowned musical director
Cons-
- The story of Escaflowne is not confusing but it is quite slow for no particular reason until the final few episodes where it races to the finish. The first half of the show involves a lot of the main cast running from the enemy while sheltering in various locales such as military outposts, capital cities, airships, and the wilderness. Then it just sort of stalls and turns into long emotional exchanges punctuated by somewhat weightless action.
- The characters. This is truly where Escaflowne falls utterly apart. Allen, is the only character that truly gets consistent character development and backstory. New characters are introduced and seem interesting enough (Van the prince of a ruined nation; his cat friend Merle; Chid the child prince; Folken the brooding strategist of Zaibach) and then nothing really happens. Van, for instance, fights for revenge after Dilandau destroys his country while looking for Escaflowne. We see this in the first episode. And then nothing really changes about that at all. He runs, he fights, he learns a bit about his family, and then at the end he fights Dilandau and says “You destroyed my country so I will kill you!”. We never really see him do much other than fight and talk to people about nothing. Some side characters have character arcs but mostly nobody is well developed.
- The romance. Hitomi arrives in Gaea and is immediately treated well by everyone and there is a clear connection between her and Van but also her and Allen. And then…nobody tries to do anything. Hitomi increasingly seems attracted to Allen but eventually learns he likes more age and class appropriate women and backs off. And then any “will they? Won’t they?” progress goes away until about episode 20 when it becomes plot relevant and everything is forced to an unsurprising but still somehow very weird conclusion in 6 episodes. The show has all the trappings of a romance but because it also has giant robots it doesn’t let itself get too lovey dovey because that will get in the way of robot fights.
Ultimately Escaflowne is a great looking and sounding show that starts strong, slows down rather quickly, and then never finds a good speed before crashing into its ending at 150 mph. There is enough to like that I can’t honestly call it worthless but I almost certainly wouldn’t have gone back to it if I hadn’t watched some of it as a kid and after seeing it I don’t think romance or mecha fans would be satisfied watching it over something else.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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